I wondered when I opened this book how well I would enjoy a true story about an underworld figure. I was not disappointed; this book held my attention from beginning to end.

"Lawman to Outlaw" is the story of Verne Miller, a known underworld figure, perhaps one whose life was filled with more mystery than any other. Mr. Miller was responsible for the slaughter that took place at the parking lot of Kansas City's Union Station, June 17,1933. Did you know that the FBI was actually formed because of this event and the outcry of the American people against crime. Interesting piece of information, I would say.

The author takes you through the life of Verne Miller; his childhood, his military days, his days as a well respected Sheriff and draws you into the mystery behind this man and his faithful companion Vi Mathis. What made a law abiding respected man turn into a cold blooded killer? Mr. Smith addresses this question and more.
I cannot even imagine the intense research that went into this work. Detailed information is revealed, events are replayed as the author walks you through the life of this notorious gangster and finally his death at the hands of his so called friends. Quite a story, quite a read!

Well done Mr. Smith, hats off to you! A recommended read for all those that are interested in our colorful past and those that painted it red!

Brad Smith works this biography in the same way that Verne Miller reputedly wielded a machine-gun: powerfully, controlled, and with surgical precision. Smith succeeds in exploring the motives and flaws within Miller, from his early exploits as a war hero and sheriff, to underworld hoodlum. The accounts are straightforward and laid bare, without yielding to hearsay or romanticism, and Smith even explores alternate scenarios in some of the more critical events in Miller's life.

Miller winds up - eventually - a desperado hunted by both law officials and the criminal world. His life is filled with paradoxes that only Smith has succeeded in conveying in written form. And Miller's enduring legacy with the Kansas City Massacre is also recognized as the driving force that sparked the formation of today's FBI. Had Miller been captured by J. Edgar Hoover's G-Men, his role in history may have rivaled those of Al Capone, John Dillinger, and "Pretty Boy" Floyd. Smith's work may bring Miller's significance to light, seventy years after his gruesome and unusual death.

As a storyteller, Smith never loses command of his subject matter, and weaves a tale of desperation, loyalty, love, and brutality unlike any other I've read yet. A definite must for those who enjoy reading about the Golden Age of Crime.

Depression era outlaws seem to have needed to meet certain requirements to register permanently in the American consciousness: a catchy name like Dillinger; a catchy nickname like "Pretty Boy" or "Baby Face" or "Machine Gun"; or to be gunned down by the law, especially the federal minions of publicity-seeking J. Edgar Hoover. Perhaps the most important of these Public Enemies was a man who didn't meet any of these criteria: just-plain Verne Miller--sounds like a guy who lives down the street. He had no colorful monicker and the law never caught up with him. Miller was killed ignominiously and hideously and dumped in a Detroit ditch by his underworld "friends." Why was Miller so important? He was responsible for the bloodbath that launched the nation's first "War on Crime" which transformed a little known investigative branch of the U.S. Justice Department into today's powerful FBI: the "Kansas City Massacre." Brad Smith has done an incredible job in researching a fascinating and largely forgotten figure of America's lawless past. Only the Prohibition era could have produced this murderous but interesting and contradictory man, who went from war hero to policeman to sheriff to bootlegger, bank robber and cold-blooded killer, and, quite fittingly, his lawman-to-outlaw career spanned and paralelled that era, from 1920 to 1933. Miller was the criminal who declared war on America and the epitome of a lawless decade and his life story, told here in marvelous and exciting detail, in itself defines that period.

The range of Miller's interests, and her writing skill, are mesmerizing. She also has a knack for finding the outrageous in the ordinary and the soothing in the outrageous. A terrific book.

