This book is excellent for the early fluid power student. Examples and diagrams are integrated in with the text to make this book a great learning tool. The only disadvantage, if any, is that this book falls short in the same manner that the majority of the fluid power books out there do...there aren't many complex circuit models, with explanations of what they do.

Because I am a Lutheran clergyman, it is predictable that I disagree with Father Sullivan about what it means for the "one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church" to be both catholic and apostolic. Therefore, I disagree with Father Sullivan regarding his conclusions about the nature of the episcopacy and the validity of the Eucharist outside of Roman Catholic communities.

Nevertheless, Father Sullivan's research is scrupulously honest, even when honesty demands that he disagree with popular Catholic beliefs. He presents his opponents' arguments gently and with great kindness. His arguments and conclusions are reasonable. Perhaps most importantly, his discussion is intellectually and spiritually stimulating.

Whether you agree or disagree with the Roman Catholic position on these issues, read Father Sullivan's work. You will struggle with its rich content. You will grow because of that struggle.

I first saw this book in Restoration Hardware, where I was working at the time. It was an *immediate* hit with the style conscious staff. One woman got a dreamy look on her face as she read it "I could live in any of these" and I know exactly what she meant. It is of particular interest to those in Northern California as many of the resources listed in the back are local to us. A charming and keepable book.

The Gasmakers uses the records of the towns gas companies of Ireland to chart the history of the Gas industry in Ireland from the latter half of the 18th Century to the Present. It charts the earlies experiments in gas production from coal through the set up of the towns gas companies and the first streetlighting. It explores the dead ends such as gas production from fish oils. It highlights the rivalry between Gas and Electricity at the end of the 19th century when gas won out by the introduction of the incandescent mantle, and then the gradual loss of share to electricity as the latter technology began to surpass gas in luminosity. The management of the towns gas companies is explored, the manufacture of gas from coal and later from naphta. The sub-industries such as tar production. It examines through archive material the development of gas production technology and the final evolution of the industry in Ireland to Natural gas after the discovery of reserves off Kinsale. The last chapter was the centralisation of the towns gas companies into Bord Gais the current Irish Gas Company. The book contains many valuable archive photographs, the records of the old lamplighters and their place in society reflected through song and poem. For those interested in the industry it is a valued and cherished work, a model for all such archive collections.

Mercer Sullivan's text follows three youth cliques in the Brooklyn area (in neighborhoods he coins Projectville, La Barriada and Hamilton Park), and studies their involvement in, and desistance from, local youth crime. The study is largely ethnographic, and so Sullivan alternates between dialogue between his subjects and an analysis on their criminal patterns. Sullivan also discusses how the physical ecology of the neighborhood, the transiency of the residents, levels of education, economic opportunity, family values, and access to a network of human resources--a system of social capital--affects the youths' criminal careers, and whether or not these acts of criminality are for the purpose of entertainment or income-generation.

Being published in 1989, the text is a bit outdated, but his discussion as to youth crime in neighborhoods of social isolation is still very relevant today. Well worth reading.

The book was pleasing from the moment I saw the front cover. Colourful yet no nonsense, it was clear that Ffinch intended to present the duo as a single mind. Not "Gilbert and Sullivan" but "GilbertSullivan" He alludes to them a number of times as the perfect match, each the best in his field and obviously blessed with the same sense of humour.
Very easy reading, fun to follow along his thinking process. Abandon all thought of Sullivan's music and Gilbert's libretto not ringing in your ears down to your soul. Veteran G&S fans, be prepared to sing along as he quotes long passages from those remarkable collaborations. This makes the reading all the more fun and so very enjoyable.
It is the first comprehensive work on Gilbert and Sullivan in more than 40 years says the jacket and it refreshing to read a 1993 acount of the lives of these two geniuses even though the collaboration may not always have been smooth sailing to say the least; but oh, such sweet music and funny, brilliant book and libretto.
Ffinch's easy style is absolutely winsome for both the novice G&S fan or the veteran.
By the time I had finished the book I felt as if I had them both for tea, learned about them intimately and, as I closed the book on completion, I wondered if they would ever return for a second cuppa.

The author has a wonderful way of weaving the river and its environs into a story of history, myth and modern comparisons. The chaptesr on the Quakers and Huguenots gives a very concise and informative history of these innovative and hard working people. The quotes from poems and ballads are a delight and the navigation references are very useful. A must for anyone just discovering this, the second longest river in Ireland.

Sullivan writes his ideas clearly and concisely. The main thrust of the book is that Cervantes has a different project in Part II than he did in Part I and critics make a mistake lumping the two together. According to Sullivan, Don Quixote's adventures on Part II are really just a sort of purgatory on earth. By the end of Part II Don Quixote has attained salvation and, in a parallel trajectory, been healed psychologically. Sullivan includes a fascinating chapter on how Purgatory was viewed in the Middle Ages. All in all it's worth the read.

Having worked as a journalist, albeit sports writer, this was an interesting novel about a down and almost out news-paper reporter who has a well-known secret and needs to absolve himself of.

Great break-neck pace, smooth plot, likeable characters, and a great narrative equal a nice little yarn of a read.

If u like novels that aren't wordy or too deep, this will fit the bill very nicely. This is a first novel that shows at times but it more than makes up for it.

If u have ever worked at a news-paper or want to know the inner workings of one, this is a MUST READ!!!

I re-read this book a few nights ago and although it is not a story-tale fiction book like I ussually read it is still very enjoyable and extremly educational. It teaches you the amazing story of a girl named Helen Keller who lost her ability to see and hear at a very young age. It takes you through her life during which she accomplishes so many spectacular things and conquers challenges that no one thought she could. She stars in a movie, she learns to read and write and she goes through college and becomes an honor student and all along the way she is guided by her loyal friend Anne Sullivan. I ussually dont read biographys but I'm glad I picked this one up! I encourage you to read it because it makes you realize that even though someone like Helen Keller cant see or hear, it makes them no different than other people and they are perfectly capable of accomplishing anything as long as they set their mind to it. This book is very inspiring and it really makes you realize what a remarkable person Helen Keller was.