Read how Capstick's tracker is nearly gored by a rhino, actually holding onto the horn to save himself.

See how a cape buffalo in a bad mood can turn a man into something even a big city coroner will never forget.

Discover why smoking may be good for your health, if you track wounded leopards into the long grass at night.

The BIG 5 are considered the most dangerous animals on the continent of Africa for good reason. Capstick will be more than happy to fill you in on the reasons, and leave no doubt that they are all dangerous and deadly.

This hi-octane collection of stories ranks second only to "Long Grass" as my PHC favorite. It is completely FULL of experiences, legends and tales of close calls or catastrophes. Capstick goes chapter by chapter showing us without a doubt why each animal is included among Africa's Dangerous Game.

The stories themselves are heart pounding. Capstick can put you behind the sights and in the path of a charging rhino like no one else. You'll be bathed in sweat as he drags you through the thick Mopane scrubb searching for that man-eating leopard or gut-shot lion. Ol' Pete may be the most thrilling safari adventure writer of all time.

In addition to the danger, PHC also takes us back in history to the golden days of the White Hunter and relives the world record trophy hunts in each category. You'll hear about giant tuskers with 200lbs on each side, massive 10ft lions, and rhinos big enough to derail a train. I found this wonderful reading. It was like going to a world record trophy museum and getting a behind-the-scenes look at each hunt.

This book is a MUST for anyone who enjoys safari legend, hunting, or adventure. Highly recommended. I guess you could say I give it a "Big Five."

This is a well written exploration of 'missionaries and misfits' on the edges of civilisation. We have comparisons of Catholics and Evangelicals; comparisons between missionaries who are there for the greater glory of God (or the idea of God at least) and for the greater glory of their own name; and the attempts by different outsiders to 'save' a tribe from other outsiders, with more concerns for their own agendas than the welfare of those they are trying to save. Oh, and there is some amazingly insightful writing about interpersonal relationships to boot.

What I liked best about this book was that Matthiessen spared nobody ' unlike some novels of this genre, the Indians are not simple 'noble savages' ' some are cleverer than others; the Indians aren't all environmentally friendly, in-tune with nature good-guys (Moon takes them for task for their wasteful practices, but they don't care)and Matthiessen takes the time to explain the motivations of his characters, something that can be sorely lacking in some novels.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good novel. For those with an interest in the specific topic area (the Amazon, 'Western' culture meets 'natives', missionaries) there is a lot here (if you liked Poisonwood Bible, i you would probably like this). But even if this is not an area you would naturally gravitate to, i would recommend it on the basis of Matthiessen's great writing alone.One point - the first 4 -6 chapters can be hard going, but stick with it - things pick up. It was for these first chapters that i docked a star (would have given it 4.5 stars if possible).

You will find yourself in the strangest company. It's hard to tell the savages from the decent white folk. The Missionary's wife appears to be losing her mind. The natives are restless. The mercenaries passing through town. You are about to meet Lewis Moon and, for some reason, you will not be able to look away.

This is a disturbing book, no-one is spared, not even the reader.

I would like to give ABOLISHING PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS by Tom Coens and Mary Jenkins my highest recommendation.

For years I have been convinced that appraising the contribution of individuals is a highly destructive organizational enterprise. I have come to this conclusion through my own experience and through the persuasive writings of Peter Scholtes (The Leader's Handbook) and W. Edwards Deming (The New Economics) and other authors.

Coens and Jenkins have written a thoroughly researched and documented text that provides a wealth of information on why performance appraisal should be eliminated, and what instead should be done to perform the functions it allegedly achieves.

Pages 306 and 307 provide an excellent summary of principles that can be used to improve organizational performance, coach employees, provide feedback, determine compensation, make promotion decisions, develop employees, help poor performers, and provide appropriate legal documentation in the event of a lawsuit.

Figure 10.1 on page 286 provides an excellent summary of the process necessary for an organization to free itself from the grip of individual appraisal and refocus its attention on improving system performance. It is appropriately called a "Sixteen-Step Program to Recovery from Appraisal".

Coems and Jenkins have made an extremenly valuable contribution to those organizations that seek to create humane work places.

Sincerely,

Laurenece J. Quick, Ph.D Associate Professor of Management Aurora University Aurora, IL.

This is not an academic work. It is more a multiple memoir. Most of Mr. Schweizer's citations are of interviews he conducted of major figures in the Reagan Administration. It also reads like a cookbook with one recipe. The ingredients-military buildup, economic embargos, support of regional conflicts in Communist lands, and most important, adoption of the strategic defense initiative-are set up in the first part of the book. These ingredients were more or less in place by the end of 1983. The book then becomes repetitious, sort of like telling the cook to stir the pot and then stir the pot some more. In the end, Gorbachev comes on the scene, recognizes that the pot has boiled over and takes it off the stove.

