Too much general information, Not near enough pictures to follow. You need to have had some experience with a computer before trying to use this book. Stick with Anti-Virus software Peter!

I've referred to this book several times over the last couple years and it has offered no help. Norton's book is too general to be of any use. I would rather have five books that cover just a few topics with depth and clarity than one book that skims many topics and helps me with none, like this one.

This book was as good as they get. I think Norton knows all there is to know about a PC. I found form the simple item to the most complex was a breeze with this series. Folks dont waste money on anything less than this book! It Rocks

I found the guide to be incrediably lacking. It didn't even have a good walkthrough. Don't waste your money!

although some what helpful in the detailed walk-through, a better option to buying this book would be to simply download a faq off the web. The stats and item profiles are flawed in an embarasing number of cases. SAVE YOUR MONEY!

The book has useful information but it is poorly organized and the maps are terrible. They have these numbers all over them, but there's no separate key that lists what these number represent. Instead you have to search through pages and pages of text to see when the "number" is semi-explained.

Plus they leave out key information on some of the maps/sections. There's no index in the book either, which makes finding something almost impossible.

Poor organization is why I give this book 3 stars. However, there's some useful content that kept me from giving it 1 star.

This has to be one of the most boring books I have ever read in my life, therefore making it a waste of my time to read it. I would not have bought the book unless if I wouldn't have had to write an essay on it for my History 1050 class. I do not recommend this book for casual reading, in fact, I do not recommend this book at all. However, if you are involved in History as a profession, or if you are excited by History, then this is a book for you. It provides tons of information, but to me it is all irrelevant. If you are a college student with many other things to do like myself, I will personally tell you right now to leave this book on the shelf.

Remini's book, Andrew Jackson and the Bank War, is a very good book in the way of information. Although it is not a "page turner," it satisfies in giving the information. I would not have purchased this book except it is needed for my American History course.

After reading Bray Hammond's "Banks and Politics in America" and his trenchant critique of the Jacksonian assault on the Second Bank of the United States (BUS), I was interested to learn how Robert Remini, a historian known for his pro-Jackson tilt, responded to that attack on the Old Hero.

The answer is: he responded with a crisp, cogent and remarkably fair and insightful history of the struggle over the BUS.

The BUS had a profound political, economic, and social impact on American life during its short life (1816-1836). In his book, however, Remini seeks to address just one side of the controversy: the political. He concedes that there was much good in the BUS from a strictly economic perspective and destroying it without a concrete plan to replace the monetary institution undoubtedly did harm to the American economy as a whole. But, Remini argues, it was the political implications of the War - not the Panic of 1837 or the subsequent failure to adopt central banking in the US for nearly a century - that had the more far-reaching consequences.

It has been argued that Jackson was the first modern president. It is undeniable that the power of the presidency took a giant leap forward during Jackson's two-terms and Remini shows that those monumental gains in power came mostly during and because of the Bank War.

In particular, Remini argues that the Bank War is directly responsible for three areas of enhanced presidential power: 1) the use of the veto to reject legislation for purely political rather than constitutional reasons, thus inserting the president into the legislative process and, in effect, making his opinion count for two-thirds of both Houses of Congress; 2) even though Remini believes that the majority of Americans didn't support the president's stance on the BUS, Jackson made the election of 1832 a referendum on the bank issue and claimed henceforth that he represented the will of the people and was there one representative; and 3) Jackson's sacking of Secretary of the Treasury Duane for his refusal to remove the government deposits from the BUS exerted the president's right to remove Cabinet members at will, further strengthening the executive's grip over the government.

In short, there is stunning agreement between Remini and Hammond on a number of issues. For instance, Remini concedes that Jackson's veto of the BUS re-charter in July 1832 was pure demagogic class baiting with indefensible charges against the BUS's operations. He also rejects the notion that Jackson's re-election was a popular show of support for his attack on the BUS and he credits Nicolas Biddle with running an efficient, although by no means perfect, central banking organization. Thus, on economic grounds, Remini really sides with Hammond. But, Remini maintains, the economics of the issue was a distant second to the politics of issue. The cause of the War was political - namely, Jackson's refusal to bend or even appear to bend to a political challenge - and the most significant results of the War were political. Remini's case is sound.

... This book, "A Crown Disowned," suffers from too many plot discontinuities, bad characterization, very cardboard, wooden dialogue, and manages to do something I never had done in all the years I've read books -- made me want to throw a book Andre Norton has contributed to across the room.