The author's passion for travel is at the heart of 'The Guttered Dog', which is a series of nineteen chapters that unveil memorable people, places and events in her life. The tantalizing title refers to the author's lifelong and consuming love for animals and a horse riding accident that threatened to leave her paralyzed for life. She has traveled the world and delves into foreign cultures with enthusiasm and insight. Carol Miller is a multi-talented woman--a sculptress, a writer, a correspondent and an expert on the culture of the Maya. From her home in Mexico, she takes the reader to continents and cities such as Asia, South America, New York and introduces enduring friends along the way. Each chapter includes enough history to provide a framework for the pictures she paints with words. Her descriptive yet concise writing style takes the reader on her travels, making pilgrimages and meeting people. Most of the book centers on the last half of the twentieth century, which gives the reader an opportunity to read about places such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok as they were then, rather than the westernized metropolises they have become recently. The author embraces life fully and as she states in the epilogue, she wrote the book to share what she has learned and felt. Anyone who reads this entertaining and poignantly written book will be a richer person for it.

Carol Miller fulfills every reader's fantasy of traveling the world over. Her wonderful research, the autobiographical reminiscenes, the tales of love and dismay, are a delight to read, while they take us to the heart of Mexico and the Mexicans, and beyond: to Peru, Turkey, Syria, Greece and the Greek Islands, the heart of Africa and Southeast Asia, even the stormy California coast. Every page is surprising and unexpected. I loved this book!

This is the best book I have found to teach young children about Sign Language. I have used it with my own children and with my Girl Scout troop. The signs are easy to copy for young children and they enjoy learning Sign Language. Many of the books on Sign Language are too hard for young children this is simple. If you want a book that helps introduce signing this it.

I have had this book for years and loaned it to our youth minister. He found it to be a favoriate with the youth and would like to have several copies. They have used it in preparing performances such as "The Lord's Prayer", etc. One of the best and very simple to learn hand language.

I borrowed this book from our public library and have used it with my 4-year-old daughter. She is very bright and this book has greatly contributed to her learning experience. I hope that the book will be published again soon, because I would like very much to add it to her library. It is much easier for a child to learn this type of thing than it is for an adult, because they can focus their attention more completely on what they are doing. I think that the book is wonderful.

Based on the strong literature review, professionals in the human services field may well see an improvement in their clinical outcomes if they follow the suggestions in this book.

I found this text to be of great help. The contributing chapters and the topics covered are fantastic. The authors take therapy constructs that have always been detailed in writing styles far too thick and complex and now describes them in descriptions much easier to understand, all the better for the transfer from theory to practice. While certainly pointed at the field of therapy, this book speaks to many of the "helping" disciplines---more can be "therapeutic" by aligning with these "common factors." The authors give great review to the ingredients to effective interventions and behavior change. When I finished this book, I was left with the impression that although everyone may not be in the "therapy business" this book shows how many who "help" can now be far more involved in the positive behavior change business.

I read this with relish. A genuine "Thanks" to all those who contributed to this book. I can't say enough about it.

This book challenged what I was taught to do when doing therapy. The book inspired me--made me think about new ways to view "stuck" cases. The case examples were powerful and the writing was excellent. A bit of interspersed humor made the reading interesting. I highly reccommend this book to anyone in the field of therapy. In fact, I suggest reading this book before going in to the field so that one can avoid becoming pigeon-holed into any certain formal, traditional model of therapy.

This work is seminal. Every philosophy after Hegel is either a reaction to him or a footnote. His method has achieved scientific verification in the past century in the areas of developmental psychology (Margaret Mahler), in historicism, in embryological development, and theology (Tillich). It shows that wisdom is timeless and although written 200 years ago, Hegel's truth is valid and not subject to fashions as they so often are in philosophy.

This said, I have to say it is not rewarding to read this book unless you have familiarity with German idealism through Kant. Also, a thorough reading of Hegel's Logic is a prerequiste. Few people will understand this book without reading it in the original German as Hegel himself reframes the German language into a new way of thinking. I think all great philosophies shape the language they speak in profound ways. That is why it is so difficult to understand Hegel in English translation. You would have to create a whole new philosophy along Hegelian lines made for the English thinker. This is the daunting task of all translators. There obviously are concepts in Western thought that are portable across "platforms" and this is why translating Hegel happens at all in English. However the way concepts are used, the "process" of the concepts -- the "syntagms" -- is not entirely the same in both languages.

I wrote my master's thesis in philosophy on this work. At that time I could think Hegelian with the best of them but have lost the skill. Now I can't even understand what I wrote 20 years after the fact without going back to school. I have not been speaking Hegelian since then. A pity.

