I've only been reading romance novels for about a year, but what I've already discovered is that this form tends towards unbelievability and melodrama. 'A Willful Wife' breaks this mold. All the characters have plausible reasons for their actions, and the plotlines don't feel contrived, like with so many other romance novels. If you want a great story, with fabulous pacing and dialogue, and endearing regency characters, buy this book!

"The Willful Wife" has been nominated for the Best Regency Romance of 1998 by Romantic Times Magazine.

Alana Clayton

Short sweet and to the point. Reddell covers all of the basics of growing roses from selecting varieties to preparing the planting hole to annual care. Particularly handy and unique is the appendix which gives rose growing tips from master growers in each of the 9 USDA zones--finally a book that helps you grow roses where you live.

This book is one of the most useful - practical - "how to" rose books I have come across in many years of research. In brief, not particularly technical language, the author takes you through the year giving excellent advice, tips and recipies along the way. The additional advice from experts in most zones enables you to adjust your plans for your own climate. It's pocket size ensures that I carry my copy around with me for regular reference. My roses have never looked better and I include some fairly tender varieties in a zone 4b (the Laurentian mountains). For beginners or experts, this really is a "must have". I also recomment "Tender Roses for Tough Climates" by Douglas Green for any other climate-challenged (as in very, very cold) roseophiles.

"Diana: Story of a Princess", gives me a lot of detail of which I had been unaware. It makes for quick and compelling reading and presents the material in chronological order. It has struck me as an evenhanded telling of the stories of both Diana and Charles. Since the book is an adjunct of the video it would be helpful if one could view the video as well as read the book.

This new book is designed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Princess Diana's birth. It is a more balanced account than those of Penny Junor, Sally Bedell Smith, and Ingrid Seward and refutes their allegations of Princess Diana's supposed Borderline Personality Disorder. Based on interviews with friends and acquaintances, this book takes readers from her earliest years to her death and the subsequent massive tribute by the public. The authors interviewed individuals who stated that anyone with Borderline Personality Disorder could not have faced the challenges that Diana faced throughout her life nor could have achieved as much. The book honestly appraises the marriage and does not place blame on one of the parties for the breakup as did some of the other books. Princess Diana and Prince Charles are depicted as human characters, with both positive and negative sides to their natures. The underlying message in this book is that Princess Diana might have led a happier life had she chosen another path and chosen another marriage partner. The basic incompatibility of the royal couple is very evident in this (and earlier accounts) of their marriage.

The authors cover extensively the post-divorce years. There are disagreements among the Princess's friends to this day about what the outcome would have been of the Dodi Fayed-Princess Diana relationship.

The book is illustrated with photographs, some never before seen; one in particular shows the anguish that Diana had in dealing with the constant presence of photographers.

This is a balanced account, though there is an omission. The authors do not mention that Trevor Rees Jones was the only one wearing a seatbelt in the car accident.

By far, the most even-handed treatment of the Diana story that I've found. I've read numerous books on Princess Diana and the Royal Family and this one appears to come closest to what is likely the truth. The authors have gone to great measure to interview qualified individuals on both sides of the story and present their findings without drawing conclusions for the reader. I've also seen the companion video . . . excellent.

Most of the books on Java are either too technical or they are too superficial in their explanations. Unfortunately, although this book does have "live code", complete written out programs for examples, it ultimately falls into the 'too superficial' category. For example, the chapter on classes is very brief and the examples are programs that do practically nothing, so it's difficult to get a grasp for how classes actually work. I recommend instead, "Java How to Program" by Deitel and Deitel.

Java was (believe it or not) the FIRST programming language that I attempted to learn. After buying several books that basically relied on the reader having a C/C++ background, I found this book. The absolute best thing about this book is that after each progamming example, a line-by-line explanation of how the program works is given. This to me was the core reason I learned Java. I have found no other book that takes the beginner step-by-step in this same manner. Once you finish this book you will easily move on to more complex Java topics because you will have gained a thorough understanding of the language.