Let me try and explain. Basically, in the previous two books, Ashen was a sympathetic character (although toward the end of book two, she started becoming less sympathetic, as she did not like her stepson's girlfriend). However, in this book, Ashen seems rather pointless. The action doesn't really revolve around her -- it revolves around Queen Ysa, who at best is a tragic heroine. Ashen's romance, which was one of the focal points of the first two books, is an afterthought here, and her daughter's romance with the young boy-king seemed tacked-on hurriedly.

Plus, there's no real sense of how time is passing in this book. There seem to be very few time referents, which is extremely strange. I thought it was probably due to poor editing or the rush to get this book to the printers, as I couldn't understand why else it'd happen.

The big confrontation loses all steam once the big bad Flavielle is gone, and considering she's taken out more by incompetence than anything, that's a major waste of resources. Personally, I'd rather have seen someone deliberately succeed in taking her out, rather than the drugged, half-feverish way it's done in this book.

Basically, I didn't care about any of the characters at the end of this book, and I was glad the book was over (even though I'd really looked forward to it, and had enjoyed the first two books of the series). Like I said, it's probably one of the worst books I've read in a long time, and I regret paying hardcover price for it.

If I could give this less than one star, I would, despite my high respect for Ms. Norton and her stature in the field.

A Crown Disowned is the third novel in the Cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan and the last in the trilogy. The previous volume ended with King Peres on the throne, Ashen married to Gaurin, Rohan knighted, Anamara mad and lost in the Bog, and the dowager Ysa learning that the long awaited invasion from the north has begun.

This novel begins with a meeting between Rohan and the Bog headman Tusser in the remains of the city of Galinth. While debating the fine points of alliance, they are interrupted by a group of men, hired by the dowager Ysa, who are trying to burn up the Bog. After fighting off the Outlanders, they discover Anamara in the ruins and take her to Zazar for healing.

Despite the severity of the situation, the dowager clings to her plots and magic. Throughout most of the book, she tries to control everybody. One of the funniest places in the book is when the dowager Ysa is told that Rannore has married Lathrom, the former Sergeant. Of course, Ysa is scandalized that Rannore has married well below her station and is frustrated to learn that her son, King Peres, has knighted Lathrom and has granted him lands and properties.

Meanwhile, Ashen studies the magic tome found by Esander, Zazar prepares for a summons, and the Foul One uses Flavielle to set up a trap. In the north, the armies of the Rendelians, Nordorn, Sea-Rovers and Bog-folk fight Ice Dragons, Frydans and renegade humans. The Unnatural cold is as deadly as the enemy.

The ultimate confrontation is not obvious, but is satisfying, and the aftermath is even more so. Recommended for all fans of Andre Norton and Sasha Miller as well as anyone who likes adventure fantasy with a touch of romance.

The human, inhuman and ice dragon armies of the Great One march south causing havoc to an already besieged Rendelsham and the other southern lands already struggling with hostile frozen precipitation. To survive the onslaught, the four great houses of the south must unite in an alliance against the seemingly invincible Great One. However, a key player, dowager Queen Ysa, appears in denial as she continues to divide rather than unite by pushing the rivalries between the houses.

However, even Ysa ultimately realizes the danger though it may prove to late when the Ice Dragons begin spewing out frozen waste at its southern targets. Rohan and his Sea Rovers with their ships try to unite with the Nodors and the Bog-folk in an uneasy alliance. Unbeknownst to the desperate southern alliance is the Great One's most loyal servant is a sorceress who has seduced Rendelsham's High Marshal into leading Rohan and his allies into a trap. If they escape, they still must find a way to defeat the Great One's superior armies, unconquerable ice dragons, and ultimately yield magic that none seem to possess to crush the Great One.

The third Cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan novel, A CROWN DISOWNED is an exciting sword and sorcery tale though the story line provides little new from the previous two novels of this entertaining series. The fantasy contains numerous subplots focusing on war, intrigue, and betrayal, albeit the typical fare for an S&S novel. Still the cast engages the reader especially the enchanting magic gathering the myriad of fans of Andre Norton and Sasha Miller into the fold of a fine finale.

Harriet Klausner

This collection is both a reprint of primary sources and journal articles written by scholars in the field of women's history. Editors Mary Beth Norton and Ruth M. Alexander are college professors with long-standing publishing backgrounds in the field of women's history.

