This long out-of-print anthology of pre-Smithian writings is a treasure. It contains selections from Aristotle, Xenophon, Aquinas, Oresme, Molinaeus, Bodin, Serra, Mun, von Hornick, Cantillon, Galiani, Hume, Quesnay, Turgot, and von Justi. Each of these writers covers the sprectrum of ideological thought ranging from statism, or proto-mercantilism, to non-statism, or proto-libertarian. The only criticism that I can make about this book is that many of the selections are actually excerpts and not the entire essay or treatise. That said, this would still be an invaluable tool if you are interested in the history of economic thought. That is if you can find a copy.

For years I have been searching for the "right" method with which to measure IT costs and benefits. In my quest I have come close with a few well-written white papers that fell short because they didn't go deep enough. This book ends my quest - finally, I have found the "right" method.

The authors start with a chapter on the elusive nature of IT benefits, and the difficulties of measuring and managing them. This chapter lays the groundwork for the rest of the book. One nugget of valuable information given here is the recommendation that IT be run based on P&L (profit and loss). Because IT is traditionally operated as a cost center instead of a profit center I first thought that this was overly radical. However, as I dug deeper I understood the true intent: to tie together investment, value and economics, and measure IT investments based on their derived value to the business. This is where profit comes in. It initially looked like thinly disguised cost/benefit, but the expansion of this concept as the book unfolds makes it look like a true P&L approach.

Chapter two focuses on reasons to evaluate IT investments, and gives a number of approaches to perform evaluations. It covers the strengths and weaknesses of each approach and also discusses some of the pitfalls of benefit evaluation. This material segues into chapter three, which covers the investment decision process. The authors did a good job of explaining this from an IT perspective, and ties it closely to meeting business requirements.

The next chapter discusses the issues associated with, and the techniques used, to perform the IT evaluation. This is where the book gets interesting and a coherent method for measuring IT costs takes shape. What I liked most about this chapter is the list of possible techniques you can employ and how the authors classified techniques based on relative strengths such as objective vs. subjective, etc. This allows you to select the best approach based on the degree of precision you are willing to accept and your goals.

Chapter five, identification of IT costs, is about what we all struggle with: identifying total costs of ownership, finding the "buckets" into with to place the costs, and the cost drivers themselves. The costs are divided into direct and indirect cost portfolios, and the cost breakdowns for each portfolio are comprehensive. This material is valuable and will lend itself nicely to a number of approaches, among them activity-based cost management. Chapter six, IT Cost Control, shows you how to manage the costs that you identify and is a good primer on IT budget management for those who find themselves in a new management position.

IT Business Case Accounting, the topic in chapter seven, presents a straightforward approach to building your business case for IT investments. This is "must" reading for IT management and consultants. Chapter eight, Risk Analysis, is standard fare if you are familiar with these techniques. It is covered completely and provides a solid foundation in the science of identifying, quantifying and managing risks.

My favorite chapter is nine, Evaluation of the IT Function. As a consultant who performs such evaluations I thought I knew a thing or two. This chapter sparked some ideas, and the accompanying checklists are worth their weight in gold. Not only is there a comprehensive set of checklists, you are also shown how to assess the results. Contrast this with books (and consultants) who provide findings, but fail to show the root causes of the findings or make valid recommendations based upon them.

Chapters ten, eleven and twelve tie up some loose ends by covering Ranking and Scoring of the evaluations, Determining Value for Money, and Designing IT Surveys for Benefit Measurement. Taken together these three chapters can stand alone as a small book on using quantitative methods to measure IT value. Chapter thirteen addressed project management issues, which were fairly generic, and the authors end the book with a chapter on final thoughts. They include nine appendices, of which the following provide additional value: C - Financial Measurements used in Cost Benefit Analysis (great primer for non-financial types), D- Factor Analysis (advanced techniques for correlating questionnaire responses), E- Sample Sizing Scenarios (how to select sample size using statistical techniques), F through H Questionnaires and associated issues (the questionnaires are more excellent material for consultants and auditors).

This book provides a roadmap to measuring and managing IT benefits. The approach is straightforward and the goals are achievable (although not without a lot of hard work). It also provides many valuable checklists that will serve you well regardless of whether you are intent on implementing a measurement and management program, or are just seeking some techniques to more effectively manage an IT function. I strongly recommend this book to all consultants who perform IT organizational analysis, and members of IT governance committees or program management offices.

