In the style of the Footprint Series the Thailand Handbook is an exhaustive source for even the most ambitious of travellers. It is the best source for practical information on hotels, transportation etc. It is not, however, as easy to use or as visually pleasing as many others. For those who want to have all the information with them on their trip, this will be the book that makes it into the luggage. Not for those who have trouble with fine print.

When I left for Thailand, I was uncertain that this book would provide the information I needed to navigate Thailand. I quickly discovered this book had a wealth of information. The book led me to many relatively undiscovered towns, hotels, and restaurants, all of which provided a truly rich traveling experience. As for its practicality, the book is lightwieght, durable, using small fonts to pack data in. When in the company of those carrying Lonely Planet, I found others consistently closing their books in favor of the recommendations in my Footprint guide.

Forget Insight, Travel Bug and even Lonely Planet. They are all too heavy to carry on your destination. Leave them behind next to the armchair. Real travellers will want any book from this series: They are small, written on thin tissue paper, and print tightly spaced. The Thail book, which I am updating every two years has so much practical information, from hotels and fax numbers, to suggested itineraries, and maps. Indispensible to the travelling traveller.

'The Changeling' is a play with an extremely complex structure- the plot seems to start off with the potential to develop it's dark themes but becomes preoccupied with the use of coup de theatre; such as the potion and the grisly deaths. Beatrice is shown in the first scene to understand innuendo and is able to respond in kind to Alsemero, but is later naive to De Flores' demands. THIS PLAY IS UNBELIEVABLE AND STUPID!

Firstly, thanks to Joost Daadler for his stunning introduction to the edition I read of 'The Changeling'. The in-depth analysis of the psychological disturbances and functions that exist within the play (such as the ID and the unconscious dropping of the glove, etc.), help expand 'The Changeling' into a lot more than just (though this would be no bad thing!) a morality play where an orthodox Christian message runs predominant. I have never read a play that reduces the human to the bestial in such an intense and forceful manner, not shying away from the painful and somewhat humiliating view that human kind are more or less governed by their instincts; sexual impulse being one such motivating factor that can rid a human of any intellect ot reason that is supposed to constitute 'humanity' in the first place. This ia must read and not just a moral, didactic play either. It is not condemning sexuality but pleading with us that it must be understood. Overall, it is a tragedy that really challenges its reader into thinking hard about whether certain characters (e.g. Beatrice) can be more sympathised with than maybe one thought upon first reading. Read it!

Anyone who thinks centuries-old tragedies aren't relevant to modern times should read "The Changeling." With a few very minor adjustments, the plot and characters in this play could come right out of a modern crime novel, or even a modern true-crime story.

This is one of those plays where you read because you're more interested about what happens to the bad guy (and the bad gal) than what happens to the good guys. (Alsemero who! ) I envy the performers who get to play DeFlores and Beatrice-Joanna.

A lot of scholarly treatises about the play criticized the humorous subplot, claiming that it had no relevance and no connection to the main plot. My response is, "Hell-o! Is anybody home?" OK, that wasn't a scholarly response, but any scholar who can't see the thematic connection (characters who mask their true natures versus characters in disguise) doesn't deserve a scholarly response.

Anne M. Marble All About Romance

Wow! Want to get beneath the saccharine veneer most historians put on America's Federal Period? Want to see politics-as-usual so bad that you'll think today's politics-as-usual is positively altruism? Want to find out what life was like for newspaper editors in the days when truth was no defense against libel suits? Read Safire's Scandalmonger. Using their own letters and speeches, Safire gives us the Founding Fathers as we never saw them in our school rooms: the proud George Washington obsessed with his public image, the erratic and volatile John Adams, the dreamy and sensual Thomas Jefferson, the practical and flawed Alexander Hamilton, the crafty and self-assured Aaron Burr, the naive but loyal James Madison, and the coldly calculating, slightly reptilian James Monroe. And through it all walk two of the most remarkable, powerful newspapermen in American history, William Cobbett and James Callender, bitter enemies in politics but accidental allies in promoting freedom of the press. Adding to the book's educational and entertainment value, Safire reveals his sources and separates truth from fiction at the end of his novel. Novel? Well, maybe.

Twistery is the word used by the Author, William Safire, to qualify where he strayed from known facts. He provides a detailed explanation at the end so there is no confusion. It is impossible for me to judge, but I am confident that to the extent he twisted known history, it is a small part of this book. If he had stayed absolutely faithful to facts as they are known, but continued the novel-like style, as opposed to dry recitation of fact like many textbooks do, the book would be diminished just a bit.

