When anyone talks about women in ancient Greece or Rome I always have one question: how do you know that when women left behind so few records? Snyder addresses this question by relying heavily on surviving poems by women and there aren't many of them. While it is difficult to just let women speak for themselves, I think that this record of surviving works is useful just for that reason -- Snyder's interpretations have been argued about but the fact remains that little survives. I especially like that an attempt at contextualizing the poetry is made and this is not easy to do when little "factual" evidence about the poets themselves exists that is untainted by bias throughout history.

The above review is a bunch of baloney by someone who has never read the book. This book has nothing to do with handguns at all. It's about shotguns, and specifically about the two barrel variety. - - This happens to be an excellent book and a great resource for someone contemplating the purchase of a nice double gun. - -

Best guns depicts what is there the best to use for when looking for a gun. McIntosh clearly has a wealth of experince and love of the subject that he writes on.

Excelent book. Best guns depicts what is there the best to use for when looking for a gun. A real nice choice for any one looking for a compact handgun for self defense. The autor makes a very detailed description of firearms and the most convenient way to carry them.

This book is an excellant source of research for someone who enjoys historical reading about the golden isles of Georgia. Not many facts and tales are missing from this book! Excellant reading

Buddy seems to get "into" the people he writes about... he gives them substance, and dimension. He brings you into each generation he writes about. You almost feel the wind on your face, and the sea at your feet, with his discriptions. He goes beyond name, date, and place. He brings you to a point where you feel you are living the times. He not only goes into detail about a person, he goes beyond that person, to someone who was touched by that person, and recounts it. Therefore, we learn about them from two points of view. We learn what he finds by exploring a "paper trail", and we learn about what he finds from the things that have been passed down. I will tell you... I have never been as impressed about a book written about a town or place, or people, the way his book impressed me. His book made me want to go out and "explore"... and I did! I have learned more about the "out of the way places" here, in McIntosh Co GA,in his book, than anywhere else. His books are also extremely helpful where Genealogy in being researched. Buddy's books seem to make you feel like he is an "I want to know because..." type of person. And they don't leave you "hanging." He is very through.

Butty's account of coastal georgia is like walking through the pages of time. It is by far the best book on coastal georgia. Thanks buddy!

Here is the perfect gift for your favorite little girl who happens to be longing and yearning for long hair: Lois Duncan's astute "The Longest Hair in the World." Emily appears in the beginning of the book as a spunky redhead with a short haircut. But at her birthday party, mindful of the fact that only long-haired girls will be chosen to play princesses in an upcoming school play, Emily wishes for "the longest hair in the world."

Trouble and calamity ensues as Emily's wish comes true. It gets to the point where her father has to zip her through the local car wash in order to get her streaming locks shampooed! Finally, a year later on her next birthday, Emily makes a new wish--not the one you might think--and the book ends on a hilarious note.

Jon McIntosh's cartoony illustrations perfectly suit the zany tone and zippy pace of Duncan's text. He does an especially fine job depicting the growing burden Emily has in carrying around the longest hair in the world.

When Emily blows out the candles on her birthday cake, she knows exactly what to wish for: the longest hair in the world. When her wish comes true, things get a little too hairy.

Be very careful what you wish for is the solemn moral of this hilarious story about a girl who wants to be the princess in a school play & the only way she can get the role is to have the longest hair in her class. Great fun!

I am a kindergarten teacher and year after year this is our favorite class book. Even children who don't have the attention span to listen to stories, are excited about this book. My classes ask me to read it over and over again.

I found this book to be very interesting. We have all seen War Movies and read these books, but this one had a different approch. You could almost walk in the author's shoes. You could feel his pain of separation from his wife and family, the fear of not knowing if he would ever return home or not, the close friendships he formed, etc. This book will turn your emotions on. You won't want to put it down. Give it a try and see for yourself.

I became acquainted with Jerry on the Internet. Perhaps because he was a retired airman (I think all young boys at some time in their lives, think they want to fly), I decided to buy one of his books.
I think,"Be Careful What You Wish For", is an interesting book.It has everything a good book needs. It has an interesting beginning to grab my attention. Throughout the novel, we hear enough "nuts and bolts" of airplanes to convince us that the author knows what he is talking about. It has a love situation that seems real life. Any man who has been in Viet Nam nine months is naturally going to be tempted by a beautiful nurse, but our hero is able to think ahead and remain faithful to his wife. I hated his superior officer who tried his best to get him in trouble, and was happy when the book had a happy ending. I like happy endings.