I took a programming class in the late 1970s, but never programmed anything outside the classroom. In '97, after being system administrator for 7 years, my employer asked me to take over the administration of our web site. So I picked up 4 different books on JAVA. After reading through 3 of the books, I felt either they were too advanced for my grasp or weren't well written. JAVA By Example took me through the basics in a very short time. After reading this book, I later went through the other 3 books a second time and determined that they were poorly written. Great Job, Clayton Walnum.

This book told the story of the sailor, soldier and girlfriend of the "few". It did not even mention the "beams" (the radio guidance system employed by the germans and defeated by the british and is one of the real reasons the the battle of britain was won). It failed to clearly define the british "watch" program, and scratched the surface of the RAF fighter pilots struggle. The convey and re-supply aspect and impact on the battle was grossly under discussed.

There was no real discussion of aircraft, tactics, german stratagy, or mistakes. Dunkirk was breezed through. Too much BS about some tart in London, and not enough aerial combatant's view. Overall I would not classify this book as history, rather this is a re-telling of four or five people's experience before and during the battle. The book even ends poorly, I just stops.

I wish the PBS companion aspect of the book was better advertised. I failed to note this until I had the book. As is typical of PBS, it content is emotional and human interest, not factual and ground breaking.

What is wonderful about this book is the way in which the larger part of the story is fully illustrated by the flowing anecdotes from those on the ground. A Ken Burn's style of history (be mindful if that turns you off), the book provides an interesting view of the conflict from a multitude of viewpoints: Churchill, figther pilots, plotters, soldiers and ordinary citizens all have their stories interwoven to complete a larger tapestry that shows the entire conflict.

The place where the book shines best is in dramatizing the steadily growing horror as Germany sweeps across France and traps the BEF at Dunkirk. The anecdotes make manifest in a visceral way that, as the evacuation from Dunkirk is taking place, sentiment everywhere (except perhaps within Churchill's inner circle) is that Germany is irresistable and that England will be next.

You are then able to understand why half of the Battle of Britain was won just by the simple fact of evacuating the BEF from Dunkirk because it re-instilled some confidence and fighting spirit among the British people and armed forces by the simple fact of not being a complete disaster.

After covering Dunkirk, the book makes clear how the sight of Spitfires and Hurricanes fighting over Dover, every day showing up to fight when many believed they would be swept aside quickly, grew that fighting spirit into a hardened resolve. Finally, the bombing of London added a desire for revenge into the mix (something Americans can identify with after September 11) and by the time the first raid on London ended, you understand that the Battle of Britain was already over because her people would never allow themselves to be conquered.

Having read many other accounts of the Battle of Britain I was unsure if this book would be able to offer anything new to the current literature. Well I was wrong, this story, presented by many of the participants, civilians, sailors, soldiers and airmen, was excellent. The authors let the people who experienced this terrible and also great time in their history tell the story.

The book starts in France at the commencement of the German invasion and follows a number of the characters through the fall of France, the start of the aerial fighting over England to the end of the Battle of Britain. The story is told from the English side with no accounts from any of the German participants but the title does say 'Finest Hour', which should give you an idea, what the book is about anyhow.

I found two of the stories quite sad, one involving the German bombing of a school in London that resulted in numerous civilian casualties and how the authorities solved the dilemma of identify and processing the bodies. Another story detailed the sinking of the British liner 'City of Benares' which was carrying over 90 children being sent to Canada so as to be safe from the nighttime Blitz against London.

I also found the story of the machinations between Churchill and Roosevelt over American aid to Britain during this period very interesting as was the account of the destruction of the French Fleet and their small victory later on against the British Fleet at Dakar.

Overall this is an interesting account of this pivotal period in England's history during World War Two. I am sure that many readers will find the human stories interesting and I doubt that any student of World War Two will not find something new and interesting in this account.

