The Last Run by Leonard B. Scott was a amazing. He can really show a detailed look into a Ranger unit because he was there. His stories are geographically correct also. The villages and landmarks are all there. Vietnam was not a war that was widely accepted and Mr. Scott shows this. Also, he shows a perspective from the North Vietnameese Army. This is especially neat because the stories converge in the end. The suprise ending has really built throughout the book. A reader must carefully read because the details are important in the end. I recomend this book to anyone joining the military and any history nuts. Read this book to find the suprise ending

Once I read The Last Run, I couldn't help but read all of Col. Scott's books. I went back and started with Charlie Mike. As a woman affected by the Viet Nam war on the home front, the books gave me insight into many of the views my peers who spent time on the front lines still hold today. The Colonel is an incredible author. I would like to see another book soon!

A WELL WRITTEN NOVEL. IT ANSWERS THE QUESTION 'WHAT IS HELL REALLY LIKE?' VERY INTERNAL, IT'S LIKE YOU KNOW THE CHARACTERS. CRYING IS UNAVOIDABLE AT THE END.

Simply put, this is one of those books that changes they way you think. It's one of those things that once you learn it, you wonder how you could've possibly gotten along in life without knowing it.

In a certain sense, I found this book disappointing. Disappointing, because after reading it, I excitedly searched for more information on the subject, but was unable to find another text nearly as accessible or informative in so few pages. Incredible.

Nevermind psychology, anyone interested in any form of political science or economics will find that this book opens a lot of philosophical doors they didn't know were there before, and changes the way they look at old problems or current rhetoric. An excellent intro to behavioral economics.

This is my first book on psychology for self-study. As the author puts in the preface, "the focus is on experimental findings rather than psychological theory, surprising conclusions rather than intuitions, and descriptive prose rather than mathematics."

The author tends to use nuclear weapon, war, and clinical examples more often than other topics in order to illustrate concepts. The examples are taken from actual empirical researches, including laboratory ones. Due to the purpose of the textbook, the examples are used to explain concepts, rather than to show how an experiment is designed or how "good" the experiment is in the sense of cause and effect. The bibliography list is correspondingly large given only some 260 pages. The author does not forget to provide tips on how to avoid particular biases presented in a given chapter. No exercises are provided at the end of each chapter, but a special section READER SURVEY given after preface asks you to answer 39 questions to be used in the main part of the text. No glossary is provided.

As I read through, I have warned myself not to generalize research results presented to be directly applicable to my life without careful thoughts. From my naïve point of view and based only on materials presented in the book, these research findings may be internally valid, but never guaranteed to work in any other circumstances or contexts. Such context dependence is treated explicitly in Chapter 4, but it all applies to any other concepts discussed throughout the book. The author warns this point to readers at the end of the book in Appendix. My suggestion for the next revision would be to include informal yet usable introduction on how to design an experiment that anyone could conduct without specialized devices or environment, so that readers can test biases that may be present in their own contexts.

As an example, having been an Amazon customer for a while, I see more votes on "yes" for reviews 4 and 5 stars than those on "no" for reviews 3 and below. The page is designed such that unaware people see most helpful review first, then most recent review in decreasing order by default. Your impression toward a book may change if you sort reviews by least helpful first or lowest rating first. Biases may be present in your purchase decision making processes. If you are curious about knowing some characterizations and explanations for them, this book may be for you.

Scott Plous creates an effective learning experience by entrapping you into revealing your own personal psychology of decision-making...if only to yourself. It is an extremely entertaining and educational method that holds you from the first page to the last. Whether you're an academic interested in a useful textbook tool or a lay person, manager or other professional reliant on decision-making, you'll enjoy and appreciate this book.

This is an easy to read complete review of what you need to know to play golf well. After reading the book I made some adjustments to my grip, stance and swing plane and, combined with some minor arm strengthening exercises, I have increased the distance I hit each club in my bag by at least 10 yards. Every serious golfer should read this book. Ted Turner.

This book is a golfers dream. A simple instructional book that covers all aspects of the game. The only book I have found that writes out a practice program for you and tells you how to find a teacher as well. Great read and well written.