WOW! Looking for a good murder, action, adventure novel with a twist of the paranormal? Then, look no further than FATE.

This book had me hooked from the first page and I read it in a matter of hours. A writer begins having nightmares about a horrible car crash and then discovers they aren't really nightmares. She's experiencing another woman's death through her eyes. The events leading up to, during, and afterward, are knock-your-socks-off suspense and intrigue.

Mr. Smith is a phenomenal writer and I look forward to trying some his other titles including THE PREY, available at Amazon.com. Whew!

In the first part of this excellent field guide, families of butterflies are presented together on color plates, ably illustrated by Amy Bartlett Wright. This allows the reader to compare similar looking species--a must with hard-to-differentiate groups like the Blues, where minute differences mean the difference between one genus and another. The illustrations are cross-referenced to fuller descriptions in the second part of the book. Here there is additional information about appearance, food, habitat, flight, and range. As a beginner, I especially like author Paul Opler's decision to organize the butterflies by taxon rather than appearance. As I identify butterflies in the field, I am also learning a bit about the science of these beautiful creatures. Highly recommended.

There is probably no more legendary figure in the history of colonial America than Captain John Smith, the English Explorer. Of course, this is due mainly to the story of how his life was saved by the Indian maiden Pocahontas. To be fair, Smith's story was obscured by such tales long before the Disney movie. In this informative juvenile biography, Tara Baukus Mello gives young readers the true story of John Smith. We learn about Smith's early career as a soldier, which saw him brought to Constantinople as a slave, before he joined the Virginia Colony and came to Jamestown. After exploring the truth behind the legends of Smith, Pocahontas and the Powhatan tribe, Mello also looks at the period where Smith was the leader of Jamestown and then traces his final explorations and the important books he wrote about life in the New World. This book in the Colonial Leaders series is illustrated with historic pictures as well as contemporary color photographs of the Jamestown restoration. Other volumes in this series cover both colonists like Lord Baltimore, military leaders like Peter Stuyvesant, and religious leaders like Anne Hutchinson. Young students, as well as their teachers, who are interested in getting beyond what they find in American History textbooks about any of these famous figures will find this series provides excellent additional information.

The five major sections are: foundations for management communication; correspondence; reporting and proposing; career communication; managing oral communication; and global issues in management communication. There are twenty-five cases keyed to the chapter topics; a concise, bound-in handbook providing answers to questions about grammar, punctuation, usage, and documentation; exercises; many full-length examples; helpful shortcuts and acronyms; and guidelines for using the latest forms of information/communication technology. An instructor's manual is available. Powerpoint slides can be viewed and downloaded from the book's website.

Few skills are more central to career success than communication-it is gratifying to find a high-quality text that targets this critical subject. Reviewed by Yvette Borcia, Managing Partner, Stern & Associates, co-author of Stern's Sourcefinder: The Master Directory to HR and Business Management Information & Resources, Stern's CyberSpace SourceFinder, and Stern's Compensation and Benefits SourceFinder.

This is the second volume of a four volume set. All four volumes will set you back over $150.00. If you are a fan of this plane as I am, It is worth every penny. The first volume covers the genesis of the plane. The second volume examines armament and it's entry into the German war effort. Filled with excellent photos, color plates, and technical drawings, this book is a delight to read. But If you are not a nut on the subject, you may find it is too much information.
This four volume set is really for the person who wants the nitty gritty about the plane. If you want an overview of the plane there are plenty of excellent books (Me262: Arrow to the future, to name one) that are out there.

Avast mates! Never has a finer tale of the sea to be had. Meet Long John, Captain Flint, Ben Gunn, and some of the other scurvy crew from 'Treasure Island'. Learn where the treasure came from. Fights at sea and ashore aplenty.