Although the concept of producing a compact reader was well intentioned, the principal problem with this work is it's over reliance on events and incidents prior to 1960.

Starting out as a means of showing women were involved in this country from it's beginning, the book unwittingly undercuts itself by not devoting as much time to the later accomplishments of American women's history. Less fortunate students (without access to the numerous other far well written books) may leave whatever class this was used in with a sense of confusion about the roles of women in the 1960's through the present.

While the outdatedness of the customs and laws governing gender in those times now indicates how far we have come, it does not fully indicate the long and complex process that would perhaps be of interest to the same college students this text is intended for. It is very startling to realize that most of the issues and policies that have helped my generation (reproductive rights for college women, gender equity in educational facilities) were mere dreams when our mothers were attending school.

Certainly every professor has a specialized field-but when a general volume about a historically marginalized group is written, there is an unwritten assumption that this group will finally be getting the fair coverage that has long been it's moral due.

Even though I was fortunate enough to attend a University where women's history was adequately explored in every department, this book may sadly be the only initial contact for students at more conservative institutions. Because women's history remains undertaught in American institutions of higher education, I was hoping that two professionals in the field would want to show students a much more representative breadth and depth.

Students perhaps would be more interested if the text were more expanded to include the 1960's onward-when many of the rights that most impact campus life for women were first agitated for.

Should this text be used as a book for women's history, it would be wise to include "Dear Sisters" and "Unequal Sisters" as supplemental work for better understanding of women's history in general.

This collection is both a reprint of primary sources and journal articles written by scholars in the field of women's history. Editors Mary Beth Norton and Ruth M. Alexander are college professors with long-standing publishing backgrounds in the field of women's history.

Although the concept of producing a compact reader was well intentioned, the principal problem with this work is it's over reliance on events and incidents prior to 1960.

Starting out as a means of showing women were involved in this country from it's beginning, the book unwittingly undercuts itself by not devoting as much time to the later accomplishments of American women's history. Less fortunate students (without access to the numerous other far well written books) may leave whatever class this was used in with a sense of confusion about the roles of women in the 1960's through the present.

While the outdatedness of the customs and laws governing gender in those times now indicates how far we have come, it does not fully indicate the long and complex process that would perhaps be of interest to the same college students this text is intended for. It is very startling to realize that most of the issues and policies that have helped my generation (reproductive rights for college women, gender equity in educational facilities) were mere dreams when our mothers were attending school.

Certainly every professor has a specialized field-but when a general volume about a historically marginalized group is written, there is an unwritten assumption that this group will finally be getting the fair coverage that has long been it's moral due.

Even though I was fortunate enough to attend a University where women's history was adequately explored in every department, this book may sadly be the only initial contact for students at more conservative institutions. Because women's history remains undertaught in American institutions of higher education, I was hoping that two professionals in the field would want to show students a much more representative breadth and depth. This collection opperates on the assumption that the reader automatically has knowllege of women's history prior to the college experience.

Students perhaps would be more interested if the text were more expanded to include the 1960's onward-when many of the rights that most impact campus life for women were first agitated for.

Should this text be used as a book for women's history, it would be wise to include "Dear Sisters" and "Unequal Sisters" as supplemental work for better understanding of women's history in general. .

This collection is both a reprint of primary sources and journal articles written by scholars in the field of women's history. Editors Mary Beth Norton and Ruth M. Alexander are college professors with long-standing publishing backgrounds in the field of women's history and general American History.

Although the concept of producing a compact reader was well intentioned, the principal problem with this work is it's over reliance on events and incidents prior to 1960.

Starting out as a means of showing women were involved in this country from it's beginning, the book unwittingly undercuts itself by not devoting as much time to the later accomplishments of American women's history. Less fortunate students (without access to the numerous other far well written books) may leave whatever class this was used in with a sense of confusion about the roles of women in the 1960's through the present.

While the outdatedness of the customs and laws governing gender in those times now indicates how far we have come, it does not fully indicate the long and complex process that would perhaps be of interest to the same college students this text is intended for. It is very startling to realize that most of the issues and policies that have helped my generation (reproductive rights for college women, gender equity in educational facilities) were mere dreams when our mothers were attending school.

Certainly every professor has a specialized field-but when a general volume about a historically marginalized group is written, there is an unwritten assumption that this group will finally be getting the fair coverage that has long been it's moral due.