I couldn't put this book down. It is history, romance, and comedy all in one. I learned a lot about Vietnam that my Brother never would talk about. I laughed and cried and was really upset about some of the things that happened. This is not what I usually read but when I finished I was so glad that I did not miss reading it. I have read it twice and I never read a book twice. I have recommended it to everyone I know and to complete strangers. Please try it, you will be surprised.

For readers who enjoy history (particularly WWII), McIntosh's "Sisterhood of Spies" is a worthwhile experience. The book looks at women in all areas of OSS during WWII in all parts of the globe. McIntosh's writing style is a bit bothersome at times (too much "gung-ho" spirit for me; that's why I only give it three stars) but she knows her stuff and the profiles of these women and their work during the war more than make up for it. I liked the stories of daring (particularly "the lady with the limp" or the episode to steal the naval codes or the woman captured by the Germans). I learned a great deal about hte different aspects of OSS - the R&A, black propaganda (forging postcards to demoralize the families of Japanese soldiers fighting in Burma). McIntosh does a good job of creating a sense of the lifestyle - the pressures, the challenges. She also gives a good bit of detailed "back story" on the women - showing their life before the war, how they got involved with OSS, how their experiences with OSS transformed their lives, and finally, a glimpse of their lives post-war. These women definitely challenged perceived notions of how women could contribute to the war effort. Most all of them encountered "narrow thinking," particularly from the military branches they were working with, and managed to overcome that. I found the stories both fascinating and inspiring.

McIntosh starts strong in "Sisterhood of Spies," providing the background of the organization and then composing small vignettes of representative women and thier exploits. As the books goes one, however, she seems to want to include thumbnails (names/backgrounds) of more and more women, and the exciting details of the few become rarer. These women were truly extraordinary, in ways that few people today can imagine, and they certainly deserve recognition. Perhaps McIntosh could have written more about her own interesting history with the OSS and left the other women to an author that felt less emotionally beholden to include everyone.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of the Office of Strategic Services. The book does an excellent job presenting the contributions the women of the OSS made to the war effort with particular emphasis on morale operations and covert action. The book is not only an account of the author's experience in the OSS, but also devotes a majority of its pages to accounts of other OSS veterans serving in various posts throughout the world. Given the dearth of historical accounts of the contributions of women to the field of intelligence, this book is a must read. The author's vast experience in the field coupled with her excellent writing skills made this book one I simply could not put down.

I would like to magnified the brief review of obove mention book , please do me a favor

Well thought out and loaded with great ideas, this book has come to the rescue many times since I bought it. The CD alone is worth the price.

Those of us in the Mac community need no introduction to Bob LeVitus. As a long time Mac user and relatively new iMac user, I bought this book knowing that I would get lots of useful information from Bob. I was not disappointed! This is not a "how to" book. Rather it assumes you know the basics of your iMac. As great a machine as the iMac is, all of us will not know everything it will do. This book tells us quite a bit. In additon to instruction on various hardware and software tweaks on your iMac, the book also includes a wonderful cd-rom with tons of useful software and demos. In conclusion, if you already are familiar with the Mac OS and how the iMac works, buy this book. You will not regret it.

This book may well be the best book around for understanding wooden boatbuilding. However, there several caveats to this statement:

1) It is an enormously technical book. This is not light reading. The first chapter is the best explanation I have ever read of the lofting process. He makes it so very understandable and easy for the novice. However the rest of the book is dry and technical.

2) The dry and technical I speak of is worth the read for an understanding of boat construction. However, it uses McIntosh's "Merrywing" boat as a model. Every aspect of the book relates a detailed description of methods and tools he used on that particular boat, though he does generalize a bit in places. This requires the reader to make some level of abstraction to apply the information--well worth the effort, in my opinion.

3) "Merrywing" is a boat that McIntosh designed and built with great difficulty. It was not a remarkable boat, except that its construction was so difficult, that in describing the same to readers, he feels that he covers any conceivable problem or issue a wooden boatbuilder is likely to encounter.

4) The picture on the cover is *NOT* "Merrywing." This is an editorial mistake, according to McIntosh's son.