Other authors have been critical of the Reagan team's efforts. Schweizer points out that some of the criticisms were expressed by team members (especially Haig and Schultz) at the time the secret decisions were made. As time passes and peace allows for a more expansive view of the events in the 1980s, criticism will likely increase. A book such as this one will be all the more important then, as a reminder of what was done and how and why it was done.

A student friend of mine was taking a course in which his professor was a former head of counterintelligence at the CIA, so I had my friend ask his professor to verify the legitimacy of Schweizer's book. My friend reported back that the professor, who says many reports have been almost fictional, said that he HIGHLY recommends this book for the most honest assessment of how Ronald Reagan and his team won the Cold War.

The result is a kata book that is comprehensive, including key graphic information on direction and timing of each move, as well as important details such as hip rotation or hand or foot placement. I have seen instructors refer to it on the dojo floor for details of a particular move in an advanced kata as well as beginners use it as the first step to learning a new kata. Although there are several other good kata books available, you are not going to find one that comes close to this single volume in value for the price!

Now Sensei... if you would please write a companion text showing some applications for each of the kata!

David Kaneda JKA Blackbelt

I must admit that I was a little suspicious about how accurate the descriptions of life in the spirit realms are, especially as the writer used a nom-de-plume and nobody seems to know much about him. However since then I have done a great deal of reading and talking to a lot of people who have had similar out of body experiences, and nothing yet has contradicted anything mentioned in the book. In fact, everything has correlated perfectly with the personal experiences I've come across.
Another good thing about it is that it's written in a pretty matter-of-fact way and doesn't push any particular religious point of view or have any axe to grind.

I recommend it very highly indeed for its enjoyment and inspirational value.

The learning organization - Senge's vision for the productive, competitive, and efficient institutions of the future - is in a continuous state of change. Four fundamental questions continuously serve to check and guide a group's learning and improvement (see page 49): (1) Do you continuously test your experiences? ("Are you willing to examine and challenge your sacred cows - not just during crises, but in good times?") (2) Are you producing knowledge? ("Knowledge, in this case, means the capacity for effective action.") (3) Is knowledge shared? ("Is it accessible to all of the organization's members?") (4) Is the learning relevant? ("Is this learning aimed at the organization's core purpose?") If these questions represent the organization's compass, the five disciplines are its map.

Each of the five disciplines is explained, and elaborated in its own lengthy section of the book. In the section on "Systems Thinking" (a set of practices and perspectives, which views all aspects of life as inter-related and playing a role in some larger system), the authors build on the idea of feedback loops (reinforcing and balancing) and introduce five systems archetypes. They are: "fixes that backfire", "limits to growth", "shifting the burden", "tragedy of the commons", and "accidental adversaries". In the section on "Personal Mastery", the authors argue that learning starts with each person. For organizations to learn and improve, people within the organization (perhaps starting with its core leadership) must learn to reflect on and become aware of their own core beliefs and visions. In "Mental Models", the authors argue that learning organizations need to explore the assumptions and attitudes, which guide their institutional directions, practices, and strategies. Articles on scenario planning, the ladder of inference, the left-hand column, and balancing inquiry and advocacy offer practical strategies to investigate our personal mental models as well as those of others in the organization. In "Shared Vision", the authors make the case for the stakeholders of an organization to continually adapt their vision ("an image of a desired future"), values ("how we get to travel to where we want to go"), purpose ("what the organization is here to do"), and goals ("milestones we expect to reach before too long"). The section offers many strategies and perspectives on how to move an organization toward continuous reflection. In "Team Learning", the authors rely mostly on the work of William Isaacs and others, and make a case for educating organization members in the processes and skills of dialogue and skillful discussion.

This book is enlightening and informative. It has already found a place on my shelf for essential reference books.

In fact, these physical details model the whole point of the book--that learning is essential for sustainable growth, for organizational and personal development.

This book doesn't pretend to be a text. It answers the questions a text usually doesn't: like how does it all fit together? and what do we do when our assumptions don't hold? The author points out that econometrics texts are usually "cookbooks", and aim to tell you how to use their collection of receipes. This book explains the assumptions behind regression, and what happens when we violate them, and what we can do about it. It also gives a good overview of the topic. This book shows the connection between the receipes in a text. It doesn't pretend to teach econometrics, so the reader isn't innundated with equations. Instead, you get a discussion of why you would want to do (or not do) the things your text would teach you. Anyone who is taking an econometrics course (graduate or undergraduate) should get this book. After reading a chapter in your text, read the corresponding chapter in Kennedy to add some depth to your understanding.

I would also suggest this to graduate students who are facing preliminary or comprehensive exams in econometrics. This will help you to "bring it all together", and answer those vague, conceptual questions which seem to cause the most grief. The book has sufficient references to the literature so that you can easily follow up anything you want to explore in more depth, but it's clear and self-contained enough that only an econometrician is likely to feel the need. Each chapter is organized in three parts: a discussion of the topic, an appendix of long footnotes which add details which would obstruct the flow of the discussion, and finally, a technical appendix, where you can find a few of those equations if you really want them. This makes it easy to read the book at the level you need.