William F. Buckley is unquestionably one of the most articulate and knowledgeable American debaters of the second half of the twentieth century. Buckley seems to know a little bit--if not a lot--about everything, and he reflects and gives observations about various topics in this collection of essays from the mid-to-late 80s and early 90s.

As an author, Buckley is unfailingly witty and acerbic, and this book is littered with quips and sapient remarks. Buckley is particularly good at analyzing other peoples' positions, and at poking holes in their poor logic. That is where this book succeeds.

This book occasionally fails when Buckley attempts to elucidate his own position on an issue. For instance, in one essay Buckley suggests that Beethoven is "a national monument" and should be entitled to governmental protection, so that vacationers can listen to the great composer's symphonies when they are traveling in non-cosmopolitan areas. My suggestion to Buckley would be to rent a car with a tape deck or cd player. It is not necessary for the government to mandate all-Beethoven channels in all cities and towns in order for citizens to listen to Beethoven when they are on vacation.

In another essay Buckley spells out the case for allowing women to serve in the military, but then says that he takes the opposite position. His explanation for why he is against women serving in the military is vague. He says that allowing women to join the armed forces is repugnant to "human nature," which leads one to wonder how Buckley would respond to someone who believes that what he calls "human nature" is an artificial construct. Maybe he did not provide a response to that question because of spacial constraints, but I think that if he is going to base a policy position on human nature, he should provide readers with some sort of idea of what his theory of human nature is.
I hope that I have not accentuated the negative too much in this review, because Buckley truly is a wonderful writer and an interesting read. He has opinions about everything, and he is fun to read not only for what he has to say, but also for how he says it. His vocabulary is expansive and his word-choices are colorful. This book should be read by anyone who wants intelligent and fiercely-opinionated commentary on newsworthy events, and the various parties involved, from 1985 to 1992.

This is a fine collection of the thoughts and witticisms of William F Buckley. It covers most any area that Mr. Buckley holds an Interest whether it be politics, social affairs, sailing, classical music and spending time with dignitaries and well to do people. It is fantastically written (as can be expected from Buckley) however it seemed to talk just over the head of the common man. With his infatuation with the Ryder Cup and talking about people who are important to him, really have no impact on my life. All in all it is a very well written fast paced collection. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys political and social commentary. And to anyone who just like to read something different than a novel or text of history.
Thanks For Your Time:
T

This is Buckley at his acerbic best on subjects as varied as John Lennon, Ted Kennedy and Elizabeth Taylor to academia, Gorbachev and The First Gulf War.

It's always illuminating and stimulating to explore the brain of one of America's foremost conservative thinkers and as these essays drift more into history, his insights and deliberations become astounding in their perspicacity and accuracy.

These essays cover everything from the fall of communism, the Los Angeles riots, Playboy magazine and lots more. The time spent reading this delightful paperback is time spent in the company of charming brilliance.

The text of this book manages to be both dull and embarrassingly amateurish. But the paintings? They are spectacular. The book is worth owning even at this price simply for the art. It's high time Godward was recognized and appreciated, and this book will no doubt contribute much to his wider appeal.

What a remarkable book this is. A comprehensive book about one of the greatest masters of 19th century-John William Godward.

The book contains a great collection of his works as high quality pictures as well as a comprehensive biography from his grandfather to the life of his family after his death in details. The book is well published and written.

Your library misses it.

A well researched, beautiful book. Essential for anyone interested in the works of Godward.

IU profs set out to tell the true story of John Dillinger. Alot of the facts are true. Some of the facts have been "Changed" for whatever reason. They want you to believe the FBI story that they got their man. Fact is...The guy they shot was the wrong height, Did not have scars that John had, and his eye color was wrong. You can change a lot of things, but height and eye color are not among them. (John had grey eyes, the corpse had brown eyes.) If you can locate a copy of a 70's book Dillinger Dead or Alive? It is a much better read, and goes into the story of an old guy who sent letters to the Indianapolis Star, He had John's handwriting, and knew things only John Dillinger knew. It also identifies the corpse as John Lawrence, a smalltime hood that was a Dillinger wannabe.

