A major contribution, this book is a treasure of up-to-date archaeological documentation plus analysis and interpretation of the architecture and engineering of the legendary Inca site. As scholar and frequent academic study-tour leader to Machu Picchu, I can attest to the accuracy of the authors' observations presented in a lucid text and complemented by a wealth of excellent black-and-white photographs, detailed site plans and architectural drawings. In an unusual collaborative effort, American engineer Kenneth R. Wright and Peruvian archaeologist Alfredo Valencia Zegarra join their expertise to describe with painstaking care the multiple challenges that were faced by the Inca builders including geography, site selection, engineering infrastructure, city planning, water system, drainage, agriculture, stonework, and construction methods. In addition, Gordon McEwan contributes an essential chapter on the cultural backgrounf of the Inca civilization; and Ruth M. Wright's "Walking Tour" chapter provides a concise, clear guide for exploring the main site as well as other attractions nearby. Destined to become a classic and model study for other Inca sites, this is an invaluable resource for experts in the field and general public alike.

Machu Picchu, A Civil Engineering Marvel is an extraordinary accomplishment. It is not merely a travel book or ruins guide. It is the result of at least five years of study, exploration and detailed mapping by a competent civil engineer and actually is a tremendous contribution to serious archaeology on the history and accomplishments of the Peruvian Inca empire.

Mr. Wright, a water engineering specialist, worked with close cooperation with a government archaeological expert from Peru headquarters. His particular specialized interest was the drinking and waste disposal system for the people who inhabitated the site, which is called a "palace" but is actually much more than that. He also detailed the construction of the agricultural terraces. It is a scholastic textbook of the first rank.

I expected a civil engineering perspective on one of my favorite subjects, Machu Picchu, to be at least a little dry. Machu Picchu; A Civil Engineering Marvel is anything but. The book melds technical information on a compelling topic with observations, insights and scads of breathtaking photographs. The result is a technically substantial engineering survey presented as a coffee-table book. I have read a lot of materials on Machu Picchu, yet I can't remember the last time I encountered so much new information in one place. The book explores such engineering facets of Machu Picchu as planning, hydrology, hydraulics, drainage, agriculture and construction, and demonstrates why these things are significant and interesting. Machu Picchu; A Civil Engineering Marvel breathes extra life into this basic information by providing context, analysis, archaeological perspective and even a walking guide for touring the site.

Machu Picchu; A Civil Engineering Marvel has application, understandability and appeal for such diverse individuals as anthropologists, archaeologists, travelers, scenery-lovers and historians, as well as engineers. Machu Picchu buffs like myself will certainly enjoy the book's refreshing, new angle.

Great story of one of our time's best architects, Frank Lloyd Wright, & his building of the Domino's Mansion in a way that was harmonious with nature. Easy to read, lots of great photos as well. Excellent book.

This book presents many new essays from several ancient scholars. The papers are well-written and on diverse topics. Although the hardcover is expensive, it is well worth the price, since quality commentaries and new scholarship seems scarce. The article on the Demiurge by Jan Opsomer is top notch and well worth the price of the book. M. R. Wright's paper is excellent as well. Look out Cornford, there's some new kids on the block. Included in the back of the book is a comprehensive list of commentaries and translations of the Timaeus, which is extremely useful.

This is great book for someone that wants to get up to speed quickly with Delphi. The author mixes a good technical discussion of the language with humor and the end effect is learning without falling asleep. The goal of this book is to get you started, and it takes a firm hands-on approach to accomplish this task. By the time you finish (and at 500 pages, you CAN finish it), you'll have touched base with all of the major features that Delphi provides

This book is really great ! Even if You are not familiar to programming, with this book you could soon have a good base on programming in Delphi. The book is very easy to understand because it is writen in very simple way, with many examples. I wolud suggest this book to everyone who is novice to programming, and who plans to make programs in this great developing tool, Delphi 2.0

Of all the beginning Delphi texts, this is probably the best. Peter Wright does an excellent job in touching on the many aspects of Delphi, without becoming tangled in time wasting examples and exercises. As a bonus, the last exercise is the development of a complete application, kind of a graduate exercise if you will. Highly recommended.

If you're looking for an introduction to World War II concerning the European theater you would do well to pick up _The Ordeal of Total War_. Gordon Wright goes beyond the stadard military/political description of war as is so often the case and delves into the social, economic, and psychological impact of modern or "total war". In regards to economics the UK, USA, USSR and German economic policies are examined, evaluated and compared for their effectiveness in dealing with the demands for total war. Something very necessary in understanding what total war is all about.

Although the campaigns and individual battles of the war aren't greatly detailed they are covered sufficiently to provide a good introduction. Particularily useful are the chapters dealing with German rule in occupied Europe (and German resettlement polcies), the scientifid dimensions of warfare and the resistance movements (and competing resistance movements).

Gordon Wright doesn't end his book with the German surrender in 1945. He continues to explain the post-war situation, how World War II shaped the post 1945 Europe, and how the "Big Three" begins to unravel how the seeds of the Cold War are planted. I think Gordon's contention that the war time alliance of the Allies had no validity after the destruction of the Third Reich is right on target.

