150 color photos are excellent. This coffee table book was assisted by a grant from Eastman Kodak, which translates into very high-quality photos of the interior and exterior of the U. S. Supreme Court, complemented by 50 pages of text. I've purchased a number of these over the years for my clients, who are lawyers. They've enjoyed the books and kept them prominently displayed in their offices or homes.

This is a collection of case studies and essays on the uses of intelligence. It consists of papers from a series of international conferences held at Carlisle, Pa. Like all works monitored or written by this compiler, a professor at the Army War College, it is thoroughly researched and full of sound judgements prepared by many of the leading scholars of twentieth intelligence history. Frank Cass, the publisher is noted for quality studies produced for the specialist and scholar. The volume was originally a special issue of the journal Intelligence and National Security. It is intended as part of a series of thematic texts.
Belongs on the shelf of every serious researcher of the uses of intelligence.

If the authors of this book spent so much time researching (11 years according to the Kirkus Review above) then one wonders why their historical contextualization is as sloppy and superficial as it is. Let me cite one egregious example. On page 274, the authors explain that Elia Kazan's naming names fed Joe McCarthy's ambition which resulted in the blacklisting of the Hollywood 10. In fact, McCarthy had absolutely nothing to do with the Hollywood 10 (who were blacklisted in 1947--McCarthy didn't rise to fame until 1950), and Elia Kazan wasn't brought before HUAC until years later. Any high school history textbook will be clear about this. Also, the melodramatic quality of this book, especially in its fictionalized dialogues, leads the reader to question whether the authors had any intention of writing a factual book, or whether they wanted to invent a history that was dramatic and would sell a lot of copies.

I read "Hollywood Be Thy Name" with great interest and curiosity. Author, Ms. Cass Warner Sperling has kept her unspoken "promise" made to Grandpa Harry (patriarch of the Warner brothers) at his deathbed when she was a ten year old girl, to convey to others his deep beliefs and ideals.

I rate it 5 stars because the story and writing style paints an incredible picture of not just another "rags to riches" story but one of tragedy and great sacrifice leading to an enduring legend of the motion picture industry directly because of the "can do and make it go right" attitudes of the Warners.

From the family gold watch (later to be hocked in order to secure payment for the brothers first projector) placed in 1883 into the secret pocket of Benjamin Warner for his immigration to America into New York and the arrival of wife Pearl and children less than a year later, to a realization of a movie empire that had as its motto "Educate, entertain, and enlighten" which is a Hollywood legacy.

A must read for movie buffs and those interested in the beginnings of Hollywood. This is a book that has "all the right stuff" for the making of a fascinating mini-series as told by granddaughter Cass and others.

Shelley Abate, movie buff and avid reader.

Not simply a biography, Hollywood Be Thy Name is a moving and motivational series of lessons in persistence in the face of great challenges.

The reader is left with no doubt that while the Warner Brothers, Harry, Jack, Albert and Sam, made astute business decisions in building their company from its austere begginings in 1907, to the empire that became known as Warner Brothers Studios, the growth and succcess was fueled by an unmistakeable passion for moviemaking.

The book is well written by Cass Warner Sperling, grandaughter of Harry Warner and Cork Milner.

Hollywood by Thy Name also serves as a moving documentary-a history of early Hollywood. (Thirty two page photo insert).

Students of Hollywood history will find the book illuminating. Movie buffs will find it entertaining and those interested in the business side of this business we call "show business" will find it educational.

Interviews with Jack Warner Jr. and Ronald Reagan are highlighted but the real stars of "Hollywood Be Thy Name" are the brothers themselves, truly the earliest of the rags to riches stories and whose legend lives on through this book.

I bought this book for our public library's reference collection. Reviews indicated that this book would be an excellent source of information about wine. It falls far short of that. One example: I needed it for a definition of "syrah" (which they refer to in an article) - neither the alphabetical arrangement of the book nor the index yielded anything. This is a coffee table book and nothing more.

The "Oxford Companion to Wine", edited by Jancis Robinson, is the definitive modern reference on wine. Not intended to be read as a book, the entries nevertheless make compelling reading and following the cross-referenced entries can easily consume a pleasurable evening. This "supplement" doesn't live up to the original in terms of quality, comprehensiveness or value. If you were expecting a version of the companion tuned to American wines, you'll be sorely disappointed. On the other hand, if you can't get enough of the original and long for more information on California growers, this isn't a bad start. We can always hope for a revised, expanded, second edition.

For the North American supplement, Jancis Robinson served only as a "consulting editor". She apparently corrected the editor's English usage (see the preface), but she didn't write any of the entries. She did write two throwaway pieces in the beginning of the book on "How Good are North American Wines?" and "Commentators and the Wine Media". There are roughly 60 pages worth of introduction to North American Wine, most of which I did not find deep enough to be particularly informative.

