Minnie Vautrin was a lady with compassion. She devoted her life in bringing education to Chinese women and girls in 1920s to 30s. She was well remembered not only by the people of Nanking but also by all Chinese people. During the Rape of Nanking committed by the invading of Japansese military in 1937, she personally protected over ten thousand women and girls in her campus. This book showed her courage. It was a remarkable story of the female over the male, the weak over the strong, the peace over violence. However, over the past sixty years, not many Americans know of this woman of humanity. Last year, I had the good fortune to attend her memorial at Shephard, Michigan with a small group of friends and her relatives. I delivered a brief paper on behalf of the citizens of Nanking for their respect and love to her. Dr Bates, another international team members son of 1937 delivered the grave site prayer.
As Americans, you should not miss this woman of the greatest generation. In December 13 2002, a statue will be set up in Naking to honor this American to China.

I first heard of the Rape of Nanking back in the year 1998 when I came across Iris Chang's _Rape of Nanking_ Since then I have read every book that I came across on the subject. Dr. Hu's book tells us of Minnie Vautrin an extraordinary woman who spent most of her life in China trying to help the Chinese people through education in religion. The book goes on to tell how Miss Vautrin risked her life day after day protecting thousands of Chinese women who seeked sanctuary at Miss Vautrin's college, Ginling.
Dr. Hu does a wonderful job giving the reader a backdrop of information, so the reader knows Japan and China's relationship with each other and the circumstances that led up to the Rape of Nanking. Dr. Hu also gives very detailed information in a short section about the history of American missionaries going to China. Wonderful book and an extraordinary woman.

Author Hua-ling Hu presents the deeply moving biography of an American educator/missionary who remained in Nanking to help thousands of women and children facing death. I could not set down the book until I finished it, then I started again in order to gain a keen appreciation for the thorough historical scholarship using sources that have not been available until Hu brought them to our eyes. This book should be read by historians, by missionaries, by anyone interested in fascinating biographies -- it is a compelling story with exceptional historical scholarship as the backdrop.

This is a very well written book on advertising. It is nice for a change to have heard of the authors! Usually when I read a review in another publication, such as Adweek, I am curious about the book but never buy it-this time I went ahead and bought it and I am most pleased. I am looking even more forward to the publisher's book entitled Inside the Minds: Leading Marketers - with the Chief Marketing Officers from Coke, GE, FedEx, American Express and other big names. It will be a very interesting contrast to the advertising side of the business.

This book is a must read for every advertiser-fantastic insight into the future of the advertising world. Adweek was right-this is a must read.

I have read close to 50 books on advertising throughout my career and this was by far the most innovative and thought provoking book I have read to date. I especially liked the chapter by Tim Love at Saatchi & Saatchi-but the entire book is full of insightful thoughts on where the future of the advertising industry is going. This is THE book to read if you are in the advertising, marketing or public relations industries.

Chris Charlesworth has written a similar volume for the Who which was one of the best ever written about their music. This succeeds as well providing a great deal of information about Paul Simon and his songs (each track is discussed). However, I felt that Art Garfunkel got the short end of the stick because his solo career doesn't get the same treatment and receives only brief allusions. Now the the Old Friends box set has been released, maybe a revised version could include Garfunkel's solo work, too.

Best book of its kind about the duo. Great review of their career and music in a compact format.

I've concluded that the epic of Mr. Lovejoy, a contemporary of Abraham Lincoln, is about a man who didn't know when to quit. Former U.S. Senator from Illinois, Paul Simon, has formulated a fast reading, riveting rendition of the way too brief life of this "glutton for punishment." Simon's account coincides well with the embarrassing story presented in Alton,IL these days. Still, I was left with questions, like "Why didn't Reverend Lovejoy move on?" "Was Lovejoy the catalyst for the American Civil War rather than John Brown?" and "Why was Abraham Lincoln's duel in Alton cancelled?" I found the answers by visiting the city where the final months of this anti-slavery newspaper editor's life transpired. The tale of Elijah P. Lovejoy, although 165 years old, gave me plenty of food for thought. If you want to know more there are other books. If you want the gist, this volume will serve you well.

Coming out of RazorBlade Press, Hideous Progeny is one monstrously beautiful anthology that explores the world as it would have been if Dr. Victor Frankenstein's gruesome experiments had not gone awry. Writers such as Tim Lebbon, Peter Crowther, Steven Volk, Steve Rasnic Tem, and Rhys Hughes (to name just a few) each donate a small literary organ to the mix, and everything is skilfully stitched together into a marvellous book by first-time editor Brian Willis.

