this book runs the gamut from joyous hedonism to the extreme visciousness of humankind. I cannot remember the last time I was so emotionally drawn in and captivated by such intelligent, breathing, living characters. This book is a powerful must read for anyone concerned with what makes humanity tick, and the absolute evil that seems so inherently possible. A love story that trancends all generations. This is proof that the human will is a miraculous thing.

Collaboratively written by Ron Bernstein, David Binns, Marshal Hyman, and deftly edited by Martin Staubus, Transitioning Ownership in the Private Company: The ESOP Solution examines leveraged employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) as a means of allowing employees to purchase and own a corporate divestiture or a production plant or facility chosen for closing by the parent company. Examining the tax benefits, empowerment benefits for employees, usefulness, and facilitation of ESOPs, Transitioning Ownership In The Private Company is a carefully researched, superbly presented, and thoroughly "user friendly" information guide and reference. Simply put, Transitioning Ownership In The Private Company is a "must-read" for anyone involved in or considering an ESOP solution in acquiring a private company, plant, or facility.

As one of the poets featured in Will Work for Peace, one might expect me to be a bit biased, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Most poets work in a virtual vacuum, only tenuously connected to each other by the occasional workshop or shared membership in a 'poetry society'. When Brett Axel first approached me for a submission to an anthology he was considering, the names Marge Piercy, Lyn Lifshin, Moshe Bennaroch and so many others were abstractions to me as a fledgling poet. I knew these tremendous writers were 'out there' somewhere, beating down doors with their words and keeping a struggling artform alive. But to think that someday I would ever share a credit with these dynamic modern poets would be a pipe dream at best. It is through the sincere efforts of Brett Axel that many newer voices like mine have an extraordinary opportunity to appear with Pulitzer Prize winners and other poetic heavyweights. By way of an honest review, however, I will say this- not everything in this book will be to your particular liking. I myself came across some works that did not move me in the way the author may have intended. Some imagery can be raw and visceral, using shock value in place of craft at times. But to ignore those voices would be an even more shocking turn of events, so praise be to the editor for not sacrificing his vision to a senseless conformity. As Pete Seeger so aptly put it in his quote, trying to read all these poems at one time would be like trying 'to swallow Manhattan whole'. I say to you- buy this book, read this book, but understand that it's what you do after reading this book that will ultimately define who you could be. Poetry is alive and well, and lives in the blunt pages of Will Work for Peace.

Just amazing start to finish! I like the disregard for fame used in putting the book together. That great poems got in even if they were writtenby nobodys. Look at Roger Bonair-Agard's poem on page 74. Shortly after Will Work For Peace came out he won Slam Nationals, becoming Slam Champion of 1999, which will be getting him lots of offers. But Zeropanik Press didn't need to be told he was good by an award. They could tell by his writing! Good for them and good for all of us because Will Work For Peace is a literary milestone. It's a new standard for all future anthology editors to try to live up to. Thumbs up to Brett Axel and Thumbs up to Zeropanik Press for their guts and integrty.

Brett Axel visited my Church and I bought a copy of Will Work For Peace from him, not for poetry, but because I care about working for peace. I started reading through it thinking It'd just go on my shelf and that'd be the end of it, but the book grabbed me and kept me rivited. If I had known that poetry was this alive I'd have been into poetry. I've been reading some of the poems to my friends who also didn't think poetry was important and they are saying the same thing. Fantastic! There's no way to get through this book without having your old mindsets challenged. It's funny, powerful, sad, and uplifting. A book that deserves to be read by everyone. A book that really can make the world a better place!

If the other parent shows up with this book it MAY WORK OUT. If you see the other side as being abusive and uncooperative, that's probably how he or she sees you. This book really tries to help in reaching an agreement, but you will probably end up asking the court for help.

I am conducting my own divorce without laywers but through a paralegal group. I wasn't sure what I wanted to stipulate in my parenting agreement and the example given to me from the paralegal group was so vague. After purchasing this book, reading it and working through the worksheets, I came out ready to ROCK! I can't believe how professional and thorough my parenting plan turned out to be. Now getting the ex to sign off on it is another thing. But what I liked about this book the most is it really questioned your motive. And it strongly suggested that you be as fair and equitable as possible for the child's sake. I admit, I began writing my plan out of anger. But in the end, I believe the plan really was created with my daughter's best interest in mind. I definately recommend this book. Be prepared to put some time in into reading and writing. You will not be able to accomplish this overnight.

