Paul Cuffe who lived from 1759 to 1817 was a remarkable man. He was a self made man, a successful businessman and a philanthropist. He is the epitome of the American spirit. That he was a black man and the son of a freed slave and an Indian woman, makes his story that much more intriguing. In his time, he was the wealthiest man in the Westport, MA area which was in the shadow of the whaling and shipping port of New Bedford. He was also a founding member of the Westport Quaker Meeting which still is active today in a building which he provided.

To quote George Salvadore,another biographer: "Cuffe was a successful Yankee businessman as well as a Negro humanitarian. The key to his success lay in his eminent practicality, a characteristic that dominated all his activities, and, indeed, more than anything else explains his career." Lamont Thomas writes a very readable biography that conveys well the magnitude of Cuffe's accomplishments and the challenges of his era.

Paul Christensen has produced a smart and scholarly look at one of the key social groups in post-Soviet Russia -- the working class. While there have been a lot of books published in recent years that discuss the prospects for internal peace and economic growth in the former Soviet Union, Christensen's is one of only a tiny number to focus on the class that was supposed to benefit from the 1917 Revolution.

Flynn, a professor at Emory does a really nice job at elucidating a common problem. Foucault is casually lumped together in the structuralist/post-structuralis school because of his association with Althusser and Lacan. While that particular methodology is obviously an influence on Foucault, he distinguishes himself from them in various interviews which can be found in the plethora of collections that contain interviews and articles with or written by Foucault. Foucault (as I maintain and Flynn seems to imply) is more of a "constructivist" (a word I've heard him use to describe himself). In his genealogoy and approach to history he CONSTRUCTS clearer model of of the discourse surrounding our typical views of the social construct. He does more than elucidate the structure, he constructs some sort of history about it...HOWEVER, not to give any kind of conclusion, but rather as a disruptive act to spawn analysis and discourse.

In this way, he is like Nietszche (which he himself claims). He much prefers to be a disruptive force, or a catalyst for change and discourse than a scientific systematic philosopher. In many ways, this is his relationship to the Western Marxists (and Sartre, whose existentialism does owe a great deal to Nietzsche, which Foucault seemed to be proud of in some ways...i'm referring to both thinker's appreciation for Nietzsche). Sartre maintains subjectivity, and the ability of the subject to choose its own history, much as Engels asserts in Marxism, however, he admits like Marx claims, that there are a series of pre-determined factors that influence those choices (within the subjects environment). Flynn explores the TRUE subjectivity of existentialism...not as a will to power (though to an extent, this certainly is the case), but as the starting point for the intersubjectivity that molds our history, and its relationship to the Marxist project that elucidates the ills of captialism, the force behind the mode of production (which is the will of the people), and how we construct our history and discourse, and what that means about ourselves as individuals and our place in the world. Ultimately, reading Flynn's incredible and original book will offer a more thorough, documented and scholarly interpretation. He even pulls on some more obscure later Sartre (like the oft forgotten biography of Flaubert, "The Family Idiot"). His research is astounding, his understading of this very difficult material astounding. He makes a cohesive synthesis between existentialism and post-modernism, better than the post-modernists themselves.

Machlin, probably one of the world's leading experts on the brilliant, died-too-soon composer/performer/entertainer, Thomas F. "Fats" Waller, here takes us through a wealth of newly discovered sketches and compositions, *exhaustively* and elegantly transcribed. Machlin has a touch of Waller's puckish, dry humor (read the opening essay to see what a German-language newspaper said about one of Waller's shows). A must-have for any American music scholar/academic. Sadly, Machlin had not yet composed his wonderful contemporary satirical riff on the times we live in to the tune of Waller's "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" when this tome was published, but it's worth tracking down--one can presumably contact Machlin through Colby College, where he teaches.

