Beautiful full-page color photos are liberal in this fine survey of Hassam's career as an important American Impressionist artist. Hassam explored Impressionist themes in a variety of mediums: many of his pictures have been hidden in private collections until now, others are on public display. Childe Hassam, Impressionist gathers many public and private holdings and adds a survey of the artist's life and times.

This book is a beautiful example of Hassam's many diverse styles. The book contains wonderful essays and photos with a chronology of Hassam's life. A great book for anyone who likes art.

This book is a beautiful exmple of Hassam's many diverse styles. The book contains wonderful essays and photos with a chronology of Hassam's life. A great book for anyone who likes art.

if you like your humor understated and your wit dry (droll as humphrey would no doubt say), this book will be the best you have ever read. and it will stay that way.

the british civil service had a unique characteristic - it was not directly under the control of the political masters. this gave rise to a very interesting situation where the civil service and her majesty's servants were working towards entirely opposite ends. to the civil servant, imaginative and bold were the worst criticisms. change in any form was looked down upon - as we say here - "if it aint broke, dont fix it". the politicians (especially those new in office like hacker who weren't cynical enough not to care one way or the other) often came to office with lofty ideals of revolutionizing society and being the forefathers of a better tomorrow.

behind the curtain of civility, they (the civil servants and politicians) fought battle after battle. the art of realpolitik meant entirely diffent things to both sides. many of the battles went to the civil servants (Lord Humphrey being among the shrewdest) but at times Hacker (James Hacker - first minister and later Prime Minister) prevailed with his low cunning and fast realization that not everything was what it looked like.

each chapter is a revelation - the next time you read the news, you will see it in an entire different perspective after reading this book. action and motive are so far removed as to make the connection entirely unimaginable and the amount of time spent trying to do nothing seems at times appalling.

if slapstick is your cup of tea, stay away from this book. the humor is often less in what is said than in how it is said. the laughs never end. i have read this book 5 times now. the first time, you enjoy the humor for what it is. the second time, you start enjoying the situations, the broader picture, the political moves,and the sheer genius of humphrey. the third time you see how the characters develop. by the fourth time, it's like you're on crack. you cant explain it - you know what is going to happen next, you know the exact words. you still have to read it again. and again. and again.

Sir Humphrey Appleby, Sir Bernard Wooley, and Rt Honorable James Hacker... this is simply the most outstanding work of humorous fiction that lampoons the British civil service and politicians alike.

Based on the diaries of the minister, the series has been converted to a wonderful teleseries, where the casting has been done by someone who truly loves the book and has imbibed the characters so completely, that on later readings of the book, the television characters appear to the mind.

The book is a series of short stories, which expose the careful interplay between the British civil service and the British politicians, the role played by media, the foriegn office, the various departments etc. It is a wonderful set of stories, where the English is truly masterful!! I remember reading each story with a pencil and dictionary while writing the GRE many years ago,... this and its sequel, yes prime minister, are books which should receive their space in your cabinet.

I dont know why this says - Limited availability, these books are easily procured in India where they are being printed.

Yes Prime Minister is that rarest of books. It is based on a TV show, itself hilarious, and yet manages to be even better than the show. Whereas the show descends into slapstick and exaggerated humour at times, the book does not miss a step. The plots are wonderfully woven, the characters all superbly crafted and uniformly shallow and the writing is impeccable - there are never two words when one will do, and the characters will stay with you long after the first (of many) reading(s). I suspect in years to come, when some distance can be put between the book and it's times, it will be recognised as one of the all time comedy classics. Buy it now!

A favorite story as a child... Evidently this is where I developed my strange desire to eat chocolate cookies, while standing on a cobblestone street, listening to the rustle of silver leaves.

As an adult collector of children's literature, this book is one of my favorites, too. The adults in the town are uptight and concerned about the unnatural appearance of a cookie tree. The message is one of enjoying your blessings and also, I think, of not being afraid of the strange or unknown. Wonderful book.

The illustrations are wonderful and the expression on the adults' faces are understandable to even the smallest child. It's a great book to counterbalance all of the "danger" messages we give our kids.

This book was a refreshing change from some other books that have been published on the subject of Y2K investing. Specifically, it is an extraordinarily well-researched book. It provides indepth details of possible y2k strategies and names specific stocks. Truly an outstanding effort!

As an ex Chief Information Officer for a fortune 500 company, I've spent many years communicating to government and industry alike, what impact we could reasonably expect from the Year 2000 Computer Date Change Problem. This is the best book I have read to date, which provides reasonable and definitive answers to one the questions I am most frequently asked regarding Y2K, "What should I do about my investments?"

