Having read Lundstrom's excellent First Team books, I was anxious to get my hands on this book which he co-authored. After the first fifty pages, though, I was beginning to wonder about the tune of the book; I had anticipated a bit more down-to-earth approach, but the authors opted for the "hero in the making" style. Actually, the only interesting bits are in the latter half of the book, when Butch finally gets into combat flying, and as is the case with all Lundstrom's combat books, the dogfight descriptions are absolutely great. Likewise, the account of the death of Butch O'Hare is excellent.

The problem is that they only fill about a fourth of the book. The rest is filled with hagiography, which I was surprised to find. After all, we have the book "Bader - the man and his men", giving a detailed account of England's O'Hare, Douglas Bader, minus the holy approach. It is possible to present the life of a true hero without superficial glamour, but Lundstrom and Ewing missed it here.

Another case in point is Blackburn and Hammel's "Jolly Rogers". There, too, a hero is given a thorough treatment, but there's no added sugar. Maybe it is because the authors are not accustomed to writing from this angle; I think I'll stick to their pure combat books.

Authors Ewing and Lundstrom have done an excellent job of telling the story of Butch O'Hare. Born in March, 1914 and raised in St. Louis, Butch loved the simpler things in life. He enjoyed spending time with his father hunting or fishing, or playing with his younger sisters. Family was always important to Butch, and the authors do a good job of stressing this throughout the book. Butch eventually left St. Louis and attend Annapolis, graduating in 1937. Butch's first assignment was aboard the battleship New Mexico, and he quickly developed an affection for the ship's float planes. After serving aboard the New Mexico, Butch signed up for flight training and was stationed at Pensacola, Florida. There, Butch earned his wings.

Butch's most famous flight occurred on February 20, 1942. Butch was on board the carrier Lexington when a group of Japanese torpedo planes attacked the task force. Butch scrambled his F4F Wildcat fighter off the deck and rose to meet the enemy. In the span of about 5 minutes, Butch single-handedly shot down 6 of the attackers while saving the task force from certain damage. Butch was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Roosevelt at a ceremony at the White House. Afterward, Butch embarked on a war bond tour where he visited factories and gave rally speeches. While on a visit to Grumman, Butch was able to talk to designers about the limitations of the F4F. This input led to the development of the F6F fighter, which Butch would fly later in the war.

The authors do a good job of describing in great detail Butch's war days. I felt like I was flying right along with him. Particularly interesting was the detailed description of Butch's final flight. After attacking a group of Japanese planes, Butch's night fighter group was to regroup and head back to their carrier. However, a series of unconfirmed and sketchy events occurred which led to the death of Butch. Some people believe that Butch died as a result of friendly fire, while others believe that a snooping Japanese plane managed to get close enough to shoot Butch down without being detected. The authors claim the latter, and I agree with their assessment.

Butch O'Hare was a true war hero. His bravery and courage were shining examples to others, and his heroism was a true morale booster during the dark early days of the war. A replica of Butch's F4F stands in O'Hare airport, named for him, in Chicago. Read this excellent book and experience the life of a true American hero.

The authors obviously researched their subject quite thoroughly in preparation for this excellent piece of history. In my previous readings, Butch O'Hare has remained somewhat of an enigma. This book provides great insights into the man and his times. This is a great tribute to an American hero. I wish there were more books like this about about other heroes from this time period. Men like John Basilone, Alexander Bonnyman, and Richard Bong need to have their stories retold for a new generation of readers

I liked this book because it's about camping and I like camping. The fish had a great picture. Henry's mother was setting up the camp and the really funny part was when Mudge unpacked a ham sandwich and it looked like a bunch of leaves. His dad brought his guitar and a smile on his face because he was happy to be camping. It was funny when Henry and Mudge thought that there were bears so they were hugging each other. I thought it was a good book because in the end Mudge does something really funny but you have to read the book to find out what it is.