I found this book to be very helpful in explaining the practical terms of raising a child or children after divorce. My ex is abusive and was uncooperative in reaching an agreement, and I ended up seeking relief in court. However, I found the worksheets to be essential for putting into concrete terms what it was that I wanted for my son. In addition, I would say that most situations are not like mine, and if your ex-spouse is somewhat reasonable this book will provide the essential tools for creating an agreement with or without going to court. It features one of the best written fill in the blank samples of a parenting agreement I've seen anywhere.

This was my casebook for my first-year Civil Procedure class, and although I was not thrilled with the prospects of spending a year sorting through the quagmire of the F.R.Civ.P. this book made life and the rules much easier. If you have a choice as to which casebook to use, I would recommend this one.

When your traveling around with your life on your back, it's important to have a guide that will keep you on the right track. Lets Go Europe helps the backpacker decide when to get off the buses, planes, trains, and automobiles. All at the same time, the book keeps you laughing with some fun comments from the young at heart editors. The bright yellow cover will make you friends on the train...but be aware of book hungry travelers who may borrow it without ever returning it!! A must buy for the young backpacker

Hydrology is an aspect central to Arab - Israely conflict. This is one thing commonly ignored by Peace and Conflict scholars. The author suggests a valuable reminder of the water determinant in the political equation of the lengthy Middle East conflict. The book is highky actual in these days due to Israel goverment's effort to achieve peace deals with it's neighbours.

Martin Sherman, Despots, Democrats and the Determinants of International Conflict (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998, 230pp., ...

Recognized that, in the 20th century alone, the world witnessed at least three ideological clashes between (liberal) democracy and despotism -namely, national socialism, Soviet bolshevism and religious fundamentalism-, the question 'whether the internal regime of a state is the determinant factor in its external behaviour becomes very significant. This book tries to answer this question by investigeting the relationship between the structural features of a state's internal regime on the one hand, and its external behaviour in the international system on the other.

After an impressive foreword by Shabtai Shavit, the former head of Israel's 'Mossad'; there comes an introduction part which clearly outlines the book's contents and objectives. The book consists of three main parts. Part I involves a theoretical effort of model-building, in which the author constructs two models: 'an ideal democracy' and 'an ideal dictatorship', based on the some virtually universally accepted assumptions regarding the features of these regime types. Part II is devoted to the design of an empirical test in order to evaluate the validity of the theory, when applied to the real world. The author employs two ways to investigate the empirical validity of the theoretical predictions: 'justification' (finding evidences confirming the predictions) and 'falsification' (subjecting the theory to efforts to repudiate it). In Part III, M. Sherman tries to combine the theoretical and empirical elements of the first two parts in order to use the findings of the book not only as a guideline for the formulation of future policy decisions, but also as a medium for the evaluation of past.

Throughout the book, Martin Sherman aims at constructing a 'model'. This attempt for model building can, and must, be criticized in terms of both the way in which it is constructed and its assumptions. First of all, the author not only employs hypothetical elements of the microeconomic theory (consumer choice, market structure etc.), but also he develops his study under strict ceteris paribus conditions. Moreover, while examining the significance of the findings for policy formulation, the author uses 'rational model of decision making', which is chiefly based on the use of the hypothetical notion of 'utility' (an imaginary concept!) and its derivatives. Since it is a matter of debate whether both the microeconomic theory and rational model can be employed to describe, or explain, the full complexity of actual decision-making conditions, or not; the validity of a theory based on these two is questionable. The second shortcoming of the model may be its assumptions. The author's model assumes the international system as an anarchical structure in which each state has an objective function of increasing, or at least preserving, their relative power vis-à-vis other states in the system. He writes: 'it will be assumed throughout that all the states in the international system are post-imperialist nation states, ...' (p.29, emphasis in original). Also, he assumes the existence of a 'social contract', which means a reciprocity of obligation between ruler and the ruled. Moreover, as can be understood from the title -'Despots, Democrats and the Determinants of International Conflict'-, the author confines the focus of the study to conflictual situations in which there is a clash of interests. In addition to all these, only political factors are taken into account in the study. However, when we think of the existence of the international regulatory organizations, the dictators who do not care about his citizens, the cooperative situations in which the interests of states coincide and, especially, such non-political factors as those related with economics, sociology and culture; all these assumptions may seem less promising.

