I found this to be an excellent book for a beginner or a more experienced quilter. This is not just another watercolor book. she shows a great technique for making fabulous quilts. the color qraphics in the book are excellent. i look forward to her next book.

This book was simply wonderful. I did not think that it was just a book for ages 9-12, I think that older kids will like it too. It deals not only with kid stuff, but in its own way some adult matters like racism and being overly-protective. The story had me hooked. I couldn't put it down! I just kept reading and reading page after page. The charactors are so real. It was like I met them while reading it! It is a REALLY good book, I enjoyed it thoroughly, cover to cover. I hope this review makes you want to read this book too. I really liked it!

Pete Armstrong, a British artist and model-builder, has written an excellent campaign summary of Scotland's greatest military victory, the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Although some of the exact details of this famous battle remain open to debate, Armstrong does a fair job in presenting a balanced campaign narrative that incorporates different viewpoints. Bannockburn is also enhanced by excellent artwork and maps, which help to bring the battle into sharp focus. All in all, this is one of the better Osprey Campaign series titles.

In accordance with standard Osprey Campaign series format, Bannockburn 1314 begins with short sections on the origins of the campaign (8 pages), a campaign chronology, opposing commanders, opposing armies and opposing plans. The section on armies details the infantry and cavalry formations of both sides and the author stresses that while the English had superior cavalry, their failure to employ combined arms tactics utilizing both infantry and cavalry was a fundamental flaw in their numerically superior army. Certainly combined arms tactics are sound advice in any period, but while the author points out the English failure in this regard, he fails to point out how the Scottish were any different. If the English were overly reliant on their cavalry, the Scots were certainly overly reliant on spear-armed infantry. The Scots had no answer to the English superior quality and quantity in archers, and this had led to the defeat at Falkirk 16 years before. The section on plans notes that the English King Edward II was well provided with intelligence about the enemy as well as supplies, but had no real plan of campaign other than to relieve the siege of Stirling Castle. Edward's lack of combat experience and his assumption that the Scots would disperse in the face of a major English invasion are cited as primary causes of his negligent planning. Again, while the author's assessment of deficient English planning appears correct, it is hard to see that the Scottish King Robert the Bruce had any serious plan of campaign either. Until the second day of battle, the Scots kept their options open to fight or flee and their victory was the result of opportunity, rather than planning.

The campaign narrative itself is 38 pages long and is enhanced by five 2-D maps (Scotland in 1314, Edward II's invasion, the flight of the English army, Scottish raids in northern England, Bannockburn then and now) and three 3-D "Birds Eye View" maps (the fighting on 23 June 1314, the Scottish attack and the collapse of the English army). There are also three excellent battle scenes: the encounter between Robert the Bruce and Henry de Bohun, the attack of the Earl of Gloucester's cavalry on a Scottish schiltron and Edward II's flight). A somewhat longer than usual 20-page section on the battle's aftermath covers casualties, reasons for the English defeat, results of the battle, the continuation of the English-Scot war and changes in military tactics because of the battle. Indeed, the author should be applauded for finding space for some analysis of the battle. Essentially, the author blames most of the defeat upon Edward II's atrocious lack of leadership and faulty decisions, which was certainly a key ingredient in the disaster. Coupled to Edward's poor leadership, Robert the Bruce's ability to boldly seize opportunity presented by English indecision and confusion resulted in a successful Scottish counterattack on the second day. Rather than merely blaming one individual, I think it might be fairer to say that English arrogance was to blame for the defeat, since this same kind of arrogance figured in other battles where professional English armies opposed irregulars (e.g. the American Revolution, the Zulus, the Boers). Inexperienced as he was, Edward II probably would have entered battle more cautiously if opposing a professional continental foe like the French or Spanish. The author does conclude that the English eventually learned at great cost to deal with Scottish tactics and that they put this to good use against the French in the Hundred Years War.

This is one of the better bass instruction books I have found and I have looked at or bought a good many of them. I use other books, but I always come back to Progressive Bass Guitar. It really helps the student learn the fretboard. It also teaches a variety of blues/rock riffs that can make someone sound good in a short time. It also touches on transposing skills, finger patterns and music theory. I pretty good buy for the price. I showed it to my bass teacher, who thought it would be good to develop your chops. Most of his students study jazz and have a tendency to play most types of music in a jazz style. Since the book is slanted more towards early rock/pop, he plans on recommending it to some of them to expand their styles of playing. The only negative comment is that the riffs on the CD are lumped together with four-five riffs per track. That makes it hard to reach a specific riff, but that is really a minor complaint. Other than that, I can't recommend Progressive Bass Guitar enough!

My mother bought Beside the Railroad Tracks for my son for Christmas, but I snatched it and read it first. The author wrote it for children, but it's an engaging story for any audience. The characters are well developed and the narrative is poignant and beautifully written.

