This book is a must for anyone interested in learning about the brain. It is packed with references to the literature of original investigators and not only explains the function of the limbic brain, but, in essence, details the history of ideas about the limbic brain, from Broca's anatomic description to Papez's Circuit. Although somewhat idiosyncratic, with some pages containing more footnote than text, this book is a terrific treatment of the subject. I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes a classic in the literature. Thank you Dr. Lautin!

The subject of this book is not only one of the most fascinating in neuroscience, but the author treats it in such a way to make it even more intriguing. More general texts about the limbic system are competent in conveying the facts, but Dr. Lautin adds another dimension by placing these facts in historic (and scientific) context, through copious footnoting and elucidating sidebars. Nothing could be better, in my view, than giving the reader the facts, a good narrative and a roadmap to learn more about the subject. This is what Dr. Lautin has accomplished. Bravo!

Thinking. Reasoning. The unique qualities that makes us human. This book provides a unique and concise insight into that most complex of all machines, the human brain. Although not everyone will be up to the challenge, for those who do, that is read this book, it will be a mind opening experience. In "The Limbic Brain" Dr. Lautin offers lucid explanations that make this part of our minds, which we all share, a truly emotional experience. In this book, Dr. Lautin has achieved the sweet smell of success in making the arcane clear. This is a must read, not for the summer beach, but for a comfortable chair in front of a window to your mind.

This book is great for anyone after some serious conjugal bliss ! It was only by reading this book that my eyes were opened to the possibilities of meeting my soul mate in the 3 mile queue for the toilets before the start of the Menai Straits half marathon. The subtlety with which Mr Taylor alludes to the exquisite trials of nipple burn pronation and crotch chaff belies his deep appreciation of his subject. Mr Taylor's neo medicinal interest in vomitorial and lavatorial systems provides a regular evacuation of humour throughout the novel - Bronwen and I will be eternally indebted to him !

'Looniness' might be a book about an unfit Londoner but the writing is anything but! This very funny author had me in more stitches than the one I got when I last attempted to run a marathon.

As a dedicated couch potato, I am really like books that let me experience exercise without ever having to do more than lift som e potato chips to my mouth. This book is great - it really makes you empathise with Russell Taylor's attempt to get fit, and learn how to run a marathon, without making you feel like you are reading an instruction manual. Clever and funny, in a way that will appeal to both running enthusiasts AND those who like reading humorous books on any subject.

I'm not a fan of compilations since they tend to be uneven and often predictable but this one is an exception to the rule. It is by turns affirming and profoundly sad. The themes of conflict and acceptance, shame and forgiveness have rarely been touched upon in such a sensitive way. I found it terribly affecting and emotionally honest without it being sentimental. The sort of confessional, self-revelatory writing sometimes runs the risk of sounding preachy or self-rightous; this book succeeds precisely because it does neither. I'd recommend it to parents, gay or straight, as well as to their children.

This book book is great. Over the holidays I had a chance to read it (some of it twice). I have to say i didn't expect it to be such a captivating read. As it turned out it was the kind of thing where you cant just read one story - you have to get the next one in and then the next - staying up way past bedtime!! It was fun - in places dark, in other very funny. I am always amazed at how many different points of view there are on the topic of parents. It is amazing what some parents are capable of. It was fascinating to see how people had come to terms with their lot in life and managed to rise above, forgive, and so on. I also think it is a treasure in the sense that things are changing quickly and that in 20 years, folks might write quite differently. A must for every library. Enjoy!

This is a great collection of true stories written by gay men about their relationship with their fathers. Some are mundane, some are shocking, some are tender and some are thought-provoking. It would be great to see a follow-up volume written by not-so-famous gay men, just to see what would result. I suspect the same kind of wisdom, love and heartache would be present. Required reading for all fathers and all gay men.

Many people have proposals for what should be done about education today. Few have looked into history to see what has been successful in the past. This book does that. Few have hard data to back up their theories. This book does. It cites more than one thousand authentic historical and statistical sources. Half of these are original documents (or translations thereof).

The bibliography alone is worth the price of this book. I had been searching for statistics on literacy, and I found so much more here! This book is not only an excellent survey of educational methods throughout history, but also a comprehensive list of sources for future research.

The author is biased toward completely privatized education, and in this book he explains why. He starts where democracy started, in Ancient Greece. Most of us have heard of Athens and Sparta. We know Spartans were dedicated warriors. We know they had to come home from war "with their shield or on it." We know the city state of Sparta was everything, and each individual citizen was dispensable.

We know that Athens, not Sparta, became the capitol in Greece's Golden Age. What I did not know before reading about it in this book was that Athens had no official school system, no regulation of teachers, and no required curriculum. Athenian teachers simply charged parents directly for educating their children. Each teacher specialized in a subject, and the parents simply chose teachers with good reputations who taught the subjects they wanted their children to know. Competition for students kept prices down. Some excellent teachers were wealthy and did not charge, notably Plato and Aristotle. The result of this free market education method was a city that became its country's leader in art, philosophy, and science.