Contrary to what one anonymous reviewer from Indianapolis, who obviously did not read the book, has written, there are no invented stories in this book. None of the facts have been changed except for revision of erroneous old popular legends. What's more, the book was not written by "I.U. Profs." I know because I helped with the research. Unlike the speculative fiction of Jay Robert Nash, this is about as close to the truth on Dillinger as we're ever likely to get.

Dillinger : The Untold Story by G. Russell Girardin, William J. Helmer is by far one of the best stories written about the John Dillinger Gang. Based on a Girardin's 600 page manuscript written in the 1930's as well as an extraordinary insight by Helmer. The book gives a detailed look at the inside facts and events surrounding John Dillinger's last days and the aftermath that follows. This very resourceful book includes the locations of Dillinger haunts in Chicago. I highly recommend this book.

A History of Israel is an in depth (and I mean DEPTH) journey back into time. Taking the reader back to the very edge of the mists of prehistory, John Bright then lays out, in a point by point fashion, the whole sweep of time in the near east up until the appearance of a certain Galilean who forever changed the world.

A History of Israel is very in depth, very packed with useful information. Bright has written a wonderful book. It did (as most history books are likely to) set off my anti-scholarship allergy a few times. However, it is very worthy of being read.

I give this book a very high recommendation. Bright's presentation is clear, at certain points even lively. It thoroughly deals with the developments in each time period. It delivers the reader to one heck of a destination-one of eternal significance-that beautiful moment in time where the Messiah asked a very pointed question that many are still in need of answering: "Who do you say that I am?"

For a long time I had been looking for a history of Israel in which the conclusions are based on the same kinds of evidence as any other history. Bright's wonderful book is almost it. I do not understand why he says things like "that Moses was an actual person can scarely be doubted" or something to that effect. He vacillates between an historian's examination of data and the same old deference to Scripture from which I've needed a relief for decades. He does say that sometimes the only source we have is the scripture, but he still seems to be influenced by what people have found sacred, such as the existence of Abraham as a real person or the event of the Exodus. All in all though, it is the best I've seen.

At sem this was required reading to achieve an accurate, full understanding of the historical context of the OT books.

Bright is intense, thorough and up-to-date with archaeological finds, coming out of the Albright school.

He updates his text with the Dead Sea scrolls as well as the Ebla tablets and other findings which provide additional insight into the historical setting.

Conflicting views are given attention along with excellent footnotes for further reading and a well stocked bibliography.

I am a student at Florida State University, My major is Management Information Systems. This book covers many approaches to solving business problems. This book is easy to read and understand. It gives many real world examples and solutions using MS Excel.

He usado el libro en cursos de maestria en administracion. Mis estudiantes lo recomiendan por ser muy didactico, sin sacrificar profundidad en la presentacion de los temas.

This goes great with the hardcover textbook. It is full of problems and solutions to practice with.

The revised edition of Barclay's commentaries was issued in 1975 and was prepared not by William Barclay, but by the Rev. James Martin. According to the introduction, the revised edition renews the printer's type, restyles the books, corrects some errors in the text and removes some references which have become outdated. In addition, Biblical quotations in the commentaries use the Revised Standard Version instead of the King James Version (however Barclay's own translation is retained at the beginning of each daily section).

The reality of the revised edition is quite different. What the introduction fails to mention is that the 17 volumes of the revised edition of the New Testament have 12.6% fewer pages than the now out-of-print 2nd edition. Only the 2nd edition contains all of Barclay's commentary on the New Testament. For example, in the 2 volumes on the Gospel of John, the revised edition contains 547 pages; however the 2nd edition contained 634 pages. Thus, the revised edition has 13.7% fewer pages than the 2nd edition. In the 2 volumes on Revelation, the reduction is over 20%.

