This author did not waste his time and was not lazy in writing about this Pope of Hope. If you are a Roman Catholic you will enjoy the insight and may cringe about the foresight of what is revealed. If you are Jewish you will see the opportunity that is available now in coming to grips with reconciliation based on truth of history known only to sons and daughters of Abraham. The book is easy to read, follows in details and reveals as much as one can know about this man of honor, spiritual healing and forgiveness to those who hate him, tried to kill him and disdain his faith. Communists will see just how puny their ideas and philosophy are compared to what motivates and guides this man of God. In the end, like all good biographies you will learn more than you came to know about a simple but powerful example of a man called John Paul II. Excellent superb excellence.

This is an excellent book that shows us why our current Pope will someday be known as Pope John Paul II the Great! It is an insightful look into both the pope's life, thought, and faith. It addresses the often neglected Theology of the Body. I had the honor of meeting the Holy Father face to face with my wife after our wedding on our honeymoon and it was an awesome experience. I recommend it to anyone who would like to understand both the man and the Catholic Church as it enters into the third millenium of Our Lord.

For this Presbyterian, George Weigel's book about Pope John Paul II was a revelation not only about a remarkable figure in history, but also about Catholic thought and practice. Weigel has written far more than a conventional biography. "Witness to Hope" is also a sweeping history of John Paul's times and his papacy, a trenchant observer's comments on politics in the '70s and '80s, and a sharp-minded theologian's explication of John Paul's voluminous writings. A couple of critics have sniped that Weigel's book lacks "incisive criticisms" of John Paul. In fact, Weigel does speak critically at many points; he simply does so with such civility and respect that bloodthirsty adversaries of the Pope and his church are likely to be disappointed. Far more valuable is Weigel's fidelity to a principle that he states at the outset: that John Paul's life and papacy can only be understood "from the inside." Weigel's vantage point is as "inside" as any author is likely to get; footnote after footnote reveals that information provided by Weigel comes directly from conversation with John Paul II. Weigel's own credentials as a religious thinker and writer, his access to the Pope and to senior officials of the Holy See, the dramatic life of his subject--- all these make the nearly 900 pages of this immense book richly rewarding for the serious reader. Consistently throughout "Witness to Hope," George Weigel paints a fervently evangelical and intellectual Pope who presents Christianity as demanding, but exciting and fulfilling. One might say the same about George Weigel's book: it makes greater demands upon the reader than would a more superficial, sentimental biography--- but it richly rewards the reader with its account of an important life.

I had planned to read this book for a while, and I was looking forward to it a lot, since the kids' one was way to short and boring even when I was ten years old. So, as you can probably guess my expectations were rather high, too high perhaps, but even so I was not disapointed. George Lucas has proved himself not only an excellent filmmaker, but also a great author as well. This book, while a bit dry at times, illustrates the movie in a spectacular fashion, and breathes new life into it, so that it seems interesting all over again. I read it one day when I was stuck in a hotel room, but this book was so interesting I litterally could not put it down. Every true Star Wars fan should read this, since it completly tells the story with a bunch of added stuff, that truly flesh out the story and that were completly missing from the movie. One thing that surprised me was the occasional small details that were changed. Such as Threepio being described as bronze instead of gold, and Luke being Blue 5 instead of Red 5. Another thing that struck me as odd was the slight differences in characters, Luke and Ben most noticably. Ben is less wise, more mischevious, and at times even funny, a previously unheard of thing! Luke also is slightly different. He seems, well, less innocent, more stupid, and even acts like somewhat of a jerk at times, and is all around more heroic and self centered, and generaly less cute. This was both interesting and annoying, since Luke was always my favorite character and to be honest I liked him better the other way. Leia is also noticably different, she being somewhat less strong, which annoyed me somewhat. Anyway, this was an excellent book, that deserved an honest four stars.

We're all familiar with the story, why read the book? That's what a lot of people ask, and I must say there's really not that many reasons to. Everything presented here is in the film, except for a few exceptions. We meet Luke a little earlier into the story, and he has a talk with his friend, Biggs Darklighter. Other than that, there's not a whole lot here that you can't see in the films.

However, as a book, it is most excellently written. The writing style is easy to get into and understand, and characters are written believably. A must-have for the Star Wars book collecter, a good choice of a library loan for anyone else.