Cosmetically, the book is a two-face: while cover design by Chris Nurse is nothing short of outstanding, the internal layout is not without blemish. For example, outside margins are too wide, story titles are not always at the same height in the page, and the author's name is italicised in some but not all of the instances. Another gripe I have is that page numbers on the right-hand pages are left-aligned; plus, headers have no indication about the stories presented below them: these will give you a bad time if you want to riffle through the book to look up a specific something. There are a few extra typesetting warts and moles as well, as I noticed some characters showing up in a different size than the rest of the text, uneven spacing between words, typos derived from bad OCR, and so on. I sincerely encourage RazorBlade Press to pay more attention to internal design in the future, and run a few spell checks as well. Still, don't let appearances fool you, because the writing on these pages is top-notch.

In the whole, I was not in the least disappointed by Hideous Progeny while expecting quality work. Many short stories surprised me by their original angles, and all are very well written. The subjects are quite varied too, although some do overlap a little - it seems inevitable given the limitations inherent to their collective premise. I have my favourites, of course: Peter Crowther's piece is shocking yet touching at the same time, and the idea behind "Mad Jack" is a simple but nevertheless brilliant one. "The Banker of Ingolstadt" is perhaps the funniest in the book, and I found Steven Volk's "Blitzenstein" to rank among the best.

Whatever shortcomings the book has, they're quickly overwhelmed by the superb fiction it it, not to mention a downright gorgeous cover. For £6.99, it's well worth getting Hideous Progeny: not only will you be adding a fine specimen of a book to your library, you'll also be helping small press business to thrive. Because I want to see more from RazorBlade Press. Oh yeah.

This review appeared in Learning A Living; A Guide to Planning Your Career and Finding A Job for People with Learning Disabilities, Attention Deficit Disorder, and Dyslexia;

A compendium of academic papers related to literacy and adults. Inclues information on employment, screening and assessment, instructional strategies, and future trends.

A fabulous book of photographs that show Morocco through the lens of Paul Bowles. Like a photo essay of Bowles's life in the desert, it shows his literary, erotic, and visual obsessions. Images of Jane are particularly cryptic.

Janeway's Immunobiology is probably the best immunology book that someone really interested in immunology should take to the mythical desert island. One can enjoy it by its clarity from the basic graduate courses, and then keep reading it when doing research and pursuing hypothesis on the most advanced immunological topics. Many times I have found better organized and complete information on this book (even the old editions!) than on the latest reviews on specialized journals. The intense and careful work displayed to promote the real understanding on the concepts and the relations between immune components is impressive. Even more, the success in explanation is such that the authour takes the risk to have his book neglected as "too easy" by first time readers. However, immunology researchers in contact with the often chaotic and contradictory immunological literature can really appreciate the incredible amount of critical work invested and the intellectual gift of the author (authors) to abstract complex immune phenomena into nicely designed and biologically precise "cartoons". The focus on the evolutionary and functional consequences/origins of the immune mechanisms and structures makes Janeway's book one of the most refreshing and valuable voices in a sometimes too-technically oriented discipline. An impressive accomplishment never praised enough.

This is by far the most well written immunology text I have encountered. Even the most difficult concepts are presented in the most understandable manner. This book is very extensive in the material it covers and is highly recommended for an advanced undergraduate student or as an introductory graduate text. By far the feature most appealing to me are the extensive images and cartoons used in this text, used quite effectively to elucidate even the most difficult of topics. This visual presentation style combined with the extensive and highly readble coverage of relevant material make this a must have for any serious student. The book is also updated frequently I believe a new edition is on the way slated to be publsihed in April 2004.

I really recommend this as an essential book for anyone studying immunology
in detail.- Its also a very useful reference for anyone studying medicine and wanting to
go into more depth.
.
Immunology at the best of times can be a difficult subject to grasp, both in terms of concepts
and details. Thank heavens for Janeway and Travers 5e which explains this challenging subject
in a simple way, without compromising on accuracy. What brings this book apart from the field is
its emphasis on fundamental principles: It defines these at the beginning of each chapter before delving into detail later on. Another great feature of its organisation is they way it draws parallels and connections between different aspects of the subject, helping the reader to gain an integrated and wider understanding of the subject. For example consider the unique way in which it compares and contrasts B and T cell development and functioning.