In their 17th adventure together Henry & Mudge go camping with Henry's parent. Out at Big Bear Lake they take A Good Smelly Hike & have some sweet Green Dreams. While Henry's mother organizes the trip because she's been a Camp Fire Girl & Henry's dad brings along his guitar & a willing back, Henry and Mudge imagine what they'll see on their camping trip. Ah, here comes summer - let's go camping together! Great early reader. ()

We have every one of the Henry and Mudge books and have been reading them to our daughter since she was two. She is four now and she still loves them. We would reccommend these books for both boys and girls. There is a Henry and Mudge book for every occassion. Henry and Mudge and the Starry Night is perfect to prepare for a camping trip. The feeling of a campout comes through loud and clear and the story is delightful.

Like any compendium whose chapters were written by different experts, The Biology of Business has its ups and downs. As a collection of ten deeply informed essays on complexity theory management, its voices vary. But when you're in the perilous business of trying to predict just where the cutting-edge of technology will cut next, is that really a bad thing? The diversity and scope - what is now fashionably called "bandwidth" - of this volume surely could not be matched by any single author's work. As you read through topics as diverse as law, marketing, nurturing start-ups and the application of advanced biological concepts to management, you will indeed find yourself challenged to adapt. That's as it should be. Reading this book may change the way you perceive your business. As the biological paradigm continues to spread through consultants' minds like a complex adaptive mold spore, we from getAbstract strongly recommend this sophisticated book to help you stay au currant.

In the Foreword, Esther Dyson explains that this book explores "the details of complex adaptive systems (CAS) and how they apply to organizations and businesses. The underlying principles comprise the seven basic elements outlined by John Holland [in Hidden Order: How Adaptation Builds Complexity] for any self-organizing enterprise: aggregation, tagging, nonlinearity, flows, diversity, internal models, and building blocks. Master these basics and you will be better equipped to build an organization that can respond rapidly to complex and diverse challenges, in a distributed and self-coordinating way."

Clippinger serves as editor of ten separate but related essays, and, as the author of two of them. One of the most interesting concepts (discussed by Clippinger in the book's first chapter) is the "The Sweet Spot Between Excessive Disorder and Excessive Order." With Darwin's theory of Natural Selection in mind, Clippinger suggests that "The challenge to all forms of complex organization, from the simplest proteins to the most complex societies, is to survive in the particular 'fitness landscape' in which they find themselves. In the starkest terms, the challenge of survival is that of searching an enormous landscape, or space of options, in sufficient time to avoid extinction." In times such as these when change is the only constant, it follows that the "sweet spot" is mobile; how we define "excessive" disorder and disorder today, therefore, may well be inadequate (if not dead wrong) tomorrow.

In the final chapter, "Emergent Law and Order: Lessons in Regulation, Dispute Resolution, and Lawmaking for Electronic Commerce and Community", David R. Johnson has some especially informative comments on the subjects indicated by the chapter's title. If change is the only constant, if measurements of "excessive" order and "disorder" are themselves volatile, what hope is there for organizations which must compete in such an environment? Johnson observes: "The lawmaker and dispute resolver of today must be more gardener than sovereign, building a trellis, grafting new plants, fertilizing open ground. The wise ones, who know they can only water and weed, not manufacture or command, will be rewarded with the knowledge that their actions will lead to a richer social and economic harvest."

Don't be misled. This brief excerpt is not from the script for the film Being There in which the mentally-challenged character played by Peter Sellers unknowingly suggests correlations between agriculture and economics. Johnson's metaphors are apt and highly sophisticated, correctly suggesting all manner of complex and profound implications which can be derived from the aforementioned "underlying principles" which comprise "the seven basic elements" outlined by Holland. If your organization needs help with "decoding the natural laws of enterprise", I highly recommend the essays so carefully organized withn this book.

This book is a must read for anyone struggling to understand, much less manage in the chaos of the new economy. It has become required reading for every new executive hire in our company. We are building a corporate culture based upon the principles of self-organization and in our vision, strategy, and execution we apply the principles and insights elaborated in this book. The different chapters ground what can be abstract theory in concrete examples on how CAS perspective can be applied to business problems. We are not alone in our enthusiasm for this book: Jay Walker, the founder of Priceline and Walker Digital is a careful reader of the book and has advocated it for his company and his business partners. Robert Galvin, former Chairman of Motorola, and now Chairman of The Board of Trustees of the Santa Fe Institute, has recommended it for his Board of Trustees. The book helps makes sense of how new networks can emerge from the bottom up to challenge and displace traditional distribution and market channels. This is where the world is going and this is one of the few books to provide a CAS framework that makes sense to the business person.

