There are 2 main reasons for purchasing one of the books in this series: you're a "dummy" with respect to the subject, or you're knowledgeable and either wish to test your smarts against the author's or to acquire some ideas about how to communicate your knowledge to others. If I may be so presumptuous as to place myself in the latter category, I'd be hard-pressed to recommend this book. It provides comparatively brief summaries of each of the plays, but little perspective on what makes one play more profound, more respected, more "required" reading than another. A reader might just as easily conclude that *Titus Andronicus* is as important as *Hamlet*; that *Romeo and Juliet* is no less a tragedy than *Lear*; that *Henry 6 or 8* is as well written as *Henry's 4 and 5*. Moreover, the book-cover blurb promises to teach the reader how to read the Sonnets (totalling 154), yet the authors provide no more than 2 glib paragraphs about the sonnet cycle.

The authors' recommendations about films and editions are too succinct or limited to be of much help. (Only the Arden Complete Edition is recommended, an edition with numerous problems.) And there's the question of just how much justice you can do the Bard with language that, unlike his, is unremittingly "flip." But if you enjoy this style, I'd recommend reading first the section on Shakespeare in *An Incomplete Education* to get a better sense of which readings are truly indispensable and most worthy of a reader's time. And if you want more detailed summaries of plays, try SparkNotes, the website created by Harvard students.

For those of us who didn't pay too much attention when Shakespeare was taught in school, this book is for us. It definately helps out any late bloomers who suddenly become interested in the bard. There are many other books on Shakespeare. And they are probably more precise and intelligent but also a demanding read. Shakes for Dummies is as simple to read as any other in the series and well thought out by its creator, John Doyle... Shakespeare scholar. The book includes a basic history of Will and his homeland... and the state of the world at the time of his writings... This helps in understanding the storylines as well... Also in the book is a brief synopsis and commentary on each of his plays, whether they be his comedies, tragedies or histories. One of the best elements of the book is the introduction of "Scorecards". Shakespeares stories can be compared to sporting events but instead of 'getting struck out at third', the player would be 'banished from his kingdom'. So, DUMMIES gives you a fun format for keeping score of all the plays. I guess Shakespeare was not as boring as Miss Garcia made it sound.

This book is brought to you by the same folks who publish all the ". . . For Dummies" books for learning computer programs. I have been known to snicker at these books, as I'm rather computer-dweebic, and don't need computer-dummy books.

It turns out that my next screenplay involves Shakespeare, and before I started writing, I needed to do some research on the bloke and his works. At the local library, I found "Shakespeare for Dummies." I scanned the book, then nearly choked on swallowing a dollop of pride as I toted the book through the checkout.

It's not easy to be expert at something and at the same time to be able to explain it clearly to beginners (or dummies). These authors definitely do have that talent.

Open the cover, and first thing, there's a listing of all of the dude's plays with a one or two sentence summary -- the lay of the land!

The book goes on to cover the life and times of William; explanations of his brand of English, the theatrical world he worked in, etc. Deeper into the book, there are two- to three-page summaries of each play, with recommendations for videos of each play.

The authors' wholistic approach is very informative, and they take a good-natured approach to a topic that could be oh-so-scholarly.

My screenplay, by the way, is titled Learning Shakespeare. The irony of it all.

This is really a good book for Java Developers who wish to develop XML based applications. Couple of chapters have good examples and explains concepts in a very clear format. Also the book is upto date with all the latest concepts in XML world.

I have been working with XML for a while now, and this book offered a great coverage of most aspects of what XML application developers need to know. I am not able to keep up with everything happening in this very broad part of the industry - and this book provided enough coverage of the areas I'm not able to focus on on a regular basis to help me stay current. I'd recommend it for anyone who's working with specific areas within XML and want to stay current with the broader scope of what is going on. I'd also recommend it for anyone who is new to XML and wants to know the various Java APIs out there.

This is surely one of the Best Books availale in Market for Java Developers. I have been waiting to read a Book which covers all the latest XML API and how use them using latest Java Tools. Thanks to Wrox Publications for bringing this book to us. It covers how to do XML programming using all the latest Java API line I/O Sockets, Developing Presentation Logic, Developing Configuration and Deployment logic, Using XML in B2B applications. In short no other book in Market provides such a clear understanding of how to develop Java Based XML Applications.

