Do you want to know what "To be or not to be..." is really about? The script for Hamlet is here. On the other hand, "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war" is from Julius Caesar, which also gave us "the ides of March." This book is a joy, and it contains the complete works written by the Bard of Avon.

It appears, at first glance, that this book only contains the comedies written by Shakespeare, but that is because there are three Tables of Contents within the book. These lists are placed at the beginning of each section, and the following page numbers begin at one again. However, not in the case of the Poems and Sonnets, which are in the Historical Plays list.

There is an additional list for the exquisite plates, which add another dimension to the historical significance of this library. The artwork, such as the three witches who enter to thunder and lightning in Macbeth, is extraordinary. You will find the work of:
*Sir John Gilbert (1817-1897) who created almost 750 pictures just for Shakespeare's works.
*George Cruikshank, who was the son of Isaac Cruikshank, a Scottish painter, and the primary illustrator for Charles Dickens.
*Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (1532-1588). Dudley knew Shakespeare, and was once courtier in the court of Queen Elizabeth I.

For any student or lover of literature and art, or as a writer's reference, this is a requisite.

Victoria Tarrani

This book is an excellent buy. If you like to read and always find yourself wishing you had more of a great writers work then this is the way to go. It contains almost if not everything he ever wrote. The book cover is flawless. If you know some one who collects books or do yourself than you got to get this one. I would however not recommend this for young kids because of its size.

THE LIBRARY SHAKESPEARE IS EXCELLANT. IT CONTAINS ALL OF SHAKESPERARE'S PLAYS, POEMS, AND SONNETS. IT HAS A BEAUTIFUL HARDCOVER, YET IT IS STILL THE EXACT SAME WORDS THAT SHAKESPEARE WROTE. I HIGHLY RECCOMEND THIS BOOK TO EVERYONE!

In looking for possible textbooks for my Popular Culture class I am considering "Media and Society: The Production of Culture in the Mass Media" by John Ryan and William M. Wentworth. While as the audience for mass media we have a vested interest in how culture is produced, this book will be of greater utility for those who will be involved from the production standpoint. "Media and Society" is a book that would benefit from having the table of contents reproduced so instructors interested in selecting this book for class would have a better idea of what is covered. In the absence of that, I offer the following:

Part I details The Mass Media and Society, considering what mass communication is, starting with (1) Human Communication and the Mass Media, which focuses on the basic characteristics of the mass media as well as critical perspectives taken on the mass media in academia. (2) Classical Sociological Theory and the Mass Media deals briefly with Marx, Durheim, and Weber, while emphasizing Mead as providing the transition to a modern social psychology of communication. (3) Mass Media Effects I: Individual Effects presents both the early attempts to search for mass media effects and the evidence that exists against those effects. (4) Mass Media Effects II: Societal Effects actually does not do the same thing as the previous chapter on a societal level, but instead looks at the new ways of communicating that exist in modern society, such as time use, globalization and shared identity, and agenda setting.

Part II covers The Production of Culture and the place of the mass media in social life, beginning with (5) Mass Media Technology, in which the seven general principles of media technology development are extended to the internet, desktop publishing, and the electronic cauldron of the new "datasphere." (6) Regulating the Media covers government regulation from Freedom of the Press and the Fairness Doctrine to Obscenity and Copyright Law. (7) Industry Structure deals with some theoretical concerns, such as resource dependency theory, but focuses primarily on industry structure and effects from newspapers to the internet. (8) Media Organizations and Occupations has interesting sections on the problem of creative production where the role of the artist collides with organizational forms and the organizational requirements of the media for stars and new material. There are a couple of case studies of Hollywood looking at "Heaven's Gate" and "Jaws." (9) "Show Me the Money": Advertising and the Mass Media goes from the rise of marketing to the role of advertising to the effects of target marketing and narrowcasting to fragmented audiences. (10) The Mass Media Audience deals with special problems of culture markets such as creating brands, to measuring the audience and the consequences of having inaccurate pictures of that audience.

