This book is a good managerial/legal overview but lacks technical depth and any analysis of the human cost incurred by the A-12 cancellation debacle. It exhaustively details program management missteps and lays out the legal argument which favors the contractor assertion that the program (excuse me, contract) was terminated for convenience. However, the reader is left with the misleading impression that most engineering problems (and there were many) were resolved by the time of cancellation. However, in January 1991, there were many challenges ahead that drawing release tracking charts did not reflect. In the final analysis, Dick Cheney did the right thing the wrong way and thousands of workers were fired virtually overnight by companies that had mortgaged their futures trying to get a piece of the stealth pie; Mr. Stevenson got it mostly right.

Mr. Stevenson does it again in his second book on the stpuid spending decisions that come from the Pentagon. In this book he covers the fraud, waste, mis-management, and general abuse of the laws and rules of both the Navy and the Nation in trying to buy a plane that even the Navy didn't want right away. This book talks about it all from the hatred of the various under secretary's of the project and how they tried to kill it. How the Navy went about skipping major milestones and reporting laws in the name of "National Security", how the USAF didn't want to share thier lessons learned in builiding the F-117A and B-2A under the same "National Security" banner (let alone they wanted to control all stealth projects) and finally after spending all of 5 billion US dollars and 10 yrs of development all that the American taxpayer had to gain from it was a non-working wooden mock up, thousands of thousands of sheets of memos and designs, and a bunch of bolts that did absoultely nothing. He uses this aqusition project as another attempt to show the world what is wrong with how the US buys its weapons systems. In this book you can pick up some more ideas as to how he thinks one should go about buying everything from thread to carriers and how the contracts should be written. When you read through the lines. There are numerous footnotes and a well stock biblograhpy so the reader can track down the source of a subject if then need to. This is a wonderful compainion to his previous book on the F-18 Horent.

I was a test engineer for a sub-contractor on this "black hole" program . During my two year stay on the program , I certainly saw no "waste and fraud" nor did a good friend of mine at GD who was very closely associated with the program. For those two years we put in very long hours 6 to 7 days a week and had all of our "state of the art" test equipment up and running and certified ahead of schedule . The book tells it as it was , a program that was mis-managed by the Navy from the day the contract was signed . The airframe producers , General Dynamics and Mcdonnell Douglas , found their hands tied as they didn't get the support they were expecting from Northrop's "learning curve" on the B2 program . This coupled with the never ending design changes requested by the Navy brought on the inevitable cost over runs . This is a superbly written book by the author of "The Pentagon Paradox" , another "must read" book !

"A Visual Journey of Wartime Patriotism United We Stand" by Richard J. Perry is an outstanding piece on World War II. I reccomend it as a must see for anyone interested in WWII. It presents a stunning display of images, as well as some interseting and insightful tidbits of text. I am excited to use this book in my social studies classroom.

I picked up this book because of it's eyecatching front cover and enjoyed flipping through it over and over again. This book is a great way to look back on the history of campaigning in hard times for the support of our soldiers. I personally enjoyed the quotes from people all over the United States remembering small details of the life and times during WWII. Although the book does not have a lot of articles or descriptions of the era, it was not meant to lecture on the life and times but rather give vignettes of history. The pictures remind you of going through a box hidden in your grandmother's basement of old keepsakes. It is obvious from the author, a U.S. Navy veteran, that a lot of care went into this collection.

"United We Stand" by Richard Perry is a wonderful look at an earlier era when, like today, the country stood together to face a common enemy. Not only is the book a visual delight and a capsule of memories for those who lived through the war, but it clearly illustrates the differences in warfare between then and now. Today we have a professional and technologically sophisticated military that can strike with surgical precision with few American lives lost. Currently, unless one has a relative or friend in the military or was involved in the destruction of the World Trade Center; we experience little personal sacrifice as the war on terrorism progresses.

Perry graphically demonstrates that WW II affected everyone on a very personal level and that symbols of the war and patriotism thoroughly permeated society. Particularly poignant were the reminders of how the role of women changed during the war, how the population dealt with common experience of rationing and the personalization of instruments and the environment of war with reminders of why one was fighting (pictures and fanciful images of "the girl back home". Finally, the book reminds us of our own government's propaganda during the conflict. While brimming with nostalgia, this book plays an important role by illustrating how 60 years has changed the country's united response to military conflict.

If you're looking for an easy read on issues like personal identity, the soul, etc., then Perry's Dialogue is a fantastic survey of a number of views. However, I can't help but wonder if this wouldn't have been better as a simple, short text on the topic as opposed to a dialogue. Perry isn't exactly Shakespeare when it comes to writing dialogue for his characters; the talk is wooden and stilted, and his attempt at a semi-dramatic ending is...well, sad.