It's set against the backdrop of World War II, and told from a pre-adolescent's perspective - the days when chores and playing were the agenda, yet you were old enough to know worry. The protagonist and her family worked and lived for the railroad. This in itself is a wonderful bit of nostalgia - to read about a time when the rails held promise, power and prosperity. They were heady times, and when the shadow of war moved in, very anxious times. This tale is particularly gripping as it is set in a rural town in Oregon - a place you would think was removed from war. Not so. And as I read it my stomach sank at the familiarity of it all -- war, fear, economic uncertainty. It's eerily comparable to present day.

I'm raising two children of my own right now and hope they have as wonderful a tale to tell looking back on their youths as Patty Burns did.

Fantastic read for any age!!

I like this book because it has helped me immensely on why I should continue reading my Bible.

The central thesis of this collection is to argue for the need to find a biblical hermeneutics that will contribute to theological understanding--this being the supreme purpose of the whole enterprise of Christian biblical studies. This might not sound worth mentioning to millions of Christians around the world especially to this part of the globe. But according to the authors, there have been a long parting of the ways between biblical studies and the quest for religious truth (ie theology). Biblical scholars can have no religious commitment and the result of scholarly works can have no meaning for the life of the church. This is the problem the authors want to fix. The solution offered is termed "theological hermeneutics".

The best essay of all is "Tradition, Authority and a Christian Approach to the Bible as Scripture" by Trevor Hart. He concludes that a proper Christian reading is a "regulated reading" as roughly regulated by some version of the rule of faith. He condenses much of the thoughts of the church fathers and the Reformers plus a lot of his excellent integrative argument. It is excellent that his writing is so readable and accessible to a layperson like me! And his unashamedly orthodox-yet-scholarly discussion has solved many of the questions I have with the claims of postmodernist biblical interpretation. So is his argument that the presence of biblical authors' communicative intent must be presumed even though we should always keep a humble attitude recognizing the provisional nature of all our readings. (Man, I wouldn't be able to express myself in such terminologies if not for Hart's essay!)

As a Christian who likes to read the Bible as holy scripture that has a claim on me and not just as another text, this book and especially Hart's essay gives me much food for thought.

I recommend this book to all Christians who want to read their Bible for spiritual nourishment without losing sight on critical thoughts. But to thoroughly enjoy the book, one needs to have a certain background knowledge on the biblical academic scene.

The copy of this book that I have was given to my grandfather by the author.My grandfather is mentioned in the book a few times and is pictured on page 62,photo 12,second from the left.This book gives me some insight into what my grandfather was going through and the people that he was surrounded by.I read this book fairly often and every time I can picture my grandfather telling me old war stories when I was a young boy.

Entertaining read, Highly Recommended.

Writer Manchee has crafted another great setting of enjoyable, credible characters, situations and blunders. The narrative Manchee sets forth in Cash Call brings us another great read with full time lattorney part time sleuth Stan Turner. Turner has much of Perry Mason in his methodology but muddles along without Mason's perfect record. Cash Call is a well written work complete with many of the characters we have come to enjoy from the prior works in this ongoing series. As the Turner children grow up we see Stan, Rebekah and their family behaving much as our own. And that is in part what makes this series so engaging.

The reader is hooked straight away in the opening of this gripping, creative story theme. Transitions are handled well, with plot and sub plot all lined in a fiduciary manner. Manchee's characters are natural. Dialogue is not contrived as the characters work to resolve problems. Climax and conclusion are handled with usual Manchee skill. I can easily believe that Stan would have handled the circumstances he faced in Cash Call quite as is set down by writer Manchee.

Poor Stan and his always present cash flow problems does again manage to prove his clients are not guilty of the murder of the scoundrel who was the cause of so many of their problems. The ongoing joke in the Stan Turner books surrounding the 'payment in kind' tribulations are just plain fun.

Writer Manchee continues to grow as an author. Cash Call is a well crafted work in the manner of the best of Ellery Queen, Gardner and Gresham. Dialogue is snappy. The work moves smoothly from Stan and his personal circumstance to his interaction with clients, the romantically intentioned gal who refuses to accept the word no and even a mobster or two.

This book is very clear, with many neat, simple and effective igures. It has extremely interesting and challenging examples and topics from applied mathematics (particularly fluid dynamics) which are very well explained given their complexity. In addition this book is a bargin at only 55 dollars, and has good problems with solutions in the back. recommened to anyone learning calculus on their own or looking for a nice, compact, cheap reference book on calculus (covers through multi-dimensional caluculs with excellent emphasis on vector calculus)

This is a very well written book covering topics that are more advanced than the usual beginners book. Topics are covered very clearly, and are written in a manner that will help anyone in their progression of using and administrating Caldera OpenLinux. A natural order of progression is used, and the examples are written to show how the syntax of commands are used. This book actually covers topics beyond the subject, such as TCP/IP networking, bridged environments, routing protocols, packet structure and OSI models. A quite worthwhile investment, and a must have for anyone administrating Linux.