So, to get the most out of it, read this book in a structured environment where one has easy access to help. It will change your life as it has mine.

An advanced course in Hegel is probably the course which shuttled me forward toward a career in philosophy (and, eventually, theology). It is partly the responsibility of Hegel's thought and part my teacher (look up books by DG Leahy if you are interested in the first real new philosophy of the 21st century). Anyway, back to Hegel's "Mind." In this work, Hegel has created a tour-de-force in systematic philosophy following Kant.

though Kant has adopted the dualism of Plato, Hegel's synthesizing of Kant's ideas has resulted in an amazingly complex but understandable and brilliant work. Hegel proposes that the Mind is the second moment in a three-fold syllogism, following Nature but preceeding Logic (Reason). Here, Hegel explores the nuances of the Mind. Though the other two volumes of the three volume set are important, it seems Mind contains all the ideas of the other two.

If you enjoy hard German philosophy and have a penchant for the absolute idea, read Hegel as soon as possible!

G.W.F. Hegel is surely one of the most notable figures in German Philosophy. His 'Philosophy of Mind' (also known as 'The Philosophy of Spirit') is the third part of an encyclopaedia work showing, in essence, the dialectical 'nature' of the world as a Notion. In his earlier works in this triad (The 'Logic' and 'The Philosophy of Nature') Hegel dealt with, first, the logically necessary principle of explanation for the world and then, secondly, the essence of nature as prior to the development of the Mind. This work deals with the nature of Mind as it goes from subjectivity to objectivity through the stages Anthropological, Phenomenological and Psychological, producing Absolute Spirit, a notion that is then used by Hegel to explain the moral and legal. This is not an easier book to read; the language is convoluted and it may take several readings to gleam anything useful from it. This is partially due to the difficulty of translating German terms to the English and also partially due to the writing style of Hegel himself. However I do recommend that the reader persevere, as it is a very rewarding book to read. You need not agree entirely with what Hegel says to appreciate his philosophy and see the import of what he is trying to do; explain everything from a position of logical necessity. The accompanying Zusatz is also of great use, as it gives more concrete examples used in the actual lectures Hegel based this work upon. All in all, a momentuous book in the history of Philosophy itself and worth reading for the depth and breadth of ideas contained within it.

I've been using this handbook for about 25 years, and recently realized that my edition was the 3rd, published in the 1970s! So I ordered the latest edition (14th edition), and was so pleased with my purchase. This is a handbook that lives in our office, and gets used to death (we do graphic design, copywriting, editing). Any new employee on our staff is required to at least become familiar with the table of contents (in case of emergency!), and very soon they too are heading for Harbrace's to look up something. We love it.

It never ceases to amaze me how many times some anal grammarian tries to correct my writing only to review my Harbrace College Handbook to see they're wrong and I'm right. This is the definitive guide to American English grammar. Easy to read, plenty of examples, and more importantly it even covers those gray areas of usage letting the ready know this non-standard without simply cutting you off without explanation. I have purchased the latest edition ever since I purchased my first copy as text to Advanced Composition during my undergraduate days at the University of Maryland University Collage. Harbrace as served me very well ever since helping me obtain a high GPA in regards to my written assignments. I have a lot of other grammar books that I look at now and then, but Harbrace remains the standard.

This is an exemplary work. It is absolutely essential to the high school level and above as a general and specific guideline to writing. I strongly recommend this book for those interested in perfecting their grammar and writing styles.

-Jonah Sampson Boyarin hehe

Excellent little field guide. Great writting and very nice art. Great for adults and children.

My grandmother had this book, which was a gift from my mother. A friend borrowed it and failed to return it, which almost broke my grandmother's heart! She really enjoys her hummers (averaging 25-30 on just two feeders!), and refers to this book on a regular basis. It's full of facts that everyone can enjoy.

I wrote on my Backyard Habitats page that this is a wonderful little book, perfect for putting in your purse. It's as informative as it is artful. Gorgeous drawings and tons of info about all of the hummers found around the USA

I have read this author's theatre books and enjoyed them, so I took a chance on his novel even though it's about gay men and I'm a straight woman.

