Tom Smith's "Cricket Umpiring and Scoring" is probably one of the most comprehensive guides to the skills of officiating in the game of cricket available. It is an indispensible companion for umpires and scorers alike. It not only includes the 42 Laws of the game with their notes (as compiled and released by the MCC in the 1980 Code), but it has full definitions and interpretations on each of the Laws. Knowledge of these Laws and how to apply them on the field of play as an umpire (or indeed a scorer recording the events on the side of it) is integral to the successful completion of any game of cricket, especially at the higher level. Smith's book gives umpires detailed guidance in field techniques and discusses possible problems and permutations in scoring. The book has three parts to it and covers every aspect of umpiring and scoring from duties before the match to off-the-field training tips. For anyone attempting to enter the game as an umpire or scorer (and for players wishing to improve their knowledge of the Laws), this book is highly recommended. Both novices and experts in the pursuits of umpiring and scoring will find the book informative and have regular use for it.

This is definitely THE book on centering prayer that I wish that I'd read first - rather than any of the approximately seven others. Compared to so many other books, on this topic, it provides a surprising amount of needed "how to" basics.
At the same time it is a short book, written in a light and easily flowing sort of style and tone.
While it is the book that I wish that I'd read first it also is a book that I'll repeatedly come back to - rereading portions of it that are particularly meaningful, to me. It really "says" a lot of the sort of thing that makes a person pause and think and reflect, and thus put somewhere inside onself where it can later, at the appropriate time, be brought to daily life experience.

a very readable text...interesting, well written, and full of colorful diagrams. a good introduction to a discipline i had taken for granted.

Consice instructions and beautiful pictures make this book a great addition to any gaming or furry collection. The authors supplied ample information regarding accurate historical events, weaponry, and ships to help any game master with good planning and fun gaming experiences. Detailed information about the different species *strengths and weaknesses* along with the social structures, economics, and a timeline of all major occurances are all packed in and ready for use! Great to help out in all other gaming worlds as well. Wonderful addition to anyone's library!

The Gospel of Thomas is the most important resource for the study of the teachings of Jesus outside of the New Testament. Andrew Smith's new version of the Gospel of Thomas is a fine introduction to that important text. His commentary on the "Inner Meaning" of the Gospel of Thomas, linking it to the "Fourth Way" school of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky, is very interesting; it is a landmark effort to make Thomas a useful spiritual guide for the present day. Today, Smith writes, "The Gospel of Thomas asks us to choose between being dead and becoming the image of God." In addition to a full translation of
the Gospel of Thomas, Smith's book contains a useful historically-based introduction to the text to enable ordinary readers to put Thomas into historical context and a set of penciled illustrations based on religious works by Rembrandt van Rijn.

Happy Incidents Along Life's Journey: Boyhood Memories Of The Civil War Era is the transcribed memoir of Thomas Smith Compton Senior, a man who lived through one of the most tumultuous eras in American history. Written down at the behest of his grandchild, these sparkling clear and vivid memories have been tactfully edited and presented to give a remarkable picture into what life was really like one hundred and fifty years ago. Happy Incidents Along Life's Journey is highly recommended and informative reading for students of American history and life during the Civil War era.

This book is so wacky. I loved all the three and four syllable words. I've never taken acid or anything like that, but I think reading this book is a safe way to simulate the effects of LSD on the brain. You can always put it down and do something normal for awhile, which is not possible with most hallucinogenics, I'm told. I read words in this book that I didn't even know existed. It made me think of all those planets we don't know anything about, which might have life on them, that may or may not be friendly, but are probably interesting, and may eat foods not like the foods we eat, and play sports which we would not recognize the point of, here on Earth. I highly recommend this book, even if you know nothing about international relations or postmodernism. This guy must be a really cool guy. I'd like to have a drink with him one time. Hey Tomas! Are you as cute as those big words you use?

This is a fantastic book on the art of consulting. As a previous partner of McKinsey, I took a lot away from this book that took me 20 years to learn previously. I highly recommend this book to every level consultant, doing any type of consulting.

Banchoff and Smith present readers with an edited volume that distinguishes itself on two counts: its chapters integrate theoretical concepts and empirical research in case studies that are original and timely; and the scholars' contributions to the volume provide a balance of European and American viewpoints in a dialogue that leads to fruitful inquiry.