Golf is sometimes so complicated that it's not worth all the expense and frustration, and other times so simple it's beautiful. Reading this book, I felt the feeling you get when working with a great teacher who simplifies (vs. complicates) the sport. There are some sections in this book that you don't find in others (fitness, how to find a teacher, and loads of quotes from great players) but the biggest help to me was the reveiw of the fundamentals. In the book, Rader wrote something about posture that I was off on - a quick fix (for me, it was bending at the hips) and I'm hitting it better than in the last five years. Go figure - 25 bucks to fix something my club pro would've charged 125 for...per session.

I bought the book several weeks ago and have read the book cover to cover and tried all of the excercises. I just wanted to let everyone know how good this book is. Seriously, I've purchased and read nearly a hundred technical books in the past several years and this one stands out as one of the best I've ever read.

Anybody who uses eclipse will get something out of this book, although as the title indicates it is primarily geared towards eclipse plugin developers. The first section is dedicated to eclipse users and illuminates many of the useful features that are built into eclipse. The second section of the book is where the real meat is at. This section covers everything you need to know to implement plugins. I was extremely impressed with just how much this book really covers. If you want your hand held for every step, this is not your book. It only presents code snippets, not fully coded examples for each concept. I think this is great, however, because the examples that are included (via the cd) do show full examples of the concepts without wasting valuable page real estate printing every last piece of code. Free of this baggage the book is able to cover considerable ground. If you want an idea of what this book is like go to eclipse.org and look at the articles. The book is like every article included on the website in much more detail, and covers many areas for which no articles have been written.

The SWT tutorial and the examples were also very good. I have a few minor nitpicks: the book was written for eclipse 2.0. Many of the wizard menus shown in the book have changed with version 2.1 (and again I'm sure with 3.0), but if you have some intelligence its not hard to figure out how to follow the examples in 2.1. Secondly I'd like a small section dedicated to getting information from existing views. I often need check information in one view in order to instantiate the model behind another view. The twists and turns of the extensive Eclipse API can make doing this not very intuitive. I've read the Resources section over and over, but I still haven't found the information I need. I eventually figured out some methods that worked after reading a lot of API documentation.

Those are just minor nitpicks, however. Overall I have to say this book is GREAT!! If your are an application builder (especially if you build tools), the power of the eclipse architecture will blow you away. I build tools for a data warehouse and eclipse has transformed my tools from quick-and-dirty tools designed for our specific needs, to near commercial ready plugins.

I can't stress this enough, Eclipse is a BIG deal. Its much more than an IDE. Do yourself a favor and buy this book, you won't regret it.

Michael Crutcher
Texas A&M University

I've been developing Eclipse plugins for a year and a half. During that time I took a course from IBM on Eclipse plugin development, taught by one of the authors of this book. Much of the material in that class is contained in this book, and more. If you can't take the $1000 class, this is the way to go to learn Eclipse plugin development.

I wish I'd had this information months ago. Within 10 minutes of getting the book, I was able to solve a programming problem that had been puzzling me for weeks.

If you just want to develop projects using the Eclipse IDE, then Eclipse in Action is a good introduction. But if plugin development is what you want to do, this is the book to have. Even if you are using Eclipse only as an IDE, this book will get you up to speed. The exercises are great for that. This book will serve both purposes.

You've downloaded Eclipse. You've coded with the Java IDE. You've loved the refactoring and incremental compilation. Now you have an idea for a new cool plug-in that you think everyone will love.

If this describes you, you need this book.

I've been developing Eclipse plug-ins commercially for over a year. Previously, I had to teach myself by reading and/or searching:

1) Articles on Eclipse.org
2) The online help
3) The newsgroup
4) The source code to Eclipse itself

--not necessarily in that order.

Now I just turn to this book. It almost always answers my questions quickly and succinctly. Even with over a year of Eclipse background gained by teaching myself, I continually feel amazed at how quickly and how much this book has increased the depth of my understanding about how to write Eclipse plug-ins.

It is obvious when reading this book that (as professional teachers/trainers) the authors of this book have already taught this information many times and know what tends to trip people up. Their writing style flows with the ease of great familiarity with and confidence about their material. And their code examples work.

I hated the thought of this book ending. This adventure book became one of creativity in survival with some interesting twists and turns, too exciting to put down. When I finished the last page I knew there had to be a sequel....here's hoping to see the next adventure of Millie!

This book was a fabulous account of the growth of a middle aged woman from someone always dependent on her man (father or husband) to a self assured independent individual. I hope no one ever has to go through the process through which she learned her true self, but the story pulls you in and holds you fascinated, always taking a twist that you did not forsee. It was easy to read and made a cold, rainy weekend bearable.

