As is typical with Michener, not only does he manage to tell a great story, but somehow he squeezes in the whole universe: all the people, their thoughts, actions, backgrounds, lives, and histories of their country, art, styles, artists, etc., involved in this tale of the art world all the way from the dawn til he lifted his pen from the page.

This is the definitive study of the ukiyo-e masters and the Japanese prints of the Edo era. It details things print by print, artist by artist. An amazing work. No wonder, as Howard Link mentions in his forward, that people were so impressed with Michener's command of this subject that he was literally given entire collections of fantastic ancient Japanese artwork. This chronicles why Michener became the world's premiere collector and savior of the ukiyo-e masterpieces. It also makes abundantly clear why Michener is a master of prose much like the artists he loved were masters of this unique block and ink medium.

Thomas

Fluvial Processes in River Engineering starts with a broad view of geomorphology as applied to river engineering.

Next is background of the application of engineering parameters for the understanding of river channel processes. One of our professional engineers used this book for his Sediment Transport class at UNM. He felt it did a great job of presenting the various sediment transport equations in use today. The equations are presented logically and are grouped as to type of result obtained, e.g. suspended load, bed load and total bed material load.

Then mathematical modelling of river change is detailed. The FLUVIAL model of four-dimensions (x, y, z, and t), including evaluations of channel width adjustment is fully explained.

Another of our professional engineers has had and used this book since before its first publication. She still enjoys picking it up and reading it because it is well illustrated and very well written.

TEXT UNAVAILABLE UNTIL EARLY DECEMBER 2001.

This guide is essential for everyone planning to visit Ireland. It succinctly tells the historical background of many sites of interest. Also, the recommendations for lodging, dining, etc. are reliable and helpful. Overall, a very straight-forward, user-friendly guide to meet the needs of all travelers.

I have used a few of these books and they are very well written. Using the CD along with it is the best, since you can hear how the music is supposed to hear. Very progressive, and complete.

Since Henry Fonda resisted almost all his life to share his private life with the public, this book of Howard Teichman is probably the one and only book, that helps you getting to know Henry Fonda. You know him from screen and stage, but who is the man behind the actor ? This book tells you not only how he started acting on stage and in movies. It also shows his private life , family life, his personality and how he saw the world. It is simply not to understand, why this book is out of print.

I read this book in 2 days and it was a VERY good story, of a love that could get through anything.

This book by Dr. House reviews the path of one of modern otology's great founders. It reveals much of the history of otology through the life of the subject of the book, Dr. Howard House. It of course starts with Dr. House's early years and chronicals his training at USC, the eastern U.S., and Germany in pre World War II times. All of the great founders of otology are mentioned with real insights into their personalities and contributions to the science. Virtually the entire history of stapedectomy is told. Truly a great book for anyone interested in the field of otology(such as myself) or an interesting review for those that practice the specialty.

This book examines how China's legal system really functions. It focuses on explaining the difference between what appears on the face of the law in China and how it really operates in practice. He demonstrates how the discrepency is not just due to a clash in Western inspired legal concepts and Chinese culture, but by a concerted attempt by various actors to contrive a legal system which maximises discretionary power of administrative authorities to make and interpret law.

Topics covered include the creation and application of law, consistency, interpretation, and supervision over enforcement and lawmaking.

The book is well regarded in academic circles, and is on the reading lists of most Western law schools that offer Chinese law within their curriculum.