I LOVE this book. I have always been a reader, but it usually takes me a long time. This book was easily finished in 2 days, just about a record. The detail just engulfs the reader. You can see everything. It's about 20 times better than the movie. Even if you are not a Star Wars fan, this book can easily make you one. The only downfall is that the famous "Help Me, Obi-Wan Kenobi" speech by Princess Leia has been altered. Even though, this book is an absolute must for any age. (I know, being only 16.) What else can I say? AMAZING!!!!

This book was easily 200 pages too long, provided way too much detail about superfluous information like the type of van the Reeds drove etc. The title also suggests that the book is mainly about Clinton's & Bush's involvement in some shady dealings; it is tangentially about those and a good chunk is dedicated to Clinton's efforts to get back at Reed, but the book is mainly about Terry Reed and HIS involvement in those operations. Not that that's a bad thing, but I don't think it's worth 682 pages. I would've liked more evidence on the drug smuggling, Reed only has "proof" of one shipment. I don't doubt that there could have been (and probably was) a CIA conspiracy, but Reed hasn't proved so beyond a reasonable doubt. All in all, though, fairly entertaining and informative.

As I read this work, it became so compelling that I couldn't
wait to wake up to read more. I found myself yelling at Terry
and his wife throughout the book - "No, don't do that!" Knowing
not exactly what was waiting for them in the future - but knowing
it wasn't going to be good.

What was amazing was how they "played his ego", "played his
ambition" and generally opted out when questions that made sense
were asked. Who is ever to know if any or all of this story
is or was true. What is important is: It makes too much sense!

The methodology and policies Mr. Reed explains about the Agency
is terrific. Especially, the Barry Seal flights - which tends
to explain a lot of other "so called" mysterious plane crashes
around the world.

Compromised has changed my life, because it not only brought
lots of new information, but confirmed all my worst fears!

This is the third book I've read on Mena and is by far the best. It links the feds and Bush's end with Clinton's Arkansas. It explains much about the mysterious Barry Seal and the uneasy partnership between Clinton's Arkansas, Bush's people, and North's people. I've read about LD Brown and his experience with the contras. I've read about Pritchard's train deaths case(not discussed in the book. Reed didn't personally deal with it.), and his interview with Bill Duncan and Russel Welch. And this book ties Clinton's Arkansas techniques of reputation ruinment, the drugs at Mena, and the assassin squads trained there by Felix Rodriguez. It is a must read, and a good reason why we must vote libertarian.

Marcus Aurelius is truly the pioneer in writing the first How-To book in history. His chapterized memoirs gives the reader to individually divide each insert and analyase it. For all who wish to live a better, hassle-free life, must read this book so they could implement the instructions given in it.

This is a truly great book, and I've read it three times now. This is inspite of the fact that the style is a bit dense for the modern reader.
Personally, I have always been attracted to the Stoic emphasis on inner peace and ethical living according to the example of nature and the cosmos.
It is not surprising that Aurelius was also a great influence on Henry David Thoreau. I understand that President Clinton cited this as his favorite book, though for the life of me I cannot concieve of him as a Stoic- Epicurian perhaps, but not Stoic....
I was struck by Aurelius's repeated admonition that it makes no difference whether one lives 40 years or 10,000- you will still have experienced everything, for nothing is new and everything repeats in endless cycles. He is right, once you get past 40, these repeating cycles become more and more apparent....

My first exposure to Marcus Aurelius was "Silence of the Lambs" (when Hanibal Lector quotes Aurelius to Clarice). I was intrigued. After reading Meditations, I was even more intrigued, and started buying copies for my friends. I have read Nietzche, Plato, Sartre. But this book tells it like it IS. Aurelius did not shy away from discussing topics we find too embarrassing today: from death to sex, perversity to honesty. This small volume is PACKED with life-giving, refreshing wisdom. And the price??? An unbelievable value.

I finished reading this book recently and I have to say it is an excellent book. When Hunter Davies first interviewed the Beatles for this book from 1967-1968, it was before all the bickering and fighting started and before Yoko came into the picture. Davies takes an inside look in thier home and family life, the songwriting process, and recording sessions. It also gives a pretty good background on their childhoods and how they all met. Not to mention a lot of great pictures, including some I never seen before. The only reason I didn't give it five stars was because it is not a totally definative bio. Lots of things were left out because it upset thier family members. For example, it is not mentioned that Brian Epstein was homosexual because it upset his mother at the time. And some things were left out of John's childhood because it upset his aunt Mimi. Other than that, I reccomend that you read this book. It is smart and thouroughly researched. A must have for all Beatles fans!