5) You will fall in love with "Merrywing" while reading the book. BUT IT IS AN ILLUSION. The plans are not available, and McIntosh's son will not release or sell them to the public. "Merrywing" is a teaching vessel in many ways. And that is all that it is.

BOTTOM LINE: This should not be your first or your only book on wooden boatbuilding. However, once you are sure you will build in wood, or are comfortable doing so, it is an informative read, and a tremendous reference.

The day I first met the late New England boat builder Bud McIntosh he was down in the hold of a schooner's hull setting keel bolts--and singing Homer's Iliad in ancient Greek. He stopped when he saw me peaking through a gap in the planks (probably amused by my mouth hanging open in wonder and awe) and asked: "You like boats?" Well I did, and I was there to ask him a question about planking a skiff I was building for my family.

Bud not only answered that question, but he answered many more boat and woodworking-related questions over the ensuing years. When I began to combine writing with my woodworking, Bud gave me the most valuable and fundamental piece of advice I needed to hear: "Write what you know--and if you enjoy doing what you know, people will enjoy reading what you have to say about it."

He should know, because that is exactly what he did in his own book. Not only does How to Build a Wooden Boat offer us one of the clearest explanations of building a traditional wooden boat ever presented, it does so in a way filled with humor and lively anecdotes. (Don't miss the one about what happened when a bunch of tipsy boatbuilders volunteered to build their late buddy's coffin). Though I never went on to build boats of this scale myself, I continue to consult Bud's book whenever I want a definitive answer on how to lay out curved components, or design joints to shed water, or find an answer to any number of questions where the technology of traditional wooden boats can give us proven answers.

First written as a series of articles for the Wooden Boat magazine, this is a standard textbook for those who want to embark on the grand pastime of wooden boatbuilding. "Boatbuilding" by Howard Chapelle is, of course, the all time classic in this arena, but the pre-WWII tome does not have modern powertools in mind and the maritime language is a cypher to the modern reader. McIntosh, by comparison, uses easily understood expressions and jargon commonly found in any maritime dictionary. But if you are really about to build a boat, DO NOT let any one book be your guide. Buy as extensive a collection of books as you can get your hands on. Books are cheap, and reading them much less of a labor, than the money you will poor into your dream boat in the garage, and the back-breaking man-hours you will put in.

This book has been very helpful to me personally. I think most all American leaders ought to read this or something similar.

It did not so much show me something new about myself as distill many things which I knew to be true, and show me how they influenced me as a leader.

A more thorough philosophy of the meaning of leadership psychology would have been helpful. At the same time, this would have likely dampened the 'peer to peer' feel of the book.

I highly recommend a careful, introspective reading of this book.

Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership is a book that, if it is read with any honesty, must be very personal. There is no Christian who is not in a position of leadership one way or another. Many simply do not realize that position. But regardless of whether or not you find yourself in an obvious position of leadership or not, this book offers a journey into your personal darkness and, paradoxically, the light that it can bring. It is convicting and troubling while also relieving and motivating. Anyone could do well to use the guidelines herein to examine their own heart.

But I still have a few reservations about the book. I felt as if, in once sense, it suffered from excess, and in another sense, it was incomplete.

I felt like the first section of the book could really have been written as a separate book in of itself, perhaps with the second section as a long appendix. The third section seemed extraneous, almost as if the authors knew they should add something more, give some explanation of where to go, but they almost seemed unsure themselves.

The other trouble I had was the thought that there are these five major issues that can bring trouble. There was a nagging feeling throughout that there have to be more, but the possibility is never dealt with. I do not recall the door even being left open to say that there could be more or that these were the five most significant issues but others existed. That unsettled me slightly.

Regardless, the first two sections of the book are excellent, perhaps essential to those who aspire or find themselves at all in positions of leadership, and the five issues that are brought to light are important, maybe vital. It's not a perfect book, but many pastors, teachers, and spiritual leaders should be required to read it regardless.

After reading this book I am now better able to understand why so many leaders including myself struggle in their respective positions of leadership. The authors outline different personality types and illustrate them by first defining them, giving a biblical example of that type of leader, giving a contemporary illustration of that leader, and then steps that one can take to overcome that particular personality type. This book made me understand how powerful our childhood experiences are in shaping our present life and leadership. Please read this book!