THOMAS'S RAILWAY WORD BOOK is another in the seemingly endless parade of Thomas paperbacks, but I'm not complaining! The fact is, they're inexpensive and make a wonderful collection that encourages your Thomas fan to read. This one has vivid cartoon-like illustrations in primary colors with lots going on in the background to talk about. But there is NO story -- zip. The words are connected with what they represent, with arrows (coach, suitcase). The words are used in sentences, but make no plot. Still, my Thomas fans like me to read it over and over anyway, because I ask them "Where's the fireman?" or point to the train #5 and ask "Which one is this?" or "What's the helicopter's name?" I also make up mini-stories that use the words, and even though they're different every time, the kids will say "Read it again!" Or I ask them to tell me what's going on in the picture. That's a great mental exercise.

this is a very nice book. the design is not that great, but otherwise it is great. the art and pictures are very nice. the book was published in 93 so it shows a lot of earlier work by this very important artist. essays by baraka and mcevilley are insightful and should be read by anyone interested in art, black culture, or the politics of art and race. dial is in the 2000 whitney biennial, and this book makes you wonder why he wasn't in it earlier. the titles of the works alone make this worth reading. another book of note very much worth reading is souls grown deep: african american vernacular art of the south, published by tinwood books.

I have 4 years VB programming experience, but after read 7 chapters of this book, I'm still feel confusing. Everything are talked a little bit, but nothing is discussed in detail.
Each chapter is not well connected, this not like a book but like a huge magazine with a bunch of articles -- too many authers can mess up a good name book. They seems never talk to each other before and after writing this book. for examble, in beginning of chapter 9, it says: "By now you have learned how Active Server Page (ASP) use components." -- False! I never learned, at least in this book!
In chapter 6 -- DHTML Application. The example application is only working in VB IDE even after making the package. It's either the author's problem or Microsoft's problem.
As a "Professional VB Web programming book", it neither explains how to deploy a Web application well in general, nor teach you programming in detail.
This book turns me to read other ASP book.

Having purchased many other WROX books, I was eagerly awaiting this one for a current project. When it arrived I read through it like a mad man. Soaking up everything I possibly could. The examples are very clear and there are plenty of them! It covers everything from IIS, ASP and ADO to RDS, SQL, DHTML, MTS and WebClasses. All in one book! Plenty of examples with detailed descriptions and tables explaining the various methods for each function. I definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn about using VB6 for web development.

I rated this 5 stars because it has the most useful writeup on writing Server Components in VB for use with ASP - chapters 9-11. I wanted to do this and had trouble getting working samples and explanations. I feel that industrial strength ASP is very ugly and unweildy if you don't encapsulate the code into components. MSDN has lots of reference material about this but little, if any, useful "how to" stuff that i could find.

This book showed me how to do exactly what i wanted to do.

Other than that, it is a good introduction into a good number of web concepts, old and new. The first 3 chapters were a good overview of Microsoft web concepts and techniques. The writeup on web classes, if you like them, is good. I really liked the CGI case study including how to implement standard input/output via the win32 API.

The relatively free use of various win32 API functions in VB help overcome a general fear of mixing VB and CC++ functionality.

The book was a bit large but was well organized. In general it gave me a much higher opinion of Wrox books.

As a fan of both quotation collections and words of wisdom from the saints, this book was a big disappointment. Most topics had only a few quotes (something like 3-5 on major topics) mainly from the "big name" saints like Therese or Augustine, and little effort appeared to have been spent in the making of the book. The type is large and the spacing big in order to make it look like a large collection. I paid $for it, and that seems a fair price, but I wouldn't go much higher.

This is not the kind of book that you would sit down and read from cover to cover.

Rather, this is a superb resource for the student, academic, scholar, or writer looking for what a particular Saint may have had to say on a particular topic. Look up "Politics" for example, and you will find 19 quotes from which to choose on the topic.

Under the heading of "Abortion" for example, Saint Basil the Great is quoted as saying, "A woman who deliberately destroys a fetus is answerable for murder. And any fine distinction between its being completely formed or unformed is not admissible among us."

