Wow, I love it. This book is straight to the point. Check out the table of contents: Choosing/Changing a major or program, Financial aid/money management, Registering for classes, Dorm life, Textbooks: buying & selling, ID cards, The classroom experience, Study skills, note taking,and test taking, Library services, Computers, The internet and email, Campus/Student organizations, Having a car on campus and car safety, Parents, families, and friends, Physical health, Stress management and mental health, Time management, Internships, Job interviewing, and Returning to college. Wow, this book cuts right to the point. I have purchased other college books, and let me tell you I don't have time to read a 20 page chapter ( I have 60 pages in my biology book to read). You can easily flip to the chapter that you need in no time at all. You can also read the book in less than an hour. This book contains over 300 bullet points of information.This book is more than a coffee-table book. It is really AWESOME!

I thought College 101 was wonderfully straightforward and right to the point. The authors did a fine job of cutting through the red tape and confusion associated with the going to college, and formatted a book that is clever, witty and easy to read. I plan to give this book as a graduation present to all of the high school seniors that I know.

Inspiring! Sensational! An informative adventure that will direct you on the path to a successful college experience."

Despite its diminutive size, this book packs a powerful punch and is probably unlike anything you have read before. Although it is well-written and entertaining, it is by no means a comfortable or easy read. Be prepared to be taken in different directions and to be confronted with unaccustomed perspectives. There is a passage from the book which gives an indication of its effect: "A pungent thought is a corrective to deterioration of the thinking: like cold water helping slack muscles to work again..." This book is full of such pungent thoughts...

Aptly titled, "Reflections," is a collection of fables, aphorisms, and statements that challenge the conditioned, assumptive manner we use when thinking of and interacting with others and ourselves. These reflections-whose effect is similar to being shaken out of sleep-offer insight on many levels.

The most insightful comment about this collection appears in the book's forward, written by Idries Shah: "Do you imagine that fables exist only to amuse or to instruct, and are based upon fiction? The best ones are delineations of what happens in real life, in the community and in the individual's mental processes."

In its own quiet way, this pocket-size gem of a book offers something that's often claimed but rarely found: a true means of rousing the sluggish brain from its customary, comfortable state of automatic-pilot torpor. Comprised of bite-size sayings and stories, it avoids the emotional, the obvious and the sententious in favor of an entirely different approach that nudges the attentive reader in new and unexpected directions, chipping away at assumptions and habitual thought-patterns that screen us from seeing things the way they really are. I found it thought-provoking, bracing and a pleasure to read as well as a real eye-opener. Its size and format also make it an ideal gift.

Wohoo! Great book! Read it cover to cover in 2 days! Makes law easy! I love it! My kids love it! Kids everywhere will love it! Read it to your children at bedtime!

A first year law school case book. Covers all relevant Tort Law in historical and modern contexts.

Mission Improbable gives a very accurate and comprehensive history of the UN operation in Somalia from the historical, political, operational, bureaucratic and personal levels. It describes the anguish of a people struggling to cope both with their own fragmented leadership and with an alien monolith, represented by UNOSOM, in their midst.

The book details the minutiae of a UN bureaucracy at its best and at its worst. On the one hand, it shows how a group of dedicated people representing virtually every culture from around the world can establish themselves in a particularly harsh and dangerous environment, risking their lives to help a desperately needy country get back on its feet and restore its social, economic and political infrastructure.

On the other hand, it demonstrates the ill-preparedness of the Organization, as a reflection of the ill-preparedness of its member state components, to truly understand and to effectively deal with the unique Somalian culture whose goals were essentially parallel to, if not identical with, the UNOSOM mission.

The book touches repeatedly upon the day-to-day frustrations of a transplanted UN bureaucracy, including the furiously circuitous paths that must be taken to get seemingly simple things accomplished, from procuring toilet paper for personal use to trying to explain the whereabouts of a suddenly missing $4 million in cash.