Although I was fortunate enough to attend a University where women's history was adequately explored in every department, this book may sadly be the only initial contact for students at more conservative institutions. Because women's history remains undertaught in American institutions of higher education, I was hoping that two professionals in the field would want to show students a much more representative breadth and depth.

Should this text be used as a book for women's history, it would be wise to include Roxanne Baxandall/Linda Gordon's "Dear Sisters" and Vicki Ruiz/Ellen Carol DuBois's"Unequal Sisters" as supplemental work for better understanding of more reccent women's history.

Norton's ramblings give new meaning to the word juvenile. I got this book because I thought the title seemed clever. However, the title is about as clever as this thin, little book gets. The author is self-absorbed, naïve, and not a very good writer. I thought it seemed fishy when there was no publisher listed but now I understand that Norton's book is merely the work of a bitter college student. It saddens me that in a time when it is so hard to get published; the works of child are being sold on Amazon. Moreover, it sounds as if all of Norton's friends wrote the reviews on this website. That is sad. So is the book. Save your money and by the work of Bret Easton Ellis, who at 20 wrote a masterpiece. Let Norton move out of Gambier and live life.

This book is PAST PERFECT FUTURE TENSE: A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES,POEMS AND INCOHERENT RAMBLINGS by Patrick J. Norton. ( When you read this book you will see that it is very aptly titled.) The short stories are gems...provocative, ironic and, in many cases, disturbing. The poems are evocative of emotional places we've all been and suggest that this is a young writer. (You'll understand that when you read the book.) At 95 pages, it's a quick read; but it'll take you a while to stop thinking about what you've read. More, More!

Patrick Norton's first book is an astonishing compilation of reflections and thoughts, it makes a great read. I read it all in one night, because the way the words flow is entrancing. I recommend this book to all my friends, and I think it will soon be a collector's item as Patrick Norton expands his career and depth of work.

As a fan of fantasy roleplaying games (FRPGs) dating back to 1976, I bought this book back in 1978 when it first came out, on the recommendation of a friend at the time. As Mr. Folatelli (another reviewer) has already explained it, the story follows the journey of a group of FRPG players through the very game they were playing - that is to say, TSR's Greyhawk game setting. Interesting concept, but Mr. Norton made Greyhawk seem far drearier than it was when I played it with my friends (which I did for many many years, only stopping a couple of years ago).

The World Of Greyhawk setting itself is for the most part excellent - I **still** have the original materials dating back to c. 1980, as well as the newer "From The Ashes" edition put out in the mid 1990s - but this particular book was a disappointment to me. There were a few interesting little quirks to it (like how "Geoff", a country in the world of Greyhawk, is spelled "Geopf" in the book for some reason, and the term "war game" being used more than "roleplaying game", and of course visiting places in the book that I also visited in the game itself), but all in all it was not terribly interesting to me.

Maybe for me actually playing the game is more interesting than reading a story like this based in it. Your mileage may vary of course.... and if you know of a really good book based on the world of Greyhawk, feel free to tell me about it. But I would recommend the Dragonlance series by M. Weiss and T. Hickman to the reader if they were looking for a good FRPG oriented novel to read.

As they say, "'til the stars break...."

This book was first published in '78, that's before the 1st edition AD&D books were published. The book has both Greyhawk heroes and a group of players and the DM who play a 'war game' (it seems the term role-playing game was not used yet) with tabletop miniatures. The Greyhawk adventurers are a mixed group of heroes united by bracelets containing shifting dice of an alien origin. They go off in a quest to understand what it is that joins them, starting out in the fabled Greyhjawk City and visiting various places in Oerth all the way to the Sea of Dust. Also interesting to note is the way the alignments Law, Neutrality and Chaos are developed in a simple way, just like in the original D&D.

I found Quag Keep to be a very interesting book. While it defiantly is different from the Role Playing Games we are used to and the Dragon Lance books about these games it is better for its differences. While at times the book is a little slow the storyline and characters are interesting. I don't think the book was meant to be exactly like the RPG, thus it can appeal to people who don't play RPGs. But if a person is simply looking for a book based solely on RPGs, Dragon Lance is certainly the series to read. Ms. Norton did an excellent job in the book Quag Keep.