Final Word: Broad in scope yet compact; good reading even for the more familiar student of World War II.

I am a WW2 buff. Reasons? Plenty. But perhaps the strongest one one. I was there. I am currently reading 'A War to be Won' written by two outstanding scholars in the field and their two highest recommendations are 'The ordeal of total war' by Gordon Wright and 'A world at war: A global history of World War II' by Gerhard Weinberg. I was so interested in 'A War to be Won' that I can't wait to get my hands on the next two ones mentioned above...

Thirty-two pages? Unless you're desperate for this information--and I don't see why anyone would be; there's lots of FLW books--be aware that you're only getting about a dozen color pics and a brief accompanying story. Usonian houses are thoroughly covered in John Sergeant's book, in a more scholarly way. Nice presentation though: the cover is perforated like the plywood panels on the house.

This impressively illustrated small volume tells the inspiring story of an important Frank Lloyd Wright home. The Gordon House, 1957, was designed for an Oregon farmer and his wife. This very special house is one of only two houses to evolved from Wright's famous model house design "A Private Little Club", published in Life magazine, Sep. 1938. When new owners planned to destroy the house to make way for a much larger, but very common place design, national media attention, public opinion, and a sizeable tax deduction, pursuaded the new owners to allow the Chicago based Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy to move the building to a new site. However, they allowed the Conserevancy only 105 days to remove the building from their property. The Oregon Garden, a relatively new botanical garden 25 miles south east of the original site, was selected to receive the building. Their team, through heroic effort and impressive community participation, moved and reconstructed the building in record time. It has now opened as the only Frank Lloyd Wright house museum in the northwest and the only "Usonian" design west of the Mississippy open to the public.

I actually used this book more than the critical commentaries for my Greek exegesis class in Romans. That's not to say that folks like Kasemann, Moo, Schreiner, Cranfield and Dunn have made invaluable contributions. However, the commentary format does make it difficult at times to trace what the author's main point is. This lost one star b/c of the nature of the work. A collection of essays is always bound to have uneven quality, and the best essays do not allow their authors to develop fully their arguments. This lost another star b/c it merely gives you a snapshot of where Romans scholarship is, but does not necessarily revolutionize the discussion. An example of a revolutionary Pauline monograph is Sanders' _Paul and Palestinian Judaism_. Perhaps one could include Hays' _Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul_ and Wright's The Climax of the Covenant_

The review of Gunderson (see below) is incorrect in saying that Gordon Fee has not investigated Romans. In Fee's magisterial book on Pauline pneumatology, _God's Empowering Presence_, a large section is devoted to Romans. Fee (these days) has been pointing out the proto-Trinitarian strands in Paul (esp. in Romans 8:9-11), and that is challenging the biblical studies guild's assumption that emphasizes historical distance between the ecumenical councils of the 4th century and the NT.

A reading of the introduction certainly tells you the genuine affection and respect the contributers have for Prof. Fee. With Gunderson, I found Wright's essay on the New Exodus the most memorable. It makes me want to read Hays' _Echos of Scripture in Paul_. Particularly enjoyable was Watts' essay on the "Righteous One" (Rom 1:16-17; cf. Hab 2:4). Longnecker's contribution on the rhetorical argument of Romans 1-8 is a good foretaste for his commentary with Eerdmans (New International Greek Testament Commentary). Will he do for Romans what Betz did for Galatians? It's a tougher case to prove in Romans, but it just makes sense to apply the best insights of rhetorical criticism to this magisterial letter.

For the controversial issue of the "Wretched Man" of Romans 7, I found Packer's essay a bit underpowered in the light of the great exegetes (a point Packer concedes). Some of the other contributions are decent but I can't remember what they said.

After reading a basic introductory commentary of Romans, Romans & The People of God is a good place to begin for further study. This book introduces us to some of the complexities of deeper reading in Romans. What is the main focus of Romans? Richard Longenecker gives us his views of the central role of 5:1-8:39 in chapter four. Romans 7 with its highly controversial "wrethed man that I am" passage is covered historically and theologically by J.I Packer in chapter five.

I personally found N.T. Wright's chapter on the New Exodus, New Inheritance (chapter 2) to be particularly helpful in applying Richard Hays' "echoes" concept to Romans 3-8. The Exodus theme behind these chapters make sense and Wright's view of "the righteousness of God" as God's faithfulness to the Abrahamic covenant also adds much to understanding this important letter. Rikki Watts does a good introduction to the connection of 1:16-17 to Habakkuk 2:4 in chapter one.

What is helpful about this book is the division into three sections. The first, Exegetical Essays, deal with most of the problematic verses in Romans. While section two covers interesting thematic essays, and the final one deals with pastoral/sermonic essays.

I am not quite sure why this book is a "festschrift" for Gorden Fee since he is not particulary known for Romans studies, but as a book to take one into the more intricate matters and problems of Romans it is very good place to begin.