Also it clearly explains how to use the latest Java Based XML Parsers like Xerces, Xalan and more. Friends if you need to get upto date with all the latest Java Based Parsers and different XML API, then this Book is really the Best one.

This book is so poorly written I stopped reading it after the first 80 pages or so. Some background information provided at the beginning is interesting, but the book failed to hold my interest--a remarkable feat, given how fascinating a man Sam Houston is. A much better biography is Sword of San Jacinto, by Marshall de Bruhl.

I'm not sure if the first reviewer read the same book that I did. As a doctoral student in history, I have read many history books and must defend Williams's book as SUPERBLY written and carefully researched; Williams obviously wrote this book for a larger audience. Such an excellent combination of readability and academic rigor is the envy of every serious historian.

I highly recommend this biography for the causal reader and the serious scholar, which certainly ranks among the best bios of Sam Houston to date.

I'm not sure if the first reviewer read the same book that I did. As a doctoral student in history, I have read many history books and must say this was a SUPERBLY written and researched account. Williams's prose is highly accessible to the average reader, while meeting the rigors of serious academic work. An excellent book for the casual reader and scholar alike.

The book covers quite a bit of the build up before combat. The begining covers some interesting history of the Gulf and it's oil production. This helps us fully understand what brought us to war there in the 90's. Most of it concerns operational/longistical aspects of the Sheild/Storm. I would have given it 5 stars for glossy pages, more photos, and more detailed operational descriptions of the navy ship's day to day action in the gulf, especially the Battleships. I've read some of these stories in other books. One thing I can say is that it changed my mind on a lot of things that I incorrectly remembered about watching the war on TV.

This is an overall thorough, but very dry account of the US Navy's involvement in the Persian Gulf War. The authors, as part of the Naval Historical Center, obviously had incredible access to firsthand sources, and it shows. It does offer some good insights and presents a "warts and all" perspective at times.

The book opens with a brief and useful historical overview of the Navy's presence in the Gulf and the run up to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. While the story of how the US Military arrived at its plan to fight the war is interesting, the account of the logistics of the buildup is somewhat tedious. I realize logistics are the backbone of any military operation; but it just wasn't that interesting except as part of an official history.

The authors deserve credit for addressing the problems the Navy faced: a lack of integration with the other services, infighting among the Generals (Army and USAF) and Admirals, and an ill-conceived mine laying operations that cost two pilots their lives, for example. It avoids being "whiney" about slights during the air campaign from an Air Force dominated air warfare command structure, yet is somewhat bogged down in details about tasking orders and control systems.

This book will probably only be interesting to the more die hard Naval historian and students of Joint Military Operations for lessons learned. For a good account of modern Naval Warfare, I would be more inclined to recommend Admiral Sandy Woodward's "One Hundred Days" about the Falklands War.

I actually have a paper copy published prior to this one by GPO (I think). If anyone is worried about price, they may want to investigate purchasing that edition. Great book. It's nice to read about the Naval part of the war instead of just the Army part. Notice in most books, there isn't even a map showing the gulf itself - just the land masses!

The strength of the book is the fine quality of the printing, the good color photographs and the enthousiasm of its makers, who obviously love crafting things of wood. This certainly is an attractive coffee table-book which may well inspire those who browse through it into making better use of wood than before.

As an enyclopedia it certainly does not make the grade. Obviously nobody with a botanical background was involved here. On page 20 is a remark about 'apetalous' trees that if ever I decide to award a price for the most-nonsensical-botanical-statement-ever will be a strong contender. The writers failed to pursue a consistent way of writing botanical names. Glancing through the book I note various errors in the history of the use of wood.

In addition the wood pictures, although of the same general size that is cute in "Identifying_Wood" by Aidan Walker (see there), a book derived from this, are pretty smallish on this big page size. I feel uncomfortable about some of the pictures which appear hardly typical of the woods they supposedly represent, and indeed some were replaced in the little book. As "Identifying_Wood" is not a bad book but unsuited for identifying wood, so is this "Encyclopedia_of_Wood" unsuited as a reference.

I don't want to give the impression that it is riddled with errors (I have seen much worse), but it falls well short of the level of, say, "The_International_Book_of_Wood" (1976) let alone of an encyclopedia.

P.S. I do hate the clumsy square shape. Obviously it was not meant to ever come off that coffee table: it decidedly would sit awkward on a shelf among real reference works.