The book brought to conclusion the stories found in the two previous books. I have to admit, it was tough to read it. Boring at times, character flaws. I gave 3 stars becuase the last chapters made up for it. I must confess that I really felt bad for Greensleves. This proves that after three books, those characters, mostly Greenselves and Gull, really grew on me.

I have not used this one with my students.

I was looking a long time for some great fantasy book whith the good, beautiful yet extremely powerful sorceress in the main role. This trilogy and especially 'The Final Sacrifice' fulfilled all my demands at 100%. I can only mourn there isn't more books like this.

it is an awesome book i loved the part where greenseleves cast the gaint storm on the blue barbarians whil protecting her own troops

Death in Venice has at times a spellbinding atmosphere. At times it is also displaying Mann's magnificent register of using the language, actually more often than rare, that alone enough to make the book worth reading. But I don't find the story strong and gripping enough. That the main character with the mind and soul of an artist is falling in love with a pretty boy is an interesting angle of approach, and would have been even more chocking to the reader in 1911 when Mann wrote the novella. To me the weakest parts seem to be the beginning of the book, before he is approaching Venice by sea, and the ending of it. On those crucial parts of the book I find Mann as the author and creator too much present, while the fifty pages in the middle are superb craftsmanship, where one is taken away by the atmosphere and his wonderful descriptions. Still, the book is a classic and well worth the reading.

Although by no means the most accessible of Mann's early fiction, Death in Venice is by far the greatest. Drawing heavily on mythology, Nietzsche's concept of art and his own perception of himself as an artist, Mann presents us with a well-respected, ordered author, Aschenbach, who has renounced the extreme introspection of his youth to concentrate on beauty of form. Yet, with a classic case of "writer's block", he decides to go to Venice, where he believes he has captured beauty itself in the form of a young Polish boy. He comes, however, to abandon his Appolline sense of order and gives himself up to the Dionysiac intoxication, hinted at even in the opening lines and mirrored in the sickly state of the city. The narrator's brilliantly ironic stance means that our perception of the protagonist can at no stage be certain. Is this a "moral tale" of an author who is at fault for renouncing his former life, is it the tragedy of any writer who in seeing through life must perforce descend ineluctably towards destruction, or is the ending in fact an apotheosis, where Aschenbach is actually reaching out to the infinite and to beauty itself? This is an incredibly personal text - the affinities between Mann and the protagonist are numerous - and one has the feeling in reading it that he is in fact saying, "There but for the grace of God go I." The artistic unity of the Visconti film is regrettably lost in portraying Aschenbach as a musician and in allowing him to be booed by the audience. One is merely left with striking scenes of the city and an ending which, though faithful to the text, fails to work within the film itself.

Is there a finer experience than reading Thomas Mann? Death in Venice is his masterpiece, in my view (and arguably, one might add, Britten's greatest opera!), and, though the Russians come to mind, its pages, soaked in the majesty of the greatest art, reveal probably the greatest writing artist of the modern age. Aschenbach's passion is our own dilemma, and no other artist but Thomas Mann could leave him so lean and broken in our arms, and capable by that condition to fill us with consuming humanness. The philosopher Mann takes a language of human wounds and shows us ourselves, giving witness thereby to the essential power of literature. I consider it an act of religion to read Death in Venice every couple years. Religion is where, perhaps, we meet our heart; at the very least, art of this solicitude prompts a kind of faith that we still have one, after the wearing of the years, and all our private griefs. I hope the high schools and colleges are yet keeping Mann near, our children must yet gather and collect the food necessary to feed them all their lives. To 'recommend' this books seems almost pseudo-messianic! but if one commends it, let it be called not the work of a great literary messiah, but the cry of one of our brothers- a cry inextinguishable and provident.

