I'm actually very impressed with the way this book is written. It's probably the first book I've read that includes a lot of configuration examples. There aren't many books out there that you can use to study for CCIE Security. I've used the MCNS book for my lab, but it's pretty outdated. This book is way better! Whether you are studying for CCIE Security written, preparing for CCIE Security lab, or just want to master your skills with Cisco Network security, I'd recommend this book. I happened to pass CCIE Security Lab (#7927) year and a half ago. I bought this book to review my security knowledge. My favorite part is the Lab at the end of the book. It's not the same as the real lab, the lab in the book is actually a lot harder.

Two Thumbs Up!!
Finally, a practical guide for CCIE Security! I haven't finished the whole book yet, but what I've seen so far is right on. I've been looking for lab scenarios to practice for the lab and I got them. The CD that ships with the book is worth getting on its own, but the book text is an excellent reference as well.

I have passed my written exam. Having this book will definitely increase my chance to pass the lab.

The book covers basically all key areas involved on the Security network environment that is important to be prepared to the CCIE Lab Exam as well for the professionals on Security area. Excellent in content and it brings a real world exercises that links the theory to a practical hands-on scenarios. Execellent buy.

I have never picked up a book and been touched as I have been with this one. The other reviews are accurate, this book is one of the the greatest novels I have ever read. The insight into the mind of Leanardo is amazing. I will cherish this book forever.

I first found this book in a college library over 16 years ago. I've since seen only 3 other copies of it. This is a great pity, as it is surely one of the best written novels any where in the world. Dmitry Merezhkovsky has recreated the conflicted life of Leonardo: genius on one side counter balanced by the pagan world in conflict with the fanatical religous climate in which he lived. If you want to submerge yourself in Leonardo's world, I highly recommend this book for doing so.

This book is mostly unknown, although it is, in my opinion, one of the greatest novels ever written. The accuracy and depth of the historical reconstruction give a keen insight into the times of italian Renaissance, providing an extraordinary and original portrait of the great genius and his lonely wanderings through late 15th century Italy. The insight the author manages to give on the artistic and scientific thought of Leonardo are unique, and rival any scientific text. The sublime reading pleasure is hence greatened by the wealth of knowledge which can be extracted from this wonderful book. A pity the author is greatly unknown, not only in this but also in all his other works.

I bought this book a while back, and kept it for almost a year before I read it. I wanted to give the book my highest level of attention. Well, it was worth the wait. Shostakovich Reconsidered has a wealth of information for any serious (and not-so-serious) Shostakovich scholar. My only criticism of the book is that Ian MacDonald's (The New Shostakovich) name should be more associated with this book than it is. He has written a sizeable array of articles in this book, and each one has proven to be as interesting as The New Shostakovich. I found the "courtroom" approach to supporting or refuting the memoirs of Shostakovich (Testimony) a little tedious after awhile, but I enjoyed the information nevertheless. I also found that Laurel Fay's book (Shostakovich: A Life) suffers from "selective scholarship" in the eyes of the authors. This should be interesting, as I dive into that book next. . .

A thoroughly researched and well written investigation of the composer-as-dissident. For contemporaries and friends of Shostakovich as well as careful listeners, the composer's dissidence is plainly evident in his music.

One wonders what the counter-revisionist musicologists will make of Shostakovich Reconsidered. Under the weight of Ho's and Feofanov's evidence there is little choice but to remain silent or to torpidly dismiss the book.

According to Terry Teachout in the October, 1999 issue of Commentary, that is precisely what Professor Fay has done in her upcoming biography of Shostakovich.

Certainly (one hopes) not the last word on Shostakovich, but a must buy for all lovers of the great composer.

Shostakovich Reconsidered is a timely publication that puts into perspective all the issues revolving around the defamation of the composer's memoirs (Testimony, edited by Solomon Volkov).

Whichever side of the fence one is on, the book comprehensively gathers all the witnesses and testimonies so that one can understand the entire issue surrounding the controversy. At the same time, the second half of the book presents various interesting essays on the composer and his music and other fascinating materials such as the symposium by Maxim SHostakovich.

On the whole, it is very illuminating. On the subject of Testimony, it could very well be the last word on the subject.

