This was one of the best books by Monica Hughes has ever written! I love the way she carries the story, much like her other books! I couldn;t stop reading once I started it! For any of you that hears about this-read it! It will me nost definately worh it!

I have read several of R. Kent Hughes books and I like his James best. In fact, I have checked it out of our church library three times. I read it first in 1994, again in 1997, and am reading it again now. I am ordering two copies to give to my two adult children. I tried to order copies at a Baptist Book store in 1997 and was told it was out of print, and decided to try Amazon this time. I love the practical Christian advice that James gives us, and I also love the way Kent Hughes explains James to us. A wonderful book of practical advice to help us grow in Christ!

This is a story about grade three kids, Jan and her friend Sara. They are doing their science project for school. Anyway, you should read this because it's so good.

This book deserves attention for various reasons. First, it is a rare European contribution to the study of Japanese foreign and security policies. Second, it gives a truly well informed overview of contemporary Japanese foreign policy, especially towards North Korea. Third, it makes an original and thought-provoking attempt to distance itself from the largely intuitive way of dealing with Japanese politics that still dominates the discourse. Or rather, this is politico-scientific analysis, whereas the study of Japanese foreign policy usually has been the realm of the often significantly less theoretically informed 'Japanese studies.' Hughes in fact makes such central political concepts as 'power' and 'security' his foremost tools of analysis. I have expressed some objections against his definitions and applications of the concept of power elsewhere, but since I believe that we need more - not less - power analyses of Japanese foreign policy, on the whole, I am very sympathetic with his overall approach. Fourth, and most importantly, the book poses very relevant questions about Japanese power. Realists and liberals have for many years disputed what Japan's future role in the international system would be. Liberals like e.g. Richard Rosecrace have then considered Japanese pacifism as the natural consequence of human rationalism, whereas realists like Kenneth Waltz have asserted that Japan's economic power will undoubtedly be translated into proportional political military power. Hughes presents very careful and knowledgeable analyses of his empirical material that are no doubt relevant in the context of this dispute:

First he finds that after WWII ideas about an economic security policy have been totally dominant in Japan, but interestingly also that in the wake of the Cold War more 'traditional' ideas about a necessary military basis for security policy, have become increasingly influential in Japan. Paradoxically, this tendency seems to be going in the opposite direction in most other parts of the world. He then shows that policymakers in the Asia-Pacific region seem to acknowledge that the North Korean military security problems largely have economic causes and that they should be solved with economic means, i.e. a 'soft landing'. Hughes draws the conclusion that Japan would have sufficient economic capacity in absolute terms as well as in the relations to North Korea to influence the country to do a soft landing, but also that "Japan's economic power capacity for security purposes remains latent and under-utilised" in this respect. He goes on to ask why Japan has failed to mobilize its economic resources. Looking at different groups of policymakers, in short he draws the conclusion that there have been too many risks and too few chances associated with a positive engagement for North Korea in Japan. Instead, and this is one of the most conspicuous conclusions of his book, Hughes finds that unlike the general trend in the international society, Japan has chosen to emphasize military aspects in its security policy towards North Korea. He also argues persuasively that it has used mainly military policy instruments vis-à-vis the country. This very central conclusion that Hughes draws from his analysis therefore makes him take side in the dispute between liberals and realists about Japanese power referred to above: "North Korean security problem is actually more likely to serve as the occasion for Japan's emergence as a global military power, rather than a civilian power." This conclusion is rather provoking for most of us, and it should be even more so in most circles in Japan. However, unlike a majority of those who speak about the re-emergence of Japanese military power, Hughes is neither part of the PRC propaganda machinery, nor does he seem to have any theoretical bias for this conclusion. This book is, in other words, evidence enough that careful empirical analysis, departing from interesting questions, is actually enough to let social scientists draw controversial and important conclusions about the world.

Japan's International Relations

One of the best books I have ever read on Japan's international relations and a successful attempt to present a comprehensive overview and analysis on Japan's relations with East Asia, the U.S. and Europe.
This book is interesting for students, scholars and all those who are interested in the how and why of Japan's international relations.

The book is easy to use, is dealing with Japan's relations with East Asia, the U.S. and Europe separately and the chapters are divided in a way that you always and exactly know what you are reading.
The index at the end of the book makes looking for keywords very easy and so far there is no keyword that I have not found in this book.
It is certainly well-researched information, goes into details without loosing itself in them making sure that the reader gets to know the important facts of Japan's relations with the countries in its geographical region, the United States and Europe.