As a 14 year old Beatle fan I read this book in its original release in 1968. (I think just about everyone in my Catholic girl's school in Queens was reading it). I loved reading about the birth of the Beatles; their days in Liverpool and Hamburg, their early influences, etc. I have always remained a fan and recently reread the book. I loved it just as much the second time around -- it brought me back to a time I loved and I remembered how great it was the grow up in the 60's and the Beatles were a big part of that great decade. My 14 year old daugher (also a Beatles fan) loves it as well. I never expected this reaction - I was suprised that the Beatles still have a huge amount of young fans. Suprised and happy because we certainly have found some common ground. She loved learning about the Beatles and the decade they came to represent. I do think this is the best book on the Beatles to date I (and the only authorized one as far as I know)- although I hear there will soon be an autobiography by Paul, George and Ringo. It's a must read for any Beatles fan!

I'm sure there were books about the Beatles written before this, but this book was written with the Beatles (complete with interviews). Hunter Davies includes some of his own opinions in later editions but this is about the Fab 4, their rise, and where they were in 1968 when this book originally came out (John admits to be bored with life as Yoko Ono had not yet been a household name to us and George was already sick of being a Beatle at the time). The later editions have a section about the breakup, what they did individually in the 1970's, the tragedy of John Lennon in 1980 and more recent interviews with Paul, George, and Ringo. You can trust Davies since he got the Beatles' authorization and respected their privacy (he mentions that George Harrison asked that certain things not be printed). As Davies points out, this story is about the rise and not the fall.

As an addict of Le Carre, the Honourable Schoolboy is my favourite of his stories.

The intricate plotting of the chase, the utterly realistic and flawed geniuses that make up Smiley's team after the fall of the Circus in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy make this a compelling read.

The twist at the end was as unexpected as it was believable, and Jerry Westerby is one of the great characters of modern fiction.

I give a strong recommendation that if you are new to Le Carre that you read Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy first (or buy the Smiley trilogy). British spooks, but clever and compelling.

John Le Carre's mistakes (e.g., "Naive and Sentimental Lover") are more interesting than most other writers' crowning achievements, but "Schoolboy" is as good an intrigue and adventure novel as one will ever find.

Le Carre is the bravest popular novelist around. He panders to no one's politics; he doesn't care how much work a reader might normally choose to invest in a book; and he adheres to no formulae. You either trust him utterly, and let him take you where he's going, or you read Grisham.

"Schoolboy" features a Le Carre regular character, George Smiley, and centers on a bit character from earlier work, Jerry Westerby. In a sense, the novel is a contrast between, on the one hand, the bluff, hearty, athletic, noble, and, well, superficially superficial Westerby; and on the other, the deepest and most complicated character in the genre, George Smiley. But there's so much more here: the contrast between Eastern and Western cultures; between England in its late-twentieth century posture and the then-seeming decline in influence of the U.S.; between the young Turks at the Circus and its old guard.

What unites it all is Le Carre's remarkable gift at storytelling, dialogue, and character development.

I read many authors in the intrigue, mystery, and crime fields. But they're all just faint echoes of Le Carre. If you want real gold, and not just cheap imitation, he's your man.

The Honourable Schoolboy is the fifth Le Carre novel featuring the enigmatic George Smiley. After unmasking the mole in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy Smiley is put in charge of the Circus, a position he should have had years ago based on merit. It appears that Smiley is one of many who were put out to pasture by Bill Haydon's nefarious activities over the previous years. Smiley, starting with his closest circle, must work backwards ruthlessly discarding people with questionable loyalty or little competence and finding others like himself who were purged by Haydon. In the process he finds Jerry Westerby living quietly in Italy. Westerby is resurrected and sent to Hong Kong to foil Smiley's arch-nemesis Karla. The result is an epic tour de force with Westerby's journeys throughout South East Asia presenting a fascinating counterpoint to Smiley's group working inside the Circus.

