I would never say this is for everyone, but if you have come this far not by mistake (as in you have some idea who Claude Simon is, an interest in french literature or the new novel in particular) I advise you to go the next mile and actually read it. I find Simon to be one of the more accessible artists of the new novel era in France( no matter whether you or the author wish to quibble over whether he belongs to this group). The reworking that Simon gives to the concepts of narrative structure are not so avant-garde as say Robbe-Grillet and I believe the style of The Flanders Road can easily be appreciated even by those who disdain so-called high brow writing. The reason for this could be that in its plots,situations and characters Simon is anything but high brow. The roaming eye style of his narrative is not just a purely theoretical or philosophising device (although it is this subtly) it is also an aesthetic device that is enriching of what might be classified as a thin plot - if you were only drawn to reading by plots. No what Simon does here is take a narrative about a young man in war (the Second world war) serving (albeit only fow a few days or weeks) in a cavalry unit that is drawn into the chaotic retreat of the fiasco that was Frances defense against the blitzkrieg. Simon draws you into the atmosphere of this experience and does not leave you outside the construction of order but requires you to piece together the words into each readers own interpretation. I advise you to linger on this work, appreciate it for what it is not what you expect of a war novel. Let your mind wander with the words which is just what Simon intends. I myself lovingly returned to it day after day taking a page or twenty at a time over a cup of tea in the sunshine or under overcast skies.

This novel is a bit as if the Virginia Woolf of "Mrs Dalloway" had written a book about wartime France. (Of course this is a ludirous comparison, but it might give you an idea what the book is like). Its sentences have neither beginning nor end, just like the nightmarish ride of disoriented soldiers in the spring of 1940. They keep riding through the cold, the dark and the rain for days and nights on end - only to be attacked and wiped out within a matter of seconds. - Of course war is not all there is about this book, but its depiction was what I could never forget since I first read it.

With the possible exception of The Georgics, this is Simon's greatest work. It is hard to describe the experience of reading this book. It's difficult going, and exhausting to read more than 15-20 pages at a time, but the effect is like going into a deep trance. There are only three or four episodes, repeated over and over in different ways, throughout the book, but the true subject matter, sex and death (really), is presented through these events so as to make the reader feel these situations in a different way. This is the essence of the nouveau roman style for Simon - less formally structured than Robbe-Grillet, and more emotional.

I feel almost guilty, like I'm missing something, but I just couldn't get into this book. Everybody spoke so highly of it, but I just didn't find anything in its pages that made me a better artist.

Now I have the UTMOST respect for anyone who ever taught at the Art Student's League in New York--I wish I had the opportunity to attend. (Maybe that's what I was hoping to vicariously achieve with this book.) And I have no doubt that Mr. Bridgman was, and is, a legend in the figure drawing world. But the illustrations throughout the whole book are really bad. I mean, like, unrecognizably so.

With all of my anatomy books I like to practice by trying to sketch the drawings in my own sketchbook, but with these pictures, there's just nothing to copy. It's more like looking at sketches that somebody made on a cocktail napkin. I guess I just like examples to follow when I'm receiving instruction, and I just don't feel like I'm getting it here. It's more like a biology lecture with grainy slides.

The other day I bought "How to Draw the Human Figure: An Anatomical Approach" by Louise Gordon, and have found it to be a much better buy, I think. Same price, better anatomy, much better pictures. Check it out. Either way, happy figure drawing.

You MUST have an in-depth knowledge of the human anatomy (particularly the bones and muscles) before you buy this book. I bought this book on the account of the previous reviewers who I assume (just now, unfortunately) are professionals or fine-arts students. Most of the analysis refers to scientific names of bones and muscles. I understand this is a good thing BUT most of the time, there are either (1) no visual references to these bones and muscles on the page where the analysis is made (i.e. sometimes you have to move forward a few pages to determine what is being discussed) or worst, (2) there are no visual references at all. I don't blame the author considering this book is a compilation of his individual works which may have been complete unto themselves. I blame the publisher for not taking the time and effort to add value to the book by labeling the visuals themselves (perhaps by asking Mr. Bridgman's former students to do it for them) and for making sure the pages are in the correct order. I get the feeling this book was hurried out of the press.

I have downloaded Mr. Loomis book "Figure Drawing for All It's Worth" and if you're a beginner like me, it's a better deal (heck, it's free) because the text are clearer and the visuals cleaner. Please consider my rating a beginner's gauge rather than a professional's or a fine-arts student's.