While the book could have been a little more dense it was a good read overall. I would have liked to have seen more focus on North American hardwoods, but that aside the book was very informative. About 150 different woods are described in detail with acompaning pictures. There is also a nice section on fine furniture. This book is an excellent introduction into the world of wood working and would make a fine gift for anyone with even a passing interest in that direction.

This is a truly comprehensive encyclopedia, liberally illustrated with large photographs--a must for any wood lover. It includes precise descriptions of grain, pattern, figure and color, as well as the relevant harvesting locations, processes and uses. Interesting historical tidbits also add to its richness. Attributes such as stiffness, density, workability, crushing strength, and hardness are specified for each wood. It is a remarkable and beautiful book that I STRONGLY recommend.

This book is meant for first or second year major student in physics. I am a second year student myself and I found this book quite frustrating. It covers many topics in modern physics, perhaps too many. The treatment of subject is not thorough enough and especially the real theoretical side is often omitted. The subject is difficult enough by itself and this book is not the greatest source of information.

This is a junior or senior level text on essentially all of modern physics. Every topic is well explained and at a high level. It is short of a graduate text, but very good in terms of physics rather than mathematics. The main difference being ,I think, is a graduate text uses more advanced math (calculus of variations, bras and kets,group theory, etc) whereas this book only uses partial differential equations . However, the PDEs do suffice to accurately derive the results, and the student should certainly know both approaches.
Numerical solutions are given to about half of the chapters problems.
Additionally, the authors have went to the trouble of tracing the origin and development of the subjects, and explaining the motivations and difficulties that the pioneers faced, when possible.
It is true there is too much material to be covered in a single year...but I think this just adds to the value since it can be used as a reference as well as text.

This book does cover a lot of information that it seems overwhelming. However, this is only because the authors explain the concepts "all the way". For example, the discussion on wave packets includes the explanation of phase (an excellent diagram for learning how to visualize phase and group velocity) plus some details on complex analysis. Basically I find the descriptions of experiments, concepts and math very clear and detailed.

I would say that the verbosity of this book is excellent for people who like to get all the details clear. Readers with much faster brain processors, those who can't wait to learn more of QM or those who understands much of the fundamental physics and math behind QM might be bored by this book.

Summary:

Pros: 1. Clear Explanations 2. attention to thorough and detailed explanation 3. some excellent diagrams!!!!

Cons: 1. Too verbose for some 2. rather heavy to carry around!!!

... the reviews for King Henry VIII by William Shakespeare (and all their other books as far as I can tell) as if different editions have the same content - obviously in the case of classics that is far from true.

... 3 editions of Henry VIII at this time: (1) Hardback edited by Gordon McMullar published in November 2000 (2) Paperback edited by Jay L. Halio published in September 2000 (3) Paperback edited by R. A. Foakes published in February 1998

Their editorial reviews describe ALL 3 of these editions as "This is the first fully annotated modern-spelling edition of King Henry VIII to appear for over a decade and includes up-to-date scholarship on all aspects of the play, including dating authorship, printing, sources and stage history." I don't think so! The reader reviews don't distinguish the editions but they are the same reviews posted for the different books. I wish I could contribute the answer but I am still trying to figure it out -- in the meantime, purchase cautiously or you may be disappointed.

Shakespeare managed to describe the later life of King Henry the eight, with much intelligence and gracefulness. This play, written centuries before, has captured my attention unlike any present-day play or novel. King Henry VIII was based on the life of the notoriously known King Henry the eight of England. To my dismay, only two of King Henry's wives were mentioned. This play showed how King Henry's life was never truly complete: he couldn't trust anyone, he was unfaithful to the Lord, his wives and his country, and he was never blessed with a son, to be heir to his throne. For myself, the climax of the play was viewing how the king dealt with the change of wives and the birth of his daughter, Elizabeth. The play King Henry VIII by William Shakespeare is a wonderful recommendation for anyone who wishes to understand the tidings of King Henry the eight from a fictitious, historical, personal point of view, rather than from historical facts.

This was an appropriate conclusion to Shakespeare's career. Not only are the characters such as Henry VIII, Cranmer, and Wolsey convincing, but the poetry and images are beautiful. In addition, through the fall of several characters such as Wolsey, we can see reflections of Shakespeare himself as he wrote his 37th and final play. It is also poetically appropriate that one of the greatest writers England ever knew ended his career by writing a play about one of the greatest kings that England ever knew! I DO NOT believe that Shakespeare only wrote parts of this play as many people do. With the beautiful images, poetry, and captivating characters, I am very confident in the belief that this play was written entirely by the one and only William Shakespeare.