The first ten things, I look up I found the answers I needed. This book gives the answer in a paragraph or two without getting too complicated. You are able to go back the computer and solve the problem. I think the hardest thing with is forgetting what we know before Unix. I try to explain why it works and the book has made that a lot easier. As Mac users, we got spoiled, because we could turn it on and it was self explanatory, but with OS X, you have to get started in the right direction. Apple has changed how things get done ever so slightly. There are dos and don'ts about the system as well as running OS9 with OS10. Installing applications and definitions of the strange new words Apple invents. There is printer instructions as well as pictures on those things you haven't a clue.

It must be difficult when writing a book for 'power users' to decide what exactly needs to be put in and what can be safely left out. This volume does the job quite well, covering the simple stuff quickly and early while devoting a great deal of its 750 pages to topics of more interest to serious users of Apple's new(ish) operating system. It also declares its audience early, the preface devotes a page to explaining the target audience and states it is 'aimed at folks with a more technical bent than the average user--the power user.

The Gist

Mac OS X In A Nutshell is quite well structured, and organized into into 5 parts. The first is a quick overview of the Macintosh GUI. The second part, "System Configuration," is mainly devoted to getting the system running well (covering preferences, networking, the file system and Java). The third section, "System and Network Administration," is a good guide to several lower-level tasks, including an excellent chapter on directory services and NetInfo. The fourth is about development, including Apple's IDE "Project Builder" and CVS. The final part covers the Unix underpinnings of OS X and X Windows. This includes a Unix command reference of over 200 pages.

The Good

The book is also well written, with light, easily understood prose and some good screen dumps, tables and diagrams to make some of the more complex points easily understood. I appreciate the detailed contents section, good quality index and black chapter tabs at the side of each page for finding the information I need.

Everything seems to be covered, though you may sometimes find yourself needing to go elsewhere for more depth, but this is really only to expected in a book that is trying more for breadth across an entire operating system than depth in one particular area.

Despite having used and developed on a Mac for over 15 years and OS X since the late beta stage I still found myself discovering something new and useful every few pages in the book.

The Bad

The section of the book I appreciated least was the Unix Command Reference. 200 pages, most of which are adequately covered by the online man pages or a quick 'command --help'. Not that it isn't useful having this information on paper, and not that this section isn't more complete than the man pages and less error-ridden. It's just that my favourite operating system has a large number of commands that are hard to find by

name alone. Online, I tend to rely on apropos to find what I need. Back when you paid a large amount of money for a Unix license they came with hard copy manuals that included a permuted word index of the same top slug that apropos searches, which made them infinitely more useful. O'Reilly could improve the heck out of this book by giving us the same thing for what I felt was otherwise an almost totally wasted 200 pages (though I admit that the combination of the chapter on NetInfo and the command references for nicl and niutil etc. actually have me now understanding and using NetInfo well.)

Once again O'Reilly have provided a web page for the book that is mostly marketing material -- though in this case the Errata page is useful. At the bottom of the page they have a number of links to "Related O'Reilly Articles" but have only listed three by the authors of the book, leaving out, for example, X11 and Open Office on Mac OS X by Wei-Meng Lee and Configuring sendmail On Jaguar by James Duncan Davidson to name two MacDevCenter articles I've found incredibly helpful.

Conclusion

This book is not quite in the "must buy" category. If you do want a book to help you with the more technical aspects of OS X or to help you move to OS X from Unix or Windows hacking then this one is worth a serious look. It certainly better covers the technical aspects than OS X Bible and others of that style (such as the 'Missing Manual' or Robin Williams' 'Little Mac OS X Book'.) The only other volume that really compares is 'OS X Unleashed' and it has way too much coverage of the simple stuff and the various applications, is not as well structured and has a wordier, less terse and technical style. It's also more expensive and twice the size and weight.

Other reviewers have claimed that this is a great book for all levels of Mac users. Not. If you don't have an informed opinion about the relative merits of vi vs. emacs or don't even know what that means, there are far more appropriate OS X books for you. Pogue's "OS X Missing Manual" or William's "Little OS X Book" come to mind.

Consider this; while the Unix command chapter takes up nearly a quarter of the volume there's not a single mention of iTunes. This is not a general purpose Mac book. It is clearly aimed at advanced to expert user who wants to dig into the Unix underpinnings of OS X. At that it is great. The writing is clear, the explanations straightforward. It is well indexed. And it doesn't weigh 10 kg. It is an excellent addition to O'Reilly's Nutshell series, mostly aimed at programmers or system administrators.