I have to admit a little bit of a bias. Dr. Smith was my teacher at the University of South Carolina, and his class was so skillfully taught that I felt compelled to read his published work.

In a marketplace flooded with Civil War studies, Dr. Smith's distinguishes itself in two ways: 1)With its erudition, a quality missing from many Civil War analyses. 2) The precision of his study. By choosing time as his subject, Dr. Smith rises above the pack of Civil War literature, and creates something thoroughly new.

This remarkable first book by Dr. Smith has already won two of the history profession's highest awards. The historical society named it the best book of history for 1997 and it shares the prestigious Avery O. Craven Award for the most original book on the Civil War era. Smith's observations of the slaves' adjustment to and manipulation of measured time are fascinating. The portrait of plantation life and the effect of the normalization of time on the South will be a revelation to anyone interested in Southern history.

Mark Smith has produced a masterpiece. His mastery of theory and primary material is breath-taking. His willingness to take on such established scholars as Geonovese (and convince this reviewer that he is correct and they were wrong) is the mark of a confident historian.

Would that all works of history were as intellectually stimulating as this. MASTERED BY THE CLOCK is an example of the historian's craft at its best--something rarely seen these days.

In his second book on slavery in two years, Professor Mark Smith of the Unievrsity of South Carolina has established himself as one of this generation's more astute historians. Eschewing traditional "either-or" schools of historical interpretation, he provides a rational, yet passionate, examination of the institution of slavery. While older historians have gotten themselves all wrapped up in economic theories with all sorts of litmus tests, Smith takes a more reasoned approach. Was the South pre-modern? (In some ways, it was). Was the South modern? (In some ways, it was). This is not acadmeic equivocationg, for Smith makes a strong argument that the South was BOTH. His concluding paragraph says it all: "Instead of arguing for the modernity or premodernity of the Old South, we can begin to see how the region, while it retained slavery as the basis for its political identity and social and economic relations, was none the less modernizing its economic system even as it eschewed the democratic tendencies of nineteenth-century liberalism." Brilliantly argued in highly readable prose, this is a must-read for anyone who truly wants to understand the Old South.

A welcome addition to Cambridge's distinguished series, Dr. Smith provides a superb summation of the often tortured gymnastics that historians perform to fit slavery in America, and the antebellum American South in general, into Marxist theory. The tireless (unquestioning) quest of historians of the US South to squeeze the antebellum period into a "premodern/modern" interpretation has been diffused. An excellent historiographical work and a must read for any student of the period. Highly recommended!

This book recognizes the way blacks are treated in the military and the book was masterful. I sleep with it at night its that good!

Mark M. Smith provides the reader with an excellent and unique perspective of 19th century America in an accessible and very interesting manner. This book is not just for the history enthusiast! I highly recommend it.

This volume of effervescence gives off more sparks than a campfire from "Roughing It". It also provides terrific context for a group of essays by Shelly Fisher Fishkin "Lighting Out for the Territories". For real fun read David Carkeet's modern recreation of Twain "I Been Here Before", a book Twain would have somehow wished to be included in his canon. Don't be surprised if someday Carkeet's book is included as a companion volume to the Oxford Mark Twain.

Before I say how much I like this book, I'll confess I have not read it cover-to-cover, as I have the 3rd Edition and it is over 1800 pages. But it is a refreshing change from other texts on the same subject written by folks who think MS products are infallible.

Why did I get this book? I'm not an IT person, but I write a lot of code... mainly for PHP/MySQL-based web sites that usually run Unix-based systems using Apache servers. When offered the challenge of designing a huge web-based application for my employer's intranet, I accepted, but only later found out I had to run my scripts on a Windows 2000 Server. And to make it worse, I would not be allowed to administer the server... only our IT department staff was allowed admin rights to it. And if that wasn't bad enough, no one on our IT staff knew how to run Win 2K Server. Yet they expected me to have all the answers for them. This book has given me the answers.

Now, don't get this book if you are looking for guidance on running PHP/MySQL on Win 2K... no no no. There's plenty of information on the net for that. What I'm talking about is the stuff like Active Directory, or DSN, or SMTP... things that I needed to know to get all our users up and running with the correct permissions to specific directories, databases, email, etc. Its a good introduction to the topics to familiarize yourself with the terminology. If you need advanced coverage on a topic, you may need to get other resources. But this has been a great starting point for me.

One point I want to re-emphasise... before I bought this book, I bought another book on MS IIS 5.0 which just about made me sick to my stomach. The other author was some kind of pro-MS zealot and laced the book with lots of sugary-sweet praise for MS. But not Minasi. I was impressed with his balanced perspective and his mix of both compliments and criticisms.

Anyway, I recommend this to people who know little to nothing about Windows 2000 Server.

I did a review of Mark's book on 02/11/01 for the second edition which I really enjoyed and I am not going to repeat most of what I covered there. The third edition is a nice improvement - particularly in the area of Active Directory and the all important DNS. I recently achieved my MCSE certification for Windows 2000, and after reading over a dozen Windows 2000 books I will say that in my opinion Mastering Windows 2000 Server 3RD Edition is the best single volume Windows 2000 book available. If you are considering studying for the W2K MCSE I highly recommend that you read this "real world" book FIRST all the way through instead of trying to concentrate on areas pertinent to each exam individually. A good understanding of Tcp/Ip, DNS, and Active Directory (including group policies and delegation), that this book will give you, is crucial for your success. The chapters on IIS and Terminal Services were much better than anything I read in any of my "core four" books. Mark's writing style of course is very enjoyable and his tips are much appreciated. Now being a little critical, I would have liked to have seen info on configuring remote access policies, certificate services, and ipsec - maybe next edition. Still a must own book for serious Windows 2000 Server users.