I'll just probably use this book as a visual reference rather than a self-study guide...

If you would like to really know how to understandand draw the human body this is the book to get. Bridgeman makes the body easy to understand, but not like many drawing books were most of this how to draw books last 20 or 30 years this book has last almost a 100 years and is still used today. Bridgeman teaching has develop many top master such as norman rockwell. enjoy the book and really read and draw the human form like he develop it.

Simon Brett is a very good writer, and I enjoyed the logical flow of the story. The reader can clearly understand the mood and scene of each situation. His two amateur sleuths, Jude and Carole are complete opposites in character, but develop a friendship and a quirky ability to jointly solve a murder. Why only 3 stars? Some parts of the story just seemed a little dry - I was expecting a little more wit and lighthearted conversation between characters. Also, Carole just wasn't that interesting - granted, she is a character that is suppose to have a pretty uninspiring look on life, but it's a little too uninspiring.

This is the first of two vols in Brett's latest series. It is a typical(?) Briddish mystery, with much toing and froing. The main character may seem a bit dry, but by the end of the story she has loosened up quite a bit. Such as going to a pub! I expect that there will be an expansion of her character with perhaps a bit of, dare I say it, romance? Anyhoo, Brett is off to a good start with this one and the second book is on the shelves. Treat yourself to seaside England....tides, rain and some snooty people doing their thing. Enjoy, and aloha...

Simon Brett is one of the most skilled and satisfying practitioners in the detective fiction field. All I ask of such writers he provides: interesting amateur sleuths, shrewd characterisation, fluent but stylish prose, some gentle thrills at the end, and an opportunity to "escape" to somewhere I am happy to be for six or seven hours.

In this novel, he introduces a pair of new sleuths: Carole and Jude. He also introduces a new locale: a coastal resort on the south coast of England, near Worthing. It is called Fethering, and it is fully described in the first chapter.

Simon Brett not only writes, but he also reads his works, using a narrator's voice that resembles that of the current British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, while also providing convincing and distinguishable portrayals for all his cast of characters.

A body on the beach you'll be glad you stumbled over.

Simon Forman was one of the most fascinating characters of the Elizabethan age. Previous books about him have, however, been abysmally bad, particularly A.L. Rowse's 1974 biography. Traister provides a much more reliable introduction to Forman and his milieu that is concise and accessible to general readers. She describes his life, his astrological-medical practice, his many unpublished writings, his magical pursuits and his involvement in the famous Essex scandal, as the posthumus patsy. This is all irresistible stuff.

Specialists will regret that Traister's grasp on the arcana of astrology and angelic magic is not stronger. And for a really thorough examination of his medicine and his patients we shall have to wait for Loren Kassell's forthcoming book. Still, a huge improvement on Rowse.

How did physicians run their practices four hundred years ago? It's a peculiar idea that in a time when so little was scientifically understood about how the body and how medicines worked, physicians did try to make sense of what their patients were going through, and even tried to be objective and logical about treatments that were mostly magical. In _The Notorious Astrological Physician of London: Works and Days of Simon Forman_ (University of Chicago Press), Barbara Howard Traister tells of one particular physician working around 1600. The notoriety mentioned in the title of the book does not refer to his frequent sexual affairs, but to something that happened after Forman's death and for which he was completely unresponsible. Nonetheless, those who know Forman's name these days know it because of literary references to his dark posthumous connection with a case of poisoning.

But Forman was an earnest and serious physician. He wrote an autobiography, he wrote and copied textbooks for himself, and he kept a diary; Traister has gone to these core documents to give his picture. Forman was busy during the London plague of 1593 (unlike other physicians, he didn't flee the city), and he had an active career as physician and astrologer. He had many years of fighting the College of Physicians, which did not give him a medical license until 1603 (and persecuted him, in his view, even after that). Forman kept fine records, one of the reasons his life and practice can be reconstructed better than those of other physicians. Traister gives many quotations and samples to show how his practice worked. Forman was not so enthusiastic about bloodletting as were most of his contemporaries. He tended to give strong purgatives, and for this reason, he seldom treated children; the treatments of the time were too harsh. Parents seemed to understand this, and often only wanted him to give a prognosis. This was common at the time; ability to diagnose was severely limited and ability to cure was even worse, so patients were often satisfied just to know how bad they could expect things to be.