I work as a technical writer for a telecommunications company that markets enhanced directory assistance in the wholesale and retail markets. Since my primary audiences are engineers and technicians, I write about and have to understand the technical aspects of how switches, telephony, and telecommunications applications function. About this dictionary (the 3rd edition), though it appears to have many definitions, when you look into it, it's amazing how many concepts it does not cover. For example, it has very poor coverage of SS7 terminology. Further, McGraw-Hill writers don't seem to understand that people often refer to the same concept using slightly different terminology so the dictionary lacks "see also" references. This is an area where Newton's shines. Even if the term is in the McGraw Hill, it's hard to find. I was excited about the CD-ROM, but it's a only PDF file of the hard copy manual. The PDF does not include any search functionality beyond what the book offers itself. The CD-ROM would be much more worthwhile if it took advantage of modern-day help system technology to make an online document with advanced search features and multimedia presentations, neither of which are difficult to create. Overall, the McGraw-Hill dictionary has definitely not been worth its price. If you're looking for substance and ease-of-use, buy Newton's.

I have both the 1st and 2nd edition of this book as well as the 3rd. I also have a copy of the ever popular Newton's Telecom Dictionary 17th edition, and the 15th. I use them both. Suprised, I have read the other reviews on this book and none do a comparison with Newtons Telecom Dictionary so here goes.....

Newtons version covers LOTS of terms, with quick simple, sometimes too simple definitions. For acronyms it rules, if it is not here you probably wont find it anywhere. It is very simple and 99.99% text.

The mcGraw version also has LOTS of terms even some that I could not find in the Newton Dictionary, but does not include frivilous terminology or interest items that Newtons does. What it does have are TONS and TONS of pictures-diagrams and more MEAT in the definitions (illustrations really help) that are certainly more valuable to the would be techie, or someone that really needs to understand the application of the terminology. The CD included with the book puts it in a class higher than the Newton package, with pages taken from other books and the whole dictionary in adobe format. The other book links are on the page of the definition they refer too. Only bad thing about this book is there are a few typos....

The books are difficult to compare because they are so different in style. Anyone as serious as I am will probably opt for owning a copy of both.

Simply stated, the Newton dictionary is more QUANTITY oriented, and the McGraw-Hill dictionary is extremely QUALITY oriented. I would rate them both a 5..... but since the Newtons does not come with the CD I gave it a 4.

Anyone that will be working with voice PBX or IP Voice MUST have this 3rd edition book, just for the CD.

Jade Clayton's McGraw-Hill Illustrated Telecom Dictionary, now in its second edition, is a wonderful work I consult first when looking up a term. Deliberately focused on telephony terms, the book contains 3,000 definitions, along with 400 photos, diagrams, or charts. Clayton has a strong background with companies and explains topics well.

The only comparable dictionary in this price range is Harry Newton's Telecom Dictionary, which tries to cover the entire field of communications. Keeping in mind Clayton's emphasis on traditional but up-to-date telecom definitions, Jade's book has many things Newton's work does not have: original writing throughout, a lower list price, photographs and diagrams, signature binding that won't fall apart, and a searchable CD ROM that features the book's entire text, as well as content from other McGraw Hill publications.

This CD makes the book an even greater value, letting you keep the dictionary open on your computer while you work on your telecom research or writing. The extra material also lets you go further with many topics. This CD ROM and book project is quite an accomplishment.

I picked up The Complete Idiot's Guide to VB 6 at the library after having gone through part of Learn to Program with Visual Basic 6 by John Smiley, and, when I sat down to read it (not at my computer, but just for the fun of it), I kept saying, "Oh, THAT'S what that meant!" I'm brand new to any kind of computer programming and, while I gained some knowledge from Dr. Smiley's book, it took this book to really make some of the concepts clear to me. Had I started with this one, I'm not sure that I would feel the same way, but I would strongly recommend this book as an adjunct to other books on this same subject. We don't just buy (or borrow) one book on a subject this big, do we?

This book teaches you the basics and the tools. You're not going to program an ecommerce site or do some heavy duty programming, but you're going to learn the VB tools and the basics. It's a good quickstart that would be complemented by more VB books. It's a quick reference and well written, to the point. As a beginner book, it's a good value for your money.