While "How People Grow" concentrates on a small group setting, the book is also valuable for the individual person struggling with spiritual growth.

Among the many interesting points the authors describe include:

1. We have to give up our self-sufficiency and submit to God's rule in our lives.
2. Humility is an essential trait for bearing pain and we are created to be dependent on God and others.
3. We are responsible for submitting our will to God's will.
4. Guilt is inwardly focused while godly sorrow is focused on how we have hurt others.
5. Grief is an essential part of spiritual growth.
6. Psychology is to used only to support, not supplant, the Bible.
7. We need to show people that change is not just for religious reasons, but as the way to a better life.
8. God has a special tenderness towards those who are needy and brokenhearted.
9. Life works much better when we surrender lordship to Jesus.
10. Excellent points on dealing with rebellion and overcoming temptation.

Additionally, the book stresses the importance of being accountable to safe people who are interested in our spiritual growth and are not out to just judge others.

The book is highly recommended for either the individual or small group leader interested in facilitating the spiritual growth of others.

I believe the book would have been even more valuable if more text had been dedicated to developing strategies for finding safe people to confide in and some specific steps to facilitating growth. In other words, many principles were stated but fewer strategies were mentioned. For example, the tips for growers and facilitators at the end of every chapter could have been more specific (what questions to ask, what specific steps can you step to help those hurt by distorted Bible teachings, how can you teach the value of godly sorrow, etc.).

The complaint aside, I highly recommend the book!

Just as popular author and psychiatrist, M. Scott Peck, M.D., (The Road Less Traveled, etc.) contends, Cloud and Townsend resoundingly conclude that "All growth is spiritual growth" (p. 9).

The authors face the classic dilemma of theological and psychological integration: "It seemed to me that there was the spiritual life, where we learned about God and grew in our relationship to him, and then there was the emotional and relational life, where we learned how to solve real-life problems" (p. 19). Cloud and Townsend answered the challenge head-on by seeking the Bible as their sole authority in all of life and behavior and now teach wholeheartedly "the Bible as the source for teaching about growth and healing" (p. 10).

The book, therefore, examines three areas of growth: (1) Knowing God more deeply [what we traditionally have called 'spiritual growth']; (2) Knowing yourself more deeply [emotional growth]; (3) And knowing others more deeply [relational growth].

My wife and I went through "How People Grow" last fall and were energized and encouraged by the fresh and relevant insights revealed in this book about how the bible speaks to personal growth. I grew up with a notion that the bible was not applicable to every day life, and this book has helped to turn that notion on its head. We kicked off a men's ministry group at our local church going through this book and now have as many as 12 men (including one professed atheist) coming together weekly to go through a chapter and "Confess our sins to one another and be healed." (James). I am amazed at what God is doing through the authors and the New Life Live ministries radio program. I have read many of the authors other books and I think this is their best work yet.

Calvin has been misunderstood by many -- including many believers who never read this book. ...It brought me to tears of repentance and renewed sense of God's great love and power. It expanded my thoughts of God in my heart. God became greater and bigger through this book, thus my worship of God became more profound and sincere.
1. This book is utterly God-centered. In this book, Calvin repeatedly emphasizes that men are created for God and His glory alone. Therefore, he rightly proves from the Scriptures that: creation, predestination, salvation, and our life before Him are all for that end (glory of God).
2. This book exalts the Gospel of Christ above all things. So we see why he was so harsh against Roman Catholic Church in his time, where Gospel of grace has been replaced by indulgence and superstition. In the Gospel of Christ, Calvin points out our weaknesses and God's great mercy. Actually, some were saved by reading this book during Puritan era.
3. This book uses the Scriptures masterfully. It shows that Calvin only made his point when the Scripture warranted it. Therefore, it is powerful in its assertion and authorative.
4. This book is ultimately life changing if read properly. It did me. Calvin emphasizes self-denial for all christians. He challenges believers to take up the cross and explains what that means in our thoughts, in our relationships, in our life, and in our worship.