Today, as a consultant and author of THE REASONABLE PERSON'S GUIDE TO Y2K, I spend my time communicating about what moderate, down-to-earth, level-headed governments and individuals can do to prepare. In that regard, I consider L. Jay Kuo's and Edward Dua's book the reasonably person's guide to investing for the Year 2000 transition. I highly recommend this book for those who believe Y2K will not be a disaster, nor will it be "business-as-usual", and that reasonable preparedness for something "in between" is warranted.

If you believe Dr. Ed Yardeni, Chief Global Economist and Global Investment Strategist for Duetsche Bank Securities, when he predicts a 70% probability that Y2K will create a global recession which could last 12 to 24 months, then this book is must reading.

What I particularly liked about this book, is that the information is usable and it is not the "don't worry, be happy" message most brokerage houses are espousing. Not only do the authors provide powerful insight into how and why you should defensively posture current investments against a Y2K induced recession, they also venture forth suggestions on how to profit from it as well. Something I have been trying to get my broker to tell me for months. Come to think of it, I highly recommend this book for stockbrokers and fund managers too.

Not being someone who typically reads a lot of investment guides, I was very happily astonished at how easily this book reads. L. Jay Kuo is an excellent writer, describing the background of the Y2K problem without getting too technical and obscure, and depicts the issue with extreme clarity and (dare I suggest it?) engaging wit. People from all backgrounds, from the investment-astute to the "digerati" (as Mr. Kuo puts it), to the neophytes, hesitant about investing in general but looking for some simple but straightforward insightful commentary and/or advice, will be able to get a lot out of this book. Oddly enough, it's even entertaining (!) -- Mr. Kuo is clever with his subheadings and his turn of phrase. While it is definitely not written to be "over people's heads" (as many investment guides seem to be), Mr. Kuo still manages to deliver deceptively clear prose with many witty allusions and insights, such that the book does not fall into the "pedantic trap" (as many investment guides ALSO seem to do). He explains the areas most likely to be adversely (and positively) affected by the upcoming confusion surrounding Y2K, presents really quite sound reasons for these views, and then suggests some viable approaches and at-least short term solutions so as to best protect oneself (and one's portfolio) from the inevitable chaos Y2K will present to the financial markets. Even if you never read another investment guide in your life, I recommend this one. Highly.

I am primarily a systems engineer with an emphasis on system and network security. This book provides an excellent framework and methodology for developing a security architecture from the ground up. It's avoids a purely academic approach by including methods that can be applied in the real world. The book reads well and is indexed in a manner that allows it to be used as a desk reference. This is currently the best security book on my shelf. Buy this book!!!

Although there are a number of books claiming to talk about security architecture, this one really does! This book is really helpful in describing the high level concepts that security engineers should know when developing a security architecture. It is a little weak on cost-benefit analyses, but provides a good foundation for security architects. Clearly, the author has given some thought to the content and does more than tell anecdotes and describe various security technologies. I highly recommend this book to anyone designing a security architecture.

(Full review on www.reviews.com)

In this book, Ramachandran has developed a very "practical handbook on security architecture," targeted at project managers, software engineers, and system architects. By guiding the reader through the steps of systems engineering, he builds an effective framework. ... The book is arranged into five parts: architecture and security, low-level architecture, mid-level architecture, high-level architecture, and business cases and security.

In the first section, the author prepares a tutorial to refresh the reader on various software methodologies ... [and on] ... the contents of a security assessment, including preparation, assessment and reporting. Through this discussion, he introduces the reader to the business realities of planning for security-both cost and time-and how to evaluate the tradeoffs. Ramachandran also gives a focused tutorial on the concepts and basic tools available.

In Part 2, Ramachandran provides practical, concrete reasons for the application of sound system development principles, without sounding preachy. His analysis of code reviews would be useful for any team leaders who want to improve their groups' deliverables. ... He continues to use the approach of theory, example, methods, challenges, and evaluation in the following chapters on cryptography, trusted code, and secure communications.

Part 3 examines mid-level architecture, including middleware, Web security, application and OS security, and database security. The key message in this section is the complexity of issues that must be handled here ... Once again, the author has provided neat descriptions of the functions and problems of the elements at this level. The author keeps the pace and language consistent throughout.

Part 4 reviews the high-level architecture ... [and] ... compares the "building" to the original security and architectural goals ... by encouraging the architect to look at security as a process, not just as a single event. Taking it a step further, he compares enterprise security architecture to a data management problem, which although a manual process, provides good payback. The book could have ended here. Instead, the author realized that payback has another dimension.

In Part 5, the author provides very graphic examples of real situations in which the absence of adequate security resulted in catastrophic outcomes. ...

In this book, Ramachandran has compiled a great deal of useful information. In a single volume, he has provided an overview of the many elements to be considered in the development and operations of systems to ensure they are secure, and the reasons he selected those elements. ...