The idea here is that Part I describes what the "machine" does and Part II describes how the machine works. From the perspective of the production-of-culture Ryan and Wentworth look at the influence of technology, law, industry structure, organizational structure/occupational careers, advertising, and ideas about audience, separating each to highlight the specific impacts of each, although obviously they all act in concert to influence media content. I am more interested in how the products produced by the mass media impact upon audiences in general, and my students in particular, but there are certainly many key aspects of the production process that I would like my students to understand. "Media and Society" covers a lot of concepts with enough references to contemporary examples that most students will make the connection.

In the world of academic textbooks, a truly enjoyable read is something to be cherished. Media and Society: The Production of Culture in the Mass Media by John Ryan and William M. Wentworth is perhaps the most interesting, richly informative, and thoroughly enjoyable literary work I have had the pleasure of reading throughout my collegiate career. The authors perform a marvelous job of outlining theory, while interweaving real world examples throughout the text resulting in a comprehensive investigation of the mutually affective relationship between leisure, mass media and society. Much of the writing could be equally likely to reside in an academic journal as well as any respectable main stream periodical such as Time magazine. Due to its unique blend of writing styles, this book is not only highly recommended to scholars but anyone wishing to learn of the fascinating relationship between leisure, the mass media, society and the production of culture. Well done!

This is simply the best book on the mass media that I have read. It does a terrific job of covering academic research while maintaining its appeal to a general audience. The chapter on the effects of the media are powerful examples of what good sociology can be. If you want to increase your understanding of the internal workings of media industries and the effects of the mass media on the individual and society, you couldn't make a better choice.

This book is excellent reading and research material for anyone searching for solid answers to questions about how everything fits together in the Bible. It covers the different people, trades, lifestyle, geography with maps, etc. It is tabbed for fast research. My daughter said that just reading the first 20 pages explained more to her than she had ever understood about Biblical times and customs. This book is great to just read from cover to cover and then refer to as you study the Bible, both old and new testament. It enlightens the study to a more understandable text for the common person.

This book has everything you could want from a bible encyclopedia. It focuses mainly on religion and history. It has a book by book discription of each book in the Bible. It talks about ancient cultures and civilizations. There are color markers on the upper right hand corner to help you to find what you need to find on other pages in the book. It has large lifelike pictures and illustrations. The questions and answers in the book are interesting. It is just a good all around book. I defenately would recommend this book for anybody who want to understand the background of the Bible as much as possible.

I love this book. For a general overview of the Bible, this is the best! Lots of 4-color pictures and super interesting commentary. I read it cover to cover. Another great book is THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE BOOK OF PROVERBS by Cody Jones. The comments are interesting and put things into a historical setting. Many Biblical characters are pointed out who illustrate King Solomon's witty observations on human nature. Many of the riddles and mysteries of Proverbs are explored with surprising new answers.

Barton's careful method and artful writing combine to create a powerful primer on the actor's responsibilities to the text, the character, and the play. This is a must-have-must-read for anyone preparing for the profession.

John Bardon, with the assistance of the players from the Royal Shakespeare Company, presents with great zest and humor not merely the mechanics of speaking the verse of Shakespeare, but the sense of the Style of Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Age. The actors demonstrate all of the means by which they have discovered the characters they portray and make their own, and their great fortune in the legacy of the RSC. They have absorbed with passion and insight the very beings of another time. I wish, when I was a young actor, that I had had John Bardon as a teacher of verse drama. It took me years to find anyone who could teach me the basic, uncomplicated approach to verse I found in this book. May I just add, I also saw the London Weekend Television production on which the book is based and it was magical. The book reinforces my memory of the living actors, most of whom are favorites of mine who I have seen in all types of productions. However, it is not necessary to have seen that program to appreciate and learn from the book. Highly, highly recommended.

