This is a fascinating book written by R.C. Holt at U-Toronoto about a toy operating system they wrote in the early 1980's at UT, in the concurrent euclid language. It tells you just about everything you need to know to write your own computer operating system. In the early 1980's, you either bought this book, or you got yourself a bootleg copy of the annotated Bell System UNIX kernel source code, to learn systems programming.

This book contains an awesome and intuitive introduction to synchronization - the best intro ever written in ANY book. I used to lend this book to my weaker OS students (At University of British Columbia) that were having trouble understanding synchronization - until one of them stole the book. I HAD to get another copy because this is a GREAT book.

I have read numerous books regarding consumption, simplicity, etc. I have read all of Juliet Schor's books also. This books is an excellent thought provoking book, HOWEVER, be sure that you have a clear mind and a good chunk of time on your hands. Yes, the book is long, but that's not really the issue. It's a compilation of essays, some quite old. They do offer a lot of insight, but it tends to be more economic insight. If you enjoy reading about environmental issues and voluntary simplicity, this does have some of that, but much of it is information about things like trends in buying, capitalism and advertising. While it's an interesting read, I would advise checking it out of the library and reading the essays that interest you. Keeping this book in your library doesn't serve much of a purpose. Not even for inspiration and motivation, which is a reason I keep many of the simplicity books that I enjoy. Bottom line... pretty good read, but borrow, don't buy it.

In this, the fifth volume in her Queens of England series of novels, the author, also known as Victoria Holt to her legion of fans, tackles the story of Eleanor of Aquitaine, a woman who led an incomparable life. Born in an age when women tended to be submissive and docile, Eleanor was anything but. She was an outspoken, well educated, independent, and beautiful woman. Hers is a story that, in the hands this author, an accomplished storyteller, captivates the reader.

Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, became Queen of France when she entered into a marriage of state with Louis VII of France, a somewhat weak and ineffectual, though pious, young ruler. Theirs was not a passionate affair of the heart but, rather, a mesalliance that would come to a somewhat abrupt end, when she met Henry II, the first Plantagenet King of England. Though she was eleven years his senior, theirs was to be a tempestuous and passionate love-hate relationship that would end in marriage and span a lifetime. She would give birth to their numerous sons and daughters, two of whom would go on to reign over England, Richard the Lionhearted and John Lackland.

Narrated in the first person, as are all the books in this Queens of England series, Eleanor tells the reader of her adventurous and exciting life, set against a backdrop of medieval politics, intrigues, and strife. A woman who brooked little interference in her life, she decribes what it was like to have experienced and gone on a crusade. She tells of her long years as prisoner of her philandering husband, Henry II. She relates the triumphs and disappointments of her long and singular life. In doing so, she weaves a memorable tapestry of love, passion, betrayal, and heartbreak. It is an account that will keep the reader turning the pages of this unforgettable, though somewhat romanticized, account of a life lived to the fullest.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves his/her cutting garden, and starts dreaming of the possibilities the day after Christmas! This isn't an book you get lost in all day while your family goes hungry, it's a handy and informative book with a simple mission-- pointing you to the best varieties to cut and bring inside, but with beautiful photos of every entry that you will refer to again and again. I like the fact that this book is small; so is my yard, and there are more must-tries here than I can accomodate any time soon.

What a wonderful premise: leave soggy Brittain for sunny Provence and create a community herb garden in the old curate's garden in a village that dates to the middle ages. If you like to garden, and if you like the French, then this book is truly a good read (especially this wet winter).

Holt takes you through all the steps (in sequence) that she went through to renovate this curate's garden in a year; from convincing the local authorities to allow her to do it (for free, of course), all the way through laying down the local scree as a path. Oh, and in between is building a Roman stone bridge.

Holt's style is easy to read -- unlike many other gardening books by Brits. She uses botanical names as well as common names so you can follow along with her. There are no pictures in the book, so you have to use your imagination, and I think it really works well in this book.

But do not dispare! There is a nice diagram in the back of the book, with the complete planting plan, too, which is a nice touch if you have a Mediterranean garden of your own to tend.

But back to style. This book makes me want to read other works from the author. She writes with a definite voice. Her writing is crisp and clear without being dry. She takes a few side trips, such as explaining how to distill lavendar oil, or make wreathes from bay leaves. But as this is a diary of garden, everything is pertinent and personal.

This is not a "precious" garden book -- despite the poetic cover; you will learn things along the way and be charmed at the same time.

helped me get me texts quicker, and my mental comparisons make a lot more sense.

