this is one of the finest stories read by me of f.w.dixon. i was really inquistive to know it's contents as i am from mumbai. the story is centered around the movie sets of bollywood. it is an very intresting book that can captivate the hearts of all it's readers!

One of the best I've read.The Hardy Boys come to Bombay to investigate sabotage in a movie set.Explosive action and a mind-bending plot will keep the reader hooked.

Giblin and Dooling have collaborated to make a perfect picture book biography. Roy Goodman's (leading Ben Franklin historian) expertise makes this book a wealth of information that can assist children in the writing of school reports. This book is so rich with detail. The fact that there is an Illustrator's Note by Dooling makes this a real candidate for at least a Caldecott Honor. I have visited Dooling's web site and now plan to purchase a sketch or original painting from this book! Outstanding!

What famous person helped start the first library in the American colonies? Who also helped to establish the first fire department in the American colonies? Who helped establish the first hospital in Philadelphia? Who first proved the electricity and lightning were one and the same thing? Even if you didn't guess right, you will probably agree that the man who did all of these things, plus a whole lot more, had to be a very interesting fellow. And he was. In THE AMAZING LIFE OF BEN FRANKLIN, James Cross Giblin tells us all about it. Ben was born in Boston, the youngest of ten sons, and one of seventeen children. When he was ten years old, he started helping out in his father's soap and candlemaking shop, and he absolutely hated it. His father then apprenticed him to his brother, a printer, and printing turned out to be one of the many things that Ben loved to do. In fact, on his tombstone, that is all he wanted said-B. Franklin, a printer. But we all know now that Ben turned out to be one of the most famous and most beloved people in American history-and this is his story. There are great color illustrations. This is the best possible introduction to our own beloved Ben Franklin.

JUST WHAT I NEED TO PASS THIS COURSE. FINALLY, I FOUND A BOOK ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR THAT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING IN DETAIL, YET DOESN'T GO ON AND ON ABOUT THE WAR. I'VE READ ALMOST HALF THE BOOK IN ONE DAY, AND IT GIVES VERY DETAILED INFORMATION THAT I CAN PROCESS EASILY. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR CIVIL WAR STUDENTS.

Those of us who study the American Civil War with passion have doubtless been faced with that perplexing question from Civil War novices who know little to nothing of the recent conflict: what is a good, short history of the War with the ability to provide an overview of our favorite period of American history? It's not easy. Do you recommend Shelby Foote's wonderful, yet massive three volume work? James McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom? It's a great work, but probably too deep for the novice. But the answer is here.

Brooks D. Simpson, Associate Professor of History at Arizona State University and author of Let Us Have Peace: Ulysses S. Grant and the Politics of War and Reconstruction, 1861-1868, has brought us a single volume work eminently suitable for novice and experienced Civil War veteran alike. Written as part of the American History Series and published by Harlan Davidson, Inc., this work finally condenses the story of the War to a manageable size for the beginner and student alike.

Mr. Simpson manages to avoid the problems inherent in many works written about the Civil War: that of perceived prejudices and biases towards one side or the other. The causes of the War are examined from both sides, with a strong attempt to understand the motivations of both the North and South. The military conflict is presented in a straight-forward manner, and the limited size of the work limits discussions of major campaigns to highlights, rather than in-depth analysis. In many ways, this is a blessing for this type of work, because many of the controversies so familiar to the student are avoided for the moment.

The author does not conclude the inevitability of a Union victory, suggesting that the chances for Southern independence were available in 1862 and 1863 -- but were also even more apparent in 1864 as the war-weary North had to choose its next President. That Abraham Lincoln, U.S. Grant and William T. Sherman found the military means to generate significant victories and keep the war efforts of the North alive were key elements in eventual Northern victory. That the triumvirate of Lincoln, Sherman and Grant managed to split the Confederacy's ability to manage resources and the willingness to wage war went far towards eventually resolving the conflict. Southern inability to balance and manage these two issues finally led to capitulation in 1865.

Written in a clear, concise manner, this book belongs on the book shelves of any collector of writings on the Civil War.

All authors of academic books or materials should have a copy of this book in their libraries. Novice writers will find the section on writing a proposal to be extremely helpful as it contains clear guidelines for organizing information and refers to a sample proposal that has been included as an appendix. Other important areas such as choosing a publisher and negotiating a contract are also covered. I could not have written my proposal without this book.

This review, by Patrick McKeague, a veteran math professor and textbook author, appeared in The Academic Author, the monthly journal of the Text and Academic Authors Association. Silverman is a former TAA president.