NOTE:
(a) Many believers dislike Calvin because they do not believe in the Reformed doctrine of Predestination, and because of it they dismiss all other Calvin's teachings that are truly edifying. But before Calvin, Reformers like Luther (see, Luther's "Bondage of the Will") and Huss also taught it and emphasized it. Calvinistic predestination is not Calvin's creation, but was widely held because it was Scriptural.
(b) For those who believe that Calvin burnt people on the stake b/c they differed with Calvin are mistaken. People bring up Servetus who was burnt on the stake, but failed to know that it was not Calvin's doing. Servetus denied Trinity, during that time, denial of Trinity meant death (i.e., "Codex of Justinian", in Roman Catholic Church, consequently, Servetus was wanted by Roman Catholic Church to be burned as well). It was the Little Council members of Geneva who decided it. Calvin actually wanted a more merciful death -- beheading, but the Council rejected Calvin's plea. Calvin throughout Sevetus imprisonment, debated with him so that he may win him to true faith, so that he may not die.

This book will help you to grow in your knowledge of God and your devotion to God. This book has been time-tested, and it has many witnesses whose spiritual life is better because of it.

Hearing Calvin criticised for having people burned at the stake is like hearing America criticised for fighting communist and nazi fascism in the 20th century. The Catholic Church tortured, mutilated, imprisoned, repressed, oppressed, and burned at stakes untold millions of human beings; and they kept the Word of God away from all the rest of the human beings unfortunate enough to be living under its thumb. The Protestant Reformation heroically did away with this oppression and murder of Christians and Calvin crystallized the theology (i.e. in this case what the Bible says) for all time in the Institutes of the Christian Religion. Go to the Bible first as always. You CAN now because of men like Calvin who risked their lives to bring the Word of God to the everyday man and woman and child who is inspired to read and learn God's Word. For help after the Bible itself the Institutes are simply a primary, foundational explication of the Word of God written with a common, non-specialised audience in mind. The demogoguing that goes on regarding it has mostly to do with the fact that Calvin was uncomprising in presenting what the Bible itself says, and he doesn't bring it down to the level of vain understanding of a human being, but takes it right up to the ceiling where it becomes mystery and then leaves matters there. This means he presents many things that are not easy to grasp by those looking for a connect-the-dots explanation of deep mystery and that can be propagandized endlessly by those who either do not believe the Word of God is inspired or who have a problem with any Christians who are not of the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox churches and who know that very few people have the time or inclination to actually read the massive Institutes. Read the Bible first and last, though, and thank the Protestant Reformation that you are able to do that.

Few books written by mere men are this worthy of the time it takes to read them. From beginning to end, every thought, and often each word, is worthy of contemplation as Calvin's great mind for the word of God shines through - even in this translation from the original Latin. Be prepared for hours of study and searching Scripture as this work will drive you deep into the Bible to hear the unblemished Lamb speak to you. You may find even years after setting this book down that you will be occasioned to refer back to it as the Spirit applies Scripture to your heart and you remember the words of Calvin in this work. Many things you will read may appear at first to be incorrect, unreasonable, and heretical; but the value in this work is its ability to reclaim the Scripture from the world and our views of it. Few books will challenge you so.

Poorly written book. I was very disapointed. A lot of psycho babble (I should know because I have a degree in psychology). If you're a healthy, balanced person you have no need for this book. But, if you have emotional baggage from the past, you'll probably be thrilled with this book.

