It's said that the closer you stand to the target, the easier it is to hit it. But in the review and analysis of May 4th, 1970 at Kent State, it appears that the farther away we get, the less passionate and more information we have to judge the event and causes. As the most recent book on the event, this publication should be read and weighed against Michenor's early book, Peter Davies conspiracy book, and the other subsequent books. Only by examining all points of view will we come to our judgement of who fired, why and on what authority. Though we know it was the National Guardsmen who fired without an order from their superiors, we will likely never know the final true story until one of the Guardsmen brakes his silence and tells his story. Until then, this book may be the best account possible.

This book is a very good documentary of the pioneer era in Southwestern Va. It covers the histoy of a farm now owned by Va Tech from its incepion until the present time. It gives a brief history of all the families that have lived there and how most of them are tied together. It also tells of some of he hardships they went through.

In these two dialogues, Socrates seeks to discover the true nature of virtue by trying to define a single virtue, namely courage in the Laches and temperance in the Charmides. In the first text, two men have sought the counsel of two generals, Nicias and Laches, for advice in how to educate their sons to be good and virtuous men. Socrates is soon brought into the conversation, and he predictably shifts the discussion from one of means to one of ends. Socrates says that the best education is one for the benefit of the boys' souls, namely virtue. Before one can find a teacher of virtue, one must understand what virtue is. He proposes to simplify matters by seeking to define one aspect of virtue, namely courage. Nicias and Laches offer such definitions as a sort of endurance of the soul and a knowledge of the fearful and the hopeful in war, but Socrates identifies problems with each proffered definition. The dialogue ends with each man admitting failure. In the Charmides, a similar debate takes place, only this time it is a different aspect of virtue, namely temperance, which the men attempt to define. The young philosopher Charmides, whose beauty initially overwhelms Socrates, first says that temperance consists of doing things in an orderly and quiet way; when Socrates points out the inadequacy of such a definition, Charmides says that temperance is a form of modesty. When Socrates proves to him that modesty can be both good and bad, he retreats and refers to someone else's notion that temperance consists of minding one's own business. Critias then jumps into the fray to defend this third position; once he is put on the defensive, he falls back on two alternate definitions--first, that temperance consists of doing good things, and then that temperance is equivalent to knowing oneself. In the end, no satisfactory definition of temperance is arrived at, although one is left with the impression that temperance has much to do with the knowledge of good and evil.

These two dialogues are rather short, and they do succeed in demonstrating the effective yet annoying method of Socrates' philosophic inquiries. I found Charmides to be a somewhat harder text to follow because it sometimes broke down into wild abstractions, but both texts are quite readable in terms of the narrative style of the writing. Rosamond Kent Sprague, the translator, provides many useful footnotes throughout the book, and, more importantly, offers a very helpful introduction to each dialogue. Each introduction sets the context and timeframe for the particular dialogue, offers a basic rundown of its main ideas and arguments, and basically makes each text much more accessible and readable for this reader.

Greenawalt presents a very readable text that I recommend especially as a pre-law school read; offering breadth rather than depth covering the new legal process school superficially. Gives a good broad general forest view of the problems inherent in statutory interpretation, as seen in the current revival of textualism by Justice Scalia. Also discusses various notions of judicial restraint, the legislative process, sources of legislative history, the range of techniques of interpretation like Imaginative Reconstruction as espoused by Posner, Public Choice theory (Arrow's Theorem, manipulation of legislative history by both judges and legislature), democratic concepts of bicameralism clashing against authority usurping, use of textual and substantive canons, judicial deference to agency interpretation among other topics discussed.
I'd highly suggest further reading. The best thing about this book is it's short, concise view (it's a cutely-sized little book). It's easy to follow from no background knowledge. Upon finishing it, I'd recommend proceeding onto "Legislation and Statutory Interpretation" by Eskridge and Frickey and Garrett (Eskridge and Frickey are the authors of practical reasoning interpretation, dynamic statutory interpretation thru their conceptualized 'funnel of abstraction' of hierarchy of authority from concrete to most abstract along a funnel of web of beliefs).

Rayner's story of Tilly's progress from sheltered child to a woman who must make her own way in London is an interesting episodic pilgrimage. The characters in the book ring true from Tilly's dominant father Austen, to her maid and nemesis Dorcus. As a period piece which tells the story of a woman in the late 1850's and early 1860's, it is an interesting study on the roles of women. When the fundamentalist lawyer visits and offers the opinion that women should never be allowed to own property or handle their own finances, it puts us in touch with how far society has progressed in the 140 years since. While a bit plodding in places, I kept opening the book to read the next chapter and usually was surprised by the next development. Tilly did seem to be a bit icy as a love interest, but the tale is engagingly told. I found the book to be well worth the read!