Mildred is MY kind of woman. A real survivor. She uses not only her physical strength, but her mind to overcome the obstacles placed in her path. I really liked the way the book was written in the form of a journal. I found that I could read a while and then if I had to leave it for a day or two, it was easy to pick up the continuity of the story. Mildred was portrayed in a very realistic way and Ms. Purtee's descriptions of the problems she encountered were at times mind-boggling. Good work, Georgia! When is the sequel coming out?

I own this book and a few other Dinotopia titles and I really recommend this to any Dinotopia fan or just about anybody who likes to read really good books. Once I started reading it I could'nt put it down, it is one of the best books Ive read in a very long time. I also recommend the Dinotopia book Windchaser for another good read

Even though this book is short, it is filled with action for a person of any age to read. In the story it also gives the story of the sea monster, the Kraken. I like the creativity of Scott Ciencin's books on Dinotopia, as well as the Dinoverse series. At first you thik that the Unrivaled are going to invade, but later you find out that they are the most peaceful race on Dinotopia. Congatulations, Ciencin, you've done it again.

or anyone else, for that matter! I own this book and have reread it a few times. Three friends journey into the Lost City of Halycon, and what they find is not what they expect. They meet new friends and face new challenges. But will it be enough to stop the power-hungry Lord Lucius? You'll have to read it to find out! This book has adventure and excitement, and some humor mixed in also. Over all, an excellent book.

Milton's "Paradise Lost" is the best work of literature in the English language, bar none. Christians and non-Christians alike should marvel at the vision presented by Milton. He is not a Satanist, as the Romantics would have you believe. Indeed, he is a devout Christian. This is what makes the work so extraordinary. Milton's vision of the astral world invokes various responses from the reader, all of them genuine and some contradictory. No matter who you are or what you believe, you will thoroughly enjoy this imaginary look into the events surrounding the fall of Lucifer and the beginnings of man in the Garden of Eden.

I was assigned to read Paradise Lost on my own over the summer and I am so glad that I chose the Norton Critical edition. Obviously, reading Paradise Lost is a daunting task for anyone who isn't a religious historian and without the Norton Critical edition, I might not have finished the epic at all (which would be much of a loss, not only in my grades.)

This edition has a vast array of extremely helpful footnotes (have a Bible at hand for all those cross-references) and it has large margins for taking plenty of notes of your own. More than half of the book is a collection of various literature, excerpts and explanations that are also quite helpful.

Certainly, there is no doubt that Paradise Lost is an excellent work, but the Norton Critical edition is invaluable for any average person (like me) who wants to truly appreciate it. I highly recommend this.

Paradise Lost was not part of my core curriculum in science and mathematics. I was of course aware that scholars considered it a great work, a classic. But it seemed a bit daunting - long, difficult, dated, and possibly no longer relevant.

A few years ago I made two fortunate decisions. I elected to read Milton's Paradise Lost and I bought the Norton Critical Edition (edited by Scott Elledge). I read and reread Paradise Lost over a period of three months as well as the 300 pages of the Norton critical commentary. I was stunned by the beauty and power of Milton. Why had I waited so long to even approach such a literary masterpiece?

Make no mistake. I had been right in several ways. Paradise Lost is difficult, it is long, and full appreciation requires an understanding of the historical and religious context. But Paradise Lost is a remarkable achievement. It explores questions regarding man and God that are as relevant today as in the 17th century. And the genius of Milton has never been surpassed.

I found the Norton footnotes extremely helpful - definitions for rare or archaic words and expressions, explanations of the historical context, and links to the critical commentary section. The footnotes are at the page bottom, making them readily accessible.

The Norton biographical, historical, and literary commentaries were fascinating in their own right. I may well as spent as many hours reading commentary as with Paradise Lost itself.

John Milton led a remarkable life. His enthusiastic euology on Shakespeare was included in the second folio edition of Shakespeare in 1632. This was Milton's first public appearance as an author! While traveling as a young man he "found and visited" the great Galileo, old and blind, a house prisoner of the Inquisition for his astronomical heresy. Years later Milton, a close supporter of Cromwell, barely escaped the scaffold at the Restoration and was at risk for some period afterwards. Many considered Milton no more than an outcast, now old and blind himself, a republican and regicide who had escaped death by too much clemency. Within a few years this aging blind outcast created one of the masterpieces of the English language.