I first read Playing Shakespeare when I was still in high school, and have reread it at least three or four times since then. A definite must-read for any serious stage performer. An eye-opener for anyone struggling with a Shakespearean role or character. Very literary, but easy to get into and understand. You have to read it for yourself! Definitely worth the price.

Compared to so many other dull-reading license manuals that one has for introducing newcomers to Amateur Radio,'Ride the Airwaves with Alfa & Zulu' is a one of kind book for becoming a ham- and it's an excellent learning tool for students of all ages. Every question in the FCC Technician License Pool is covered, and all the information is worded and portrayed in ways that make learning a lot of fun and very easy to comprehend. The best feature of this book are the hundreds of illustrations that explain what's going on. Without question, anyone who is interested in becoming a ham ought to read K6YB's excellent book-for the book is one of kind when it comes to showing one 'what ham radio is all about' - and helping them to earn their first ticket. Amateur Radio Instructor- N6MV, Dr. James R. La Frieda

Hi, again, John Abbott has again produced a "SUPER" book that will assist those non-technical types, kids, and (older) kids (chuckle) open the door to Amateur Radio. I have used each of his A&Z texts since they first came out. Each time, my students and adults use it new Hams result. Amateur Radio is a great activity for ALL! Others who publish manuals should take a lesson from John and realize everyone does not have to be a tech'y to enjoy the fruitful activities of Amateur Radio. School starts in late August, 2000 for me. Alpha &Zulu will be on my desk and at the radio table. It will shown to my grade-6 class. It will become dog earred, written in, and studied by several of those eager minds. There will be more smiles at test time. There will be more Hams as a result. This book opens the door for future Hams. The more the better!

Conrad Ekstrom WB1GXM/KB1CCA(GEARS) ADVISOR GOSHEN-LEMPSTER EDUCATIONAL AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY EST 1989

This is an excellent book to either teach or learn enough about amateur radio to get your license. It breaks complex concepts down into ideas presented in a cartoon format. I used it as a teacher with great success. There is an updated version called "Ride the Airwaves with Alpha and Zulu" (as opposed to this older version "Riding the Airwaves with Alpha and Zulu")that is both current and readily available from amazon.com This version does not have the latest changes for F.C.C. tests.

Whether you have children or not Buy this book. If you have children read them the landscape poetry in here. They will sing them in their sleep. It will take them on magical journeys to happy places and you also.

I just started browsing through a book of his poems in spanish one day and loved them, but my spanish is marginal. This has the spanish poems side by side with english translations, many of which I don't really like because they do things like switch words and lines and take a little too much freedom and change the spirit of the poem, but that's okay. You can read the spanish, read the english, and see exactly what has been changed, but the beauty is in the spanish ones, and though his vocabulary is large, yours doesn't really have to be to appreciate the sound and sight of these poems in spanish. I love many of the sonnets, plus the king of harlem, which reminds me of HCE from Finnegans Wake, this character that becomes the landscape itself, "after walking", and many others from the poet in new york. I've just been getting into some spanish poets after reading some st john of the cross and seeing what types of flows and life can be infused into words in this language, and these dark, bloody grimy oozes of language have had me high for weeks.

Brilliant, emotions of positive and negative are tasted in this work

The sonnet is one of the more difficult-to-write forms of poetry, with very strict rules on rhyming and lines, and that makes Shakespeare's collection of sonnets all the more impressive. Shakespeare sprinkled his various plays with poetry and songs, but there is something of a different flavor to these works.

Titleless, identified only by numbers, these poems have vivid metaphors and imagery ("let not winter's ragged hand deface," "gold candles fix'd in heaven's air"). The tone of the poetry varies from one sonnet to the next; sometimes it focuses on old age, to love that "looks upon tempests and is not shaken," and simple expressions that can't really be interpreted any other way. Some of it is pretty well-known ("Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?/Thou art more lovely and more temperate") but most of them you won't have seen before.

