This is a very cute little book of seven nursery ryhmes, Beatrix Potter style. It is, of course, illustrated with little animals as the characters, showing exactly what the rhyme would be. It is cute, and the rhymes are nice to just memorize and teach to your brothers, sisters, or little cousins. This is yet another great Beatrix Potter book. I especially like the little rhyme about farming and the little guiena pigs are working hard. They are so cute, especially the one with the little green raincoat. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes animals.
~Camille

Cecily Parsley's Nursery Rhymes is Beatrix Potter's second collection of nursery rythmes, the first being Appley Dapply's Nursery Rhymes. Some are familiar like "Three Blind Mice" and "This Pig Went to Market", while others such as "The Guinea-Pig's Garden" are her own. As always the illustrations are lovely and I especially like the two for the "Cecily Parsley" verse. This little book is perfect for young children.

Defending Revolutionary Perspectives by davesalner (07/06/2003)


I found this book valuable because it shows how Trotsky was able to defend the revolutionary perspectives of Lenin under the difficult conditions of isolation and exile. Stalin and the bureaucratic layer he represented were strangling the voices of authentic Marxism, advancing the narrow-minded idea of socialism in one country, and stifling all criticism. The bureaucratic gang was putting its needs ahead of the needs of workers around the world in the same way that, years later, the heirs of Stalin cut off all aid to Cuba (after doing nothing for Algeria and the Congo and almost nothing for Vietnam). But the continuity of Lenin was preserved. This is a good book to read as you follow the class struggle today, including the internationalist role of Cuba.

This book documents the last yearsstruggle Trotsky launched at Lenin's insistence to oppose Stalin, Bukharin and others who adapted to middle class bureaucratic layers in Russia and began to turn the young Soviet Union away from the revolutionary communist road Lenin had led it on, onto the bureaucratic degeneration that became known as Stalinism. Covered here are how to fight bureaucracy--is it an administrative or social economic problem--the real history of the Russian revolution, and so much more. This is required reading for fighters in the former USSR, in China, Vietnam and other countries trying to fight their way out of the debris of the Stalinist regimes. This is a great asset for Cuban fighters to understand that Fidel and Che's fight against bureaucratism was not the only one.

This book was my 20-month-old son's absolute favourite for a long, long time. The way the animals' dialogue was structured, made this book excellent for reading aloud to young children, beginning to grasp the concept of story-telling. In no time at all, my son was imitating Foxy Loxy's sly "Well, well, well". The flaps also allowed for curious young fingers to participate in story time. Highly recommended for children from 15-months onwards.

This is our favorite picture book. It is so funny that my kids squeal with laughter when we read it, and call each other by the names of the characters. The only problem is that they know it completely by heart, so I have to put it away every so often for a while. A must for every home with preschoolers.

While watching the hit war movie, "Saving Private Ryan," I had a vivid flash memory of a book I had read a few months ago. It was "China Spy" by Maury and Janet Allen. The linkage should not have surprised me. The hero of the Allen book isn't fiction ... he was a young Irish-American paratrooper who fought bravely and ... like Steven Spielberg's fictional Private Ryan, survived the blood bath of WWII in Europe. Unlike Private Ryan, the idealistic Private McDermott of Yonkers, NY joined the CIA after the war and went to China as a businessman-spy. Betrayed by his bride and arrested by the Chinese Communists as he was walking up the gangplank of a a U.S.-bound steamship to come home, the young man is imprisoned. The Chinese communists want him to sign a confession for propaganda purposes. He refuses. Other prisoners who "confess" to spy charges are released. But this young patriot refuses to betray his country. He is tortured for years and finally dies from the brutal treatment. Other westerners imprisoned at the same time recall how this young real life hero underwent horrible torture rather than betray his country. A cynic can argue, "why die for reasons that are out of date a few decades later?" A thoughtful American citizen can counter, "If and when history thrusts you or me in the meatgrinder of a battlefield or the horror of an enemy prison, you will find out who you really are ... even if the world forgets you.

Every perceptive person should read "China Spy." The tragic irony of the death of a now-forgotten young hero deserves to be remembered amid the box office buzz of a excellently-crafted cinematic tale. "China Spy" is the reality of one man's terrible choice and sacrifice. "Saving Private Ryan" is a war monument on film, emblematic of the sacrifice of millions of men. Today the Cold War is history and China is one of America's favorite trading partners. I thank the Allens for their "China Spy" They remembered ... and now so will their readers.

The saga of Hugh Francis Redmond is a modern Greek tradegy- a silently heroic figure trapped by the fates in a struggle over which he has no understanding or control. Magnifiently written with the best descritpion of young soldiers going into battle I've ever read. Maury Allen is never maudlin and yet the impact of his writing puts the reader at the scene with clear sharp details which tap the strongest emotions. A must for anyone interested in the human dynamics of wartime and the mysteries of modern politics.

Rowena Graham inherits the home and restaurant of her sister Claudia after Claudia’s apparent suicide, but isn’t convinced that her sister would have committed suicide. Claudia quickly leaves behind her old life as head librarian after remodeling the house that hadn’t been changed since they were children. Claudia goes to work in the upscale restaurant, wears her sister’s expensive designer clothes and shoes and drives her Mercedes.

Rowena’s relationship with Claudia had always been turbulent; Claudia was unpredictable, self-centered and often cruel. After Rowena discovers Claudia’s habit of videotaping her ... antics with a string of lovers, Rowena is even more suspicious that one of the lovers might have been involved in her death. Claudia’s former therapist, with whom she claimed she had been having an affair, takes an interest in Rowena but she is reluctant to pursue the relationship with him and somewhat suspicious of his motives.