The author explains the conflicts between the age-old Somali clan system, the glue that holds the Somali people together, and the upstart international presence. Most importantly, she explains that this was the fundamental reason behind the inability of the two cultures to communicate meaningfully with one another and which led to the collapse of the international effort to resolve the problem. Nevertheless, as is repeatedly intimated, the Somali people represented by the opposing factions and left to their own devices, are making headway in the formation of a new government which will bring an end to their years of misery.

Overall, this book provides an absolutely unique insight into the UN operation in Somalia and serves to place in a remarkable light the peace that the Somalis are trying to achieve after an important jump-start from the United Nations.

The author's experience as an information officer with the United nations Mission in Somalia (UNOSOM) provides accurate information for the public on the achievement of the UN/US intervention in Somalia. Her narrative puts the record straight by correcting sensational and incomplete international media reports which helped create the impression that the intervention was a failure. With numerous examples such as the prevention of famine, the checking of cholera, the development of markets, the promotion of cattle and fruit exports and the non-retrogression into total anarchy when the UN pulled in March 1995, Fogarassy points out that these significant developments were ignored by the international media because they lacked commercial newsworthiness.

By introducing a Media Unit as part of its operation in Somalia, the UN was capable of more effective communication with the Somalis by radio and print. The services of the Media Unit were invaluable in assisting the Somali reconciliation meetings in Kismayo, Mogadishu and Nairobi. Additionally, the Media Unit complemented the operations of other UNOSOM departments (Justice, Political, Humanitarian and Disarmament, Demining and Demobilisation), as well as those of other international organisations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The UNOSOM operation highlighted a number of shortcomings in the UN's efficiency in managing field operations needing review, including in recruitment, management and control. Frequent changes in top management undercut mutual trust between Somalis and the international community while disruptive rivalries between the Media Unit chief and the spokesman led to dysfunction in processing and distribution of information, one reason for the international media not obtaining wider coverage of UNOSOM activities.

The UNOSOM compound facilitated the harmonious co-existence of people from diverse cultures, who realised that racial and cultural stereotyping masked much in common to all societies regardless of religion, race or culture. This awareness helped to appreciate that adversarial politics and political party organisations, the basis of democratic systems in western society, are not readily applicable to the Somali context where individualism and communalism are the norms, with decisions reached after extensive consultations among clans and factions. The international community found it convenient to look to Aidid and Ali Mahdi, the principle leaders of two main groups of clan and factional alliances, and they held these two responsible for agreements entered into on behalf of their allies. It was not appreciated that both leaders had very lax disciplinary power over their allies, unlike in a traditional developed country political party organisation. By the same token, the international community, especially the US, was impatient with the long Somali process of consultations and hence, the premature abandonment of the Mission when dividends from the intervention were yielding fruit.

One important lesson from the Somalia operation was that treating the host country with condescension prevented the international community from understanding the Somali psyche. It hindered a faster rate of progress in the restoration of peace and stability. Using utilitarian instruments of incentives and sanctions to achieve goals was counter-productive, yet when funds and facilities for reconciliation meetings were offered, a number of initiatives for reconciliations emerged. Reconciliation that could have led to the formation of a national government was slowed by the Somalis trying to settle historically outstanding clan differences that ranked higher in their priorities.

This book is a didactic source of information on what transpired in Somalia. It makes the case that the intervention was successful and it appeals for a tapping of the UN's extensive facilities for information the commercial media can use.

This is, quite simply, the best set of pictures of North America's west-coast maritime forests that I have come across. These forests are interesting, beautiful, and abundantly alive; they are also very hard to photograph. Through the lens they can seem messy and disordered. The unaided human eye screens out extraneous clutter, but the camera eye does not. There is order there, of course, but it is a chaotic sort of order, with many levels of order-within-disorder. Some photographers strive for excessively neat, tidy compositions, which give an entirely misleading impression of these forests; Graham, on the other hand, conveys the rhythms within the disorder. Many of the pictures are texture-rich without a sharp focus of interest. It is a style well suited to the subject. The text by Wade Davis, what there is of it, is good, but this is most definitely a picture book first.