It is a European perspective on Japan's international relations and without a doubt a refreshing change from so many books on Japanese politics and economics mainly giving the American perspective.
I am dealing with Japan's international relations professionally and I use the book as dictionary as well as a source for information and facts that I have not known before.

The book is also going beyond the standard view on Japan's international relations due to the fact that the authors back their research also on numerous secondary Japanese sources.
Lots of interesting background information indeed, the footnotes are numerous giving lots of advice on further reading.

No doubt that the authors know what they are talking about and if you want to know how Japan's relations with the U.S., East Asia and Europe work and what they mean for Japan, this is the book to consult.

Well-done Glenn Hook, Chris Hughes, Julie Gilson and Hugo Dobson

Axel Berkofsky

This is the best Java book I've read yet. It is well-written and well-organized, and goes deeper than just a surface discussion; it is better written, more comprehensive, and more practical than Sridharan's Advanced Java Networking. In fact, the authors take the reader through the process of creating a full-fleged shared whiteboard and chat tool.

If you are developing an advanced networking Java project, you will find this book enjoyable and useful.

Michael Brundage
Infrared Processing Analysis Center, Caltech

Jesus Then & Now: Images Of Jesus In History And Christology edited by Marvin Meyer (Professor of Religious Studies at Chapman College) and Charles Hughes (Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Chapman College) is a singularly fascinating, college-level look at the artistic vision human beings have had of Jesus Christ throughout the ages. Jesus Then & Now does not limit itself to any era, or even to the religion of Christianity, for its also encompasses images and perceptions of Jesus in Judaism and Islam. Extensive annotation reflects the vast amount of scholarly research that has gone into this presentation of the myriad, often conflicting views of Jesus that have persisted through the ages. Jesus Then & Now is very highly recommended for both scholars and non-specialist general readers with a serious interest in the history of Christianity and evolving perspectives of Jesus Christ.

Buridan was a 14th century French scientist and philosopher, whose idea of "impetus" anticipated Galileo's theory of inertia. George Hughes was a philosophy professor (the highest academic rank in British Commonwealth countries) at Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand) and a world-class logician. He translated Buridan's Latin and provided a clear commentary.

In this work, Buridan attempts to solve a number of semantic paradoxes, e.g. a one-person liar "What I am saying is false"; a two-person liar where Socrates says "What Plato is saying is true" and Plato says "What Socrates is saying is false"; and other even more elaborate ones. All these have in common is a proposition referring to itself, or a set of propositions where there is some circle of internal reference, hence the title.

Before Buridan attempts to solve the paradoxes, he discusses propositions that can not be true if they exist, but can the state of affairs described is logically possible. Such propositions he describes as "not possibly true" as opposed to "logically impossible" such as "This circle is square". Buridan gave the example of a not possibly true proposition "No proposition is negative". While the facts can be as the statement asserts, if the statement exists it cannot be true because it is a negative proposition itself.

Then Buridan discusses the validity of the inferences: "All propositions are affirmative, therefore no proposition is negative" and "No proposition is negative, therefore some proposition is negative".

The point is, the usual definition of validity is "it's impossible for the premise(s) to be true and the conclusion false". Thus the first would be invalid (because the conclusion is false when it exists even though it seems to follow from the premise) and the second valid (if the premise exists it is a negative proposition, so the conclusion is true). But with such self-referential statements, this definition of validity is inadequate, because in both those cases the they are contrary to other arguments with these forms (All As are B therefore no A is non-B, No Xs are Y therefore some X is Y).

Buridan defined a valid argument as "it's impossible for the fact to be as the premise says and not as the conclusion says".

This becomes important when he presents his ingenious solution to the paradoxes.

This is not of mere academic interest. A Wellington logician, Ross Powell, studied Buridan's solutions for his Master's thesis under Prof. Hughes. Since Mr Powell also has a degree in physics, he has subsequently applied Buridan's logic to solve vexing paradoxes in quantum mechanics, e.g. the measurement problem. His articles are available on the Internet.

I found this book to have all the elements needed to make reading a pleasant experience. The characters take on a life all their own. It is very apparent that Charles Porter has worked in the detective field for many years, as the plot is beleivable and is interesting until the very end. This is a book that rates right up there with some of the best I've ever read and I recomend it to anyone that takes pleasure in reading. One word of caution, make sure you don't have any up and coming plans, the book is difficult to put down

After finishing Hot Shot and New Attitude (which were a hoot!), I ordered all of Charlotte Hughes' books on the internet. Some are just a riot and some are so ho-humm I want to kick myself for wasting my time reading the whole thing. This one is very funny and well worth the time!