Overall, this work provides an excellent single volume reference for the system architect, project manager, or software engineer who needs to understand where security fits into the deliverables being produced. I found it to be well written, well organized, and a good addition to my technical library.

Frankfurt school is now a part of history. Not much of its arguments are reproduced now a day. For example, their critical cultural theory opened up the vast terrain of cultural study in capitalism. But their characterizing cultural consumer as dumb passive receiver is too much extreme to be real. Now nobody hold up such a position. Its perspective seems locked in the interwar period. Indeed, the power of the school comes from the distinctive problematic derived from such a peculiar era. But the strength is the source of weakness. But even we don¡¯t follow their lines, we should know what they said at least in cursory manner, for their theories are now classic in each field.
This book must be still the most authoritative history of Frankfurt school from its inception to 1950. but it deals with not only chronological events but also what the first generation of the school, such as Horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse, Walter Benjamin, and Fromm, worked. This book is the intellectual history of the school. The author illustrates the school against the time of school. As Hegel said, thought is the child of its time. So the thought should be located in the right context to understand. The society of Western intellectuals faced a crisis in the interwar period. The impact was severe especially to German intellectuals. The thought of Frankfurt school is one of the reactions to the crisis. Marin Jay succeeds in reconstruct their time in front of us. This book is the ¡®must¡¯, if you want to be oriented to Frankfurt school.

28 years after its initial publication, Martin Jay's "The Dialectical Imagination" is still the best introduction and most indispensable guide to the Frankfurt School's history and thinkers. Jay can easily be forgiven his occasional historiographer's dryness and insistent reminders of the boundaries of his project (I would be a rich man if I had a nickel for every time he writes that "such considerations fall outside of the area of the current inquiry" or something to that effect). Moreover, even if subsequent publications of the translated correspondence and unpublished papers of figures like Benjamin and Adorno have robbed Jay's book of some of its potential for novelty and scoop, Jay still provides the best and most pithy assessments of the major points, and he does so without sacrificing the scholarly rigor that organizes "The Dialectical Imagination."

The book could certainly better fulfill its role as research tool if the publishers would sponsor an updating of the notes and citations; now that everything has been published and republished by presses like Fischer and Suhrkamp in Germany and by the likes of Continuum, Columbia, Harvard, etc., in the English-speaking world, Jay's opus might be more helpful were it not to insist on citing the original issues of the institute's journals, to which most of us simply don't have easy access.

That's a small bone to pick, though, with such a thorough book. Jay's chapter on the philosophical roots of critical theory moves quickly but surely (despite the occasional dependence on disciplinary argot that may slow down readers not steeped in the vocabulary of "isms"), providing a crucial backdrop to his reading of the Frankfurt School's entire intellectual contribution. This chapter grounds Jay's book safely, and the subsequent chapters make good on this very promising start.

"The Dialectical Imagination" is sure to remain the best available introduction to the thought of the Frankfurt School on the whole. I cannot recommend it highly enough for those interested in the history of philosophy in the 20th century, in radical politics, or in developments in literary theory.

A wonderful introduction to and overview of the works of one of the only coherent intellectual "schools" of the 20th century. Jay describes the penetrating insights (and weaknesses) of the thought of Adorno, Horkheimer, Marcuse et al., with mercifully little of the psychologizing that one often finds in intellectual history. Ideas and their relation to historical context are the focus, rather than personalities and psyches. The book is readable enough to be attractive for non-academics and academics alike. It would have been nice to have more on the post-1950 period, but the as the subtitle makes clear, this is beyond Jay's purview for this book.

This deck has brought me so much insight into solving my personal problems that I use it every week! I am now a counselor in private practice and will definitely be using the cards as a tool for insight with my clients. You won't regret this purchase. The cards also make a very nice gift for the spiritually enlightened.

The Enlghtenment Pack is an inspired system of insight and transformation and the finest I have encountered in over 20 years of exploring Tarot, I Ching and other tools of awareness and inner exploration. The simplicity and clarity of the cards by Alison Jay and interpretations by Chuck Spezzano certainly startle, challenge, awaken and encourage me! I just became acquainted with this tool quite by accident (synchronicity) and as a psychotherapist working with the terminally ill, I experience profound personal wisdom, healing, and love. I encourage readers to discover for themselves in the Enlightenment Pack a remarkable way to tune into the highest frequencies of their deepest Self and an invitation to unfold their own highest potential.