I just finished reading it. This book is absolutely necessary for anyone wishing to comprehend the current situation in the Middle East. It is also a good book for anyone interested in the internal mechanisms of the Ottoman empire. The book jumps back and forth between the three geographical areas under consideration: Egypt, the western Fertile Crescent (what is now Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine/Israel), and the eastern Fertile Crescent (Iraq, basically), covering the period of Ottoman rule and more recent European domination. It is well written, concise and serves to draw out the larger patterns involved: the weird twilight zone of Ottoman politics (imagine an empire where frequent, bloody wars between provinces are the accepted norm), the characteristic bipolar "gangland" power distribution among local rulers, the role of Upper Egypt in sustaining local resistance to imperial power, the anarchy of Lebanon, the role of the Hajj (the annual Moslem pilgrimage to Mecca) as a political football, the genesis of nationalism. The endless back-and-forth of tribal and faction politics can get somewhat tedious at points, but I would rather have this level of detail than a distant glossing of events. Some random topics of interest: the Wahabbis--fanatic and militaristic founders of Saudi Arabia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; the brief appearance of Napoleon Bonaparte; Muhammad Ali, the Macedonian from Albania who became the nineteenth century icon of Egyptian nationalism; the conquest of Egypt by British accountants; in the introduction, a very handy synopsis of Islamic history leading up to the sixteenth century. All in all, I highly recommend it.

This is the first book in the Norman Trilogy series written by the author and a very good work of historical fiction. It chronicles the the life of William the Conqueror, the bastard son of the Duke of Normandy. Born to the daughter of a tanner, his illegitimacy was to be a sore spot and bone of contention for many years. Designated by his father to succeed him as the Duke of Normandy, the circumstances of his birth would cause him to have to fight usurpers within his duchy in order to retain his title.

After a somewhat unusual courtship, William married Matilda, the fiercely independent and beautiful daughter of the King of Flanders. Together, they had a number of children who were to cause him much anger and much sorrow. One of them would eventually bring about a fissure in his relationship with his beloved Matilda.

William, always ambitious, coveted the throne of England and was supported in his desire to be king by his intelligent and equally ambitious wife Matilda. In 1066, after the death of the King of England, Edward the Confessor, with whom he had had a longstanding friendship, William crossed the channel from Normandy to England. He wrested the English crown from King Harold, Edward's popular Saxon successor. In doing so, he forever changed the course of England and its history.

Vividly written and well researched, the author weaves a spellbinding tale of the Duke who would be King. A tapestry of exciting historical events makes this an enthralling tale that will capture the imagination of the reader. Lovers of historical fiction will especially enjoy this interesting and well written book.

I read the book, "A Seperate Peace", by John Knowles and it was pretty good. It involves two main boys going through high school during World War II. One of the boys,Phineas, is superior at everything involving sports. The other main character is Gene Forrester. He is great at school but not in sports. These boys are roomed together in their prepatory school named Devon and are best friends. Gene starts thinking that Phineas, a.k.a Finny, is trying to hold back him from doing so great at school so he can be the best at everything. So Gene starts hating Finny and ends up creating a horrible accident that ruins Finny's life forever. It shows that there is always some darkness in the back of Gene's mind but never once was there in Finny's. Gene goes to tell Phineas that he created the accident but Finny doesn't belive him. So Gene drops it and hopes Finny won't try to remember what actually happened that one day and remember the truth. Another character in the book is a boy named Leper Lelliper who is always looking to find the best things in life he can look at slowly and not rush anything. He decides to go look at and take pictures of a beaver dam then go and work on the railroads to help the WWII fighters get through the town. But in his childish life he becomes to be the first person in his and Gene's and Finny's class to enlist in the army. After doing this everybody's life takes a turn. Brinker Hadley, the class president, drops out of all extra curricular activites and becomes lazy. Gene starts working at sports and pitys Finny every chance he can. Phineas starts trying to get his life back in order and trys to do all the things he did before the accident. But then one day Gene recieves a letter from Leper asking for help. The army has done something to Leper and tooken something away from him he can never get back. Gene goes to visit him but can't take it and goes back to Devon, never speaking of what happened. Then one night Brinker Hadley and a bunch of other boys awaken Finny and Gene to take them to a trail. A trial that would change Finny's life and Gene's life forever. The whole story is told by Gene Forrester in a flashback fifteen years ago. The story shows great symbolism with tree. And always has great themes, such as:private war versus public war, Gene's view of life vs. Finny's view of life, and a life of conformity vs. a life of freedom.

This book is the story of John Lathrop, an early English non-conformist, and his fight for religious freedom.

Accounts of people like William Tyndale, John Wycliff and other similar champions of Christianity and freedom are hard to come by these days. Foxe's Book of Martyrs and other similar works contain thumbnail sketches of these champions of religious liberty that had so much to do with the establishment of America. There are extensive scholarly works on some of these figures. But it is difficult to find a popular work that has sufficient depth to really understand the struggles that these people went through to establish religious liberty as a tenet of Western Civilization.

This book fills in this gap. It is the story of an English Minister who is forced into exile because his conscience will not allow him to agree completely with his church.

It is historical and derived from primary sources, but is told in a conversational style much like that of Alan Eckert in his early American historical works. This form of writing flows smoother and is more appealing to someone looking for a good story in addition to learning more information on historical figures and periods.

As an American, I found it particularly interesting as it documented the history of a representative figure who fled the Old World for the New to find religious liberty.

I recommend it for adolescents and adults who would appreciate learning more of this early American immigrant and the causes that led to so many similar immigrants coming to America. The genealogy list of descendants of John Lathrop notes that over half of the 43 Presidents of the United States were (and are since GWB is also related) related to this man.