I noticed and purchased this book on pure whim, in one of those weird moods we sometimes enter when we want to learn about something of which we have absolutely no knowledge. I did absolutely no background reading, and simply jumped right in. Mistake? I think so. And yet I still feel as though I got a great deal out of this read. "William the Conqueror" is quite fascinating, it's a sort of English/Norman/French who's who in the late 11th century, and you get a great feel for the major players and their vacillating loyalties. On the other hand, there are periodic tangents (of biblical proportions, i.e. this duke married the slave girl of this count, whose mother was involved in the treacherous coup d'etatic plot of so and so, and so on for a while). Sans those occasional outburst of, truly, excess info - this is fantastic stuff. William was able to overcome (what I feel to be) more than insurmountable odds at the beginning of his rule to change the entire face and future of the English monarchy. We can only wonder what might Europe be like today had Harold been victorious at Hastings (he almost was!), and what impact it could have on us.

A Classic in any genre! David C. Douglas has made a contribution to literatrue of monumental proportions. No mater if you are a seasoned historian or will never read another book about eourpean history again. I beg of you to make this the one. The story of a young Duke overcoming insurmountable odds, congueroring a nation, and changing the course of history. Hollywood could not write a better script. And David C. Douglas could not have written a better book.

If you are interested in the history of Norman England, or the impact the invasion of 1066 had on England (and the world!), this is the book for you. While not the 'easiest' reading, this is definitely a book for those seeking details and full accounts of the life and times of the one known by his contemporaries as 'William the Bastard'. I would rank this book right up there with Dungeon, Fire, and Sword on like-ability! This book should be on every medieval historian's bookshelf!

La Fontaine's fables look good. Where do I get more of La Fontaine's fables in French? (en francais?) greggtho@yahoo.com

Shapiro's verse translations are incredible. The same person who has just done the most faithful and most poetic rendering of Baudelaire has no less flawlessly met the very different demands of La Fontaine, with all the latter's elegance (and, when called for, inelegance) of tone, stylistic devices, phlosophical depth, and playful humor. His translations lose nothing of the originals. One even feels that the spirit and voice of La Fontaine are speaking here. A truly remarkable achievement. Bravo!

It is not clear to me whether Shapiro is more poet, translator or scholar, but he is certainly all three. The range of his colorful lexicon, the beat of his hexameters and pentameters strike me as nothing short of phenomenal, making of him the most worthy of translators of La Fontaine.

This guide provides excellent pre-retirement planning suggestions. Has traps, obstacles and helpers outlined for quick review and advice. Has a number of "tools" in the form of worksheets to assist in planning for both before and after retirement events. Presents a number of post-retirement ideas with several suggestions of how to manage and/or increase your income in retirement. Authors are somewhat short on information for the mid 50's retiree concerning how to access 401k and IRA funds without penalty between 55 and 59 1/2. No info on what forms are needed and where they are available, or what needs to be filed and where. Has one slight reference in the appendix on how to accomplish withdrawals without penalty. Having read a number of retirement planning books available on the bookshelf, I found this volume excels in providing useful information not found in similar guide books.

Although this book deals with many aspects of retirement and retirement planning, what distinguishes it from the dozens of similar books I have read is a truly outstanding calculator for determining how much money will be available then and how much needs to be saved or invested to eliminate any shortfall. It includes pensions, social security, and savings and investments. It factors in life expectancy, income sources that will automatically increase with inflation and those that won't, savings and investment growth rates, withdrawl rates that must increase with inflation(which--unbelievably--some calculators don't consider). It allows for early retirement (that is, it doesn't factor in social security until it's available). Similarly, it allows for staggered commencement of retirement income sources (for example, a pension that starts at age 65 while you may start social security at age 62). I've not found another calculator that does ALL of these things! I couldn't recommend it more highly.

This guide really lays out, step by step, how to think and act to plan your retirement. I found this a surprisingly quick read, comprehensive, easy to understand and specific -- from spending, lifestyle, insurance, investing issues. The book makes a great gift for friends or parents because too many of us are not paying attention to the easy "Action Items" that each chapter ends with. Highly recommended!