But chances are you don't want this book for its literary merit, in which case, this is a great buy.

This work offers penetrating insight into a topic that has been central to philosophy since Plato. What is the self? What does it mean for a self to persist over time? Perry addresses this topic with a clean and clear writing style--and with excellent arguments. Anyone who wishes to dive into the difficult topic of the metaphysics of personal identity is advised to start here.

Out of the two reviews I've read of Perry's dialogue here on Amazon, one speaks very highly and the other thinks it's worthless. I'm puzzled about the variation, for I think this dialogue is as good as they get, which leads me to believe that the negative reviewer perhaps didn't understand the subtleties of the dialogue. I recently used Perry's dialogue along with five others in my intro to philosophy classes. Perry's far outranks all the others in depth and sophistication, which is also to say that it is more difficult than the others (the others included free will, personhood in animals and machines, phil religion, relativism, abortion). Keep in mind that popular philosophy dialogues always have one big drawback: the authors usually attempt to present the participants in a real-life setting, which often results in some dead ends or useless material. Such is the case with light and colloquial conversations. Perry's is not immune. Weinrob (the skeptic) often blusters and sometimes comes off a bit too arrogant. But at the end of the day she wins (well actually, she dies!) by taking apart the arguments of Miller (the soul, then Lockean, then causal theorist). There's no room here to go over the specifics of the argument but suffice it to say that all the major positions are covered in good detail. Highly recommended.

"A Girl Needs Cash" is an interesting story aimed directly at changing the female mindset towards money and investing. The author, Joan Perry, lends her financial expertise to the reader through the lives of six very different women. Perry makes it easy for women of all ages to relate to atleast one of her characters. She explains the myths that keep women from reaching their financial potential and poses easy to understand solutions to go about breaking them. I recommended this book to my mom, and do so for all "girls" looking to take charge of their purses!

The way in which Joan used real life characters to describe the book was very helpful. There were so many characters to relate to that anyone who reads this book is given the opportunity to see themself through the thoughts of the characters in the book.

Joan made the book very personable. She told many stories about her life and made the reader feel important enough to learn more about her. Throughout the book you get the feeling that she is truly writing to make you more educated about money.

The book has a totally "girl power" attitude. She talks about how we as women should take more control of our financial life. Joan's goal is to prove to women that we really are capable of feeling better about our financial life if we partake in it. If we stand back and let someone else take care of it for us then we are afraid of it and feel that it is out of our power. Our financial life should be just as important to us as our career life, family life, social life, etc.

This book can easily be understood and makes women of today's world more motivated to take part in their financial life.

For my economics class, I had to chose and read a book involving some form of economics. I read "A Girl Needs Cash" and was pleasantly surprised because I found the book to be very interesting. I enjoyed how the author was able to turn the book into an acutal story instead of just writng facts about enconomics like an encyclopedia would. Not only did the author show us the lives of other people and how their financial lives were going, but she also put herself and her experiences in the book which made it much more interesting to know that even people like her at one point stuggled with money. My favorite part of the book was the section on "The White Knight Myth". The "Money Machine" was also a very helpful tip. This book contained some very good advice and was motivating. I do belive that this book will help me with my own financial life.

This book tries to show you the human rights of the poor people in London while they resolve the mystery of a crime, you will never know who is the killer until the last page, not because the book is good, because it could be anyone of the book, the writer never tells you anything about the real killer.
At the end of the book, nobody does nothing about the human rights or anything else.

Charlotte and Thomas Pitt's maid, Gracie, has been admiring her mistress's detecting adventures for the past few books, but her participation in this story adds a freshness to the plot and the characterizations. Dedicated readers of the Pitt series know Charlotte, Emily, Thomas, and Great Aunt Vespasia so well now that new characters are always welcome additions to the cast.

In this story Pitt is called in to investigate a mysterious fire and death in Highgate, a prosperous northern suburb of London. While most London policemen are investigating the Jack the Ripper murders at Whitechapel, Pitt must get to the botom of how and why the Shaw house was set ablaze and whether the intended victim was really Clemency Shaw, a modest woman involved in social reform, or her husband Dr. Shaw.

The ending of this mystery was not really up to Perry's usual standards. I was pretty sure who had done the deed from the beginning, but as usual Perry provided some excellent and suprising insights into the other secrets lurking on Highgate Rise.