One of my favorite sections, on the Eucharist, features nearly 30 inspiring quotes on the Source and Summit of the Catholic faith. St. Francis of Assisi writes, "All those are damned who see the Sacrament of the Body of Christ on the altar in the form of bread and wine by the words of our Lord in the hands of the priest, yet do not see or believe in spirit and in God that this is really the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ."

No matter the topic, you'll find inspiring words from the saints in this wonderful collection. It should be on the bookshelf of most Catholic writers and scholars.

Paul Thigpen's latest book, "A Dictionary of Quotes from the Saints" is not only full of short statements on Catholic beliefs from the Saints and Blesseds, it is most helpfully organized. Whatever topic one wishes to explore, the alphabetized headings make it easy to find a quote for meditation, for composing a lecture, or for inclusion in an article. The Saints are our elder brothers and sisters. They speak to us here in this book from over all the ages to inspire, exhort, illuminate, and guide. A must for any serious Catholic who wants to know God better, to love one's neighbor more, and to witness to the Gospel message regardless of vocation.

I find this book extremely confusing. Many names were utilize throughout the book which makes it hard to follow. As an individual who is not familiar with the Mongolian history, the author fails to elaborate or explain the details of why a character does something. In this sense, I find the book disappointing. It is also disappointing that it does not go in depth of Gengis Kahn's warefare strategy. TWO THUMBS DOWN!

There isn't a plethora of books devoted to Genghis Khan out there and this may stem from a lack of historical information. No doubt, a large part of accepted knowledge is lore or estimation. Having an avid interest in asian history as a whole, I eagerly started this book. I was soon keenly looking forward to the kernels of interesting narrative that dot the book throughout. However, the uninspiring space between those kernels is daunting and requires determination. It may also require a tally board as one attempts to keep up with the family, allies, liaisons, enemies, followers, and friends of this Mongol warlord. Read it for the knowledge gained, but don't waste a rainy day, La-Z-Boy, fireside opportunity on the effort.

Those who want an exciting and romantically embelished account of Temujin's (Genghis Khan) life should stick with Harold Lamb. His account is certainly more fun, but also laced with poetic license that at times becomes outright misleading. Lamb is an introduction to the story of the emperor of all men.

But Ratchnevsky is the top of the line reference to Temujin and his amzing life. He weighs the evidence and directs the reader to the lesser known aspects of Temujin's life.

Nowhere else will you find mentioned that Temujin probably had disappeared for ten years to China before his comeback in the late 1190ies.

Few point out that Temujin was not the most daring of men, more of a planner than a fighter and not above saving himself first.

Rachnevskies book paints a less glorious, but much more realistic and human picture of the man who changed the world forever. Temujin's actions have been accounted for in many sources, but few allow us to understand his motives.

Instead of inventing awe inspiring moments, as Lamb does, and putting words into the mouth of the man, Rachnevsky presents the different sources and versions diligently; and strangely, this allows a better understanding who this great Mongol was than all the literary fancy of Lamb or the sycophantic impropabilities of Malik Juvayni.

Lamb and Malik Juvayni have their own merits, and are a must have for all who want to explore this amazing part of history, but without Rachnevskies scholarly integrity, true understanding would elude most.

Not for the casual reader, but Temujin deserves on less than full attention.

I understand there is a CD rom available which contains four volumes. Has anyone used this?

I wish I hadn't wasted seven years of my life reading this absurd book. Initially, it even prompted me to join the Trappist Order which resulted in serious psychological damage that I am STILL working through. I'll say this though; there should definitely be a screenplay because while the book does not effectively translate from the page I can see how Kurt Russel could bring to life so many of these saints to the big screen. I'd pay to see that flick, wouldn't you? Anyway, dont' read this book unless you have some sort of serious complex involving a deep desire for some self-flaggelation.

This book is well-written and provides interesting short biographies of some of the most famous saints. The book is arranged in a chronological manner, ordering the saints by their feast days.

This book is not a particularly in-depth looks at the saints, however for those with an interest in the important figures in the Catholic church, and the history of the church, this book provides many interesting tidbits.