I can't understand why publishers can't leave well enough alone. I loved the first edition of this book. I found each successive edition more expensive and less useful. But this is finally the end; I can no longer require my students to purchase it or even recommend that they use it. In its current form it is bloated with unnecessary information, poorly organized, and, from a scholarly point of view, very much suspect. I am disappointed, frustrated, and upset.

The latest edition of this book has lost much of the classical simplicity and directness that made the previous editions so successful. Ugly icons crowd the page, statements are watered down, but still the text is far clearer than the other popular programmed text by Harder & Steinke. A student considering entering a conservatory or music school would be well prepared having worked through this book.

I'm dissapointed to see Norton's changes, and the increase in price, but I still recommend this text--it still is the best self-instruction program out there.

I bought this book to brush up on my theory before returning to school for a 2nd undergrad degree in music, and I think it's helpful for three reasons. First, I've made it through the first 4 parts with relative ease, but I've also picked up enough tidbits of information to make it really useful. (I always knew how to play a major triad but never thought of the fact that it's made up of two 3rds, a major under a minor, or that a minor chord is a minor under a major.) Second, it is forcing me to memorize things like key signatures for minor keys, which I used to figure out by thinking of the relative major key. (That takes enough extra time to make it awkward at an audition.) Finally, it is a workbook, so you are expected to write the answers right in the book. It helps me to remember when I have to take the time to write the answer down, rather than just thinking of it. I haven't complete the entire book yet, but I know I'm just getting into the things I don't know!

All in all it is helping me to combine my practical performance knowledge with the reasons "why". I'm sure that understanding will lead to better performances.

I got this expecting some history of the women troubadours, but the history presented was, to put it most charitably, old research at best. I spotted numerous historical flaws, particularly around the so-called "droit du seigneur" which supposedly gave lords carte blanche to deflower virgins before they married. Current research seems to indicate that this custom was not at all pervasive, but Bogin makes it sound like /every/ lord was out boffing brides and she spends quite a while dwelling on the implications of it. That just irked me and was hardly the only inaccuracy I detected. The general tone is of a strident feminist stomping on those nasty ol' medieval men, something else that irritated me. I truly suspect that the book is just based on old research, and a new treatment might say something entirely different.

The author is at her best when she's talking about individual women troubadours and recording their actual songs/poems. I really haven't seen such a treasure trove of primary-source poetry and songs, so I'd definitely consider this as an addition to any budding bard's library; I'm glad I got it, myself. Just don't take the historical notes too seriously without doing a bit of research yourself for verification -- it is really hysterical in places.

I'm surprised that no one has yet written a review of this book; of all books on Provencale poetry, this is the most common in bookstores at the moment.

Here's my blurb for the uninitiated: The Troubadours were these fantastic baudy poets who composed in Old Provencale during the 12th Century, all around such characters as Eleanor of Aquataine. Everyone should find out more about them. But the big extra are the Trobaritz, women troubadours; for they actually composed extensively as well. We finally get to hear the other side of courtly love.

And for the initiated: Certainly this book is a great contribution to the study of Provencal poetry, literary feminism, etc etc. It is the most thorough yet approachable group of translations out there. But the translations are a bit clumsy. The poems come out pretty boring. The book depends on the value of the poetry of the Trobaritz as work by women, its feminist appeal, rather than its literary appeal; and that's both sad and dull. As one of the first serious treatments of the poetry of the Trobaritz it's invaluable, thank God it was written, it is the best so far that I know of. I'd be enormously proud of myself, if I completed such a work. But it is not as inspired a treatment as the Trobaritz deserve. Hopefully The Women Troubadours will pave the way for better translations that appreciate the poetry as well as the gender theory.

But then I have a general inclination to find the English translations grossly inadequate; so I'm certainly biased. Anyone want to improve upon my customer comment?

This volume aims for a college audience in that provides extensive background to understand the social context of the poetry - something a scholar of the poetry would know - and it provides rather literal translations of the poems - rather than reworkings of the poems that work in English. As such, this is a book you read for what you can learn rather than for literary pleasure.

Nonetheless, it is enjoyable reading for someone (like myself) with no particular interest in the region or the time nor interest in female literature solely for the gender of the author.

The most surprising piece is a poem written by a woman to a woman. One of the more interesting to me, is a poem which straddles the troubador and religious traditions.

this is the worst book i've ever read it should be burned

I read this book during the summer and I thought it was cool. It's not like the Disney movie but so what, this was published before. Read this book!!