The tale of Arthur has been told many times since the middle ages, each telling bringing something new to the story, but hands down, The Warlord Chronicles is the absolute best version of the modern era. Gone are the romantic elements that have permeated the story since the middle ages and replaced with an absolute reality and profound humanity that is not present in any other Arthurian novel.
Bernard Cornwell is one hell of a writer and is best known for his successful Richard Sharpe series, historical novels of the Napoleonic Wars, so you know you're in good hands as you read this book. Cornwell takes his liberties with the tale, yes, but he knows just how far he can go with the characters and events to keep things always interesting. Even if you've read many other Arthurian novels, I guarantee it, this one will surprise you.
Excalibur is the final book in the Warlord Chronicles trilogy, and I'm tempted to say the best one, but you MUST read the first two in order to fully appreciate this tale. Here one learns of the final fate of all the characters, the idealistic Arthur, his faithful man-at-arms Derfel, the treacherous Guinevere, the slimy Lancelot and of course Merlin who is single minded in his ploy to bring the Old Gods back to Britain. The Warlord Chronicles are destined to become classics of modern literature and the standard by which all other Arthurian novels will be judged. Not to be missed.

Cornwell's account of Arthur in this three book series is a breath of fresh air. I've read all the classics (Once and Future King, Le Morte D'arthur, Idylls of the King), and quite a few other Arthurian books as well. I like that Cornwell doesn't take these others, add a few differing details, and give them a new title. Cornwell gives a very personal and human perspective on Arthur and the events and people that shaped his life. I also love the way he completely changes the stories surrounding the main characters(Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin). I highly recommend this book, as well as the other two in the series(Winter King, Enemy of God).

Cornwell has done something no one else has ever tried to do: make the Arthurian legend into something real. There is nothing fanciful or fairey-tale about this version of King Arthur, but that's all to the good. The way Cornwell writes it, you'd swear by the time you're done reading that this must have happened. The characters are so well-drawn and plausible, the plots and motivation are so true to life and the way real human beings behaved in the fifth century that I would rate this version of Arthur well above anything Tennyson or the other famous bards have ever done.

This Arthur succeeds as historical fiction, heroic tragedy, action suspense thriller, character study, and morality play. It's in the same league as "Watership Down" and "All the King's Men" as an epic tale and a historical novel. The inclusion of religion into the series is done as well as Adams did it in "Watership" and the vivid characterizations and beauty of the prose are equal to what Penn Warren did in "Kings".

Don't buy this book as a paperback. You'll just end up buying the hardcover as well so you can read it over and over and put it on the mantle along with your other favorites as well as the other two books in the series, "The Winter King" and "Enemy of God".

King Arthur takes command and fights fierce battles in this realist retelling of the legend, narrated by the young warrior Derfel.

Cornwell's recreation of Dark Ages Britain is wonderful, complete with many facets of utter barbarity, religious strife, ethnic diversity, politics and war. Some of his best passages here are the "battles" between opposing magicians and shamans (we can never be sure if the magic is real, but the characters certainly believe in it). With Arthur and Aelle talking high politics, a witch and two shamans are having a private war; spitting, hopping on one foot, piling stones in significant patterns. It's great stuff.

Derfel is an attractive everyman sort of character, a powerful warrior but a bit of a romantic. Other characters are quite strong as well--in fact Cornwell, who doesn't always do well with villains, women and secondary characters, outdoes himself here.

Setting is heavily described, so much so that I found the plot to drag just a bit here and there. Still, plenty happens, and the exciting and believably authentic battle scenes should please most readers--especially since this was why we would read a Cornwell Arthur story in the first place! But even the battles aside, this is a good book and more elegantly written than I would have expected.

Having suffered through tale after tale of magical events, I'm glad someone has taken the time to create a believable story of how it might have happened.
Maybe it is my aging cynicism that welcomed Cornwell's story so much. Suffice it to say that Cornwell makes you want to still believe that there were men and women who lived their lives adventurously and passionately enough to set the myth in motion.
Cornwell takes some liberties with the normal Arthurian precepts. Whether he does it as part of his own plot or to create a more historically genuine story it is hard to tell. Either way, it makes for a good read.
Cornwell has honed his skills over the years on his Sharpe and Starbuck series, set in the Napoleonic and American Civil wars, respectively. He delved into pre-medieval English history with his novel, Stonehenge. In The Winter King he brings his skills and insights together and serves the reader well. For intricate military writing, historical drama, or another look at the classic Arthur, this book is a must read.

This book is a very good start. As yet I have not read the other two in series Enemy Of God and Excalibur, but the series has started well and I'm interested in seeing how the characters will develop.

The action is furious and vivid, the characters are complex and inglamorous. This is hard reality and much closer to how the story of King Arthur would have happened. The research into the clash of Christian and pagan beliefs is enlightening too.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the dark ages, King Arthur or good historical stories.