Almost all of the cross-references on vinification, wine-making, cellaring, tasting, defects, grapes, etc. are in the "Oxford Companion", making it essentially impossible to use the North American guide alone.

Compared to the "Oxford Companion", the entries are relatively breezy. The font is larger, the margins are wider, and the book is much shorter. Like the "Oxford Companion", the maps are truly horrendous; you'll remember them from coloring assignments in grade school. Invest in Hugh Johnson's and Jancis Robinson's wonderful new "World Atlas of Wine" for maps. The Atlas's coverage of North American wine styles, grapes and regions isn't half bad, either.

The Oxford Companion To The Wines Of North America is the definitive guide for wine connoisseurs, weaving the knowledge of 21 wine academics and writers from all over American into a set of compelling introductory essays. The comprehensive 302-page compendium includes an A-to-Z survey of North American vineyards and wine terminology. The informative, "reader friendly" text is further enhanced with superb color photography, twenty maps, and an exhaustive index. The Oxford Companion To The Wines Of North America is an invaluable, fundamental reference for all wine enthusiasts and would make an excellent Memorial Fund acquisition selection for community library collections.

I got this book so that my family could do a living room performance in one night. Although I am fairly pleased with how it was shortened, I found many typos that needed to be corrected before we could even read it. I had to sit down with the full text to check it all the way through. An obvious example is when Beatrice says to Benedick "You always end with a jade's trick. O know you of old." (It should be "I know you of old.") If you are only buying one copy, this isn't too hard to do and is easier than buying the full text and cutting the lines yourself. If you are buying several copies for a classroom, however, correcting the typos would be a lot of work. If you are buying this book to read the play, buy the full text, this in one of Shakespeare's shorter plays and one of our favorites.

The book is very interesting, much like other from Shekspeare. The story of two cuples gettig maried is very old. But the way the two cuples fall in love is very new and refreshing. This work has the characters of drama as well as those of drama. This book falls in to chategory of must read it!

Liberalism eats its intellectuals, cannibalizing their principles for the sake of political expediency.

Professor Sunstein is a case in point. Last year, to defend President Clinton against impeachment, he argued that a President can't be impeached for any crime not related to his office. When pressed, he allowed that it would be a borderline case if the President murdered someone, but no lesser crime would merit impeachment. Professor Sunstein is not a stupid man, but this is a stupid argument. Since, like most legal experts, Mr. Sunstein also believes that a President cannot be prosecuted, Mr. Sunstein is arguing that if a President habitually raped women or blew up abortion clinics and bragged about his exploits in his State of the Union Address, the country would be powerless to take any action against him. I doubt that a man of Mr. Sunstein's intelligence believed that even as he spoke it, but nevertheless, he lent his prestige to a shabby argument for the political demands of the moment.

There is something of the same thing going on in this book. This time, there is nothing objectionable in his thesis. Courts should not strip issues away from the democratic process. Indeed, if it weren't for Roe v. Wade (which Sunstein properly condemns), state legislatures would have legalized abortion anyway, but the pro-life forces would not be picketing clinics, let alone blowing them up. Vox populi, vox dei has a powerful ability to make people to accept what they oppose. Courts lack that power.

Where Sunstein bows to political pressure is in his choice of examples of judicial overreach. For every example of Warren Court "maximalism" which he rightly condemns, he throws in a right-wing example, Justices Scalia and Thomas being particular targets. But he really is comparing apples and oranges. Justice Scalia's position on punitive damages, for instance, which has a long tradition in America despite current abuses, is just not on a par with the Warren Court's Baker v. Carr, which overturned 200 years of electoral practice (and, if the court had been logically consistent, would have overturned the method of electing U.S. Senators, thus making the Constitution unconstitutional). Yet Sunstein equates the two. If conservative judges were really the judicial activists Sunstein pretends them to be, they would be arguing that the fetus is a human being protected by the Constitution. They do not do that, arguing at their most extreme that it is a matter for the legislatures to decide.

Because liberalism is aimless at the moment, it behooves liberals to applaud the narrow focus of the Court. It also behooves them to use a tu quoque argument to attack the opposition. Sunstein fills the bill.

This book is a highly original and highly principled work. Unfortunately, the parts that are original are not principled and the parts that principled are not original.

Review titled "Sad...Brilliant Mind" is misguided and his criticism is misplaced. His erudiction is impressive (lots of foreign, erudite words to be sure) but his analysis confuses several critical positions. Read "One Case at a Time" and you will gain a better idea of how fundamentally flawed our democratic process actually is and the role of the judiciary as a buffer against a tyranny by the majority. To understand the Supreme Court since 1954, one must see the historical circumstances of that era.