Having read through this book, twice in less than a year, I continued to find the story drawing me back until I hurried from other duties to finish. The storyline and information reawakened memories of my own experiences of that time, while serving in the Army Special Forces 5th group on an A-team on the Cambodian border. This book will remain in my read again section of the library, where few books earn that respect. My occupation as a pharmaceutical specialties operations manager and educator leads me to respect a good book and author. Thank You, Kent.

This book is useful for somebody who's had zero exposure to rural culture. But, like most works in the field of rural ministry, it doesn't go deeply enough into the particulars of rural sociology, and it ignores the economic aspects of agriculture. It's not a bad book, but the definitive guide for beginning rural ministers has yet to be written.

I bought this volume first and should have thought of it but I didn't ... since the central neotropics have many of the animals of the northern and the southern areas of the continent, many animals are only covered in shorthand style in this volume, as they've already been described in the other two volumes.

The relatively small number of color-plates was also a bit disappointing. Finally the size of the book (height & breadth) makes it a real challenge to take with you on a field trip. The information on species that *are* described in detail in this volume, however, is excellent. Distribution maps, behavior, detailed measurements, anatomical details and lots of references to source literature make it a joy to read and browse through.

In summary I'd say that, provided you purchase the whole series, it's an excellent reference and clearly deserves 5 stars. As a field guide it's of limited use, because it's so bulky, so that's 3 stars. ... makes 4 stars on average.

Geographers have often focused their investigations on the of the expression Place in the physical and material landscape. In Mapping the Invisible Landscape, Kent Ryden explores the unexplored non-material expressions of Place that dwells in the landscape, coincident with the material and physical reality. The "change of the landscape by experience" is done in the material, resulting in the cumulative idea of the cultural landscape. This change is also expressed in the invisible landscape of the mind, manifest through the written essay and the "folk" expression of the popular and personal imaginations. Ryden explores the relationship betwen imagined and material spaces with a convincing and powerful style.

The structure of the monograph lends itself to the explanation of concepts and meanings, the expression of viewpoint, and the application of methods in a manner that is readable and persuasive. Ryden draws on a wide base of literature ranging from the scholarly expression of geographic ideas (Relph's Place and Placelessness;Francaviglia's Hard Places; and Taun's Space and Place), the writing of place oriented essayists and writers (Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!; Least Heat-Moon's Blue Highways; Lopez's Crossing Open Ground; and Berry's Collected Essays), and the oral histories that emerged in the folklore of the Coeur D'Alene Mining District of Idaho. Ryden skillfully blends these traditions of Place-centered expression. The tools and techniques founded in folklore and geography are used to explore the cognitive landscape that is expressed in the compressed narratives of those who live in a Place. The techniques lend themselves to full exploration of the literary expression of Place that correlates to experiential meanings.

A great deal of the recent work on matters of Place has been conducted by those outside the field of Geography, and have been offered for popular consumption. Works such as Least Heat Moon's Blue Highways and Prairie Earth, Guerreau's Nine Nations of North America, and Lopez's "The American Geographies" contribute to the body of academic geography while popularizing the importance of Place with the public at-large. Ryden successfully contributes to the body of scholarly knowledge in a manner that appeals to the popular audiences.

Ryden succeeds in exploring the different cartographies that are possible when rethinking the meaning of "maps", the symbolic representation of reality. The use of actual or metaphorical artifacts in the definition of the reality in which they exist is skillfully employed to structure the work. The exploration of material items, such as the stone post marking the Connecticut-Rhode Island boundary and the bump in the driveway of the author's childhood home, serve to illustrate, in clear and concrete terms, the power of Meaning attached to Place or Object revealed in relation to the contextual reality. These concrete examples are used to bookend the metaphorical and symbolic meanings of real and literary "objects", such as Wallace Stevens "jar in Tennessee" and Bunker Hill Mine in the Couer d'Alene, creating meaning in the invisible geographies on the mind of the resident or participant observer. The actual landscape has meaning only in relation to the "jar" of the self.

This book contains excellent hands-on advice on how to successfully influence others. Skills include influence strategies, manners, communications, networking, and negotiations. Contains a number of relevant examples as well as thought-provoking questions and exercises to set you on the way to mastering your influence.