Having read all the previous Pitt novels in the series, I found arson a refreshing change from the usual murder weapon of choice...the characters were complicated and well-developed, and the murderer was in question until the end--but then Perry picked the most obvious choice for the villain, which disappointed me--I was expecting some great revelation, but instead, we got someone whose motives were already obvious (so obvious I'd written the character in question off my list of suspects ^_^), and the cheesy way the confession came about read like a melodrama. Other than the unconvincing ending, the book was quite good, and Gracie finally got some a share of the adventure! If there's one thing you can count on, Anne Perry always has some interesting development in her characters' personal lives, no matter what the case.

This book claims to be a spiritual, self help book. However, I found it to be an autobiography, beginning after she won the Mrs. United States title. She says that that the title gave her the platform to spead God's word, but she never speaks of any good works that she performs other than preaching to others. An average chapter would be... First let me tell you that I was Mrs. United States. I met two boys in the foster care program. I was afraid of them, they smelled awful and didn't have the talent to be in my production, but I let them work back stage and I preached to them and now they are Christians. By the way, did I tell you that I was Mrs. United States.
Too many times she belittled the people that she was preaching to. The only message that I got from the book was; Do as I say and not as I do...and never forget that I was Mrs. United States.

I have owned this book for less than a year and in that time I have read it almost three times. Sheri Rose Shepherd illustrated Gods path in the comical truths of her life before, during and after finding the Lord. I would recomend this book to anyone who enjoys laughter.

What a great book! Thanks Sheri Rose Shepherd! I found this book inspiring, touching and down to earth. The real life experiences are refreshing to read and several times I said, "that's me!" she's talking about! As a Christian myself, I enjoyed the "lesson to be learned" at the end of each chapter, and how it related to the Bible. I laughed, I cried, and I shared it with others. Thanks again!

For anyone who has read any of the other historical mystery anthologies, this latest will seem weak in comparison. I'm trying to recall at least one story that stood out from the rest...can't do it!

Much Ado About Murder is a collection of seventeen mystery stories stiched together by the common thread of Shakespeare's plays. All were written especially for this anthology edited by Anne Perry. Some put new twists on characters or plots lifted from the plays while others are about the actors performing the plays or about the Bard himself.

In the former category, Marcia Talley tells a humorous tale starring the three witches from Macbeth. In the title story, Kathy Lynn Emerson transports Beatrice and Benedict from Padua to Bloody Mary's England for an adventure. Lillian Stewart Carl has Twlth Night's Duke Orsini send Viola/Cesario to Olivia's castle as a spy rather than an intermediary. Posing as a kitchen maid, she solves the poisoning of Olivia's brother. The Tempest, Henry V and VI, Hamlet, and Anthony and Cleopatra serve as launch pads for other writers' imaginings.

In the latter category, my favorite is P C Doherty's The Sperpent's Tooth which offers an interesting answer to the puzzle of Shakespeare's death and his epitaph. Also enjoyable is Peter Tremayne's Elizabethan sleuth, Master Hardy Drew, solving the murder of an actor in the first production of Henry V. Perry herself contributes a mystery set in a Victorian production of Othello.

The only story that seems out of place is Richard's Children by Brendan DuBois. It's connection to Richard III is tenuous and the plot belongs with the likes of Robert Ludlum.

Kudos, applause, and a standing ovation for Anne Perry and this fantastic book of short stories. There are so many truly unique and amazing stories that it's hard to choose which is best. Some involve actual Shakespearean plots, including two of the funniest: Too Many Cooks, which is a hilarious take on Macbeth from the point of view of the three Weird Sisters, and The Fall of the House of Oldenbourg, which will assure that you never think of Hamlet the same way again. Those Are Pearls That Were His Eyes combines characters from The Tempest with Portia & her husband Bassanio of The Merchant of Venice as the most brilliant and beautiful Doctor of Laws solves a murder with Caliban as the accused. The beautiful Viola (disguised as Caesario disguised as Viola--shades of Victor/Victoria and Shakespeare in Love!) solves the murder of Olivia's brother in A Dish of Poison. Even two of the lesser known plays, Cymbeline and Measure for Measure feature in the stories. Some, like Anne Perry's excellent Ere I Killed Thee, deal with the players who perform these works. The bard himself appears in several of the stories, including Exit, Followed. . .and All the World's a Stage, and his death is investigated in The Serpent's Tooth. And Richard's Children can only be described as chilling. I wish that there had been stories based on Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, and Midsummer's Night's Dream, but perhaps there will be a volume 2. One can only hope. This is a fantastic book for mystery lovers and for Shakespeare lovers, but heaven for those who, like myself, love them both. Buy it, read it, and recommend it to your friends!