The Players are not new, nor are the stories. Mr. Safire's gift is his ability to transform what can often be the tedious study of dates and facts, into a thrilling read. If he were to write textbooks, without literary license, the study of our Country's History would reach new levels of popularity.

Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, James Monroe, Dr. Benjamin Rush, all old and familiar, but all new here. Duels, stolen letters, written admissions of guilt, peculation, and pecadillos, these bits are all true. The Alien and Sedition act, one of the most notorious pieces of legislation in our Country's History plays a prominent role. Add then murder, wrongful imprisonment, treason, and trials with "The Hanging Judge" Samuel Chase.

And to bring the story into the present, the analyses of certain persons DNA to at once settle 200-year-old questions/accusations. Or do they not?

It may sound strange to say that I don't want to give any of the book's stories away, for how can you give away what is historical fact? But with or without the twistery, the book makes old information fresh, and shows that our elected officials today, and the press that follow their every breath have changed oh so little.

Buy it, you'll love it!

This book dovetails nicely into the same period and subjects of two other works I have read recently, "Founding Brothers" and "American Aurora", both of which I enjoyed. This work details the Federalist period from 1790 onward, and the opening years of the Jefferson presidency, and covers the ground very well. It is a novel, of course, but so well written it seems as if Safire was a fly on the wall in the various locales of the tale, and took down verbatim the words of the characters, historical figures all. His language is excellent, as is to be expected from this writer, who is a grammar maven. Once or twice, however, I seemed to detect a hint that some of the historical events were talked about a tad before they acutually happened, and once or twice there was some duplication, which should have been caught by a more zealous editor. They didn't detract from my enjoyment of this work, and I recommend it to anyone interested in this period of American history, and in particular, interested in the human side of the historical drama.

When rating Shakespeare, I am rating it against other Shakespeare; otherwise, the consistent 4-5 stars wouldn't tell you much. So if you want to know how this book rates against the general selection of books in the world, I suppose it might rate four stars; it certainly rates three. The language, as usual in Shakespeare, is beautiful. Still, it's far from Shakespeare's best.

For one thing, this is one of those cases, not uncommon in Shakespeare's comedies, in which the play has suffered a great deal by the changes in the language since Shakespeare's time; it loses a great deal of the humor inherent in a play when the reader needs to keep checking the footnotes to see what's happening, and this play, particularly the first half of it, virtually can't be read without constant reference to the notes; even with them, there's frequently a question as to what's being said. At least in the edition that I read (the Dover Thrift edition) the notes frequently admit that there's some question as to the meaning of the lines, and there is mention of different changes in them in different folios.

But beyond this, as an overweight, balding, middle-aged libertine, I object to the concept that Falstaff is ridiculous just because he is in fact unwilling to concede that it is impossible that a woman could want him. Granted, he's NOT particularly attractive, but that has more to do with his greed, his callousness, and his perfect willingness to use people for his own ends, to say nothing of his utter lack of subtlety.

Is it truly so funny that an older, overweight man might attempt to find a dalliance? So funny that the very fact that he does so leaves him open to being played for the fool? Remember, it isn't as though he refused to take "no" for an answer; he never GOT a "no". He was consistently led on, only to be tormented for his audacity. Nor is he making passes at a nubile young girl; the target of his amorous approaches is clearly herself middle-aged; after all, she is the MOTHER of a nubile young marriageable girl. And given the fact that she is married to an obnoxious, possessive, bullying and suspicious husband, it is not at all unreasonable for Falstaff to think that she might be unhappy enough in her marriage to accept a dalliance with someone else.

If laughing at fat old men who have the audacity not to spend the last twenty years of their lives with sufficient dignity to make it seem as if they were dead already is your idea of a good time, you should love this play. I'll pass.

i've just finished reading/watching all of shakespeare's comedies and mww is one of the funnier ones. it is a lighthearted look at marital jealousy and features one of shakespeare's great fools, falstaff (of henry iv fame). the out-and-out funniest shakepearean play is still "taming of the shrew", imho, but mwv runs well ahead of the laggards, and certainly well ahead of such better known plays as "twelfth night" and "as you like it".

Shakespeare, considering he wrote this little gem of a comedy in a mere 14 days for the Virgin Queen, pulls off a play that proves both witty and fun. Unequivocally, The Merry Wives of Windsor makes for a more enjoyable play if seen live. Nonetheless, reading it is the 2nd best thing.