As the secrets, lies and distortions of her family life gradually unravel, Rowena is even more disturbed with her sister and deceased, alcoholic mother. Rowena had been made to feel for years that she was the plain, ugly unsuccessful sister. Her mother lied to the children for years about the disappearance of their father after the divorce when Rowena was 7.

The book explores the devastating effects of FAE – Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. With the support of some wonderful friends, Rowena starts to get her life back on track and eventually solves the mystery of Claudia’s death. As in other books by Charlotte Vale Allen, you feel you know the characters so well that they have become part of your family, and you are reluctant to leave them behind when the book ends.

I recently discovered Charlotte Vale Allen by reading "Illusions", one of her older novels. I become so deeply meshed in the story that I literally wept at the end. I was emotionally drained and in a daze! She has a way of getting inside a woman's psyche. You know in your soul that she is an expert on the subjects about which she writes. "Claudia's Shadow" follows the theme that you just never really know a person, not even your own sister. I was captivated until the very end. I highly recommend her books. I'm working my way through all them. I've not been disappointed yet and I'm on my seventh one!

A father and his son discover that Kansas does have mountains, and many other wonderful things, as they spend a Sunday afternoon bonding on the plains of Kansas. The charming story by George Shannon is beautifully illustrated by Thomas B. Allen. Gorgeous pastels of the wheat fields, grain elevators and sleepy main streets will be quickly recognizable to anyone from the midwest. The twist is - the words and illustrations will make you see your surroundings in a new way, just like the little boy in the book!

Hey--Kansas isn't flat-there are many hills, and this book is an awesome read---and sooooooo funny. You don't have to be from Kansas to enjoy the midwest humor---everyone from Kansas doesn't not have a dog named Toto! You will also find little tidbits of history.

This textbook while being comprehensive enough,is enjoyable to read. As opposed to other major oncology textbooks, it provides definitive conclusions regarding treatment and is not overly burdening to the reader. Because Oncology changes so quickly, one could likely get by with this textbook and following the published literature.

The book is about the latest treatment in oncology. It's easy to obtain information out of this book. It has everything breast, lung, colorectal cancer, etc.

The up-to-date authoritative and standard reference of first choice for the serious student of Freemasonry. Many other available encyclopedias are out of date, heavy-going or fanciful. The 1996 edition of this work is a must-have. It is written with a North American bias.

Those interested in British or Continental Freemasonry will need to supplement this book with others such as "Dizionario Massonico" by Luigi Troisi (published by Bastogi), Frederick Smyth's "A Reference Book for Freemasons" and "Freemasons Guide and Compendium" by Bernard E Jones.

No serious Masonic researcher should be without Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia. It's pretty much as simple as that. Within its pages is a wealth of useful Masonic information presented in an easy to read format. While Coil's must be considered a secondary source, it presents an enormous amount of hard to find information at your fingertips and proves indispensable in the search of primary sources. Of the major Masonic encyclopedias, Coil's is the most up to date with its second edition being released in 1996. It contains information on European developments and Prince Hall Masonry that is no where to be found in other such publications. I highly recommend this work.

As they explain, Allen and Jarman identify and then explain "the basis for conviction by believers in the process of collaborative development in manufacturing R&D that we are adding value to a system that will help to sustain and ensure the stability and progression of the economic engines that provide the foundation for improving society." Note the correlation the authors draw between increased manufacturing productivity and social benefit. They organize their material within five Parts: Collaboration, Ingredients of Collaboration, Starting a Collaborative program, Tools for Collaboration, Making Collaboration Work, and Tomorrow's Business Culture -- Collaboration. They then provide ten appendices which range from "Printed Wiring Board (PWB) program" to "Examples of Mr. Allen's Networks with Major End Users."

Here in a single source is about all that most decision-makers need to know when designing and then implementing a program by which to establish and then sustain collaboration with participation, as wide and deep as possible, by everyone directly and even indirectly associated with a given organization. Allen and Jarman also suggest metrics by which to evaluate the progress of such collaboration. Time and again, we are reminded that "you can't manage what you can't measure." I agree. But first there must be a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective program, one which is appropriate to the specific needs and objectives of the organization for which it has been formulated.

With regard to the future of collaboration, Allen and Jarman explain that their objective has been to "expand the amount of collaborative opportunity to people at all levels worldwide, to give them an easy means to learn, to escape the shackles of their culture, their nationalism, prejudice, and interface with the world as members of the human race." In that event, they will have "a positive appreciation for the culture and nation they belong to, yet foster better understanding as to how the world is integrated into one vast socioeconomic-political system." Only then can they "better understand their role in the world and how they can play a constructive part in ensuring that the future is better for their families." Whatever a given organization may manufacture, it also has the opportunity to create with all other organizations what the authors view as an infrastructure of spiritual values by which to nourish all of humanity.

This book was very difficult to put down, the information provided was without a doubt both stimulating and informative. Will enhance my career in R & D significantly. I will recommend this book to my colleagues and associates.

Couldnt ask for a better book.This book has posters you can only dream about having hanging on your walls. CHAPLIN,LLOYD and KEATON.Teams like LAUREL AND HARDY and ABBOTT AND COSTELLO.GARY COOPER in A CAPRA movie and even ERROL FLYNN In one of his rare comedys.Bruce doesnt foget that we also have great comedians of today and covers all the way to JIM CAREY. If you love comedies buy this book and you cant go wrong

Yet again, Bruce has excelled in his great colour reproductions of the movie posters. I collect only comedy posters, so I find this book additonally helpful and informative. Answering questions and clarifying others. I am amazed at the detail and research spent in reproducing a book of such quality. If you enjoy collecting movie posters or at least reading Bruce's books you will find this one as informative as the rest.