The pleasure in reading Traister's lively account is that Forman comes across as a active thinker who used his own resourcefulness and intellect to build a stock of clinically useful knowledge (and also spent as much energy womanizing as that other diarist, Pepys). He may have built his practice on superstition, aphrodisiacs, and fortune-telling, but he had a successful professional life despite many trials (literally and figuratively). Traister's book, an academic work full of quotations and footnotes, is nonetheless an engrossing picture of an interesting doctor and how he made his living.

I first read Brett's Charles Paris mysteries and enjoyed them, but in the Fethering series (four so far), he has outdone himself. I've bought and lent these books for and to several friends. Good stuff.

Howard Morgen's arrangements & treatment of standards are great as usual !

This actor/detective is truly unique to this genre. If you haven't discovered Charles Paris, I highly recommend that you do. As an actor, I find him wildly amusing and engrossing. I've never read a Charles Paris mystery I didn't like. Situation Tragedy has a particularly fabulous cast of characters. With the British sit com being what it is these days (on the upswing: AbFab, Keeping up Appearances, etc.) this book can't help but entertain. Loved it.

I was hoping for better when I obtained the book. I can't believe this guy (the author) went to U.C. Some of the ideas that he presents are interesting and worthwhile to pursue, but he does a poor job of presenting them. The author took bits from each class that he attended at U.C. and forced them into an incoherent story. Many of the equations that he introduces are plain wrong, e.g., (2.7), (2.8), etc. Those that are correct (2.11) are presented in a most obtuse way so that one is left wondering: "what is Simons' talking about". For those who are not technically inclined this is a travesty. How are they supposed to differentiate the baloney from the fact. I understand that this is a "traders' book", but there are many better ones out there! Come on Howard, come on Wiley, you can do better than this.

Howard Simons' book is a tremendous resource for beginners and market professionals alike. I don't know who this jerk is who panned the book, but he obviously has no idea what he is talking about and ,furthermore, is completely incorrect in his criticisms. All of the equations in this book are correct.

Simons book goes beyond the obvious "how do" on options -- which is exactly where more writers leave off. He is able to take very obtuse institutional topics like behavioral analysis and apply them to intermarket analysis. This is an excellent book for the more sophisticated trader who wants to learn more about options trading in all markets, including futures. Great read and well worth the price.

Given the space constraints, this is a concise and well-balanced summary of the war, and synthesizes the usual sources quite well. The "Battlefield Today" section is especially nice. The big disappointment is the illustrations, which concentrate on Israeli forces. The few Egyptian photos are well-known and have been widely reprinted in the west, and are poorly reproduced here. The 3 two-page spread paintings are remarkable for their lack of detail. Given Osprey's extensive back catalog of Middle East titles, it's amazing they didn't reproduce any of the much better photos and paintings that graced earlier books. If you're looking to own a single book on the Sinai Front in the 1973 War, this could be it. If you already own standard works like Dupuy, Herzog, Shazly and Pollack, give this one a miss unless you're a completist.

Osprey's The Yom Kippur War: The Sinai is the first in a two-volume study of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and a departure from the Campaign series normal aversion to modern topics (in the last 13 years and 126 volumes, the series has had only one other title on a post-1945 campaign). Armor aficionado and film maker Simon Dunstan provides a detailed summary of the dramatic events between 6-24 October 1973 on the Sinai front, where the war swung between initial Egyptian success, to stalemate, to Israeli triumph. Overall, most readers should find this volume excellent, if slightly biased toward Israel and armor issues (at the expense of air operations).

The Yom Kippur War: The Sinai begins with a short introduction that covers the results of the 1967 Six Day War, the construction of the Bar Lev line and the 1969-1970 War of Attrition. In the next section, the author covers the meticulous Egyptian planning for Operation "Badr" - the assault crossing of the Suez Canal - and the Israeli defensive plans. The only really weak section in the entire volume is that covering opposing armies, which is only four pages in length. Although there is considerable detailed data available on the Yom Kippur War, the author fails to incorporate it into this section. For example, the author only mentions that the Egyptians had about 1,700 tanks, without breaking out how many there were of each model (an odd omission for an armor expert). Both the Egyptian and Israeli air forces are fairly ignored, with no order of battle provided, or breakdown by type. The section on opposing commanders is overly weighted toward Israel, and there are too few photos of the principal military leaders (amazingly, none of Sharon). The Yom Kippur War: The Sinai also has too few maps to support the narrative; there are only five 2-D maps (Israel in 1973, the Bar-Lev Line, the Egyptian bridgeheads, Battle of Chinese Farm phase 1 and phase 2) and three 3-D Birds Eye View maps (the Egyptian assault, the Egyptian offensive on 14 October 1973, and the Israeli crossing of the canal). The 3-D maps were designed to cover tactical battlefields, not entire operational areas, and these BEVs are zoomed too far out to convey much detail. The initial Israeli counterattacks on 6-8 October and the crossing of the canal are particularly difficult to follow on these maps (critical items mentioned in the text, like the "Missouri" position are not depicted on any of the maps). On the other hand, the three battle scenes (the Egyptian crossing of the canal, the Israeli roller bridge and Israeli tanks SAM-hunting) are quite good and add value to this volume.