This is an essential text for anyone interested in legal reasoning and legal process. I would go so far as to say it will be on the same bookshelf as Oliver Wendall Holmes and other great jurisprudential commentators. It should also be required reading for every law student, and their professors as well. Sunstein, a law professor at the University of Chicago Law School, gives clear, diagramatic analyses of the principles upon which the Supreme Court (and other courts and judges) base their decisions.

That having been said, this is neither a quick nor superficial read. It assumes the reader's familiarity with legal process and decisionmaking, and of the salient issues before the courts. Nevertheless, the overall result is deeply satisfying as a method of analysis. Anyone interested in law should buy the book, and read it, not once but several times.

I'm interested in the life issues currently being debated and examined in our modern world; abortion, euthanasia, and human cloning. The question of human identity and personhood is crucial to all these issues; the answers ultimately come from one's worldview (The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world. A collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group.)

Format:

The book was written by numerous authors (about 20) grouped thematically.

Part I: Science

Examines the procedure used to clone Dolly. The relationship between nature (DNA) and nurture (choices, environmental considerations). The influence of DNA on the human brain, individuality, and so on. Also, a preliminary examination of the ethics of cloning.

Part II: Commentary

This section seemed like something of a miscellaneous section. One essay (among the most difficult to read in the book) was entitled, "Cloning and Mythology." Another essay explored the connections between the "uncanny," sheep, human humour and cloning. The most interesting essay in this section was entitled, "Queer Cloning," exploring the possibilities for cloning as a reproductive technology for non-heterosexual persons.

Part III: Ethics and Religion

Probably the most interesting section on the book; this is where the "significance" of human cloning is examined. Religious and secular moral objections and supports are offered and analyzed. The question of "sameness" and narcissism are also looked at in this section.

Part IV: Law and Public Policy

This examined the legal (American, in this case) framework that could be implemented to ban all human cloning, possible regulations on its uses. The whole question of legal recognition of the clone and the radical altering of current social structure (e.g. how would the roles "mother" and "father" function in cloning?)

Part V: Fiction and Fantasy

This section looks at the impact and significance of cloning through the medium of fiction. I found the two stories, "World of Strangers," and, "My Clone," very profound and definitely more accessible as to the meaning of human cloning.

Analysis:

The tone of the book is rather unabashedly secular; the naturalistic worldview, coupled with autonomy and "freedom," pervade the pages. The question frequently turns on whether there is a "right" (a favorite term in American public discourse; on paper in Part IV posited two hypothetical US Supreme Court rulings, one is pro-cloning and one is anti-cloning. This appeals to North America's tendency to follow the philosophy of assumption of liberty; "I can do anything I want; the person who opposes me has the "burden" to prove that my action is wrong." Two prominent evolutionists, Richard Dawkins and Stephen J. Gould were contributors. Gould's essay tried to examine the mysterious interaction between nature and nature and how one should not over-emphasize in favor of either one. Dawkins' essay proved a searing look at what he calls "communities" objections to human cloning. Dawkins' recalls his experiences when he appeared on news programmes following the cloning of Dolly; whenever a religious person objected to cloning, Dawkins (correctly) pointed out that natural twins and hypothetical clones are one and the same in that both persons share the same DNA. The only difference is that natural twins are "accidental" whereas clones are artificial.

Dawkin's analysis points to the need for the Church (i.e. Christians in general) to only send informed, intelligent persons with a training in science, apologetics and theology to interact with others in the media. Until that happens, Christians will lose every battle to the secular world.

There were some other interesting points raised in, "Queer Clones." For example, if incubation technology and gender modification technology eventually improve enough, theoretically, a male homosexual could clone himself and carry the child to term himself or place the conceptus in an artificial womb. However, the author of the essay notes that as incubation technology is basically speculation, men would have to rely on women to carry their clones to term. Indeed, the author notes that lesbian women would have an inherent advantage; they could carry their own clones to term.

Throughout the book, the philosophy of genetic determinism is shown to be false. Due to this, some of the emotional appeals for cloning evaporate. For example, say a 20-year-old son or daughter died in an automobile accident, wouldn't the parents wish to clone him or her "back to life," so to speak? However, at most there would be a great physical resemblance (as well as some psychological attributes perhaps) to the dead child; the clone would be very different in personality.

The essay entitled, "Human Cloning and the Public Realm: A Defense of the Good," was fascinating. The contributions of the West's (i.e. the three great monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam) religions to the understanding of what it means to be a human person is examined. The influence and contribution of Eastern religions is briefly touched on at the end of the essay but the focus is primarily on the "Western" tradition; The Jewish anthropology of self; the unity of body and mind, the Catholic understanding of "person" as a being that has inherent dignity and is the Protestant contribution of the need to limit human power, pride and greed.