Milton broke all English tradition by writing Paradise Lost in blank verse. Homer in Greek and Vergil in Latin had used blank verse, but English demanded rhyme. Although others failed to imitate Milton's blank verse (I suspect that none wanted to be compared directly with genius), the praise was without exception. Dryden, a master of rhyme, is attributed with saying, "This man cuts us all out, and the ancients too".

Milton's characterization of Satan, Adam, Eve, the archangels Raphael, Michael, and Gabriel, and even God himself are masterful. The debates and arguments that evolve around free will, obedience, forbidden knowledge, love, evil, and guilt are timeless. And fascinating. And thought provoking.

Paradise Lost will require commitment and patience and thought. The commitment in time is substantial. (I enjoy Samuel Johnson's subtle comment: "None ever wished it longer than it is.") But the return is a personal experience with great literature, one of the masterpieces of the English language. I consider myself fortunate to have made such an investment.

Published in 1978, this was Orson Scott Card's second novel (his fourth book to be published). It faded out of print, then Card made some major revisions/rewrites and republished it in 1988 under a different title. I have not read the revised version, simply titled TREASON, but it is supposed to be a complete overhaul with 10% new material.

As Card himself has acknowledged, A Planet Called Treason is amateurish. There is no question Card has improved his tone, pacing, character development, and storylines over the last twenty years. But this story is still one of the most imaginative I have ever read, despite the structural flaws. This is the kind of wild, no-holds-barred fantasy every 10-year old boy dreams about, but few adults have the talent to write (Orson Scott Card and George Lucas come to mind). This novel illustrates why I enjoy OSC so much - even when he's not in peak form, his books are still too fun to put down.

One note about different versions: There are differences between the Dell paperback and the hardback edition (at least, the Book Club edition I own). First, the map included on page 1 is much more detailed in the paperback version than the hardcover. Second, I think there are some minor editorial revisions in the paperback. I happened to notice, when I picked up the hardcover to find where I left off in the paperback, the last sentence of Chapter 10 was changed; I have no idea why this was done or if any other alterations were made

I loved this book. I've read Treason (Revised) and A Planet Called Treason (Original). It should be noted that the original copy (A Planet Called Treason) labeled the "Inkers" as "Niggers". This was changed in later versions. I would recommend the revised version, Treason, as it contains the more appropriate name for these characters.

as stated in the other reveiws, the plot of this book is very interesting and imaginative but the aspects of the book that i enjoied were first that the character lanik is a character modeled after an average teenager. all of his actions are based on that of a young adult and thus it shows how one matures over time and when exposed to various stimuli. The second aspect of the novel that i enjoied was the brilliant way in which card depicted the difference between the following catagories of actions that are treason dissent and freedom. The most prominante way in which he portrays this is with the planet treason being orbited by its two moons dissent and freedom. card also portrays this theme or idea in ay least ten different manifestations. Other than this the book was very descriptive and in other words one of those books you can't put down until your done and after that you feel remorse that it is over.

The Raj Quartet (comprised of four novels) is in my ultimate top ten of great novels and my favourite work of fiction for the twentieth century. Paul Scott is up there up with Tolstoy and Jane Austen. The Raj Quartet is exquisite to read, every word and every sentence appears to have the perfection that Jane Austen bestowed on her works but on the majestic scale of Tolstoy's War and Peace.

The Raj Quartet is multi-layered, complex, beyond the apparent. Is it about a country? Or is it about two countries? Paul Scott deals with the years of the "great divorce" as it were, but now at the beginning of a new century the continuing implications of the historic British occupation are as fresh as ever, both in India and the UK, one example being the the unforseen post war immigration and lifting of racial barriers between two peoples (I myself am a product of a post war marriage between an Indian father and British mother).

The question of identity is explored. What makes an Indian? (still a relevant question in a subcontinent of such diverse cultures, religions, languages, outlooks, etc). What happens to a group (the Raj British) who are no longer needed in either India or Britain? (I recommend Staying On by Paul Scott which deals with a minor character who does stay on in India.)

Beyond the themes of history, colonialism and imperialism, there is the theme of the universal human experience. Who are we all really? Should we let our nationality and culture define who we are? Or as one character, Sarah Layton, finally have the courage to break free and define our own identity. Sarah at first is apart from "the other", then in one revealing scene (the ride with Ahmed) she subconsciously turns to face "the other" though unsuccessfully and finally in the beautifully written and incredibly sensual scene where she decides to dive into the forbidden (the seduction by Clark, who I see myself as Eros or the Hindu God of Love, Kama) she breaks through into her individuality, her "grace".