First, I ALSO have a degree in Psychology, in fact TWO degrees, Psychology and Counselling. I find that this book is very good. It explores ideas that Christians have or have been taught that may not be entirely accurate or Biblical. Very therapeutic. I read parts of it to a cell group and the group was very interested in studying it. So "Psychobabble" probably did not understand the book and is writing it off. Our group and myself feel VERY MUCH the opposite! Not that every word is true. A few ideas may or may not be true depending on circumstances, but on the whole this book is great and should be read by every Christian! Ever heard the idea, "God first, others second, me third?" Well, IF that were TOTALLY true, then how would you "Love others as yourself?" You would be loving yourself last, if you had time. So does that mean you love others last too? I hope you can see that "God first, others second, me third" sounds very spiritual but is NOT FROM SCRIPTURE. The book points out this and many other false assumptions. The only reason I say 4 stars is because, unless it is the Bible, I find it hard to rate anything 5 stars!

This book contains so much more than the title even suggests. It is also a thesis on sound mental health and healing from old emotional wounds. Many of the principles from Boundaries are also covered in this book. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking to better understand Biblical principles or anybody who wishes to heal from hurts of the past.

I just ordered a number of the Andrew Lang books from Amazon. The Blue Fairy Book arrived yesterday, and I could not have been more disappointed. It came in a very plain blue hardback. I opened it up, and NOWHERE inside is Andrew Lang mentioned, nowhere are any of the illustrations, from either of the two other versions I know. The production quality -- the paper, the binding -- is poor, and the "author" is listed throughout as "Anonymous." The publisher of this book is IndyPublish.com. I don't know the deal, or how they get listed under Andrew Lang, but I recommend that if you want a real Andrew Lang book, don't buy one of the IndyPublish books.

Andrew Lang's series of fairy-tale books are some of the fundamental children's reading of the twentieth and late nineteenth century. The stories are not "original": there's no such thing when they were almost without exception passed down orally; but they are in old, not very modernized tellings.

Many readers who have only seen or read modern, Disney-fied versions of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty or Snow-White will not recognize some of the darker twists in these tales. For example, in Sleeping Beauty, when the Prince wakes the Princess and marries her, the story is by no means over. The Prince's mother is an Ogress, whom his father married for her wealth, and it's suspected that she likes to eat little children; that "whenever she saw little children passing by, she had all the difficulty in the world to avoid falling upon them". The happy couple have two children, named Day and Morning, and the Ogress decides to dine on them one day when the Prince is away. Yes, it still has a happy ending, but Disney it isn't.

The illustrations--8 full page, plus 130 smaller ones--are all from the original 1891 edition. They're black and white woodcuts; very atmospheric, and I think most children will like them.

The only thing that might have to be explained to a child is the occasional use of vocabulary that is no longer current. Most often this is the use of "thee" and "thou"; but a few other words will crop up. However, they're usually inferable from context, and the stories are marvellous entertainment regardless.

"The Blue Fairy Book" is amazing. I am planning to collect all of Andrew Lang's color fairy tale books. It has an excellent group of stories from different fairy tale writers, including Perrault, d'Aulnoy, and Grimm. This book was originally printed in the 19th century. It has not been abridged, nor have any of the original pictures been taken out. (Be warned, they're *artistic*) These are the original, unaltered by Disney versions, and contain the nightmarish plots they were meant to have. Anyone who collects fairy tales should have this.

This author won a Lambda Literary Award for another book called MASSAGE in 1999 (perhaps I should have read that one). This book called MICHAEL wasn't a big HIT for me (I was hopeful since my name is Michael). It's more like a short story about a middle-aged gay man who is trying to find meaning in his life as he is about to 'follow the Light' to his death and be reunited to those he loves in the Heavens. There are some incidents that are brushed upon that clearly make him feel guilty about the way he (Stephen, the main character) lives his life. It got into a Christian religious tangent mixed with some homoerotic parts that weren't really necessary. Then, there's this whole 'end of the world' scenario with a nuclear bombing in Russia and planes disappearing & crashing in NY & elsewhere (a bit sinister since this was published in 2000--prior to 9-11-01). It's almost like the author is writing a story for himself about how he hopes the circumstances will be when he dies. When I think of this it makes it a bit more interesting.