This is a great book for beginners as well as programmers with some experience. The book is easy to understand, contains almost no typos and the code examples are very reliable in terms of not containing errors. More knowledgeable programmers can spice up the sample code with more functionality, and even beginners can too as they progress through out the book. Since the code examples are unrealistically easy, juicing up the code helps one mirror more real world situations to some extent. One small draw back, and an example of juicing up the code, is that the book does not cover the With/ End With construct, which comes in handy in many of the examples. After reading this book the programmer can move on to more advanced books. Happy Visual Basic 6 programming!

Logan's Run is one of my favorite novels from a standpoint of plotting, back story and general premise.For those unfamiliar with it, Logan's Run is about a society in the future where no one is allowed to live past the age of 21. A person's age is determined by the color of the small crystal flower in the palm of his/her right hand. When the crystal starts to blink from red to black, it means you have 24 hours to report to a Sleepshop for mandatory euthanasia. At the end of this grace period, your flower turns black, and you become quarry for the DS men, an elite squad of police whose sole purpose is to eliminate the fugitives, or "Runners" as they are called.As I mentioned before, the book is a crackerjack example of plotting, and can be read in an afternoon. What makes it special is how each of its plot points is included for thematic or symbolic reasons. In other words, each episode in the novel is included because it reflects on the society in which its characters live, which in turn is a comment on its general premise.The premise in question is that a society cannot sustain a culture without wisdom, experience, and tradition. Those things, it argues, come with age. When the novel was published back in 1967, it was seen by some as a finger in the eye of the emerging youth culture.Like all good speculative fiction, it takes current issues and extrapolates them to their extremes. I'm pleased to say that this aspect of Logan's run hasn't lost any of its bite. We continue to live in a society where youth is equated with beauty, where the old are locked away and forgotten, and by a media-driven feeding frenzy over all things materialistic and fashionable. "Be young, have fun, drink Pepsi", indeed... Logan's Run picked these as important thematic concerns. Sadly, they are still with us.Important to the novel is the concept of a gigantic computer web that regulates every aspect of people's lives. In the novel, it is slowly dying. Since nobody lives long enough to learn anything complex, nobody knows how to repair it, or even knows that anything is wrong with it at all. The overall implication, is that runners or no runners, whether Logan fails or succeeds in his quest, the society depicted in the novel is eventually going to fall, and fall hard, due to its built-in inability to sustain itself. Where the novel falls short is in its characterizations and in its dialogue, which feels like it could have used a rewrite or two. In my opinion, a second or third draft for dialogue could have played the characters more subtly and believably. Instead, characters say things in very flat, unconvincing ways (especially Logan and Jessica, in their first real conversation together)that do help move the action forward, but don't make them very believable people.Still, all quibbles aside, a ripping read, full of action, suspense, and intriguing ideas.

"Logan's Run" is a particularly captivating book that functions as something of an allegory of the fact that all persons who are ever born have to face death. Although the premise of "Logan's Run" condenses mortality to a span of 0-21 years, the "sanctuary" that is sought by "runners" in the book serves as a facsimile of the reality that regardless of the age to which people live, there is always the yearning, the need, to experience more. "Logan's Run" makes this point brilliantly in a setting of a dystopian future run amok with the excesses of youth.

This is a fast paced, well written story about where a youth obssesed culture could lead us. Using overpopulation and a nuclear war as a springboard the authors weave a tightly knit story about a society living in self-contained domed cities where everyone's favorite past-time is the pursual of pleasure. Sounds good until you realize that implanted at birth into the palm of every citizen is a life clock crystal that glows with a different color for each seven years of life. On your twenty-first birthday your life clock turns from red to black, it's time to volunteer to be put to sleep for the good of Society. Logan is a Sandman a modern day police officer who tracks down those citizens who have decided they want to live longer than 21, these are called "Runners". The myth whispered is that you can live to become 'old' in a place called Sanctuary. Logan's search for Sanctuary with a Runner named Jessica sets the pace for the rest of the story. Entertaining Sci-Fi at it's best.