The book is very nicely written and has lots of practical tips, rule of thumbs which a practicing high speed CMOS circuit design engineer needs. Its conscise and works as good referance.

The IBM authors wrote a concise reference manual on circuit
design, process variation effects on circuits, and time borrowing. What is missing? Sections on sequential circuit design, transistor sizing techniques, or modeling circuits through mathematics, spice and verilog. However, this is among the most lucid texts written on circuit structures to date.

It's concise but deals the topics in depth. It's much better and practical than usual vlsi text books.

I am not as enamored with this book as the other reviewers. Even though the authors tried to simplify statistics, I still found the concepts confusing. The much-praised "humor" I felt was corny and occasionally annoying. I read this book along with a standard statistics textbook, and I didn't feel that it helped to clarify things too much. Perhaps there are no shortcuts to learning statistics.

These guys are great! An easy-to-read, enjoyable stats book. Never seen one like it. Although it's titled 'biostatistics', it's for anyone who wants to actually understand what statistics is.

Norman explains what could be a very boring set of principles in a very effective way...he uses examples that will make you laugh your bag off. He's a good prof too, takes time to explain the concepts {if you ever have the chance to be in his class}.

In writing this book, the author claims to have used as his source the some 20 existing "contemporary" sources (dating from shortly after the invasion until a century or so afterwards) in piecing together what he feels is a fair account of this pivotal year in English history. He makes it very clear that this is no simple task when taking into consideration the style and bias of his sources, and therefore the story is by no means the complete account that we expect from historical works dealing with more recent events. So unfortunately, by no fault of the author, we have but a fragmentary account of the events of 1066. But--not being all that familiar with this time period--as much as the author has attempted to not "fill in the gaps" with his own fanciful theories and assumptions, it is difficult to not believe that there are times when he may have embellished things a tad. All in all, though, 1066: The Year of the Conquest is an enjoyable book, and an excellent starting point for those who want to understand a little more about this period in English history.

I had to read this book for my history class and to my suprise its one of the most enjoyable books I've read in a long time. Howarth does a GREAT job of telling the story of the year of the conquest starting from Jan 1st 1066, to new years eve of that same year, and how it was to live in England as a countryside commoner as well as royalty. He does what other historians dont...he uses common sense and not guess work! This a great book to read about one of the crucial turning points of western European history, and why Duke William won over King Harold. Read it.

What a nice surprise. I bought this book without an idea of what I was getting into. The price was right, and I thought that at 200 pages, it would go fast. Fast it went alright.

Mr. Howarth is an author to add to the list of great history writers that can relate lots of information in a short amount of time, and be very entertaining while doing it. I have to tell you that I was very surprised at this book. It was just plan fun to read, and I enjoyed learning something while being entertained.

The book is, as it says in the title, about the year 1066. Pretty simple, and that's the way it reads. The author describes life during that year, how people lived and survived. He does this with humor and down to earth writing style. I actually feel like I got to know these people. His descriptions are easy to visualize, and his conclusions are based on great deductive reasoning from printed sources as well as good old common sense. I feel that he has done a tremendous amount of research, not just in old libraries, but down on the docks, in the forests, and on the ocean. Job well done.

And the people. William, Harold, Edward, the Godwins, the whole bunch is here, and they sound like regular folks that were major players in huge events that were just normal life for them. Their greater and lesser strengths are presented in easy readable forms, and behavior is very well understood with this information.

Well done Mr. Howarth! I am truly surprised at how good this book is, and also very glad I read it. Next: Lord Nelson!!

Britain started out ahead, but partly for that reason her carrier forces (and especially planes) were less suited for combat than America's. This is an excellent study of how that came to pass. Sadly missing is an equally insightful look at the Japanese carrier fleet, which in the winter of 1941-42 was arguably the equal of America's.

An intelligent and thoughtful study of how it happened that the United States started late, yet managed to enter World War II with a better carrier force than the Royal Navy. (In part, this was because the US *did* start late, and therefore didn't have an installed base of obsolete equipment.)

The only problem with this book is that it doesn't give equal time to the Japanese carrier fleet, which as it happened was America's only real competitor in this developing science.