The Honourable Schoolboy contains a cast of fascinating characters. Smiley himself is the classic anti James Bond. He is middle-aged, plump and bespectacled. Unlike Bond he is not a ladies' man. In fact, his wife is serially unfaithful to him. In Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy his wife's infidelities were used by Karla to undermine him. Smiley has sacrificed whatever he had of a marriage to remove his vulnerability. Westerby is a stark contrast to Smiley; tall, athletic and a womanizer. In contrast to Smiley he lets his own torn emotions affect the way he does his work. There are also large assortments of supporting characters who are naive or scheming. It also features two of the most vicious characters ever employed in novels; Fawn and Tiu. Le Carre rarely showing any of their direct handiwork accentuates their viciousness.

The novel has Le Carre's usual themes; betrayal, misdirected love and the use of an opponent's human vulnerability against him. The betrayals in The Honourable Schoolboy towards the end are perhaps the most multi-layered and intense of any Le Carre novel. If the reader wants a James Bond type ending with Bond having killed the enemy and gotten the girl, The Honourable Schoolboy should be skipped. Le Carre's novels are of "the no good deed goes unpunished school". However, he is extremely adept at revealing the story details much like peeling the layers of an onion. His characters whether good or evil, most being somewhere in between, are fascinating and believable. The insider's knowledge of espionage shines through as always. The Honourable Schoolboy also contrasts the East with the West. The fall of Cambodia and Vietnam are especially poignant backdrops to the story.

Perhaps it is difficult to understand in this day what the cold war environment was like. It's instructive to read a novel like The Honourable Schoolboy that was written a quarter of a century ago to understand. The novel contains a lot and probably requires several readings to thoroughly appreciate all the nuances. However, based on the first reading The Honourable Schoolboy is superb.

I'm a longtime Le Carré fan, but I realized recently that it had been nearly two decades since I read what is undoubtedly his best work -- the Smiley trilogy. Based loosely on the Kim Philby debacle, this one is about the realization that a Soviet mole has been busy for many years in the Circus -- the headquarters of the British espionage service -- and the recently sacked George Smiley, a victim himself of the mole's machinations, is secretly brought in by a reluctant Whitehall to identify the culprit and clean house. It's the old problem: Who will spy on the spies? Le Carré is a master of the telling detail, even with minor supporting characters, and all the inhabitants of this novel are vividly realized. This isn't a James Bond yarn, either, as the "action" is mostly in the form of reading files, interviewing agents, and hard thinking. And Smiley, fat, middleaged, and in secret agonies over his wife's habitual infidelity, turns out to possess unexpectedly heroic stature. This novel, and the two that follow, make up the best spy story ever written in English.

I?m a longtime Le Carré fan, but I realized recently that it had been nearly two decades since I read what is undoubtedly his best work -- the Smiley trilogy. Based loosely on the Kim Philby debacle, this one is about the realization that a Soviet mole has been busy for many years in the Circus -- the headquarters of the British espionage service -- and the recently sacked George Smiley, a victim himself of the mole?s machinations, is secretly brought in by a reluctant Whitehall to identify the culprit and clean house. It?s the old problem: Who will spy on the spies? Le Carré is a master of the telling detail, even with minor supporting characters, and all the inhabitants of this novel are vividly realized. This isn?t a James Bond yarn, either, as the ?action? is mostly in the form of reading files, interviewing agents, and hard thinking. And Smiley, fat, middle-aged, and in secret agonies over his wife?s habitual infidelity, turns out to possess unexpectedly heroic stature. This novel, and the two that follow, make up the best spy story ever written in English.

Le Carre is the best spy novelist ever and truly a modern master of literature. Tinker Tailor takes the reader on a journey through the murky labyrinths of british intelligence as the antihero Smiley, a plump, confused, betrayed, but deceptively steely and intelligent spy, ferrets out a mole burrowed into the highest levels of British Intelligence by his Soviet nemesis, Karla. The themes of betrayal, downfall, and the inescapable immorality of spying permeate this finely written book, while the challenge of discovering, with Smiley, who the mole is, captures the reader from the start. Le Carre's character developement is superior to almost any writer, living or dead, and the complexity of the mole, Smiley, Connie Sachs, and a host of other characters adds another superior facet. Finally, Le Carre's use of wonderfully quaint terminology, with "moles", "legmen", "burrowers", "the circus", and others making frequent appearances, spices up the book. The best spy book I have ever read, and I have read every book by Forsyth, Higgings, Clancy, and Craig, and almost every Ludlum. This may be a great spy book, but it is also an outstanding work of literature, like its two successors, and is a classic in every respect. Everyone should read it who has a mind and appreciation for a nobly done turn of phrase. However, this book isn't for the James Bond Boom Boom kiss the girl and fly off sort- requires thought!

