Parents will want to use this as read-aloud material: it provides a thick treasury of Paddington Bear stories, accompanied by Peggy Fortnum's line drawings watercolored by her step-granddaughter. Paddington Bear is always in trouble, and this provides an excellent, whimsical set of adventures for newcomers and prior Paddington fans in a fine keepsake edition.

Paddington, a small bear from "darkest Peru," definitely needs looking after as he always finds himself in one sticky situation after another. I discovered P. only a few years ago. I had MEANT to read the P. books for YEARS, but somehow hadn't gotten around to it. After I finally read A Bear Called Paddington, frequently laughing out loud at Paddingtons' "situations," I immediately found the next three books, then the next three...

I am delighted that the Paddington books have now been bound in one volume and am equally delighted to be adding this to my collection.

Michael Green's 'George Patton and the Battle of the Bulge' is one creative piece that explains the details of the Battle of the Bulge. Michael Green has been one of the most profound authors on military issues and World War II related books. The book provided in depth information on what Patton and his third army did when the Germans launched a desperate counter-offensive called 'Wacht am Rhein', translated to be Watch the Rhine where the Nazi defenders charged through the Ardennes. Combat maps, quotes from the soldiers, Patton himself and even from accounts of German soldiers gave highlight to strength and weaknesses of both sides of the war. Real photographs and comments from soldiers interviewed at the time, including the American third army, the German Volksgrenadier divisions making Michael Green's 'George Patton and the Battle of the Bulge' a great book for me to read.
Micheal Green is technically one of the most best authors on Patton and World War II related material, with his array of books already published like Patton's Tank Drive: D-Day to Victory and Patton: Operation Cobra and Beyond. All those experience gained from writing these previous books about Patton helped to make 'George Patton and the Battle of the Bulge' better and more comprehensive. Michael's Wife, Gladys also contributed to his works as his co-author and assistant. As we all know, two brains is always better than one.
'George Patton and the Battle of the Bulge' is one meticulously crafted book with details to many fine elements of the war many books overlooked. One hundred sixty pages in font 10 San Serif and pictures describing the war that even tells what weapons the soldiers depicted are using.
'The most important favor that influenced Hitler's decision to attack the Ardennes was the Allied advance across France to the German boarder, between August and September 1944. Hitler Considered this a more pressing danger to Germany than the Soviet advance in the east. The American crew of a .30-calibre (air cooled) machine gun, fires at German positions somewhere in France. National Archives'
Details like this make this book an easy reading for the short time that I am pressed.
The book is divided into 4 large chapters/sections, Opening moves, The German attack and American reaction, The road to Bastogne, Clearing the Bastogne area. This concept of simplicity helps the reader to be not confused with useless details that ruin many great books and chapter titles with known settings (i.e. The road to Bastogne) help the reader to feel easy with what they already knew. A great book about the war has always been awarded for its simplicity and this one is no other. The first chapter, Opening moves starts out like this:
'Many historians and writers have suspected that the idea for the German Ardennes counteroffensive of December 16, 1944. (Know to Americans as the Battle of the Bulge) was first conceived in Adolf Hitler's mind sometime during the last two weeks of July 1944.'
Simplicity and word choice made the book a breeze and without much pain to read. Its like one of the shows from the History channel, the book gives its information in descriptive narratives. 'Despite this lack of confidence, Hitler still retained the respect and admiration of the Army's rank and file in late 1944 till the end of the war.' This kind of writing in my opinion is much easier to read than writing with much high frequency words and have to dig through the dictionary to fully understand what the book is about.
Overall reading this book is a success and I enjoyed reading this book very much. Now I have purchased this book and that is one of the signs of my approval of its '1337ness'. Counted over 190 pictures to help out my reading and that averages out more than one picture per page. Almost a picture book and still provide enough information for me to take the information from the text and process it with efficiency. This book should definitely be published in hardcover and should be a collector's must have for Patton enthusiasts.

Michael Green is hands-down the best author I have ever read on this subject. With his array of military books, I just can't seem to get enough of his well-informed and enlightening books. The pictures in this particular book are just astonishing and greatly complement the articulate and intelligent text. Green has once again taken my breath away with this book! I recommend it highly, as I do all of his books. My wife and I both know that they are at the top of my shelf!

Walter Benjamin has progressed over the years from an obscure lesser member of the Frankfurt School to a widely read leading member of that obscure school. Aided by such as Hannah Arendt, who introduced him to a wider audience in her writings (and also to me), readers have come to appreciate Benjamin for the beauty of his writing as well as his sharp insight.

This volume, along with its companion, is an excellent introduction to the style and thought of this man who, while out of step with his times, possessed the insight to give those times an original critique.

Possessed of a lively style and free from the Marxist bagge that weighs down his Frankfurt School colleagues such as Adorno and Horkheimer (I think Benjamin owes much more to Heidegger than Marx), Benjamin will hook any reader who takes the time to spend an hour or two with this book. From here it's an easy step to purchase other Benjamin writings, a step I can almost guarantee.

While his work is as important as Barthes, Foucault, or Derrida, or any other critic of the 20th Century, Benjamin's work has a mystical quality, a kind of enchantment, that resonates much more than any other critic I have read. It is always human and sensitive, even despite his determinedly impersonal tone.

When I think of Benjamin, I think of Emerson's famous line about Hawthorne - that he was a greater man than any of his works betray. The integrity and character of Walter Benjamin shines through his works, and is an inspiration to anyone who takes literature seriously.

This first volume of Bejamin's complete works is very attractive and welcome. Some of my favorite essays are present, such as his essays on children's literature, and the nature of language. I eagerly await the other two volumes.