Sir John Falstaff is once again such a fool - but a lovable and hilarious one at that. Having read Henry V - where Falstaff ostensibly had met his end - I was pleased to see him so alive(pardon the pun) in this short, albeit clever play. It is no surprise that The Merry Wives of Windsor enjoyed such a long and successful stage run during Shakespeare's day and continues to be one of his most popularly staged plays. Recommended as a fun break from the more serious and murderous Shakespearean tragedies.

"Why, then the world's mine oyster,
Which I with sword will open." - Pistol

Any medievalist will undoubtedly find William of Malmesbury's Gesta cited throughout the footnotes of other studies. This volume provides a comprehensive commentary and analysis of the Malmesbury manuscripts, equal in every respect to the high standard expected from Oxford Medieval Texts.
Be forwarned, however, that this volume contains only the commentary. Those interested in reading the excellent full-text English translation, or making their own interpretation from the Latin will require the companion Volume I, which for some reason, Amazon does not include in its catalogue listings.

Not a bad introduction to dynamics, and space dynamics in general. The basic material was good. The more advanced material was a little unclear.

Thomson's book is a compilation of essays about moral theory. Although the latest essay was written fifteen years ago, all of them deal with issues thet will never turn old fashioned. Amog the thirteen essays that compose this book there are three which I loved the most. The first of them is one that speaks about rights and compensation. In this essay Thomson tries to explain why should a right-holder must be compensated when his right is violated. The essay which I rank second is one which title is "Self-Defense and rightys", which deals with the well known problem about killing or harming someone acting in self-defense. Finally I really liked "Imposing Risks", where Thomson explains when it's legal to impose a risk over another person. I must say that all, the thirteen essays are great. I highly recomend the book.

basically what you have is a political spinner descending into music criticism.

This book attempts to determine the areas in which Schoenberg 'erred' in the creation of his twelve-tone idea. This book deals less with solid theory but more with the ideals of aesthetics, perception, philosophy, and basically many unfounded claims. This book assaults Schoenberg's musical achievments, with very little assesment of his value at all. It seems that this book is has is seeking to dismantle the strong history of modern music, by claiming that one of it's father's was in error.

In this treatise, William Thomson has systematically and successfully deconstructed the atonal/serialist theories of Schoenberg, Webern and Babbitt. He reveals them for what they are: subversive, unnatural academic experiments dealing with the interrelationship between music, mathematics and nihilism. Through a complex theoretical analysis, Thomson affirms what many Twentieth Century composers (such as Sibelius, Bartok, Shostakovich, Vaughan Williams and Adams) argued either through their work, through words or both - namely, that the language of tonality is the natural language of music and is essentially an outgrowth of very deeply entrenched human impulses. In creating works which defy natural imperatives and uphold inhuman precepts, the serialist composers managed to stimulate academic interest and controversy, but their work will almost certainly not be recognized in future as the greatest or most meaningful contribution to Twentieth Century music.

It is a very good text book, but the pictures would be colored. Color pictures are important for the patologist veterinary and for the students.

This is a very good and concise textbook. However I think it is a big minus that all the pictures are in black and white. Colour pictures are extremely important for students of pathology!

This is an excellent reference book for pathology students of any specialty. There are good examples and descriptions of each topic, and the book is well organized, making it easy to search for a specific topic.

I would give this book negative five stars. However I am not allowed to. Don't waste your money in such an incomplete book unless you want to purchase a very expensive paper weight. This book is GARBAGE.

Dear fellow readers:
I borrowed this book from a friend, who used it in a university course. It was said that the examples used in this book were not sufficient enough to get the grasp of the concepts. I am sorry to say that this is not the only problem with this book. Although this is very complete book from concept to application point of view, the problem lies with the road the authors have taken to explain those theories. The topics are simply skimmed over and not much elaboration given to both development of the equations and application of those equations. As mentioned above the examples did not clarify my confusion any further. This left me confused and not as clear a picture as I hoped to gather. Perhaps this book is best suited as a reference for a person who is well versed in this topic and not a novice.

Very well written and updated, I especially like the way the authors have implemented MATLAB scripts in many of the more advanced matrix methods. BUT, do not use JUST this book, theory is unclear in many cases, and the proof to many of the equations (Vibrations is very math intensive) is brief, too brief in some cases. This book could easily be 200 pages longer. The main advantages of this book are that it covers many topics in advanced vibrations and over 500 end of chapter problems, many of them of higher difficulty. In short, if you already have some skills in Vibrations, this is a great book, but if you're using this text as an Intro to Vibrations, use as backup a friendlier book, such as Steidel's to get revved up. I used 3 sources for my course! By the way, I recommend Schaum's Outline for Mechanical Vibrations, many good examples there.