This installment of The Daily Study Bible Series covers the Pastoral Epistles and the letter to Philemon. William Barclay has given us a good devotional study firmly rooted in biblical scholarship.

Scholars have disputed Pauline authorship of the Pastoral Epistles (I and II Timothy, Titus). Barclay's introduction covers the issues involved well. He takes a middle position where a later teacher expanded genuine Pauline fragments. Unfortunately, he does not expound this view in the commentary itself; he is silent about which sections are genuine and which are later. Since "we are still hearing the voice of Paul" (13), it probably did not occur to him to make the distinctions. Barclay's introduction to Philemon includes an interesting if speculative account of how this short letter became included in the New Testament.

The commentary itself is best described as expository. Barclay does not only analyze the Greek text. Using exhortation, anecdotal stories, and other sources, he also suggests what these texts might mean today. From a strictly academic viewpoint, this commentary will seem superficial. For the popular audience for whom Barclay has intended this work, it should serve as a springboard for further study. Barclay provides a list for further reading for this purpose.

Though this book is a good introductory work overall, the reader should be aware of a couple points. The first relates to these epistles' stances on women and slavery. Any casual reading of the letters will strike the reader as bordering on misogyny and condoning slavery. Barclay places these tests in the situation of the Roman/Greek world in which Paul wrote them. He makes a valid point that doing almost anything else would be scandalous (with women) or even dangerous (with slaves). To his credit, he says those circumstances no longer apply. However,considering the history in which these texts were and are used, I have to think he soft-pedaled these issues. After all Christianity is supposed to be "light for the world" (Matt. 5:14, NJB).

The other issue concerns Barclay's treatment of other religions. When Barclay mentions them, he almost invariably creates straw men of them. He makes at least one anti-Semitic accusation without evidence. Against these straw men, Barclay over idealizes Christianity. Even granting this work is now more than twenty-five years old, Barclay should have been above that.

In his series of New Testament Commentaries, William Barclay gives us a commentary on the "Pastoral Epistles" and Philemon. 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus are called the Pastoral Epistles because Paul had written them to encourage and advise two pastors in Early Christianity. They give advice concerning the character and conduct that Christians should have, specifically the character and conduct of a church's pastor.

Where Barclay's strength lies is in the meticulous analysis of the text. Paul tends to pack a lot in his sentences; Barclay picks the sentence apart and brings things into clearer view. While he does an admirable job discussing Paul's world in the light of the times (when slaves outnumbered free men, when women were neither to be seen nor heard, etc.); how Paul's words can be applied to a modern, slave-free, woman-respecting society; and spends a great deal of time analyzing Christian conduct.

While the commentary is generally good, it wasn't much that I hadn't heard or read before. It can be argued that this was Barclay's intention. Since he translated the entire text from the original Greek, quoted many other Bible verses and Paul's pagan contemporaries (to illustrate the thinking of the day), etc., he could have written a pretty good commentary series intended for Biblical scholars. Instead, he wrote one for the regular chruch-goers.

I do have to throw in one comment concerning the inerrancy of the Bible. Barclay speculates that Paul may not have written the entire epistle, but rather that someone found one of Paul's old letters and re-wrote it to address the Gnostic heresy in the Church. This speculation is dangerous as it encourages one to pick apart the Bible and throw away the parts that he/she doens't like. It makes the Bible subjective ("I don't like that part about no murder. I don't believe the Holy Spirit wrote that, so I'll ignore it."). The Holy Spirit doesn't need an editor; It will have what it wants in the Bible and make sure that any "false teachings" are not included.

In all, this is a pretty good commentary. It gives a thorough, Biblical analysis of the conduct of Christian pastors and lay-people. It also gives a healthy view of the historical period in which these letters were written.

I have found Barclay's Daily Bible Study Guides of the New Testament the best in-depth commentary of the bible books. He presents scholarly analysis in very easy to read passages. Reading this book in particular greatly increased my understanding of Paul's extraordinary letters to Timothy and Titus on Christian leadership principles.

When I bought the book, I expected what would be nearly the full score. However, most of the songs have been shortened and simplified to save space and to make playing the songs easier. However, the songs tend to lose some of their spirit when abridged. While many of the main rhythms are demonstrated, many small details that show specific emotion in the movie are left out. The songs lose their value. I think that the origional score, unabridged, should be released.