But I loved it. It's an exciting, romantic, sexy adventure into the world of vampires and it treats the vampire Zach Church with such respect and insight. The characters in this book are so well drawn, so much fun, so REAL, that I couldn't stop turning pages. This author really knows his storytelling and he has come up with such an unusual premise for his story that it makes everthing feel so fresh, like nothing you've ever read before. I also loved the mix of moods -- very, very funny one moment, than achingly romantic (and sometimes REALLY sexy), then genuinely horrific -- just like the real world. It's a tribute to his storytelling abilities that you accept the fact of vampirism so easily. I'm buying copies of In the Blood for all my friends this Christmas. It's a great read!

It's the best gay romance I've read in a long time. It's also one of the best vampire stories I've read in a while. It's also one of the funniest novels I've encountered. I'm not sure what category it fits into, but it's a wonderful story with well-drawn, deeply emotional characters, and an ending that will keep you guessing until the last pages. I read the thing in one evening and then found myself sad that I would no longer be spending time with these characters. I hope there's a sequel, or better yet, a prequel! But beware, there is some very explicit sex in here and some utterly gruesome scenes that lept off the page at me. Powerful, involving stuff!

The back of this book says it's a roller coaster ride and they aren't kidding. I never read such a wild story -- very romantic, very funny, but also really sad, really scary, and REALLY erotic!! Also, there's some pretty gory stuff. But somehow this guy pulls it altogether and makes it work. I loved this book. I hated when I got to the end because I was so into these characters and this story. I totally reccommend this book if you don't mind the explicit sexual stuff and the gory stuff. It's a great vampire story but it's also a wonderful romance story.

When I was a little girl, this was my absolute favorite book.My mother had to read it all the time. My mother gave it away and I kept pressing for her to get it back for me. My mother ended up buying it from a used book store and I know she paid quite a bit for it. I treasure this book and I always loved the pen and ink drawings too. I had a teddy bear that ended up in the same condition as Jane's blanket, and that's where I identified with the story. I had a hard time parting with that old bear.Now I have the book and read it to my two sons who also love it. It is a true feeling of attachment to a comfort item as a child and stays with you always in your heart. Iam so happy to have this book again.

I remember this book SO fondly growing up. It was read to me for years and by me for years afterward. I had a pink blanket, too. I grew out of mine as well(sniff). When I had two girls of my own, I searched and searched for this book. Our local out-of-print bookstore told me it was rare and could go for several hundred dollars. This prompted me to bug my mom until she dug up my slightly battered, but complete copy from childhood. I read it to my girls, but wouldn't sell it for the world. Someday I'll have grandchildren. It's THAT good!

Jane's blanket was pink, and soft, and warm, and she loved it. When she was a baby, she would not play in her playpen without having the pink blanket there too, and she went to sleep every night touching it. Even when she got bigger and had her own bed, she would not go to sleep without her "bata". But as Jane got bigger and bigger, the blanket got smaller and smaller, until finally it was only a torn piece of cloth. Jane still loved her blanket, but now it was so small and torn she didn't know what to do with it, until one fine spring morning a bluebird on her windowsill made her glad she was so big and didn't need her blanket anymore.

This story is the world-renowned playwright's only work for children. His warmth and affectionate understanding of a child's prolonged need for a beloved object is charmingly reflected by drawings in two colors, black and pink, by Emily McCully.

I was very pleased with this selection. My children loved the brightly colored pictures. And this story of helping others was very interesting and fun!

"A sweeping brilliance of color and story----book sparkles with an everyday enchantment." "Miller's pageantry brings out the magic of the journey..." The Book Reader, Fall 2002

It's hard to peg the age range for Jesse's Color Field -- ages 5 to 10 will find it involving but it's the older end of the age bracket who will find easy access to the descriptions and writing. Jesse's daydream becomes a reality in the form of a storm, and the animals of Color Field place their rescue hopes on him. The animal drawings are quite whimsical and fun in this detailed adventure.