I love this deck!!! It's truly the most helpful, powerful, and practical diving tool and resource I have ever used. This book and card deck succeeds on three levels: for the individual, the professional therapist, and the metaphysical and spiritual. I've seen a lot of decks over the years, and most of them are synchronous with only a part of any person or situation. The Enlightenment Pack has revealed itself over and over as deft, apt, and profoundly powerful. It is the most "right on target" resource I have ever encountered. I can hear A Course In Miracles in it, and each time i use it, it is as if my own angels are guiding me to greater peace, strength, and love. This is a fantastic tool, and totally accessible to all-- the "New Ageiest" will profit from it, as will the strictest scientist. Get it, use it, try it for yourself. I did, and then ordered sets for all my friends! I'm not kidding!

Well written, honest and easy to read - this is the kind of book that gets dusted off every year or so and re-read.

I found The First Hellcat Ace to be a thoroughly enjoyable chronicle of Hamilton McWhorter's experiences in World War II. The book reads well and the story is engaging, providing a balanced view of his personal and professional life as a Naval aviator. The deprivations of shipboard life, the risks of combat, and the pain of separation from loved ones provide a solid foundation for "One-Slug" McWhorter's story.

I was prepared to like this book before I bought it. My opinion had to be a biased one. Mac McWhorter served in USS Essex, the same ship I served on although I was a aboard a decade after he was. He was a ship's hero and considered my Shipmate.All those who served in USS Essex, from her commissioning in 1942, as CV9 to her decommisioning in 1969 as CVS9, and even those who serve in USS Essex LHD2 are shipmates, even those who served in that first 32 gun frigate Essex built in Salem in 1779 are considered shipmates. We all served, or are serving in United States Ship Essex. It's a Navy thing. I have been in correspondence with Mac in things related to Essex. I have found him to be a man of warmth, with a great sense of humor. A family man, and a true shipmate.

This book is about what it was like for a carrier fighter pilot. About missing one's family, and about squadron members and friends lost in battle, About just getting through it. Mac McWorter survived three carrier deployments in World War II. He earned a reputation as one of the Navy's deadliest fighter pilots. His memior is not the stuff of shootouts in the air, although there is plenty of that, as the First Pilot to ace in the Hellcat, and with 12 air victories it's neccesary to his story. His story is of comradeship, and sacrifice, survival and getting a job done. This is a great read. It's a story that needed to be told and needs to be read. Lest we forget Hamilton "Mac" McWhorter and those who served with him.

I highly recommend this book to any Christian who aspires to raise (a) happy, healthy child(ren). Learn how to share your faith with your children in a way that gives them the best that your beliefs have to offer, rather than inadvertently instilling terror, self-hatred, anger, sadness and inhibition in your child.

This book is also useful for adults who grew up in homes where Christianity took a toxic form. It will help them to heal through understanding hurts inflicted in the name of religion, and will show a way to retain the positive aspects of Christianity while decrying its the misapplication.

Dr. Sloat was telling his story, but as I read I felt like he was telling my story. The realization that someone else knew how I felt was practically life-changing. A must-read for anyone who grew up in legalistic Christianity or who wants to prevent their child from adopting a legalistic mindset.

Whether you were brought up in a Christian home or are raising your own children in a Christian home, you must read this. As one who falls under both classifications, I found this book to be very freeing for my spiritual being. Many things the author addresses occurred in our home. I felt the author must have been watching from a closet in our home. He addressed such things as the lack of communication and dealing with the sinful man because a "Christian" doesn't speak, think, or act as such. The Christian home didn't speak of it, ignored it and hopefully it won't continue. This attitude leaves an open door for even more sin. I am seeking additional copies to purchase to give to family and friends. Please bring this book back into circulation.

Darkest Hours is a fascinating piece of work for those interested in the history of mankind's calamities. Mr Nash is thorough and very descriptive of the events. Unfortunately though, Darkest Hours is out-dated and a second addition is certainly a must.

i ordered darkest hours on line from dmonaco and believe me the service swift and the book..indescriblebly good.thanks dmonaco and thanks amazon,i'll alway be a faithful customer to you both!

Every now and then a book comes along which can almost be said to be the last word in its field. Darkest Hours is one of those books. Nash covers worldwide disasters from ancient times to the late twentieth century, with entries that are both logical and properly placed. While many of the entries are short, Darkest Hours is no dictionary, but rather a true encylopedia. Nash includes a complete historical depiction of each tragedy, and usually good character descriptions as well. He takes us to the city of St.Pierre as it is about to be obliterated by Mt. Pelee. We find ourselves in Japan during history's worst tidal wave. The murder and mayhem of the Coconut Grove Nightclub Fire comes alive. Nash's writing does get to be rather gory at times, but those offended by this are not likely to be reading his book in the first place. In the end there are only two drawbacks to this book. First of all, it is so good that others wanting to do something similar may just give up trying. Secondly, the book has not been updated in twenty-five years. For most publications, this would call for a new edition. Here, it demands it.