The authors seem to assume their readers are incapable of appreciating the "whole picture" when it comes to diagnosis and treatment. They spoon-feed what they consider to be the important information, leaving more questions than they answered.

When you get the news you have cancer, there is a period of waiting in total agony for yourself and your family until the time you get before a specialist who can explain and answer your concerns. As you wait, fears and anxiety lead to despair and depression because you don't have understandable information and your mind thinks the worse based upon your preconceptions of the word "Cancer."

Simple questions that need immediate answers. What is cancer and how did I get it? How bad is this cancer and how far has it spread? What caused it and what can I do to change my lifestyle? How will they treat it and what are the odds of success in treatment? How long will this take and what are the likely side effects?

This book, Cancers of the Mouth and Throat: A Patient's Guide to Treatment, has its greatest value during that time as an initial resource to frame the problem and sketch out concerns and issues for the patient in a language that is logical and understandable.

A friend gave me this book shortly after diagnosis for cancer. I was being treated at an ENT clinic for an acid reflux problem that was so bad that it closed my airway. The acid reflux apparently had damaged tissues to the degree that it created a carcinoma just below the vocal chords. The book explained how all of this happened and I could see my situation completely.

I strongly recommend it for hospitals, clinics, and institutions that can put it in the hands of newly diagnosed patients. It has been a wonderful comfort to me throughout radiation treatment, and I reference it often.

Searching the internet for information can be confusing and often only creates more fear, because you don't even know what questions to ask. This value of this book, Cancers of the Mouth and Throat: A Patient's Guide to Treatment, is its focus upon an overview -- not medical mumbo jumbo detail -- but an overview, of head and neck cancers, treatment options, side effects, in a language understandable to patients.

This book was an absolute lifesaver to my emotional health, and sits at my bedside. Next to the Holy Bible, this book did the most in my situation to provide information that put me back in control of the cancer.

A patient needs this book to answer what cancer is, what to expect, and what to do and to guage the probabilities for success of a course of action. This book provided the answers to family that call with concerns and support.

By the time I finally went to my first cancer clinic visit, I went calm, informed, secure and with a positive spirit. The book gave me a basic understanding of my condition. I was able to ask and answer questions intelligently, and to give my family reassurances for their concerns and questions.

I most strongly recommend this book and thank the authors for writing it and the hospital administrators that bought it as a resource for their patients, and the friend that brought it to me.

My grandfather was diagnosed with larynx cancer. We had no idea about cancer and the treatments available. This book was great in explaining the options in plain language that we all could understand. We thank God for this book and the authors. Without it our experience would have been much more difficult.

I thought this book would tell me the amino acids that build a brand - all DNA is built from just 4 such acids and I hoped that there was the same Watson & Crick insight - sadly no.

It has some good building blocks but you are largely left to assemble them yourself.

I found Before the Brand to be very helpful in positioning my start-up seminar business. Just knowing what large companies go through to establish a brand gave me clues about what I need to do to market my business effectively.

This is a great reference guide for people who are looking for guidance on what a brand identity is and how to go about the process of creating one. It's a quick read and has handy check lists at the end.

I don't mean to be unkind, but this book is really pretty worthless as much more than something you leave on your coffee table to impress your less perseptive guests. All the other reviews must have been written by the author or his friends, because their descriptions have little to do with my own perception of this book. In the first place, it is written in a style that does not inspire confidence; the tone is somewhere between that of a rookie newspaper reporter and that of a game show host. In the second place, the content of the book, which proports to be "social history", is of the caliber of a weak television documentary, barely organized and calculated to entertain. Too be sure, the accouterments of a real historical work are here (notes etc.), but the "You Are There" approach is more appropriate for an eighth grade social studies text than a serious work of history. I suppose that if you are seeking a mildly amusing read that requires little thought or contemplation, this would do. But surely the author, who is a professor of history, is capable of approaching this promising subject with some professionalism. If so, it is not evident here. Don't waste your time.

Fascinating prose on subjects I would rarely consider interesting. Yet this author makes the stories of the city's infrustructure read like a novel. Truly impressed by his referenced work and his knowledge of the city. Made me wish I could step back in time.

This book really touched me very deeply. My family came to the city during the late 1800's. The struggles of the people and the mass of challenges they faced seems daunting to those of us who are ancestors.

This book truly gave me a new perspective on the struggles that my family went through when they settled in Chicago. It gives me a new view of life as we now have it compared to those days.

One would never really understand what the people of Chicago faced during the growth of the city during the era discussed in this book. Duiz capyured the essence of the struggles quite well.

To the author, I say Thanks for the wonderful insights you gave me!