This book is an excellent read : strong on substance without getting too complicated. The book does a good job of balancing the vision with the technology that is going on now. While this book does go into details (ontologies, taxonomies, XML technologies, RDF, web services, etc.), it does it in such a way that it is easy to understand. It is good in that there are some chapters that are geared towards businessmen (CTOs), and others geared for the more technical.

Don't think that you can read it all in one sitting, though. I just finished it, but I will probably need to re-read some of the chapters (the chapter on ontologies is very good, but is a lot to digest). I enjoyed this book immensely. Other books I have seen on this subject are way too difficult to understand.

This book is timely on the market. The importance of introducing semantics into a Java Web Services Architecture is important. The authors did a great job of explaining the problem space for freshers as well as those with experience.

Simply put, buy this book.

This is a great primer for Marshall Smith. He's out ofBritain, so some of his stuff isn't available on amazom.com so checkamazon.co.uk. It's worth the extra shipping fees. He's probably the best satirical sf writer out today. No dragons or ogres, just almost normal people in a messed up situation.

Sheer unadulterated brilliance is what Marshall Smith deliveres here. In a surreal world where people are cloned for spare parts, one man, down on his luck, comes to the rescue of beings considered less than human. Always enthralling, but at times you are unable to tell if this book is incredibly hilarious or really scary. Prepare for the most enjoyable assault on your imagination.

Scotty Smith has done an outstanding job of making Revelation applicable to the common reader. His insight into the concepts that permeate the Book of Revelation offer guidance for personal and corporate worship. So many writers deal with issues about Revelation that are either bad theology or dwell on minutia. This book uncovers the pratical nature of Revelation and its relevance to the church/Christian universal. I recommend it highly. It's my understanding the book is out of print. I hope the publishers republish and market this book. It's outstanding.

This book contains Scotty Smith's exposition of the book of Revelation and Michael Card's reflections on Revelation and how they shaped the songs on his album, Unveiled Hope. I gained great insight into worship from this book--how the perfect worship we'll enjoy someday at Jesus' throne should inspire our worship of the risen Lamb this side of heaven. I highly recommend this book.

During my internship this book and the Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics were the 2 books I couldn't live without.They give you quick information to solve almost any problem.

If you need quick information, or to reforce your knowledge in the Emergency Room, this manual could help to solve almost any problem. This is not a text book, is a reference where you can find a quick answer.

This book is a well-written step-by-step map to gaining control over IS/IT costs and strategic planning.

The core of the approach is active benefit realization (ABR), which is a continuous assessment and management methodology that is characterized by: (1) self-calibration/continuous improvement, (2) IS/IT management by all stakeholders (technical and business), and comprehensive understanding of IS/IT and how it supports business functions and processes.

ABR is immediately introduced in the beginning of the book, as well as why the approach is critical to fully integrating IS/IT into the enterprise as a business enabler. The next part of the book discusses key factors for evaluating information systems. This part is rich with checklists, tables and other useful artifacts. Building upon this foundation is excellent material on evaluation techniques, outcomes and benefit modelling (taking an investment-oriented approach that is one of the best applications and services portfolio management approaches I have come across), and the details of micro modelling (the devil, they say, is in the details!)

Once the foundation has been built the book presents the ABR approach as a process. In simplistic terms this process entails three phases: (1) Setting the course (capturing and understanding the business, financial and project views), (2) Formative evaluation (stakeholder management of the project - this approach is nearly identical to the approach prescribed by PRINCE2, which is the U.K. project management standard), (3) Moving forward (continuous improvement and calibration. In other words, consolidating gains and improving upon them in a methodical manner.) The last part of the book is a collection of tips, tricks and traps - this is essential reading and contains the collective wisdom of the authors. Heed every word because there are some real gems here.

I learned a lot from the book, including many standalone techniques for analysis, evaluation and financial assessment that I can use on other projects. As a whole, the approach embodied in ABR is sound and one that I will use on my next engagement that requires an in-depth analysis and formulation of a strategy, assuming of course, that the next client has a strong commitment to follow the course of action set forth in the book. The benefits of ABR certainly will provide a handsome return on the investment and commitment required to make it a success. This book is invaluable and highly recommended for consultants, CIOs and upper IS/IT management. It is also highly recommended for any project team operating under PRINCE2.

This is by far the best turkey hunting book I have read. It is very well set up and reads very well. It's broken up into sections that explain every aspect of the hunt, including tips for bow hunting, eastern turkey, Rio's and all others. It also explains how to roost a bird and pre season locating, a very important part of getting your spring or fall bird. There is an All-star line up of pros that give input and share the knowladge that they have built over years of being in the woods . This is a book that you could read every spring and still gather usefull info. So pick up a copy and enjoy, happy hunting

This is one book that needs to be back in print--though I don't grow camellias and can't speak to those, I think this is the best azalea and rhodedendron book around (esp. at a cover price of $9.95!) The book is broken into sections on selection, care, propogation and diseases/pests, and each section is easy to read and understand. The disease and pest section alone was worth the price of the book for me--I was able to identify and correct a problem in my garden before I lost any plants.

Perhaps the best part of the book is the back section, which provides detailed descriptions of hundreds of azaleas, camellias, and rhodedendrons. There are maps for each variety to show where it grows best, and the descriptions include the color, any unusual characteristics, special growing info, other names the plant might be called, and height/spread info. There are lots of pictures throughout the book, and this back section is especially helpful if you're trying to select a variety that suits your particular needs.

I recommend this book without hesitation!