I feel that this book truly portrays the life of an African-American superstar in the 60's and 70's. He is a bit egotistical at times, but is always truthful (except for the part about all the women). All through his career, he is called a loser because of what his team is accomplishing and not him. In his first several years, his teams consistently played the Celtics in the playoffs, and instead of the Warriors vs. the Celtics, it became Bill Russel vs. Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt would consistently beat out Russel in every category, yet his team would still lose. When this happened, Wilt was called the loser. He was told that Russel schooled him time and time again, when really, it was the other way around.
This book accurately portrays what it would be like to face the "Loser" label your whole life. It wasn't fair at all, but Wilt successfully had a good season after another. I definately reccomend this book to anyone who likes success stories or if you like sports biographies. In fact, I recommend it to anybody

Over twenty-five years ago, Wilt Chamberlain took the belief that professional athletes are dumb and flushed it like a loose stool. In this book, he shares truths about his groundbreaking NBA salaries, his views on dating, and other famous basketball personalities. His sense of humor entertains his readers, while his intelligence, clearly evidenced by his vocabulary, constantly enlightens. For everyone old enough to vote, this book will be a wonderful experience.

This powerful work sets out the biblical and historical case for the Papacy in an exhaustive and stunning way. This work is a challenge to the seperated brethren to return to the One Fold of Jesus Christ, and the teachings of the ancient Faith.

This is one of the books that led me on the path of conversion to the holy Catholic Faith. I highly recommend it to potential converts, to Catholics wishing to learn more and defend their Faith against the onslaught of protestant, anti-Catholic propaganda. It's classic Q&A format is a proven method of catechesis that has been tried for centuries, enabling the presentation of very complex material in an easy to understand format.

If you have heard the misinformation spread about the papacy, such as "Peter was never the Bishop of Rome" or "Jesus called Peter a little stone while He (Christ) was the real Rock of the Church" or "The Papacy was a Roman intervention, under the direction of the Roman Emperor, starting centuries after Christ" then this book will serve as a powerful tool in aiding you in refuting these myths.

A powerful case both from Scripture and Tradition and badly needed in our time of rebellion within the Catholic Church against that very institution which is the rock of the Church founded by Jesus Christ 2000 years ago.

This book is well worth the read if you are looking for a cogent explanation on the issue of the Petrine Office, the Papacy.

Butler, Dahlgren & Hess divide their book into two halves. The first half is a comprehensive look at the scriptural support for the papacy and doctrines that devolve from it (i.e., papal infallibility, the role of the Church).

The second half of the book is a sampling of many Early Church Fathers and how they perceived the Petrine Office. In short, it is a quite compelling presentation in that the view of the Early Church Fathers, as presented, is the same view the Church promotes today.

This is the best book that I have found on the issue of the Papacy. If anyone is struggling with the issue of authority in the Church, this is the first book I would recommend not just because of its content but also because it is written in a very easy style.

You won't be disappointed in this book. Buy it now.

I was first attracted to this book because of the title--simple and direct, no flashy titles to make up for lack of content. That was about two years ago. Since, I have read other materials related to the topic as well as Protestant comments about the book. I just read it again and am thankful for the opportunity.( I just had to order another, I gave my first away) The authors--Deacon David Hess, Norman Dahlgren and Scott Butler have done a fine job in presenting the historical truth regarding the Papacy. I have met two of the authors and look forward to more of their work. I recommend reading this book twice, and read some works that try to refute this one between readings. You will soon find how sound this book really is, it is ALL meat.

The book is good for anyone who wants a quick understanding of certain possibilities of why the North won. However, some of the essays(this is no reflection of the actual book) are not that well justified in my opinion.

Reissue of a classic collection of essays from the 60's...Currents's "God and the Strongest Battalions" is alone worth the price!...Economic, political, social, etc., aspects are all considering by the "big-gun" historians of 40 years past...Scholarly enough for the serious student, yet very reader-friendly for the novitiate...recommended in the strongest possible terms!

This is an excellent book which contains six essays on the various economic, miliary, diplomatic, social, and politiical reasons why the Confederacy lost and the Union won the Civil War. This book saved my butt