This book contains 14 songs from the "Star Wars: Special Edition" trilogy (Episodes IV-VI). For those who truly enjoy the "Star Wars" music and have a desire to play it, this book is worth having. I specifically bought the book for piano playing, so I wish it would have been formatted in a piano solo edition. Despite this, most of the pieces play very well on the piano.

The first section contains pieces from "Star Wars: A New Hope." These are as follows: "Star Wars (Main Theme)," "Cantina Band," "Ben's Death/TIE Fighter Attack," "Princess Leia's Theme," and "The Throne Room." Of those probably the main theme is the easiest to play, but I still enjoyed it. "The Throne Room" sounds very majestic on the piano, and I'm glad it was included.

The second section is from "The Empire Strikes Back" and includes: "Han Solo and the Princess," "The Imperial March," "Yoda's Theme," and "May the Force be With You." The "Han Solo and the Princess" theme can be reasonably grasped by a novice player, and it sounds very nice on the piano. The same can be said for "Yoda's Theme."

The third section is from "Return of the Jedi" and includes: "Luke and Leia," "Parade of the Ewoks," "The Emperor Arrives," "Victory Celebration," and "Jedi Rocks." Of those I particularly liked "The Emperor Arrives" and "Victory Celebration."

This book has 60 pages of music plus a few pages of photos and a fold-out poster. I could have done without the pictures and poster if it meant having a couple of more songs in there for the same price (I hope the publishers read this). But their inclusion was not excessive (as I have seen with other movie music books).

I enjoyed this book very much. Of course, these pieces are not nearly as memorable on the piano as were the original soundtracks, but for piano-playing "Star Wars" enthusiasts, the book is worth buying.

This is the best, most complete version of music from the Star Wars Trilogy you can get. It is written like it just came of the from the pen of the mighty John Williams himself. It is written for piano (even though it does not say it)and it is fairly advanced. I would say you should have been playing the piano for 3 to 4 years to be able to sit down and go through all the songs, I believe a less difficult version is available but I have not seen it a Amazon.com. This is MUST HAVE if you love the music from Star Wars, and who doesn't?

This older edition gives a solid introduction to the Unitarian Universalist faith. Some portions focus on the historical and doctrinal roots, while others draw on the experiences of the authors (who are both UU ministers) as well as contemporary understandings and practices of the UU faith.
Good: This is an easy read and for a short volume seems to cover all the basics of UU well. The experiences of the authors are particularly helpful. A good example is that of Buehrens' marriage to an Episcopal priest. He says, "The truth is that most of our debates are rather more mundane: the unholy trinity of checkbook, chores, and children, not the holy one."
Bad: The authors sometimes contradict themselves by proclaiming the virtues of being all-inclusive, and then highlighting their perceived inadequacies of orthodox Christian understandings. For example, Church writes that "[James Freeman] Clarke and [Jenkin Lloyd] Jones helped to expand Unitarianism beyond a liberal Christian faith to a faith that might best be described not as non-Christian, but as more than Christian." To most of us in other religions, Christian or otherwise, the UU faith is not "more than" anything but a hodge-podge collection of bits and pieces that fails to embrace the fullness of any of the world's religions. Opinion: A quote from William Schulz in the introduction sums up the essence of Unitarian Universalism: "Born Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Muslim, or into a secular or 'mixed' household, when it came time for us to affiliate with a religious institution we sought one that fit our own thinking, not one that imposed its thinking on us." To those of us who view religious discipleship as letting go of our own ways of thinking in order to grow closer to God, this view is inadequate. It does not do us well to create a god in our own image.

The authors (UU ministers) provide a friendly, approachable guided tour of the ideas and practice of Unitarian Universalism, mostly through looking at the lives and accomplishments of noted UUs. The reader is left with a good sense of the common threads that bring members of this theologically eclectic denomination together.

Unitarian Universalism offers seekers a map to find truth and meaning in their lives. This book helps identify the markers one looks for on this journey. Buehrens and Church discuss in casual, easy to understand terms, the path and markers in Unitarian Universalism, and offers needed language to feelings and matters religious for those in search. This is a difficult religion. It requires commitment and an open mind. This book helps guide the new comer toward becoming more comfortable with the difficult explanations. Highly recommended.