This book is really special. Ok I am a mate of Graham's which some might see as a bias - but this book is oustanding none the less. Osborne is a biologist (infact a botanist) by trade I believe. It simply doens't matter though, because clearly what he does best is take photos. *Very* good photos. I don't mean as in 'Oh, thats a nice photo' as my mum would say to me when from four packets of snaps I produced one relatively balanced composition. I mean as in drop-that-frying pan, walk-into-that lampost, draw droppingly good photographs. This guy has had three or four calanders of his work produced for goodness sake. The book, which, ok I admit, he gave me, is always on my coffee table, and I must confess, I have chopped up the calendars and made them into nice framed pictures.

Reasons to buy it:

i) it will enhance your life ii) it will take your breath away iii) it is pretty reasonably priced

reasons not to buy it..

i) you hate temporate rainforests...

....because I find so many information about the Trapp Familiy which I don't know. I saw the two german movies from 1956 und 1958 and the american from 1965, and I like all this films.

The pictures make it easy to read.

But there is something, that I don't like. Martina, who died in 1951. Maria Augusta wrote only one and a half sentences about her stepdaughter. Why had she done that ?

Good, that I've read "Yesterday, Today and Forever", so I know the tragedy of Martina's death.

...

This book is a really great behind-the-scenes type book about the real Von Trapp family. Fans of the movie may not like it as much, because there isn't very much stuff written about the making of the SOM. However, it really gives you a very clear picture of the way the story reall was without detracting from the magic of the movie.

The classical literature of the Transcaucasian country of Georgia, the relationship between the Indian guru and his followers, the social inequality of black people in Columbia, today's complex tangle of interrelated global problems collectively known as the "world problematique." These are just a few of the topics covered in this wide-ranging collection of essays written by experts from various fields. Taken together, the essays help the reader better understand not only the meaning of human culture, but the curious predicament our planet seems to be in at the brink of the 21st century. I found this remarkable book to be as interesting as it is edifying.

At long last an intellectual and credible book on the truth about the Pearl Harbor attack.

David Wade brilliantly summarizes the latest research into the catastrophic event that led America into the second world war; a scathing indictment of the duplicity of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The author places the Pearl Harbor attack in the context of the prewar diplomacy of Roosevelt, and shows how the President knew the attack was coming. But Roosevelt deliberately kept our military commanders in Hawaii in the dark, probably a far greater act of treason than committed by Johnny Walker Lindh.

Mr. Wade artfully drew dramatic parallels between the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and the surprise attack on the World Trade Center and Pentegon, connecting December 7 with December 11.

But this book was actually two books in one. I really enjoyed the supplemental information in the back of the book about Presidential Succession.

I was amazed to learn that if there were a nuclear terror act in Washington that claimed the lives of Bush, Cheney and Hastert, then our new president would be none other than Ted Stevens of Alaska!!!

A wonderful little book that shows the remarkable complexity and inner structure of natural patterns. Loaded with black and white illustrations, Wade presents the reader with a variety of amazing, self-similar shapes that occur in nature. Anyone interested in fractals, nature, sacred geometry, and mathematics is sure to be attracted to this book. The reader will gain an appreciation of the simple yet amazing intelligence built into natural life-forms, landscapes, and objects.
(Simeon Hein, Ph.D., is the author of Opening Minds: A Journey of Extraordinary Encounters, Crop Circles, and Resonance. (Mount Baldy Press, Inc., 2002))

Dynamic pictures.... factual historic information...bought 3 for Christmas gifts.

I originally bought this book as a gift, but ended up keeping it for myself! I have never seen a "coffee table book" that is so well written. The photography is what initially grabs your attention, but the stories and historical information are what keep you coming back for more. I would recommend this book to anyone, whether they have an interest in Jackson Hole's past and present, or they just like looking at amazing photographs.

... this is your book. The history of the area is fascinating, but the interviews with the locals really bring this book to life. David Gonzales has collected a plethora of amazing pictures from the area's best photographers, too. Whether you've just visited Jackson Hole or have lived in the area, 'Jackson Hole: On a Grand Scale' brings back great memories of skiing and snowboarding a place that's like no other!