I love and am haunted by this book because of the way Flesh is able to convince me that the end of the world really will happen on a hot Sunday in the Village -- that we will ascend, intertwined with our memories. The beauty and poignance of Michael are sometimes too much to bear. As with Flesh's other work, this is an exploration of loneliness, perfectly pitched -- Flesh knows the way cigarette smoke looks floating out a bedroom window, and the desperation of a man whose loved ones have ceased to be. And yet, at the end, there's salvation -- or seems to be. Anyway, Flesh has recently been compared to Burroughs and Genet, but in his deepest explorations of the stark human soul reminds me more of the late Richard Yates.

Michael is at once disturbing and deeply moving. Set in the East Village of New York in an apocalyptic future with Blade Runner atmospherics, the reader is immediately immersed in a world of both terminal despair and an odd excitement. It is not at all surprising, in such a place, that portents appear. We experience viscerally every memory, every thought, every action in an ambiance of anxiety, dread, and even joy. Michael is a work of intense, impassioned realism, unlike any book I have read before.

This book is a terrible representation of the Navajo Indians. None of the information that is in this book is a valid representation of their traditions. The information that we are teaching to our children from this book is false and very stereotypical. It should be taken out of every school.

An Indian boy asks his Grandfather to tell him about the night he was born, and the Grandfather ties another knot in the counting rope. The night was windy, and when the boy was born, they thought he might die. The Grandfather took him outside and two blue horses came by and gave him their strength. The boy lived, but lives in darkness. He begs begs for a promise that his Grandfather will always be with him, to which the Grandfather replies, "I love you, boy; that is better than a promise!" A gentle story of love, blindness, and some pretty illustrations make for a memorable book.

this is a book that has more intensity and insight with each new reading. it is the story of a physically handicapped child who with the support of his grandfather takes on a difficult challege and competes to his highest potential. the story integates overcoming challenges, uncondition parental love, hard work, and aging while finishing with a realistic outcome. the reader will be moved with pride and hope.

Discovering Fossil Fishes written by John G. Maisey is a book covering fish fossilization through out history. Spanning more the one-half billion years fishes are older than dinosaurs and have links to the tetrapods on land.

This book is highly illustrated with art work one nearly half of the pages with the dialog on the other half of the book. Fishes have a unique evolutionary history that stretches back in time, they are incredibly ancient and include the ancestors of all the limbed vertebrates living on the land.

I found the book to be highly readable and easy to follow as this book could be read and understood by those twelve years old or older. There are color illustrations along with fossilized pictures comparing both. This gives the reader a good approximation as to what the fossil would look like in life.

From their ancient ancestors, the craniates, fishes evolved not once, in a single lineage, but multiple times, filling countless biological niches. Given their long evolutionary history, itis not surprising that so many species of fishes exist today; one new fish species evolving every 18,000 years, or about 55.5 species evolving per one million years. The sum total of fishy diversity through time is far greater than now, and the evolutionary history of fishes is a vast and comples subject.

But, the author wrote this book with the layreader in mind and the prose are simple but very effective. as more fossil fishes are uncovered we will know better what the ancient world looked like and come to discover more of our own ancestors.

Maisey is a curator of vertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History. With this work he has brought the evolution of the fishes to the popular science reader. My only major complaint about this book is in format. I would like to have seen it arranged by geological period as apposed to taxonomic group. I also think that a more visual group of cladograms arranging all the fishes would have been in order. Many cladograms are included but they only show small snippets of the relationships between fishes and you have to piece a larger picture together throughout the book. The illustrations are excellent and you will have a hard time finding so many images of fossil fish, if you are just interested in seeing images of fossils then this will be great for you. I also liked how he discussed the development of major morphological features. While a person of specialized interest might be aware of these, having them all in one place is convenient.

If you have a developing interest in fishes or in vertebrate paleontology than this book would be good to have. It would also be a nice compliment to any library including material on natural history.

I came across this book while finishing my MSc at Guelph. The book soon made its rounds among all the ichthyology students and faculty. It is well written, lavishly illustrated and nicely designed. Seeing this volume going for so cheap surprises me. I paid 5 times more for mine. Any student involved with fish taxonomy, evolution and general biology MUST get this book. I found the lateral views a bit goofy but the paintings of creatures in motion in their habitat are superb. People who are interested in early life on our planet should also consider having a look at this one. BRAVO Dr. Maisey!