Now and then, one of my colleagues will tell me they are interested in writing a textbook. My first piece of advice is always the same: Write a little each day -- a half-hour is about right -- and start as soon as possible. In his book, "Authoring Books and Materials for Students, Academics and Professionals," Franklin H. Silverman gives the same advice. I like this book. Everything I tell prospective authors about writing is in the book, along with lots of other information that will interest both the prospective and the experienced author.

The book covers the entire publishing experience, starting with a discussion of the qualifications necessary to become a successful author, then moving on to the details of writing a proposal, negotiating a contract, writing the book, marketing the book, and ending with a chapter on the tax consequences and other business implications of writing. Along the way, Silverman backs up what he says with quotes from a variety of successful authors. With these quotes, you feel you are getting the advice and experience of a group of people, rather than one person's opinion. Besides that, reading the quotes was lots of fun.

What personal qualities does it takes to be a successful author? Do you need to be well known in your field? Are good writing skills important? Is perfectionism necessary for successful writing? These questions and more are answered in the first few pages of the book, giving the prospective author a good idea of the personal qualities they need to become published authors.

Chapter 2 covers the potential benefits and losses of writing, financial and otherwise. He starts by covering royalties, advances, and grants. Although he doesn't estimate any possible income for textbook authors, he does give a statistic on the average amount earned by authors in the 6,500-member Authors Guild (you'll have to buy the book to see that number). Later in the chapter he covers the downside of writing. Most people with a desire to write don't anticipate any negative reactions from colleagues, let alone family members. But experienced authors know these things happen. Silverman puts them in print and backs them up with quotes from other authors. Here is one:

I maintain a low profile because of the possibility of jealousy. My colleagues in the math department know very little about my activities beyond the classroom. I just don't want any problems.

Choosing a publisher is the topic for Chapter 3. Here he distinguishes among textbook, trade and internet publishers. He advises not writing the book before getting a contract, which is good advice. He ends the chapter with a discussion on self-publishing.

Chapter 4 gives the details of writing a successful proposal, valuable information for anyone with an idea for a book.

Anyone with an interest in writing will want to read Chapter 5, which covers contracts. When I talk with colleagues who have been offered a publishing contract, they are usually focused on the royalty rates and advance. I tell them that there are more important things to consider in the contract. The potential problem clauses are all covered throughout this chapter, in detail. The information here is valuable for all of us, whether we are signing a new contract or trying to renegotiate an existing one. Also covered in this chapter are joint collaboration agreements, which are new to me. They are agreements between co-authors that spell out the details of who will do what, how the royalties are divided, and anything else that can become a problem between co-authors.

There are eight interesting appendices at the back of the book. One has a sample book proposal, which can be very useful to the prospective author. Another lists common characteristics of successful textbooks, information that is useful to all authors, experienced or not. My one small complaint with the book concerns the appendix that contains a standard publishing contract. Anyone who is offered a contract from a publisher is going to see one of these, and I worry that an inexperienced author will compare the contract offered by his publisher to this one, and think that everything is OK when it is not. I would rather the appendix included alternate contract clauses, favorable to authors (such as the ones supported by the TAA contract guidelines, along with the standard contract clauses).

As I said before, I like this book very much. In fact, I am going to buy two copies -- one for myself and one for the next person that tells me they are interested in writing

What a courageous woman Bess Corey was to go into the unkown territory of mostly crude men and make a home for herself. She didn't let anyone take advantage of her, yet she was sweet. She was an honest, humorous, hardworking woman. This book kept my interest from beginning to end. The only disappointment was that she didn't write more letters! This would be a great book for anyone who wants to really understand how America was built.

I came across this book purely by accident in the library, and since the title sounded interesting, I decided to check it out just to see what the letters were like. I was expecting dry letters written by a hardened woman. Boy, was I wrong -- I love Bess! She's so funny, and her letters back home are wonderfully descriptive. At 21, she left Iowa to stake a claim in South Dakota. I'm only about a third of the way through the book right now, and she's living alone in a tiny 2-room house on her claim, getting up at 5 to walk two miles through the snow to the schoolhouse where she teaches. At night, she writes these letters home, describing her day in great detail. This book is a treasure. I'm ordering a copy for my home library right now. :-)

It was a book that had so many twist and turns i couldn't set it down!!!! If you wont a book that is cool, this is the one that you should get! I give it FIVE stars all the WAY!!!!!

neat book good oringal style and all in all a good book

I thought that it was a good book because I like biographies. I especially liked the part when he went to the Latin School and he couldn't say the poem because the school master gave Ben the wrong poem. I recommend this book to you if you like to read biographies. I also recommend this book if you think that a president's life would be interesting.

us historians of our past...I highly recommend this biography of a young printer, Benjamin Franklin. Stevenson talks about the bigger of Ben's life, however going into smallest details in ocations(In my opinion: Like all biographers should.)This is a small price for a large book and may be ordered from Amazon.com!