An outstanding piece of writing and a masterpiece, the Quartet compresses in four novels the essence of individual lives caught in the matrix of history. What is karma and dharma? The novels examine these as best Scott can in trying to articulate his artistic vision of the tragedy of history and of individual lives. History is impersonal and is from a God's-eye view, our own lives are subjective and given differing perspectives and are all that we have to imperfectly cling to. In that personal vantage point is salvation and hell all in one. Check out Scott's "Staying On" as well which is his farewell to the Indian scene and the characters we've come to know. A sliding farewell into oblivion, just as Scott himself fell into his twilight years.

Paul Scott's brilliant saga of the death of English imperialism resonates deeply for any American who has ever worried that Britain's shrunken global influence foreshadows our own destiny as a nation -- despite our current standing as the world's only "superpower." His indictment of racism is complicated and unsparing. In addition to his marvelous villain, Ronald Merrick, his female characters are so richly drawn, so simultaneously appalling, frustrating, and likable, that they dominate all four books of the Quartet and make it difficult to believe they were written by a man. The very appealing character of Guy Perron, whom the reader first meets in Volume IV, is, I believe, Scott himself -- serving as an academic observer who attempts to translate, and make sense of, the complex, emotional, and tightly interwoven events through which the first three volumes have carried us.

I reread the Quartet frequently and get something new out of it every time. It inspires me to write.

Joseph Conrad was a master of language. In a brief but classic book, you will experience the incredible power of a typhoon while on a steamer as if you were there. Especially real is the scene in the chart room after the initial damage. It is very dark, and Captain MacWhirr lights matches to see his surroundings. Conrad's concise descriptions make you feel even the flame of the match as it burns down. If only this book were longer! I would have loved to know more about Captain MacWhirr's adventures. I HIGHLY recommend this book, as well as Conrad's "Heart of Darkness."

Well, my review title isn't very interesting but I suppose what I am trying to get at is that this story is a sort of metaphysical pornography, and squeezes in a great part of the thoughts Conrad was interested in conveying. Curtcow wrote that the audio tape is prone toward placing one in "dreamland" and this is true, and probably not at all good for the conveyance of a violent story. However, the accents give something to the personalities that I am sure I would have missed had I read this first, especially given the fact that I am an american and the story is 100 years old, written in english, and more importantly,of course, there is the sailors'slang. My own internal linguistic set-up would have had Mac Whirr speaking as I might speak, and that wouldn't have been good. Following this, I guess all americans reading Conrad might want to listen to some of his tales. It is also nice to hear Conrad's smooth sentences, which for the most part remain incredibly unaffected, given his use of metaphor and analogy and simile and the possible fact that he is using metaphor, analogy, and simile all at once. (Either that or I simply can't tell when a particular image described is one of the three.)

I don't agree with the idea that Conrad wrote this with the idea that his readers might ponder how they would react. To me it is more like a Quentin Tarentino thing - entertainment before anything. After all, this story, when compared to the very difficult, time-consuming, and at times simply burdensome Nostromo, is quite simple. (Not in any way to deny the extreme fear the story inspires) I guess at times I would have liked to hear more arguing between the sailors, but, come to think of it, the confusion of the typhoon necessarily renders that impossible.

Still, the cover to cover classics edition was quite expensive, and unlike other audio tapes I have (Middlemarch or the Odyssey especially)I doubt one year down the road I will want to listen, as opposed to read, this novella.

Taking maximum advantage from his long years at sea, and from his innate insight into the human soul, Conrad tells an outright and direct story about a huge typhoon in the midst of the Yellow Sea. But the book is not so much about the storm in itself, but about the human character and how it reacts to disaster.

Captain MacWhirr is famous for being an efficient, calm, dull and silent man, someone you would trust but not like. He seems to be rather unbrilliant, though, never understanding why people talk so much. The other characters are also interesting, especially Jukes, the "young Turk", vivid and dynamic; Solomon the head engineer, another wise man from the sea, and the disgusting and repugnant "second officer", the type of coward you don't want to be with in this kind of drama.

Human character, then, is revealed by limit-situations much more than at any other time, as war literature fans know, and this tale will leave you wondering how YOU would react if you had to make decisions in the midst of a horrible, and wonderfully depicted, typhoon.