If you love The Empire Strikes Back, you will like this book. It is very well written, with different and expanded dialogue between characters. This is especially evident from the parts where Luke is learning different aspects of the Force from Yoda. There were scenes of Luke's training that were filmed and not included in the final cut, so reading this book, you'll be able to find out what we didn't see. Overall, though, this book is closest to the actual movie than the books for A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. Not that that is bad. I and many, many others consider Empire to be the best Star Wars film ever made. (I also hope the upcoming Episode II is more like Empire, with its dark tone.)

This book is just as exciting as the movie and is a must-read for fans. For those who are curious about this, buy Star Wars: A New Hope first, or you won't understand a lot about what is happening.

To say the least, this book was great. I didn't think it was as good as the novelization for Return of the Jedi, but still fairly descent. FAR better than the kids' novelization, which I was bored with very quickly. This book fleshed out the story of The Empire Strikes Back, while adding plenty of stuff that wasn't in the movie, and generaly making it a more endearing story. Even so, some of the scenes could have been better written, and it often felt rushed. Now that I've read this though, I wonder why I ever wasted my time with the fifty-three page kids' version. There is nothing in this book I could not have read and comprehended at ten years old, and I probably would have enjoyed it more even then. I wouldn't say that this as essential to all Star Wars fans as the novelizations for A New Hope and Return of the Jedi, but I would recommend it anyway, since it does shed new light on things.

Being that the Empire Strikes Back is my favourite of the Star Wars movies, I just had to read this book. It won't disappoint Star Wars fans, with all of the energy of the movie. I liked how it wasn't a complete adaption of the movie, with different things taking place on Dagobah. I would recommend this book to any science-fiction or fantasy fan.

When NPR's audio adaptation of the first Star Wars film hit the airwaves two decades ago, it was as big a landmark in the history of the Star Wars "universe" as any of the subsequent movies. By stripping the story down to the essentials of character, it proved that the appeal of Star Wars is not merely visual flash, but something more enduring, characters you care about, villains you love to hate and (that oldest of rivalries) good against evil. The writing was excellent and the cast equally good, including as it did Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels as Luke and C3P0 respectively. When NPR produced a radio version of The Empire Strikes Back a few years later, Billy Dee Williams came on board to recreate the role of Lando Calrissian and the producers' winning streak continued.

It would be over a decade before the production team got the chance to complete the trilogy with Return of the Jedi. Sadly, just as Return of the Jedi was the weakest of the original movie trilogy, it is also the weakest of the three radio versions. That is not to say it isn't enjoyable, because it is. Rather it can't quite match the exceptional standards set by the previous two series.

Part of the problem is the casting. Although Anthony Daniels returned to play C3PO, Mark Hamill does not reprise the role of Luke Skywalker. Unfortunately the actor who took the role, Joshua Fardon, does not convey the increased maturity of the character in this part of the story. Fardon's performance has a quality of over-eagerness that seems more suited to the naive farmboy that Luke was when we first encountered him rather than the fully trained Jedi-to-be he is here. Good as the other performances are, especially Brock Peters as Darth Vader and Ann Sachs as Leia, this misguided interpretation of Luke leaves a large hole in the story.

Part of that hole can also be attributed to the writing. Like the previous adapatations, Return of the Jedi was scripted by the late Brian Daley. Daley did a good job of translating what was perhaps the most visual of the three original Star Wars films into the audio medium, but he doesn't open up the story the way the previous two series did. Whereas the radio versions of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back took the time to show us more about the characters, Return of the Jedi is, for the most part, just what we saw on the movie screen with a handful of extra scenes thrown into the mix.

Those criticisms aside, anyone who is a fan of radio drama in general or Star Wars specifically will enjoy these programs. In the final analysis the producers understood the ways in which sound alone can fire the imagination. Using that knowledge, they have crafted yet another fine way to enjoy the magical world that George Lucas has given us.

Thanks to the many requests of Star Wars fans and radio enthusiasts alike, the team that brought us the radio adaptations of A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, reunited to conclude the original saga. Made exclusively by Highbridge, Return Of The Jedi, once again uses the film's score by John Williams and sound effects by Ben Burtt, to make for a top notch production. By using the actual soundtrack from the film, it gives the audio production crediability, as opposed to being made without it.