Information is also very accessible, since there are small subheadings for each topic, combined with
a very useful cross-referencing, though index and glossary. Plus its packed to the brim with useful colour diagrams which help to reinforce and add to points made in the text. Since it is written by recognised experts in the field, information is up to date and accurate, and it clearly differentiates between accepted 'facts' and theories.

In summary; after leaving many lectures bemused, bored and confused it's comforting to know that I can always turn to this book for guidance.

Starting with a strike of the coal miners, the company hires outside thugs, who end up massacring the miners. But this is only the beginning of the blood that made Williamson (a small coal mining town in southern Illinois in the 1920's) Bloody!

The thugs didn't leave. They rather liked having the run of the town. Bootlegging, gang wars, and all [heck] breaks loose.

Its important to remember the context when reading this book--because the author doesn't give you much. The worst race riots in American History happened a few miles away, in East St. Louis, in 1916--a few short years before the time covered in this book. Unions hadn't been legally recognized--that came a few years later, amidst the depression. Coal, and the economy in general, were booming. The stock market was exploding. And the federal government took the position that its role was to foster the wealth of the rich.

Anyone who thinks that political corruption is confined to big cities, hasn't spent much time in small town politics. This book is an eye opener. Of course, anyone who thinks that this sort of corruption is a part of America's long distant past, hasn't been reading the paper much recently. Political shenanigans in down state Illinois are alive and well. Of course, the big economic engine driving the southern Illinois economy today is the prison industry, but that's another book. (see Going Up the River, by Joseph Hallinan, for a description of the same area today, dominated by Tamms Supermax Prison).

Williamsburg County had an unbelievable amount of violence, in both variety and magnitude, in such a short period of time. In less than fifty years this one county had labor wars, Ku Klux Klan wars, gang wars, and one of the worst feuds in American history. Paul Angle is a good writer, but that is only an added benefit. Reading the media accounts of these events would be fascinating enough. Anyone interested in a case study of a dysfunctional community should read this book.

I write primarily to prevent the interested reader from being influenced by Alan Mills's review. It seems that Alan's review is based on a look at the dustjacket, or perhaps something someone told him while he wasn't exactly paying attention. Had he been listening more closely, he might have learned that Williamson is not a town, but a county. Had he finished Chapter One he might not have missed the central fact that it was not the miners who were killed in what came to be known as the "Herrin Massacre", but the company's mine guards and a group of recent Irish immigrants working the mine during the strike,who surrendered to the union under promise of safe conduct, before being taken to a field and shot by striking miners, who then cut the throats of their victims and urinated on their bodies. It is possible that a reading of the book would have alerted Alan to the fact that in 1922 Williamson County the union was not only well established, but had the support of a majority of the populace, and the collusion of some county officials. It was a combination of public intimidation and bribery that prevented jurors from convicting anyone in the two celebrated murder trials that followed the massacre. I don't understand Alan's point about the federal government fostering the wealth of the rich; worrying about this may be a hobby of Alan's, but the concept has nothing to do with Angle's book, or the events it describes. Those who do go on to read Angle's classic book will find a well-written and exciting account of an extraordinary period of lawlessness in Southern Illinois. It is also well-researched and accurate. Some of the participants in these events later refused to write books of their own, saying that they could never tell the story as well as Paul Angle already had.

In this book, Jenkins describes his choice of the thousand best churches in England. Churches range from tiny, rural chapels notable for their remote, dramatic settings, to grand and majestic churches. (Cathedrals, however, are not covered, only parish churches.) He also rates the churches from one star through 5 stars.
The descriptions are generally full and compelling. However, I took off one star from my rating, because, for the armchair traveller, more pictures would have been welcome. (How frustrating to read about glorious stained glass windows, and have no idea what they actually look like!) Only about one in 10 churches is illustrated with either an interior or exterior photo.

For those interested in knowing more about England's wonderful parish churches, this book is a must. Organized by county, the book should prove useful for travellers like me who fall victim to every village spire. I appreciated both his wit and knowledge about the subject.

The history presented, and the wonderful photographs, are a panorama of architectural beauty and fascination topped only by Jenkins' insightful and witty comments. This is a perfect "coffee table volume" for anyone interested in the Church, the arts, or history, and for others who plan travel to areas of England they have not previously explored. An added bonus is that those passionate about any one of the topics will, as I have found, have the further entertainment of arguing whether Simon's choices actually were of the 1,000 best, and which of their own favourites would have topped them.