The editors have brought together a series of articles and studies on the deployment and integration of technology in our schools. The book approaches its subject from several perspectives: curriculum development, professional development, and policy and administration. It provides a good, high level survey of these issues, and its thorough and careful documentation provides anyone wishing to dive more deeply in any given area excellent direction for further investigation. It was a quick, interesting, and entertaining read.

This book should not be the first choice for those looking for specific and tactical hints on technology integration into curriculum. But it provides an excellent overview of the wide range of issues technology raises for education, and as such would be valuable for administrators and policy makers seeking to broaden their perspective in this area.

Not a formal history, but an attempt to convey the atmosphere and flow of the battle; it is very well done. One of a series of books in the same format, all of them worthwhile.

What a great idea. What a great book! These designs work up very quickly and look fabulous. Carole gives great instructions and the patterns are large and easy to follow. This is a keeper!

The thing that most stands out about "The United States Enters the World Stage 1867-1919: From the Alaska Purchase through World War I" is that Christopher Collier & James Lincoln Collier put the First World War on the same level with the Spanish American War. This is the sort of idea that makes you stop and think about all the ways in which the two world wars were substantially different, especially from the American perspective. This 18th volume in The Drama of American History series is one of seven volumes that covers in some way the period from the Alaska Purchase to the end of the First World War, which this effort focusing on foreign policy instead of reconstruction, industrialization, immigration, progressivism, etc. The more volumes I read in this series (which, obviously, I am not going through in chronological order), the more I appreciate this more thematic approach to American history. I also like the "core content" emphasis, where students are given the big picture rather than an onslaught of names and dates.

"The United States Enters the World Stage" has five chapters: (1) The United States Looks Westward actually goes back to the start of the 19th century with the first efforts to expand upon the Louisiana Purchase. The chapter covers the dispute over the Oregon Territory, American trade interests in the Pacific with China and Japan, the purchase of Alaska (a.k.a. "Icebergia"), and the issue of the annexation of Hawaii. This last topic is presented as being representative of the national debate over colonization. (2) The Growing Call for Imperialism considers the effort by Westerners to colonize the rest of the globe to be arguably the most important movement in the world in the 1800s. As the "frontier" in the U.S. "closed," the idea of manifest destiny was expanded to include the Pacific. However, the chapter also covers the anti-imperialists (such as Mark Twain), who found annexation and colonization to be inherently anti-democratic. (3) The Spanish-American War tells the story of the "splendid little war" where only 379 of the 5,462 Americans who died actually died in battle and which resulted in the U.S. picking up territorial possessions in both the Caribbean and the Pacific. (4) Diplomatic Styles: Big Sticks, Dollars, and Morality looks the period between the two wars in terms of the foreign policy of the three presidents. Thus we have Theodore Roosevelt's military invention, William Howard Taft's effort to use the power of money instead of bullets, and Woodrow Wilson's determination not to recognize governments that came to power illegitimately. This chapter also details the building of the Panama Canal. (5) World War I contrasts the American impulse towards isolationism with "the war to end all wars." In this chapter the public debate between Wilson and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge over the United States joining the League of Nations becomes more important than the war itself. Collier and Collier make a point of emphasizing that the United States being in the League would not have necessarily prevented the rise of Fascism in Europe and the Second World War, but they admit it is one of the more provocative "what ifs" in 20th century American History.

The chapters in this volume make it clear that the tension between the imperialists and th anti-imperialists was decided in favor of the interests of big business. The United States was much more interested in expanding economically rather than militarily. The Colliers do a nice job of touching on the main concerns of both sides of the question as it was argued out and acted upon over the course of this lengthy period of American history. The book is illustrated with historical photographs, paintings and cartoons (including one showing the ghost of President James Monroe wondering if the Monroe Doctrine really should be applied to the United States acquiring Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines). Putting together classroom sets of The Drama of American History series might prove difficult for most secondary schools, but the value of this "core center" approach to the subject can certainly be useful to most teachers.

The strength of The Drama of American History series by Christopher and James Lincoln Collier for putting things in historical perspective is certainly clear in this volume on "The United States in the Cold War, 1945-1989," which reduces both the Korean and Vietnam wars to single chapters. The time period under consideration is clearly defined as starting with the end of World War II and ending with the rebirth of the Russian Republic from the ashes of the Soviet Union. It is rather ironic that the Cold War is over since the Colliers do an excellent job of explaining the origins and history of their topic.

The Cold War is broken down into six chapters: (1) The Causes of the Cold War is basically a primer on the history of Communism, explaining why it resulted in a successful revolution in Russia and had appeal to workers in the United States; (2) The Cold War Begins focuses on how the Soviet Union entrenches its position at the end of World War II and then began to actively seek to expand its sphere of influence, effectively dividing the world into East and West; (3) The Cold War Spreads to Asia covers both the rise of Communist China and the Korean War, arguing that a major mistake was made in the attempt to take down the Communist government of North Korea at the cost of a million lives; (4) The Arms Race and the Third World looks at the key points of contention between the two sides from the Middle East to Cuba; (5) The Tragedy of Vietnam focuses more on the political elements of the war than the military campaigns, with the end of the chapter trying to explain how the most powerful nation on earth was essentially defeated by underarmed guerillas; and (6) The End of the Cold War covers everything that happened from the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam and the Soviet's own quagmire in Afghanistan to the Berlin Wall coming down and the breakup of the Soviet Union. This last chapter really covers too much and the sense of causality between events gets lost a bit.