Once again, directed by John Madden, Jedi reunites most of the actors from the previous adaptions, with a couple of notable exceptions. Mark Hamill, who reprised his role as Luke Skywalker, for the first 2 productions, is replaced by Joshua Fardon. While, Billy Dee Williams, as rogue Lando Calrissian, is replaced by Arye Gross. As hard as these gentlemen try, because of the original actors previous involvment with the other two radio dramas, its difficult to imagine anyone else in those parts. Fardon's portrayal lacks the maturity of Hamill's character in the film version, Gross comes off, not quite as smooth, in playing Lando. The rest of the main radio cast, from the other two adaptations is thankfully intact. Actors Anthony Daniels, once again as C-3PO, (who has appeard in all 3 radio dramas as well as all of the films in the series) Brock Peters as Vader, Perry King, as Han Solo, Anne Sachs as Princess Leia, all complete their character arcs in the seies with style. Actor Edward Asner as the gangster Jabba The Hutt and John Lithgow as Master Yoda, (as he did in the Empire radio drama) use vocal talent, like no others, to bring these 2 unique characters to life.

Sci-fi author, Brian Daley, once again. wrote the radioplay for Jedi. As before, there are a few additional "scenes" presented, not in the film version. The end result is very good, but thanks to its shorter length, and the casting changes, I mentioned, Jedi doesn't seem quite as epic, as the other radio dramas in the series. Sadly, Daley passed away soon after the dialogue was recorded, and the production is dedicated to his memory. His script is very faithful to the film and the added scenes remain true to the characters and story.

If you own the other two radio dramas in the series, Jedi is a must have, minor problems and all. The story has six episodes, presented on three compact discs with a total running time of nearly 3 hours. Recommended

Return of the Jedi has always been my favorite Star Wars movie, both because I like how all the characters matured, (especially Luke) and because it finally delt face to face with the dark side, possibly the best force of evil ever thought of in the realms of fiction. This book exheeded not only my expectations for the book itself (which were very high) but even surpassed the movie in some ways. The author has a deep, highly emotional writing syle which apealed to me greatly, and was so profound that all through the book I truly felt as if was there, a part of the story. Every Star Wars fan should read this at some point, especially those who didn't like Return of the Jedi because they thought it was weaker than the others. I could almost garantee this book would change their minds. Also, the author did a tremendous job on the characters. Just they way they were presented made me truly feel for them, even characters who were previously not my favorites. At times this book had me sitting on the edge of my seat actually wondering if maybe this time it would turn out differently, and the part where Anakin Skywalker dies almost had me in tears. Anyway, I don't think think this book belongs in any particular age range, though probably some of it (in fact a lot of it) would most likely go over the heads of people younger then twelve or so.

I find this book very difficult to understand. Too often, there are formulas written right into sentences, and not in any special order. I would much prefer that the definition for a particular term is given in a sentence, then have the formula off to the right, or in the middle of the page, separated from the definition. This book gives very good definitions of terms, but very poor examples of the exercises that are given in the back of the chapters for review. In the chapter, there is maybe one type of problem, yet in the back of the chapter, 10 different problems too different from the given example.

Strenghts: Quite readable considering the subject. Terms are laid out in bold face and concepts are explained in identifiable sections. The summary at the end reinforces concepts and key terms. The end of chapter questions give you something to think about. Most examples are easy to follow. Weaknesses: Some concepts that include examples are explained with formulas in parentheses so that you have to stop reading and look at the figure. Not bad but I like them in the figure or in footnotes. Some of the exercises/problems were difficult to relate to the examples in the book. Other than that this book is great. What would make this book a 5? The study guide.

If you are looking for a single volume "bible" on cost accounting, this is likely the best book in print today to fit that bill. It is comprehensive in scope yet has many strengths to ease comprehension and aid readability.

The topics are grouped in six main sections each with several chapters on that topic. Since it is unlikely that you will read this reference / text book left to right as you would a novel this organization helps in finding what you are looking for and focusing on the area(s) of interest.

There are many helpful illustrations and a good use of color as well as chapter summaries and all the exercises you could ever hope for.

A very excellent feature is the use of application problems that take you step-by-step through building an Excel spreadsheet. This is tremendously useful.

The web support is also a good help as well as the streaming video vignettes.

I honestly find this topic very interesting and the 11th edition of this book to be a very valuable resource.