I first noticed the selective deletion of portions of Barclay's original commentary in the commentary for John 13:33-35, in which Jesus speaks of loving one another as he loved us. In the 2nd edition, Barclay so beautifully states the following: "He [Jesus] knew all their [his disciples] weaknesses and yet He still loved them. Those who really love us are the people who know us at our worst and who still love us." However, these two sentences do not appear in Martin's revised edition. Repeatedly, key sentences and phrases are deleted from the revised edition. The revised edition is in fact a condensed and inferior version of the commentaries actually written by William Barclay. I do believe that William Barclay's commentaries are the most insightful and meaningful commentaries that I have ever read on the New Testament, and I cannot recommend them highly enough. They have truly changed my life. However, if you want to read all of what Barclay actually said instead of what Martin thought was important enough to leave in, then check with a used book store or do a used book search on the internet to get the 2nd editions of the Gospel of John or other volumes in the Daily Study Bible.

Lke Caruso or Babe Ruth, Barclay is in a class by himself.As a commentator he had a combination of skills I have not found equalled by anyone else He was and remains the best in thefield. His writing style is accessible but eloquent Anglo-English (he was Scotch). His erudition peerless,(he knew more about Judiasm as a religion than almost all specialists I have read in that field) His intellectual intergrity is breathtaking. He will acknowledge and discuss that the original Mark did not make a strongarguement for the Resurrection, that John was brillant but probably wrong about the actual day of the crucifixtion etc etc etc. His analysis of many issues (like the authorship of John's Gospel)while easy to understand, is far more sophisticated than what you will find in the Expositer's.

Barclay will educate you, strengthen your faith, and leave you shaking your head in regret that "they dont make them like him anymore. I have read a bunch of these guys. Barclay is the geniune article, in a class by himself, the standard by which I and I think you too will judge everyone else.

Barclay's writings speak to me like none other. William Barclay passed on in the early 1980's, but thankfully, he left behind so much of his useful and practical knowledge.

Of these DSB series, John is my favorite.

Barclay's book on John says that this disciple was portrayed as "The Eagle" because he saw things from a higher, more spiritual view and his writings had more metaphysical meat to them.

Barclay's exegesis on John really brings that out.

And the thing I love most about this book is the practicality of his teachings. It's not a dry or dusty interpretation, but a here and now explanation. He makes the writings of these men come alive and then shows how the teachings of Jesus are practical and applicable to all the needs of mankind - for now and forever.

As someone else once said of this remarkable man, William Barclay, "he saved the Bible from the experts."

John was the first of this series that I read. And then I went out and bought Matthew. And then Luke. And then Mark and before I was done - I'd purchased and read them all.

This book is famous even when I was in college in 78. But technology changed in the area of computations. One area that this book is poor is that it does not have software code to test the algorithms. As a student or professional, you do not just compute using calculators. You need to test it with a program. It will help a student a lot if there are sample code in C to test around and checks one's calculations.

If you are interested in the electrical theory behind generation, transmission, power flow analysis, and small system stability analysis should get this book. We have studied it in Egypt and i found it also the textbook in most of Canadian universities...

This is a thoroughly revised version of the classical Power System Analysis text by the late Professor Stevenson. The new author, Professor Grainger, has made every effort to retain the flavor and clarity of the original text material. The text covers all classical power system material starting with: basic concepts, transformers, transmission line parameters & performance, network models, power flow solutions, 3-phase faults, symmetrical components and applications, economic operation and power system stability. Two brand new and highly readable chapters on contingency analysis and state estimation add value to the usefulness of this text. A superb solution manual is available for instructors. This text is admirably suited to power system analysis courses at senior undergraduate level and graduate level.

We, at the University of Calgary, have adopted this as the text for the 4th year power system course ENEL 587.

The revised edition of Barclay's commentaries on the New Testament was published in the 1970's, replacing the 2nd edition. It was prepared not by William Barclay, but by the Rev. James Martin. According to the introduction, the revised edition renews the printer's type, restyles the books, corrects some errors in the text and removes some references which have become outdated. In addition, Biblical quotations in the revised edition use the Revised Standard Version instead of the King James Version (however Barclay's own translation is retained at the beginning of each daily section).