This is but the first exploration in this timely book that examines what has worked in education. My BellaOnline School Reform Forum will be full of references to this book. So far it is the only one of its kind!

I also recomend Murray Rothbard's "Education: Free and Compulsory" for in depth historical analysis of government involvement with education. Any politicians that truly give a darn should be reading these books. Democrats rhetoric about "helping the poor" is sickening when you realize how much government involvement in education has specifically hurt the poor.

I have been doing research on what can be done about the sad state of public education. I read this 391 page book gripped by fascination. Any lover of history, ideas, civilization, or America should read this book. Why are our schools in serious decline? For some of the same reasons the Soviet Union collapsed. Andrew Coulson examines our current system of public education, and argues for revitalization through direct parental control. He looks at times in history when education has been free from state control, and shows that those have been some of the times of greatest cultural flourishing, such as Periclean Athens. He also looks at education in other countries, historically and currently. Public vs. private education in England, and Japan and the Netherlands are particularly of interest. He examines the history of American education, and dispells myths like the idea that people were illiterate until publicly funded education came along. The truth is that the literacy rate was much higher BEFORE Horace Mann first started promoting the idea of state schooling based on the Prussian military model of that time. Coulson also looks at constitutional questions, and deals with the legitimacy of government compelling belief. Anyone who supports the ailing status quo of public education is going to have to come to terms with the formidable research and persuasive arguments presented by Senior Research Associate and former softwear engineer, Andrew Coulson, who devoted four years to producing this book. They will also have to answer the other growing advocates of education liberation, among whom are Thomas Sowell (Inside American Education: The Decline, The Deception, The Dogmas) Stephen Arons (Compelling Belief: The Culture of American Schooling) and Sheldon Richman (The Separation of School and State). I salute Andrew Coulson as having done a magnificent job in writing this well documented and thoughtful study.

For my senior seminar, I wrote a paper on desegregation/busing in the South. While I was doing research, a librarian found this book for me. I had to wait 2 weeks to get it through interlibrary loan, but it was worth it!! The essays really bring home the complexity of Southern desegregation when viewed through the lens of class issues. I can only aspire to produce such insightful scholarship!

WHAT A CHARMING PIECE ON THE ANTEBELLUM SOUTH. CRAFTED WITH PURE GENIOUS AND A PEN FOR DETAIL, "THE MODERATES' DILEMMA" BRINGS TO LIGHT THE UNDENIABLE OBSTINANCE OF THE SOUTH'S PREMIERE SCHOOL DISTRICTS.THIS WORK IS A MUST READ FOR HISTORY GRADS OF ANY BACKGROUND.

Matthew Lassiter, editor-in-chief of this seminal collection, sets forth, once again, a fresh standard of scholarly excellence and eloquence. His essay, "A 'Fighting Moderate,'" illustrates one of his innumerable intellectual virtues, the ability to electrify his arduously acquired historian's sobriety with an innate psychological acuity.

I would augment it with another guidebook to balance reviews and recommendations. Moon Handbooks are great for the traveler on a "middle class" budget and will guide you to the "must sees" without the extra confusing fluff that other guidebooks include.

Not really a review, but a definite This Is a Great Book. I'd never heard of Moon Handbooks, but purchased this guide through Amazon and found it helped immensely on recent trip to Canada. Everything was included and the detailed recommendations covered everything from hiking to where to eat. If you're heading to the Canadian Rockies, buying this book is money well spent.

This book was invaluable for our Spring 2001 trip through the Canadian Rockies. The book is obviously written with the aim of appealing to a wide range of travelers, and does so well. My wife and I have very different interests, but found that each evening we would sit down and study the next day's itinerary almost solely using this book--her searching out museums and a picking a spot to eat dinner and me looking for outdoor activities. As a retired historian, I was also pleased to see comprehensive coverage of the history of the region, along with dozens of interesting tidbits that helped make the trip more enjoyable. It was too early in the season for us to do much hiking, but the trails we did follow all came from this book and another, Canadian Rockies Trail Guide. I highly recommend this book to anyone traveling north through the Rockies region of our Canadian neighbors.

I was attracted by the first edition of this book(in chinese). Really interesting.

So I bought this latest version.

This is a great book that adds detailed research not included in Warren Buffett's annual reports for Berkshire Hathaway.

Recommended highly!

Of Permanent Value: The Story Of Warren Buffett is a weighty tome will appeal to fans of financial wizard Warren Buffett, exploring his newfound popularity in wake of the latest stock market environment and exploring how Buffett began from scratch to form a business empire. Rises and falls blend with in-depth examinations of Buffett business philosophy and perspectives to pack in over 1400 pages of detail in a surprisingly lively read. Biography and business savvy makes for an intriguing blend, here.