Even if you're not normally a fan of poetry, the delicate touch of Shakespeare's words is worth checking into. Fantastic.

This edition of the sonnets is one of the most important and the description on Amazon is misleading - It is actually both volumes 24 and 25 bound together so you get the complete set It's hard to find this book so it is a great find in this version

Shakespeare's amazing Sonnets are compiled here in this wonderful volume, a great addition to anyone's bookshelf. If you love Shakespeare, then this is a must-have book.

I'll make this short...For anyone interested in Chinese history, literature, or culture, this volume is an absolutely essential collection of primary sources, and includes prefaces and explanations by China scholars. There is no one better than de Bary, and this new edition includes everything from the 1960 edition up through the Jiang Zemin era.

I've read a little of this and that about Chinese history and religion, and I needed a book to fill in the basics and the details. This was perfect.

First, the selections included excerpts of almost everything I'd ever heard of: Shang Oracle Bones, the Analects of Confucius and the Confucian classics including the I Ching; Mozi; the Tao Te Ching; Zhuangzi (who famously dreamed that he was a butterfly); Mencius; Xunzi; the Zuozhuan; Sun Tzu's art of war; all kinds of stuff about Chinese schools of Buddhism including the Lotus Sutra and the Flower Garden Sutra and the history of Guanyin and Wutai Shan; Li Po (Li Bo) and Tu Fu (Du Fu); and neo-Confucianism (which was so influential in Korea). In short, this is really, practically the "Eatern Canon" and the selections are deserving of such a label. I was in turns morally and intellectually challenged, uplifted, informed and surprised; but rarely bored and never disappointed.

Second, the introductory essays were exactly what I wanted to know: who might have written it, and when, and who read, and what it meant to them. For all that information, they were still brief and the bibliography was sufficient to help me chase the points that left me curious. An important thing these essays did was to cover the political, historical and social backgrounds (and foregrounds) of the texts, so I learned about Chinese history as well as literature and religion. If that is what you want to do, this book will serve you well.

The binding is excellent, and while the price might look steep I have to say it's a bargain considering what you get.

I didn't read Volume Two, and so I don't know if it is as good. It is certainly a lot smaller!

This second edition of a classic provides an update on a reference recommended for college-level collections specializing in Chinese literature. Sources of Chinese Tradition has been recognized already as a scholarly staple: in its new form Sources of Chinese Tradition has been extended to include the Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin eras of China and includes invaluable source readings on history and literature of the times, from the 18th-century Qing civilization onward.

I believe William A. Owens is all too often overlooked as one of Americas greatest authors and this book just proves my point. It is a great piece of work and an inspiration to all that read it.

My one line summary says it all. I am sure I was there. I anticipate each chapter anxiously waiting to see what funny, tragic desperate event is next and admiring the author for the practical and inventive mechanisms he has in place to keep his education going. I would like to know more about him in his later life.

I first read This Stubborn Soil 8 years ago and I can still recall images conjured up by this books beautiful writing. I consider this book to be a classic. It is written in a simple, straight forward manner which fits the story perfectly. The characters are vivid and you can almost feel the dust blowing and the rain drenching you. The hardships endured by Mr. Owens family and the story of his success are truly inspirational. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to feel real emotions being brought out by a piece of literature. When I read it I cried

How could historians have overlooked such an important and colorful piece of American history? The book is a fast read and filled with vivid descriptions. Once you read it, you won't be able to believe that something like this happened in America.

This book is probably the most complete and balanced view of the Mine Wars in West Virginia, an almost unknown yet significant part of American history. It details how and why things happened and gives very vivid accounts of the struggles of the day in the coalfields. This was the largest insurrection against our Federal Government outside of the War Between the States, and was the only time bombs have been dropped from planes on American soil. A must read for anyone interested in Appalachia or coal mining.

I really enjoyed this fascinating account of the coal wars of west virginia. Not enough has been reported about the events that occured there, and this book sheds light on the subject.