What the introduction of the revised edition fails to mention is that while the 17 volumes of the previous 2nd edition contains a total of 5,195 pages, the revised edition prepared by Martin has only 4,541 pages, or a reduction of 12.6%. The removal of portions of Barclay's text in the revised edition varies among the 17 volumes, but nowhere is it more pronounced than in the 2 volumes on Revelation. In the 2nd edition, the 2 volumes contain 528 pages, but in the revised edition the 2 volumes only contain 415 pages, a reduction of 113 pages, or 21.4%. One of the worst cases of the removal of portions of Barclay's commentary occurs in the commentary for Revelation 3:1-6 (Sardis: A Lifeless Church). In that particular commentary, well over 50% of the text from the 2nd edition is removed in the revised edition. Repeatedly, key sentences and phrases are deleted from the revised edition. The revised edition is in fact a condensed and inferior version of the commentaries actually written by William Barclay.

However, I do want to make it clear that I found that the 2nd edition of the Daily Study Bible, including the 2 volumes on Revelation, are by far the most insightful and meaningful commentaries that I have ever read on the New Testament, and I cannot recommend them highly enough. Barclay's 2nd edition commentary on Revelation did an outstanding job of explaining the historical background and the meaning of this difficult text. Any serious study of Revelation would benefit tremendously by the use of Barclay's commentary. However, if you want to read all of what Barclay actually said instead of what Martin thought was important enough to leave in, then check with a used book store or do a used book search on the internet to get the 2nd editions of the 2 volumes on Revelation or other volumes in the Daily Study Bible series.

I was looking for Volume II and am using this "review" as a means to inquire. Volume I covers chapters 1-5. I assume Vol. II would cover chapters 6-18? I would like to purchase Vol. II.(As a small review: Mr. Barclay has taken on the most difficult book and made it much easier to understand.)

The breakdown of the written text was very informative for me an arm chair catholic bible reader. The recommended interpretations are all viable and the "more likely meanings" of the text seemed well founded. However, a volume 2 would be a great finish to the reading.

In this one, both Brady Coyne and especially Tapply seem to be a bit world-weary. The plotting is weaker and more forced than usual in Tapply's books and the development and especially the denouement of his mystery is much weaker than we have come to expect from Tapply. Coyne spending a lot of time wondering like some big-city Jimmy Carter about sexual desires for another woman gets a bit tiresome. Still Tapply makes for easy reading and Coyne is one of the most interesting of such series characters.

CUTTER'S RUN is very good, although not quite as good as the rest of the books in the series. Over the last couple years I ahve forced myself to leisurely read this series, because I enjoy it so much and don't want to run out of Brady Coyne mysteries. Alas, I have just the current one remaining. These books are written intelligently and exceedingly well. Brady is like an old friend. Tapply deserves to be a best-seller; his books are so much better than the drivel by Grisham and other mystery/thriller writers.

Brady Coyne is back--in CUTTER'S RUN--latest in a series Wlliam G.Tapply fans hope will take us through Brady's old age, eons from now. Brady drives a second hand Jeep in this one. He's his usual funny, thoughtful self, in a beautifully drawn Maine setting, where pollution kills, (and nearly gets Brady). CUTTER'S RUN combines superb writing with an entertaining mystery that transcends the genre, something Tapply does in every one of his novels: In CUTTER, he uses a romantic encounter to ponder the meaning of "betrayal", just as he uses baseball to talk about "life" in FOLLOW THE SHARKS. In Tapply's hands these are not your usual metaphors. The Maine country setting in CUTTER'S RUN adds depth to the action and characters and becomes part of the plot, like the glittering moon over the powdery beach in DEATH AT CHARITY'S POINT. Tapply crafts his tales with pure art.