This is the book that made me wonder how come all those other technical books make learning Windows 2000 such a difficult and confusing task. I was lucky though since this was my first book on Windows 2000 and I got it at a time when I really needed to get to grips with it fast.

With absolutely no experience in Windows NT 4, networking or administration, I had to learn Windows 2000 Server and the theory at the same time, including DNS, WINS, DHCP, TCP/IP, Active Directory, scalability and security. I literally read the whole thing over a weekend and went ahead the following week to single handedly set up a Windows 2000 based LAN for a small company, and was able to easily cope with all their demands. The network was soon up and running with the Active Directory, DNS, WINS, DHCP and TCP/IP in perfect working order. It is no exaggeration to say I owe the project's success to this book alone.

Mark and his team's writing style make reading it a pleasure. Depth of content gives you a deep feeling of satisfaction that you've covered the subject thoroughly and gained a very clear picture. This is the book by which I judge the quality of other books on Windows 2000 topics, and I have yet to find one that contained something this book didn't tell you and nowhere near as clearly or comprehensively. I have not yet needed to look at another book on Windows 2000 Server, and nor do I think I will.

The book starts out with an introduction to Active Directory, installation (local and remote), the MMC, the Registry, Hardware installation and Storage Management, followed by Managing User and Computer Accounts, File Sharing, Software Installation, Network Printing, Connecting PC Clients and Macintoshes, Terminal Services, How Running a Big Windows 2000 network is different, Novell Netware Integration, a massive 250 pages on TCP/IP in Windows 2000, Internet Information Services, Tuning and Monitoring, Backup and Disaster Recovery, the Remote Access Service and ends with a handy appendix explaining over 30 of the most useful Performance Objects that can be used in the Performance Monitor.

Mark Minasi has deep insider's knowledge of the product and you can sense his enthusiasm as he shares his knowledge with you, leaving nothing out and all with a light touch of humour and very well organised. This is the best book on Windows 2000 Server and I would especially recommmend it to those just starting out, although I'm sure it's every serious administrator's essential Windows 2000 companion too.

Texts are not easily to follow. Diagrams and help notes scatters around pages which make readers confused. If you are preparing for Step 1, I recommend you study Lippincott Biochemistry, Board Review Series.

I love this book on biochemistry simply because it was the easiest to read, with diagrams and pictures even dumb people like me can read (gg). I also found that it is very comprehensive also. Some of the other titles I've read on the subject (Lippincott, Harper's) did not go into the detail of this one. Another positive note is that this is a clinical book also; giving you case studies in each chapter to test your knowledge. I can't say enough about this book and even referred it to one of my friends. Although not required in Chiropractic College (Lippincott was), it should have been the standard.

This book shows how biochemistry courses can be made interesting and pertinent. I love the clinical symptoms and diagnoses boxes. Various biochemical processes are made relevant by linking them to symptoms and diagnoses. Remember in college when biochemistry was essentially a memorization exercise? Not so here. I am not a doctor or med student but I do have 24 hours of bio and take it from me this is a unique biochemistry text. The layout and design of the contents is very good. Well worth the price and deserving of shelf space in your library.

Owning your own home has long been considered the American Dream. For many, that includes designing and building the homes themselves. But building a home is a complex project filled with pitfalls and traps, and unwary budding homeowners can find their dreams turning into nightmares.

Enter Mark Smith, who has built several houses of his own. Written by a man who acted as his own general contractor, "The Owner-Builder Book" is crammed with useful advice on how to oversee your own project, from planning to construction. But be warned: it's unflinchingly honest about the amount of work and stress involved. While Mark Smith writes that it's possible to build a house in six months, first will come at least a year of planning and organizing. Once construction begins, you'll have to deal with ensuring that subcontractors appear on time and finish their work on time before the next group of workers appears. You may also have to deal with problems such as late deliveries of materials, subcontractors who don't show up, or who demand advances before working, threatened lawsuits,

Reading this book will give you a better appreciation of what the general contractor goes through. It will either fire your desire to run the show yourself and pocket the savings, or gratefully turn over the work to someone who does it for a living. But what it will also do is give you the information needed to make informed decisions that, even if you work with a contractor, will save you money.

When it came down to owner-building my house, I purchased a whole slew of books hoping that all of them together would help. I found the Owner-builder Book to be the only book that did. I carried it with me everywhere and it came through for me time and time again. I learned many valuable lessons that I've carried on into my everyday life as well- one of which is "Plan, Plan, Plan". I've found that what he says is true, that for "every hour you spend planning, saves 4 hours in execution". This book is everything I was looking for and more!

I was fortunate to come across this book as I was making my decision to owner build my custom home. This book was an excellent resource and it allowed me to go in to my construction effort well informed and ready to tackle the project. From tax insights, to planning and organizing techniques this book covers everything that I needed to know. It's step by step plan of attack, and it's insightful and fun to read reminders truly helped me get into the drivers seat. In the end, I was able to save a substantial amount of money in the construction of my home, as well as avoiding several headaches, and mistakes along the way. The owner builder book chronicled owner builders like myself who had a story to tell, and insider tips. I also learned strategies that enabled me to take advantage of tax benefits. In owner building, knowledge isn't only power, it's tremendous savings.

You know, typically people don't make you pay to read their advertisements. This is an exception. Each of the self-serving articles in this book is followed by a 1-2 page advertisement for the author that, not surprising, offers a service to solve the problem outlined in the article. How convenient! This book is a glorified collection of vendor-sponsored white papers.

This book was a valuable resource. Many tid bits of info that can really make a big difference for your success.

Very good help in the little practicum.