Dunstan's description of the Egyptian preparations for the canal crossing and the very successful deception operations are first-rate, and should be studied carefully by military readers. Indeed, Operation "Badr" was almost a model of how opposed river crossings should be conducted. While the author mentions the defeat of the initial Israeli armor counterattacks against the crossing, he fails to discuss the simultaneous shock when the initial Israeli air counterattacks ran into the SA-6 belt along the canal. Indeed, for an armor enthusiast, the author might have mentioned that these engagements between Egyptian commandos and Israeli armor on 6-7 October 1973 were one of the rare instances when light infantry defeated armor. The rest of the campaign narrative covers the political pressure that resulted in the abortive Egyptian offensive of 14 October and the Israeli counterstroke that decided the campaign. The emphasis in this account is primarily on armor operations, with little mention of the contributions of other branches and even air operations are overly neglected. The author's background as a filmmaker also betrays itself in one indiscretion where he notes in a photograph caption that an Israeli "squadron of Phantom [jets] was loaded with 13 20-kiloton nuclear weapons" when Israeli leaders feared defeat. Where is the source on this wild claim? While Israel's possession of nuclear weapons has been an open secret for some time, this claim seems unusually detailed and suspect. After the first few days of war, Israel had fewer than 90 F-4 Phantoms still operational and the author wants the reader to believe that the IAF would tie up 15% of its best strike asset to sit around on "nuclear strip alert." Such a preposterous claim certainly warrants a footnote or explanation.

The final sections on the outcome of the war and the battlefield today are brief but interesting. Indeed, Sadat's limited objective campaign is also a model for demonstrating Clausewitz's dictum of "war as an extension of politics." Unfortunately, the author's bibliography is not very impressive, consisting mostly of stock secondary sources, like Trevor Dupuy. There are also more Egyptian sources available in English than the author suggests, but the author seems but little interested in their viewpoint (even Sadat's book has considerable detail on planning for the attack). The photographs throughout the volume are good, but heavily weighted toward armor issues and Israel, with most of the Egyptian-source photos being those normally available in most other sources on the war.

This is a classic how-to book on how to use cult mind control in the classroom to indoctrinate your children into views which are contrary to what you are teaching them at home. Written by the developers of the method, it focus on psychological techniques to be used at the hands of amateurs to lead your children subtly into the values chosen by the educational establishment. These techniques even now are being implemented in some classrooms. You are being compelled by law to place your children in government indoctrination centers where these techniques are being used to undermine your children's belief in God and in the unalienable rights which our founders recognized in the Declaration of Independence. Incidentally, such indoctrination also serves government minions well, as they teach our children to acquiesce as our freedoms are taken from us. Read it and weep! Read it to be informed. Do not expect to experience pleasure from the reading; instead, stay close to the bathroom. But if you want to know what the enemy is doing to your children, this is a must-read. You will come away with intimate knowledge of why the leading cause of death in our young people is suicide, why Columbine happened (these techniques were being used there) and why we got to the point where election fraud in Florida became thinkable.

This is a great, objective book that helped provide some of the best conversations I and my staff and groups have ever had. For those who aren't afraid to share their true selves and emotions and who are looking for some unique ways to open up groups--this is the book for you.

In this book , Simon et al offer over 70 different activities and written exercises designed to help people learn about values and explore their own values. Although it is ostensibly targeted to school-teachers, the strategies are useful for all ages. One very interesting aspect is that the book refrains from endorsing any particular values. Instead, the concept they have is that we need to treat students more as autonomous valuing beings that already have a fairly well defined system of values. A student's problem is not that he has no ideas about what is good/bad right/wrong. Rather he does know these things but is usually confused about his own beliefs. The activities are thought provoking and diverse.