A usual book review outlines something of the plot, not enough to give everything away, but at least something to catch a potential reader's fancy. I cannot assure you that this book has much of plot---some men come together to run a new bi-weekly magazine in New York in the 1880s, their financial backer has hickish, conservative tendencies and he opposes a certain impoverished writer who supports socialism (then a wild-eyed fantasy. This rich man's son, who abhors any form of business, is made into the managing editor. A crisis develops, takes a sudden unexpected turn, and the men buy out the backer, who leaves for Europe. Most novels have a main character whose moods and motivations are central to the work. Not A HAZARD OF NEW FORTUNES. Several people figure almost equally in this respect, none of them women, but women are developed more than in most male-authored novels of the time, even including a sympathetic view of a very independent female character. Basil March might be taken for the main character, but that would be mostly because he is introduced first. He is abandoned for long stretches while we follow the lives and personalities of others.

Yet, I must say, I admired Howells' novel very much. It is not for those who require action, sex, or dramatic events. Rather, it is a slice of life of the period, of the place, of family life and social repartee that may be unequalled. Though Howells claimed to be a "realist" and he is often spoken of, it seems, as one of such a school in American literature, the novel oscillates between extremely vivid descriptions of all varieties of life in New York, humanist philosophizing, and mild melodrama, thus, I would not class it as a truly realist novel in the same sense as say, "McTeague" by Frank Norris. Howells had the American optimism, the reluctance to dwell on the darker sides of human nature. This novel may draw accusations, then, of naivete. I think that would be short-sighted. Henry James and Faulkner might be deeper psychologically and Hemingway more sculpted, but Howells sometimes puts his finger right on the very essence of American ways of thinking and on American character. Some sections, like for instance the long passage on looking for an apartment in New York-over thirty pages---simply radiate genius. The natural gas millionaire and his shrewish daughter; the gung-ho, go-getter manager of the magazine; the dreamy, but selfish artists, the Southern belle---all these may be almost stock characters in 20th century American letters, but can never have been better summarized than here. Two statements made by Basil March, a literary editor married into an old Boston family, sum up the feel of A HAZARD OF NEW FORTUNES, a novel that takes great cognizance of the potential for change in people (always an optimist's point of view). First, he says, "There's the making of several characters in each of us; we are each several characters and sometimes this character has the lead in us, and sometimes that." And lastly, he says "I don't know what it all means, but I believe it means good." Howells was no doubt a sterling man and this, perhaps his best novel, reflects that more than anything else.

This title should be on the syllabus of every American lit class. Read it and you'll realize that the canon is as full of holes as a chuck of swiss cheese.

William Dean Howells in his lifetime was ranked with his friend,Henry James as a writer of a new realistic kind of fiction,and however mild and idealistic it seems today,was considered by its admirers as refreshingly revolutionary and by others as cynical meanspiritedness seeking to sacrifice all that was "noble" in art.While actually having little in common with James, (he seems to be closer in spirit to Trollope)Howells' name was always side by side with James' and it was probably supposed that their future reputations would share a similiar fate. Unfortunately,that was not the case-while Henry James is considered a giant of American belles lettres,Howells has been relegated to minor status and except by a happy few,little read."A Hazard of New Fortunes",possibly Howell's best work,is one of the better known-but most people aren't aware that it is one of the greatest works of fiction in American literature.It is an impressive panorama of American life towards the end of the last century.People from Boston,the west,the south and Europe all converge in New York to enact a comedy of manners or tragedy,depending on their fortunes,that compares in its scope and masterly dissection of society, with"The Way We Live Now".Howell's light irony touches upon the eternal divisions between the haves and the have-nots,male and female,the socially secure and the unclassed,and with the Marches,the book's ostensible heroes,uses a typical normal middleclass family-with all of its intelligence,understanding,decency on one side and with all of its pretensions,timidity,selfishness on the other-to reflect the social unease and lack of justice in a supposedly sane and fair world.The book is subtle in its power and underneath its light tone probes the problems of its day with compassion and insight.Indeed,many of the problems it depicts are still relevant today.William Dean Howells wrote so many novels of worth that he deserves to have more than just a cult following; "A Hazard of New Fortunes" amply illustrates this.