The author's writing style is quite clear; however, there are lots of such non-English terms as 'bona fide' (p.132), 'ex-ante' (p.114), 'modus operandi' (p.125), 'quid pro quo' (p.127), and so on. Another deficit in the writing style is the use of microeconomic concepts. Although, throughout the book, the author very often employs microeconomic concepts (eg. decision-maker utility curve, convexity, maximax etc.), he does not explain what they mean. He writes: 'I shall assume that the reader is familiar with these details.' (p.152). Both the non-English terms and the use of microeconomic concepts make the understanding of some parts difficult, if not impossible.

Martin Sherman concludes the book with a short review. Sherman emphasizes " ... rather than a 'security dilemma' ... the existence of a 'security paradox', whereby international stability is best preserved by 'status quo' states developing the means to violate it." (p.194, emphasis in original). Though the author's assumptions limit the scope (or, even, the validity) of the model, it may be a good read for those who want to learn the general characteristics of democracies and dictatorships, and at the same time, who are familiar with concepts of the microeconomic theory.

Erkan ERDOGDU

The author is highly aknowleged in academic cyrcles for his uncompromised views which usually do not "fit" into Israely political scientists' mainstream. Nevertheless, his views are always based on a solid systematic logical structure - a property not so widely existant in academy as one might suppose. This book is highly awaited among author's students and collegues.It is the conclusion of various studies by the author in the political science field. I shall not ruin the reading experience by uncovering the books' main thesis. Enjoy !

THIS BOOK WAS HORRIBLE!!!!!! EVERYTHING EXCPECT BATTLE MAGIC FOR MORONS ISN'T WORTH THE PAPER IT'S PRINTED ON!!

Very disapointing..... all except "girl slayer" was terrible, and even girl slayer was weak compared to other books of this genre i have read. But i suppose it is pretty hard to develop a strong fantasy story with only 20 pages to work with...

Battle Magic is a superbly produced audiobook anthology of outstanding fantasy with each short story taking up the concept of magic as a weapon of combat between individuals, between armies, and between kingdoms. Each story, drawn from some of the best and most innovative writers in fantasy today, are aptly read by their individual narrators and conjure up worlds of dark enchantments, single champions against overwhelming odds, and powerful wizards locked in deadly conflict. The stories in this superbly produced, highly recommended, nine hour, unabridged, six cassette collection include Warlord; Hell's Bane; The Miracle of Salamis; The Jewel and the Demon; Alaric's Gift; The Fatal Wager; Ten for the Devil; Battle Magic For Morons; A Matter of Honor; Principles of Warfare; and The Strangeness of the Day.

This book masquerades as a comprehensive guide to developing a stock option plan. In truth, it is a very basic overview of some of the topics surrounding stock option plans. When it attempts to walk through how one would actually go about creating a plan, it uses a hypothetical company and an executive named "Charlie". Sadly, whenever Charlie comes to difficult questions, no answer is given. For example, when discussing the question of valuing stock in a private company, the author's answer is to hire an outside consultant....Gee thanks! Beyond the single basic example give, no discussion of how or why certain decisions are to be made and rationalized. Another great example of this is in determining the number of shares to grant to employees and management. The answer given in the case study is that Charlie had "no process to determine these numbers"....wow, really insightful advice.....No plan at all, so when the executives ask you how you came up with the grant allocations, you can just tell them that you winged it, just like Charlie.

As you can tell, the authors couldnt even tackle simple issues like how many shares to grant, or the appropriate strike price,
and this is not even to mention REAL issues like compensating employees whose options are underwater. I guess Charlie didn't have this problem. I am totally embarassed to have bought this book, save your money and search the web for real-world advice.