This book has short summaries on the different periods and styles of western classical music, the commonly used structures, and short(1 page) biographies of about 50 great composers along with descriptions of their most well known works. It can be a good start for a novice listener who wants to explore the rich world of classical music and who does not know what to start with.

For the more experienced listeners, however, the book does not provide anything new. The section on deconstruction of classical music, for example, barely scratches the surface and admittedly so. The book is well written but owing to its organization, more like an encyclopedia, it is hard to read from cover to cover.

I found this book to be a pleasent introduction to a greater understanding of the genre of classical music. It is helpful, but not necessary, to have some understanding of music theory. Knowing what such things as polyphony and monophony are about all that you need to know. The introduction nicley summarizes the book's theme. This is a much better and cheaper way to get introduced to classical music then through such other books as "Classical Music for Dummies," or the "Idiot's Guide to Classical Music." The only thing I found somewhat questionable about this book was the choice of cd's that have been selected for one to build a collection with; otherwise, this book is a valuble resource for liteners be they curious or even casual. For those serious about classical music this book will seem too elemental for their tastes.

I found this to be a very helpful, friendly over-all guide to classical music. It contains brief descriptions of major works, capsule bios of well-known composers, and lots of helpful information presented in an easy to understand, down to earth manner. As a novice to this type of music, I found the vast world of Classical repertoire a bit intimidating, but Mr. Smith is not the least bit pretentious, and I found his writings warm and welcoming. I'm sure that even seasoned classical music fans will find this book a handy reference.

I expected more for my $35. This is a rather short book in which we hear at least as much from the editor as we do from Sgt. Smith. The reason for this is that many of the roughly 70 letters in the book are brief and lack much substance.

Those who've had experience with using civil war letters for research are painfully aware that it's usually a hit and miss affiar. The letters in this book have varying amounts of substance, just like most letters I've used for my research in college. The easiest explination for this is the monotony of life for a civil war soldier between the battles. However, Eric Wittenberg more than makes up for the understandable lack of action in some letters (hey, armies don't fight all the time) with his excellent commentary. This is the third work of Mr. Wittenberg's that I've read and once again I'm impressed by his grasp of the material and by his fortune of finding these wonderful letters. This book is a truly valuable source for all civil war cavalry researchers.

I am as impressed with Mr. Wittenberg's command of words as I am with the letters he annotates in this book. Sgt. Smith was a prolific writer, who at times may have left out a few details, but Mr. Wittenberg did a great job of filling those details in. For those who want to know what soldiers were really like during the Civil War, this is a good place to start!

Well as far as a book of fiction goes..it was readable..but to say that it is a true story is beyond any wild belief.The "plot" to kidnap Jefferson Davis was at best a ill conceived "dream" of the French characters of this book. Indeed if they had a true intent to kidnap the Confederate President,they would have had several back-up plans in the event all the pieces of the original plan did not fall into place. It turns out to be little more than a story of what the Confederates believed to be neutral frenchmen, traveling from Washington City to Richmond, on a lark. The story is full of the Frenchmen's value of self-worth and the feeling that the Confederates were ignorant fools that had no place in the civilized world. This book was hardly worth the read...and I do not say that about many books.

This book is very interesting, and an easy book to read for those who do not know much about the Civil War. It tells the story that very few people know about three brave frenchmen and their plot to capture the president of the confederates, Jefferson Davis.. Including the adventures they have a few weeks before and after their plot. I would recommend this book for anyone, especially those interested in Civial War History. This book was hard to put down.

I am definately not "into" Civial War history, but I found this to be a great book. I would make the same decision in buying it again.

If this book weren't the last of the excellent "Way of the Tiger" ninja series, it would deserve 4 or 5 stars. Unfortunately, "Inferno!" seems to have been the final book of the series. The problem stems from the fact that the book's "ending" is not really an ending. The hero's main quest remains unfulfilled at the end, robbing the story, and the entire series for that matter, of a satisfying conclusion.

I just wanted to make the comment that it DOES come to a conclusion of sorts, just not the one one would expect. Basically, the character takes on an impossible mission--going into the Rift, and pays the consequences, so basically any decision you make, you will end up dead (even at the end, apparantly, as you are trapped and about to die). I read this book years and years ago, and was trying to find out if they ever continued the series (the black widow could spontaneously croak or something, or the hero could make a miraculous escape, or even better, the series could continue, except 30yrs in the future, with avenger's son reclaiming the throne and fighting evil, or something like that). Overall its a good book, although not quite as good as some of the other superb books in the series. I was definitely disappointed to see this series come to an end.

It would be great if someone turned this series into a video game...