I appreciate the way in which "The United States in the Cold War" is able to focus on this subject and give students a sense for how U.S.-Soviet relations played out after the end of World War II. Not having to deal with domestic concerns while covering this topic is a big help. However, I do have one complaint about this particular volume, which is that it dismisses almost completely the pivotal role of Richard Nixon in paving the way for the end of the Cold War. To quote Mr. Spock, "Only Nixon could go to China." However, Nixon's policy of detente, with his historical visit to China along with his trip to the U.S.S.R., is reduced to a single paragraph, which focuses mainly on the SALT treaty. Along with Ronald Reagan's decision to push the "Star Wars" missile defense system, which causes the collapse of the Soviet Union's economy trying to keep up, Nixon's decision to engage the Communists, and to allow Pepsi and McDonalds to start operating in Moscow, was crucial in creating the environment that ended the Cold War. Between detente and Watergate, it is hard to think of another human being who had more of an impact on the world I live in than Richard Nixon.

I spent my early childhood in Harlem, and this book felt like home. It's beautiful! It made me laugh and get misty eyed all at once. I think that with all the negative publicity Harlem gets it's important (especially for children who live there) to see their home portrayed with kindness and affection. To see a celebration of who and what's there now, with due respect to (but not focus on) what was there when their great-grandparents were kids. A celebration that doesn't include hate, gunfire and/or gangsters.

When was the last time *your* child saw something about a black neighborhood that didn't preach, didn't assume you wished you lived in Africa and wasn't about gangs, rappers or drug violence?

I was required to buy Visual Anthropology for my Visual Sociology class my sophomore year of college. This is one i didn't sell back to the bookstore after the class was over because it is so useful. It is a great book to help a person learn how to use a camera as a research tool and get the most out of it.

This is one of the most beautiful books I've ever seen. I wish they would have given details on the printing process for this book. I've never seen such vibrant, sharp, photographs in a book. They look almost as good as professionally done prints on photographic paper. As for the artistic merit of the photographs themselves, they are wonderful, something to get lost in.

tHIS COLLECTION OF STORIES FROM AND OF wOMEN OF THE aMERICAN wEST SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING FOR ANY wOMEN'S sTUDIES COURSES AND SHOULD BE IN EVERY pUBLIC lIBRARY. tHE STORIES ARE FUNNY AND SAD AND ALL ENTERTAINING. yOU FEEL AS IF YOU HAD BEEN DOWN THAT SAME PATH OF LIFE WITH THEM. cERTAINLY A 5 PLUS RATING IS WHAT IT DESERVES.

Well, what title should I give for a book on Egyptian hieroglyphs?

Actually, the information blurb from the Library Journal linked to the book's entry here states: 'Reference collections desiring more complete coverage will want Alan Gardiner's Egyptian Grammar (1957. 3d ed.) despite some obsolescence in the treatment of the verbal system.'

I actually learned hieroglyphs using that text at the University of London in the 1980s. But I have assembled a collection of more accessible books on how to learn hieroglyphs as refreshers and for sharing. I have four texts, and this was the first of the lot.

If you are truly interested in learning Egyptian hieroglyphs for an upcoming trip to Egypt or to visit a museum with a collection (I amazed a friend once by being able to read an inscription at the museum; I confessed that of the hundreds of 'paragraphs' of hieroglyphs in the collection, that that was one of only two I could decipher without my notebook), Collier and Manley's 'How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs' is a good choice for learning.

It begins with a basic description of the way in which hieroglyphs are used (some signs are words, but actually very few, and others are sound-meaning symbols). Collier and Manley introduce a transliteration system to ease your way into pronunciation (and pronunciation is very sketchy, given the fact there are no recordings from ancient Egypt). Symbols can vary occasionally for sound, meaning, and determinative value.

The pattern of hieroglyphs is also variable. Generally, you always want to 'read into the face', i.e., the picto-glyphs will be facing the direction from which to start -- more often right to left than left to right, and columns go top to bottom. There are no punctuation marks and no word breaks -- this can make meanings hard to decipher.

Consider the example:

IAMNOWHERE
which could be broken into
I AM NOW HERE
or
I AM NOWHERE
and in this case, context might not help provide which meaning is the true one. Or perhaps the author is poetical and sees the trouble of distinction and means that trouble to be present.

No wonder hieroglyphs are hard!

Collier and Manley's book is excellent in basic vocabulary building and basic grammar. And, if you're like me and will make flash cards, you'll become a better draw-er too.

There are exercises, and pictures of inscriptions to practice on, and a key to the exercises in the back of the book.

Having had 2 semesters of Egyptian studies at SFSU, one of which was specifically in Egyptian Literature and Language, I can say that I was very impressed with this book. The authors share their expertise in an engaging and easy to learn step-by-step way, and their complete comfort with hieroglyphs is apparent partly by what they have omitted. A simple but important rule (three vertical lines indicates multiples of the item depicted) may seem obvious or familiar to the authors, yet it was not included and may confuse the absolute beginner. At other times the lesson seems more advanced than the information provided, or overly simple, so the book is not perfect. But if you are determined to teach yourself how to read and understand Egyptian hieroglyphs, the exercises and lessons of each chapter will definitely teach you this difficult skill if you can make it to the end of the book. The sizeable dictionary, hieroglyphic sign list, pronunciation guide, transliteration key and other well-designed tools are invaluable helpers on your journey.

This book is an easy and fun way of learning to read Egyptian Hieroglyphs. It includes step-by-step lessons and practice exercises for you to do each time you learn something new. You will encounter texts, including ones that have been taken from monuments from the British Museum. Plus Mark Collier and Bill Manley,the authors,are proffesional teachers who have been teaching Ancient Hieroglyph courses since 1992 to several groups and institutions. This book was designed for people who have never had exierence in reading hieroglyphs before or for people who just want to improve or fill in the gaps of previous studying.