Prince Mirsky's good old book has in fact not been excelled by any other work concerning Russian literature from its beginnings to 1900. It is packed with information, and still very comprehensive and intriguing indeed in its analyses and anecdotes.

It also provides some entertaining lingual gems - the writer Derzhavin's prose, for example, is by Mirsky characterised as 'virile', and his philosophy as 'manfully thankful for the joys of ephemeral life', while the influent literary criticist Belinsky's style is condemned as 'execrable lingo'.

Anyone interested in Russian literature should read this book. As a reference book it serves excellently.

A compilation of Mirsky's "A History of Russian Literature from the Earliest Times to the Death of Dostoyevsky" combined with the first two chapters of his "Contemporary Russian Literature, 1881-1925." Mirsky was, indeed, a contemporary historian of some of the greatest writers of fiction. Tolstoy, Doestoyevsky, Gogol, Chekhov and Turgenev are explored within the historical and physical framework in which they lived.

This books is a classic exploration of Russian Literature that has had a great deal of impact on the teaching and understanding of Russian Literature. For example, the leading translators of Russian Literature, Pevear and Volokhonsky, make use of Mirsky's history. Their translation of Chekhov stories even recommends Mirsky's section on Checkhov. Their recommendation is, of course, of much greater import than mine.

Mirsky created a classic historical work of literature. It is one of the guides you need to understand some of the greatest literature of all time.

17 unforgettable short stories, each with the impact of a novel. If you read one book on the Russian experience, this is the one to read.

The stories in this book are moving, written in prose as spare as the detention camps its stories describe and continue to haunt one long after the book has been put down

A lavishly illustrated book, depicting the beauty the city of St. Petersburg before its bombardment by the Germans in WWII. Depicting everyday life as well as the monumental architecture of this historic city, with a brief history of this city of Peter the Great. The reader is also told which buildings survived destruction and which didn't. A must for any lovers of Russian history under the last Tsar.

A must-have for those working with deformable models and segmentation and tracking of non-rigid dynamic objects. It consisits of three sections, Background, Segmentation & Reconstruction, & Motion Analysis and Tracking. Each section begins with a review article followed by a collection of scientific papers by different authors on the subject.

My roommate has this book bought online. Very nice photos, warming.

In sharp contrast to standard US math education, which
is generally a death march from algebra to calculus, this
book suggests a wonderful new way to organize the ideas
of elementary mathematics. The organizational principle
here is around fundamental ideas that underlie
every mathematical proof ever conceived: parity, the
pigeonhole principle, induction, counting (combinatorics),
etc. Each section starts off with easy problems that anyone
can get, and leads you through to more and more challenging
illustrations of that section's principle; the last problems
of each section are often quite sophisticated and rewarding.
Do the problems in this book, and you can't help but just
be smarter for it.

When I was a kid, I was mystified by puzzle problems that I
had no idea how to tackle, and intimidated by kids who could
solve those types of problems. Had this book been available
back then, it would have de-mystified those problems for me,
and I would have acquired the kinds of skills and insights
that make a real mathematician. Whatever your age, if you
are interested in developing your core competencies in math,
I can't think of a better endeavor than to do all the problems
in this book. If I were the US Secretary of Education, I would
make solving all the problems in this book a mandatory
requirement for all math teachers, and all graduating high
school students. Even a partial implementation of such a
policy would make this country mathematically literate in a
way that we can't even conceive of today. It would de-mistify
mathematical "genius" on a global scale.

I must admit that I'm prejudiced. I had the pleasure of hearing Mr Paperno in recital at the University of North Dakota while stationed in the USAF some 20 years ago. In that recital he introduced me to the music of Scriabin and I have never heard it played with greater intensity or more poetry. Therefore, I am happy to finally read his memoirs and, like many of his contemporaries, his view of the life of an artist in Soviet Russia is riveting. If I have a quibble about this book is that it isn't much longer. I sincerely hope Mr Paperno will favor us with a book discussing the music he plays so well, especially the misunderstood Scriabin. I can recommend this book to fellow pianists, historians, music lovers, and those who just enjoy a "good read". Too bad Amadeus didn't include a CD of his recordings with the book. Get it anyway!