Evaluation:

To the fact that there are so many different authors, the book is difficult to assimilate the diversity of information; there seems a lack of a unifying principle here. In addition, the Christian will find the some of the language where secular philosophy (i.e. rights-oriented, autonomy etc...) is a priori assumed. Also, the whole ethical system is based on instrumental values (what is the "harm" of action x?) and the whole question of whether certain actions are intrinsically wrong is deficient. In addition, there is a comment on the book flap, "what it means to be human." Indeed, if one's anthropology provide the answers to the cloning issue; so whose anthropology is true? Christianity wins!

I would recommend the book, "Body & Soul: Human Nature & the Crisis in Ethics," by J.P. Moreland (ISBN: 0830815775) for a Christian analysis.

This is a terrific basic explanation of the science, ethics, politics and sociology of human cloning. It is a collection of essays, most of which have been published elsewhere, but pulled together in a coherent and thorough form.

The volume is easy to understand with little or no biological or medical background required. Unlike most volumes on the subject, it includes some excellent examples of fiction on cloning which in many ways clarify many concepts better than the factual sections. There are some wonderful quirky concepts covered by the different essays ranging from an analysis of cloning from the point of gays and lesbians and an imaginative Supreme Court Opinion rendered on a hypotehical case of an individual's right to clone. In a Rashoman-like manner two separate opinions are given, one where the Supreme Court protects the individuals right to clone and a second where it upholds society's right to restrict cloning.

The essays are written by a range of the famous such as Stephan J. Gould to unknowns. But the quality of the material is generally very high and always understandable for the layman.

If anyone wants to start thinking and learning about cloning, this would be my recommendation as a starting point.

This book is a must for all those who want to inform themselves about this problem, which will mark the history of our near future. It is not highly scientific because at the moment we can only speculate what kind of impact cloning of humans may have on us - once it is allowed. If it is not allowed, it will be done - because what someone thinks will be carried out. It has been like that throughout our scientific history. (Otto Hahn dropped the idea of the atomic bomb - and someone else built it.) We will have to face human clones in the very near future. And we want to know how we will face this new situation. And this is what this book is about. It gives you a variety of impulses and, of course, it has to be highly speculative. We simply cannot analyze a situation that we do not have in reality. The stories at the end of the book are not very good, but they are a good try to interest readers that have difficulties with facts only. Science fiction literature would have provided far better stories. I am glad this book was written, and I'm glad I'm not a clone.

At least Bell's earlier books included some basic facts and events in the narrative. This book wanders from over generalizations to unsupported assertions and back to over-generalizations. It's is embarrassing to call this incoherent rambling an "analysis"

.................................... J. Bowyer Bell's latest effort on the issue of Northern Irish politics is a very welcome attempt to write a book about the IRA which might become a milestone in the analysis of political violence, in Ireland as well as elsewhere. Bowyer Bell's work is extremely well documented and has the features of real political sciences, in that he uses a series of events (30 years of Troubles!) as a starting point to reach more general conclusions. This is obviously possible thanks to his 35 years long attention to Irish politics and, most important, to his personal contacts with major and minor participants to those events. But he also tries to detach his analysis from the contingent, the current, the short-term, in order to provide the reader with keys to understand the Republican movement in Northern Ireland. The author succeeds where many others failed, keeping historical and political analysis apart from personal opinions and moral judgements, which is the hardest task when approaching the emotion-packed issue of Irish nationalism and "terrorism". His use of comparative analysis is also of great importance, stressing the general trends of political violence around the world, along with the peculiar features of the Irish case. All considered, Bowyer Bell's conclusions might be debatable (and thus they are scientific, according to Karl Popper!) but he often hits the mark. And always gives the reader food for thought!

One of the worst purely anecdotal unscientific book. Too many references are misquoted or taken out of context. A wanna be expert preying on the vulnerability of the simpletons. He would have us all bathing in a tub of oregano oil smelling like a spagetti sauce.

I have read hundreds of self-help books that offer nutritional advice and proven remedies. But this one takes the cake! Dr. Ingram has helped me overcome numerous ailments when my doctors were unable to give me the answers I needed. I have never felt better and have had more energy. I would also recommend "The Cure is in the Cupboard" and "Eat Right to Live Longer." Thank you for the doing the research and instilling confidence in high quality nutritional supplements.

This book does a good job of explaining the innerworkings of the committees of Congress. Even though it only has the committees of the 105th Congress, it none the less explains fairly accuratly the makeup and inner composition of one important part of our nations Legislative branch.