The book analyzes legitimacy through the conceptual lenses of three approaches: policies; institutional changes; and identities. As an ensemble, the chapters in this volume strengthen our understanding of the European Union as a polity unprecedented in world affairs whose decision making is characterized by multi-level governance. By assessing critical analyses made in selected chapters utilizing each approach, the reader appreciates the volume's method and scope of inquiry.

Feldman's chapter explores the relationship between reconciliation and legitimacy on two levels: the internal dynamics of the Community/Union for which reconciliation and institutionalized cooperation from the Schuman Plan through crises in the 1980s/1990s provides a source of stability and legitimacy; and external relations by which "some of the character of the EU as a system of reconciliation and a peace community" offer a basis for the EU's role as a "civilian power." This is the only chapter that focuses on enlargement as a contested policy for the Union. Clearly a second edition would benefit from increased attention to the interplay between contestation and legitimacy in an enlarged Union.

Feldman's analysis confirms that member states recognize the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) as "a framework for contestation." Her conclusion that this framework exists in a polity which is hybrid challenges scholars not to limit their research to analyses that contrast neofunctionalism and intergovernmentalism. Instead we may inquire about the ways in which reconciliation could be a resource in the quest for increased legitimacy as the Union seeks definition as a polity and as an "international actor" in global politics.

Wessels and Diedrichs' analysis of legitimacy focuses on the European Parliament and the need to reconceptualize its role as an institution that cannot fit into either federalist or realist frameworks. This chapter displays the empirical excellence that distinguishes Wessels as one of the foremost theorists of integration. His articulation of a "fusion thesis" suggests that the European Parliament must legislate within a system characterized by competition for powers and differentiation of decision making procedures. This institutional context, which engages national and European actors in an expanding spectrum of interactions, renders citizens' understanding of the Parliament less transparent.

The authors touch on the relative lack of citizen interaction with the European Parliament, the challenges it faces to acquire internal discipline to enhance its use of the leverage acquired via the Maastricht and Amsterdam reforms and the fact that Parliament must compete with other institutions to be a focus of legitimacy in the Union. Each of these points is important to consider in light of the future accession of countries from central and eastern Europe. In these countries, citizen identification with national parliaments is particularly sensitive in the aftermath of decades of "rule from above." The ways in which these national parliaments interact with the European institutions may well determine, along with the economic benefits that can be perceived by average citizens, a degree of popular acceptance of the Union and its policies in associate member states.

Banchoff's analysis of legitimacy from the perspective of identity explores the challenges the European institutions pose to sovereignty in the French and German cases. This chapter utilizes a diachronic comparison or a comparison across time. Its focus on cases of treaty-making in the early 1950s and early 1990s offers the reader insights into two crucial periods in the history of European integration. The comparison is an informative one, although as Delors points out fruitful parallels could also be drawn between the negotiations and ratifications of the Treaty of Paris creating the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and those that led to the Single European Act (SEA) which relaunched integration in the mid-1980s. (Interview, Delors, June 22, 1999). This is primarily because of the impact of the Community method on both sets of negotiations and their impact on cooperation between the member states and European institutions.

Banchoff's assessment that French national identity is inextricably linked with popular sovereignty suggests that the changes introduced by European integration must be embedded in the life of national political institutions. This assessment is all the more relevant in the aftermath of German unification and the ruling of the German Constitutional Court on the Maastricht Treaty. In the post-1989 context, it is important to understand the meaning of sovereignty in Germany, which differs markedly from that in France, and to grasp the necessity to construct a European polity that is viewed as a "legitimate framework for politics" by the populations of the member states.

In the book's closing chapter, Banchoff and Smith explain that the conflict surrounding the Maastricht ratification brought the centrality of European politics in national decision making to light. The search for legitimacy, however contested in a multi-level polity, may lead state leaders to take decisions that reconstruct national identities in ways to promote compatibility with the integration project. The conclusions drawn by the editors illustrate the extent to which this volume is essential reading for those interested in the European Union. Its chapters contribute significant insights to our understanding of Europe's impact within national polities, thereby enhancing our knowledge of legitimacy in the Union as its complex system of decision making evolves in the 21st century.