The test of a true prophet is his accuracy. Cayce has been wrong and does not glorify our lord and master. Check your bibles and verify everything

This is another good Cayce book, and it's unfair to bash this very spiritual man without a through study of his words. If we read what Cayce specifically said regarding Jesus Christ, we see how every reading he gave in trance, as in all areas of his waking life, he never once denied Christ or his divinity or his love for us. Rather, Cayce often said that nothing we do in any lifetime is as important as loving God and our neighbor as ourselves. In one very powerful group of readings, he taught that by his suffering and death, Christ actually took upon himself all our worst karma and thus freed us from that endless Karmic-Wheel-of-Rebirth Hindu's long to be done with. If we accept this salvation of being released by Christ's sacrifice from the necessity of subsequent births, but choose nonetheless to reincarnate, we do so as servant-souls: that is, our lives become a gift we're not obliged to make. Mother Teresa is a good example of such an evolved soul who came back not for her own spiritual gain, but to lead humanity closer to God. When people questioned Cayce about the safest place to be living during the coming earthquakes/tidal waves, he would reply, "Why do you worry so about where your body will be? You should be more concerned about where you are in your relationship with HIM every day!"

I don't take the Bible literally, and I don't mindlessly swallow everything Cayce says either. But I liked the exercises, which more or less focus on a "resonance" method -- that is, do the pictures, time periods, etc. resonate with you.

Explain whether othello is primarily responsible for the tragedy.

Perhaps I am just being prudish, but it seems to me that one should be glad for the opportunity to read Shakespeare as a requirement for school. Cliifs' Notes, as widely used as they are, do not give anything close to the sense of the unique genius of classic authors, one of whom is the unparalled William Shakespeare.

This book has a 20 page introduction on Asher and then about then about 20 pages of picutures and drawings. The rest of the pages are copies of two books written in ancient english that is very hard to understand even for an engineer. The drawings included are mostly cross sections of moldings, pillars and some truss diagrams (the truss section was interesting). It the kind of book you would thumb thru and say that is sorta interesting and then never pick it up again. I am returning it.

..., this book is not intended to be a current architectural resource.

It is a presentation, for research purposes, of two books that at one time served as the 'conceptual' blueprint of house building in the cities of America.

The introduction is clear and to the point, and the layout of the books well-handled.

I recommed this book to anyone interested in the history of architecture in America; I cannot recommed it as a practical builder's guide.

Simply put, this was a very boring book. It is so small that it does not have time to get invovled with the subject which it claims to cover. Nice try, but it is a waste of money!

An awe inspiring collection of the true stories of the mormon pioneers on their journey of faith to the Salt Lake Valley. The author does an incredible job of allowing the histories to speak for themselves.

Procrustes was a notorious scoundrel who waylaid unwary tourists. He'd stretch short tourists on a rack to fit a long bed, and chop off the legs of tall tourists to fit a short bed. So here does The Shadow Government with facts to fit Bracken & Smith's "State-Terror Thesis": namely, that the US government engineered the 9-11 and anthrax attacks. The motivation? To provide pretexts for unwanted wars and increased police powers. If you believe that, you believe in the Tooth Fairy.

Bracken & Smith's "State-Terror Thesis" rests uneasily on the hypothesis that terrorist attacks are too technically complex to have been done by a single person. However, one can't so easily underestimate the damage that may be done by a determined individual.

Bracken & Smith state that "Credible reports that the anthrax attacks came from within the US biological warfare establishment were made as early as November 2001." This "credible report" is traced to an unnamed "member of the US delegation to the United Nations, speaking in Berlin". It would be much more credible if we knew who this "member" is, but we don't. Like this book, it's not credible at all.

With even such highly respected social critics as Christopher Hitchens justifying a pro-war stance by opining falsely about "the frantic and discredited few who think or suggest that George W. Bush fixed up the attacks", this book is a must-read for students of the truth. The Shadow Government is a compendium of information about important real-life events that have yet to be investigated or explained concerning the state terror thesis with regard to 9/11. This research has not been "discredited", but simply dropped and/or not yet completely pursued by parapolitical researchers. Some of these situations will never be fully examined, making the fact that this is an early contribution to conspiracy literature on the topic all the more important to a broader audience likely to be swept up in mainstream efforts to rewrite the facts after the coming war.

In Fatal Honor, the Force Recon team faces the fact that they may have to split up due to half the team being dismantled for different reasons.
First, you have Night Runner, the AmerIndian gunny sergeant of the team - and by far the best character of the series - in trouble and facing a courtmartial for his conduct in the last book.
Secondly, you have Friel back at home trying desperately to get his head back together after what happened to him in the last novel.
Thirdly, you have Swayne and Greiner going on an op all by themselves and getting way over their heads in trouble with Saddam Hussein's terrorist squads.
The writer tries to tie this story with the 911 incident, setting it before the actual happening of it. This novel was the least of my favorites thus far in the series. But the character of Night Runner is so engaging and cool, it keeps it interesting enough for this one to come back for more.
I like all the characters of the 4-man team, they all have their differences in personality, but Night Runner truly shines.
This is still a fun and fast read, but the action sequences were not as exciting this time around. The best fight scene was when Night Runner kills 3 terrorists with nothing but a sword in the dark as he saves Nina. That was very well done.
I can't wait for the next installment.