The Library of America should be commended for preserving the works of Benjamin Franklin. This is the finest compilation of Franklin's writings still in print.

The book is organized and presented in chronological order. The first section contains Franklin's writings between 1722-1726. This section contains the famous "Silence Dogood" works. The second section consists of writings between 1726-1757. This section contains the "Busy Body" pieces and the writings from the Philadelphia Gazette, amongst other works. The third section consists of writings which date between 1757-1775. The fourth section consists of writings between 1776-1785. The fifth section consists of writings between 1785-1790. And the final two sections are "Poor Richard's Almanack" and "The Autobiography."

Moreover, the sections contain personal letters between Franklin and other notable men such as David Hume, Lord Kames, John Pringle, Benjamin Rush, etc. Also, religious writings, philosophy, political writings and the like are present in this single volume. In fact, there is about 1500 pages of just Franklin's writings. Additionally, in the back of the book, there is a very detailed chronology of Franklin's life describing notable things which occurred between his birth and death.

This is a great text for those who are wanting a very detailed volume of Franklin's writings. However, it is also a great compilation for those who simply want to sit down and get a sample of the works of Franklin to find out what type of man he was, what he believed, what he taught, his sense of humor and the like.

This book has been one of the best investments that I have made in my collection of American Revolutionary (Founders) history. I highly recommend this work.

Many of Benjamin Franklin's biographers follow up their treatments of his life and work with an edited collection of his writings, as if to concede that he is his own best presenter. Any reader interested in Franklin should therefore set the biographies aside for a time and turn first to this superb Library of America compilation of Franklin's writings. Spanning his life from his early humorous writings (penned at the age of 16) to letters he wrote in the last year of his life (at 84), it is the single best, because most comprehensive, introduction to Franklin.

Carl Van Doren ended his classic biography of Franklin by describing him as "a harmonious human multitude." The phrase has become shorthand for those who try to encompass Franklin's activities as printer, journalist, polemicist, political thinker, writer, economist, demographer, scientist (or "natural philosopher" in the 18th-century phrase), lobbyist, diplomat, and sage. More recent Fra! nklin scholars, such as Esmond Wright and Robert Middlekauff, concede his complexity, but doubt the harmony holding together his various interests, activities, priorities, friendships, and hostilities; they also note that Franklin's genial exterior cloaked a massive and implacable egotism and an unsuspected capacity for strong and often bitter emotion.

All these facets of Franklin emerge from this superbly-edited volume. J. A. Leo Lemay, one of the nation's leading scholars of Franklin's life and work, has produced a volume fully worthy of Franklin and the Library of America series; it will be indispensable to all future students of Benjamin Franklin, of colonial and Revolutionary America, and of the foundations of American literature, science, politics, and government. -- Richard B. Bernstein, Adjunct Professor of Law, New York Law School; Daniel M. Lyons Visiting Professor in American History, Brooklyn College/CUNY (1997-1998); Book Review Editor for Constitutional Books,! H-LAW; and Senior Research Fellow, Council on Citizenship ! Education, Russell Sage College.

I agree with the last reviewer - this model is great. I bought the NIV with KJV add-in module so I can switch easily between the 2 versions. The large type setting is easy on "elderly" eyes - the screen is small but you only have to hit the spacebar to go to the next screen-full. With the Franklin Electronic Bible you can find passages or specific phrases quickly, so it is a fantastic help with everything from witnessing to Bible crossword puzzles. And it fits in most shirt pockets or hip pockets. A little pricey, perhaps, but worth it. Thanks to Him.

I just wish I had this when I was young. I have been a bible student my whole life. But now that I am over the hill, I have such a hard time rememebering where my favorite verses are--now in a second or two I can find where they are in the Bible. In the Search area, you can enter or Bible verse or a word search. The word search will list all texts that have that particular word in them. Narrow the search by listing more words. Another plus is the text size. There are three sizes to chose from. If you have a hard time seeing, the large size is very helpful. I don't recommend the bible for just reading. It is mainly for studying. (well, it is also great for taking with you because it is so small.) Another big plus is the slot for another cartridge. I haven't use it yet but am sure that it will be a lot of fun. I would like to get the NIV version so that I can campare the two translations. If you get one of these bibles, everyone will want it--so make sure you keep good track of it. Or better yet buy two. You'll love it.