This excellent small dictionary is up-to-date, has a fair number of Americanisms, and is easy on the eye. The blue highlights really do help you find the various senses of the words more readily. If you grow out of this one, move up to the big Oxford-Paravia dictionary, which www.Amazon.com sells at an outstanding price. (No, I don't work for www.Amazon.com, but I AM a maven of Italian-English teaching materials.)

This mini Italian dictionary is versatile. It is compact and up-to-date. Every word it translated is well-defined. Even special entries on both Italian slangs and culture were included.
It is a handy companion that one can depend on while travelling or studying. Users will appreciate how it conjugated many of the irregular verbs that are used in contemporary Italian.
It is a valuable pocket reference for learners and travellers alike.

This book is really neat. I love the COLOR, it makes things so much easier. It doesn't, however, have a section for slang phrases or anything like that, just strictly definitions. Now if you are like me, and are really new to Italian, sometimes it's hard for me to understand the meaning, because I haven't learned all of the forms of the verbs, but it does get me by in a pinch. Either way, I'm glad I bought it.

The secrets of making rain or client loyalty consist of three factors: the value you add, the degree of trust you develop, and the extra mile you are willing to go. Most of the information is helpful but some important considerations are omitted.

Positives
He provides an excellent overview of the issues that affect client loyalty. His examples, past experience, and clear style of writing are helpful. He also focuses on interpersonal relationships as the key to success. For those trying to improve, it answers the question "what do I need to do to become more proficient?".

Negatives
Interpersonal relationships are formed by exercising a variety of skills. Skill acquision and practice are vital to improvement. He is not clear about this and does not prescribe how to acquire the needed skills. He also fails to show how his approach will "lock in" a client. For example, what if you and your competitor across the street read the book and follow all the suggestions. Why would the client stay with you? The client can recieve comparable services without crossing the street. He tries to make the case of using persuasion techniques but his argument is not compelling. Any complete system needs a "hook" for keeping a client. Making the provider irreplaceable is a requirement and he falls short of accomplishing this goal

I just received this book and I've already read some of the chapters twice. Making Rain is full of practical ideas for how to increase your effectiveness at building client relationships and keeping clients for life. Sobel's concepts are fresh and highly original, and they are supported by client interviews, contemporary anecdotes, and fascinating historical profiles of people like Ben Franklin, who used humor to disarm and influence both his friends and adversaries. In my own business I've worked with clients for many years, and virtually everything in this book rings true for me. What's particularly valuable is the "how to" and the detailed ideas and strategies that Sobel sets out. Making Rain is well-written, easy to read, and quite funny in places. Anyone in business could pick up a handful of powerful tips on improving client retention from this book (one of the last chapters is "Managing Clients in Uncertain Times," which has a lot of useful reminders in it). If you work with either individual or corporate clients, Making Rain provides much-needed guidance.

I highly recommend Making Rain to anyone who works with clients. It's a terrific book that's also entertaining and enjoyable to read. I loved Sobel's first effort, Clients for Life, and was pleasantly surprised when I read Making Rain. Many second books on a similar topic end up being rehashes, but Sobel has created a number of intriguing new ideas and taken some of his original material to a new level. Sobel's basic premise is that experts for hire who simply do a good job delivering on the letter of their contracts (what he calls "core value") will never command much loyalty from their clients and customers, who can pick and choose from many suppliers. To build loyalty, you first have to add not just core value but also surprise value and personal value. Second, you have to go beyond "professional credibility" and build personal trust. And finally, you have to go the extra mile-demonstrate that you truly care and are willing to do whatever it takes. Easy to say, not so easy to do. What I like about Making Rain is that it has 28 short, readable chapters, each of which contains strategies and suggestions for actually delivering on these things. The chapters are grouped around the different phases of any client relationship (i.e., first you're an expert for hire; then you win repeat business and become a steady supplier; and finally, if you're especially skilled, you may become an advisor who is really part of the inner circle). There's a chapter on "breaking through" with clients at the start of the relationship; on building trust in a first meeting; on developing relationship capital (an very useful framework about five types of relationships you need in your career); and others on sustaining relationships over time, multiplying relationships, developing "the mindset of independent wealth," etc. The book also contains some nice cartoons about advising. In this difficult economy (or in a good one, for that matter) Sobel's advice is right on target.

I found the book informative. Nice commentary - wonderful photos. - done with a broad spectrum of readers in mind.

This is a great recollection of the muscle car era with exceptional, detailed photographs. Would look good on any coffee table.

This book is perefect if you're looking for great color photos and interesting facts about all makes and models of american muscle cars. It covers Chevy, Ford, Mercury, Dodge, Plymouth, Oldsmobile, Buick, Pontiac, and AMC. Covers everything from the early sixties up till the early seventies. There's even a little info on later muscle like the Buick Grand Nationals of the 80's. The one thing this book lacks is technical data. It won't help you with restoration info, but it's perfect for armchair musclecar enthusiasts.