This book looks fine enough for kids learning to play the guitar. I bought it for my son for Christmas, to accompany his recently new guitar. However, I was counting on the compact disc being included as stated in the title, but there was none. The book was still shrink wrapped, so I don't think it could have been taken out prior to the sale. Inquire with seller prior to purchasing.

This book accomplishes half of what it intends. The authors try to show through evolutionary studies that man is by biological nature only a loosely social animal. Hunter-gather societies represent the maximum of social organization that fits our biology. The authors do a good job demonstrating this. They authors then try to show how over the past 10,000 years culture has developed to cage humans into tighter social relations than is natural for us. This part of the exposition I found disappointing. They give descriptions of the complexity of the different types of society, but surpissingly they give virtually no specifics on how the humans are caged by those relations. They simply state the fact with no illustration. For example, horticultural societies use elaborate kinship structures to maintain more complex social organization. Humans become caged by their kinship relations, say the authors. But how so? They give very few specifics, you are left to extrapolate on your own. Since this is the main theme of the book it is disappointing. Even when they get to industrial society, which they claim reduces the caging, they just make this bald statement without analyzing the specifics, despite many pages describing industrial society. So the authors missed the opportunity to present their full thesis in the 2nd half of the book, but the first half of the book is quite interesting.

This book is good for the price. The examples could be better. I've seen great examples from other teachers. It is worth the money invested and a good, starter for people who want to learn copperplate or engrosser's script.

As usual with contemporary letters, these are only useful in spots. Barclay gives good descriptions of the battles of First Manassas, First Winchester and Gettysburg (dispelling once and for all the myth that the Stonewall Brigade was not heavily involved in the latter). His expression is naturally limited by the fact that he's writing to relatives; there aren't a lot of humorous scenes of camp life here. We do find out something about the Liberty Hall Volunteers, Barclay's company, who were apparently something of a prima donna bunch and were often assigned as Jackson's HQ guards. Unfortunately, the letters have several gaps and do not cover the period from Spotsylvania, where Barclay was captured, to the end of the war. He was a prisoner during this period and it would have been interesting to know what his experiences were.

The book dishes out Ted Turner's wisdom, but leaves an important fact neglected: after becoming rich, Ted Turner's mind cracked and slipped away into bipolar disorder, and since then Turner has been running around making boneheaded comments about Christianity, concocting oddly New Age and semi-delusional programs like "Capt. Planet," and using his money to give himself a platform to be a [fool] in front of the United Nations (where he gave a speech about how monotheistic religions should be abandoned because, well, human beings put their pants on one leg at a time) and Brown University (where he extolled the Sept. 11 hijackers as visionaries and courageous men). The true story of Ted Turner ranks with the tragic tales of Howard Hughes and John Nash, once-brilliant men whose lives were ruined by mental illness. It's amazing that Ted Turner has been able to use his wealth to propogate bizarre ideologies that come straight from his diseased, psychotic mind, and no one has had the courage to point out that Turner is afflicted with a psychotic disorder and his New Age, so-called "humanistic" ideas are really just delusions brought on by a chemical imbalance. Of course, Fox News routinely lets us know all the [foolish] things Ted Turner says...

The book about Ted Turner is a very interesting book about how it feels to be rich, famous, and have your dreams come true. If your main goal in life is to become wealthy, then this book is for you! This book will also make you realize that having money and fame isn't everything. In encountering this "man behind the mouth" you get to hear all the criticism and bad things that are said about you and against you without even knowing it because of what you have. I gave this book three stars because of its lack of main points, on the other hand it did have many details and let you know the troubles that come along with the riches. I suggest if you read this book, that you don't follow in Turner's actions.

In Osprey Campaign #120, Towton 1461, English museum curator Christopher Gravett describes the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil. While the battle itself is interesting, the campaign is set in the midst of the Wars of the Roses - a period of history that is confusing, complicated and murky. In large part, Gravett succeeds in bringing a tough subject to light and his summary is professional throughout.

Towton 1461 has a rather lengthy 9-page introduction, followed by somewhat brief sections on opposing commanders and forces. The campaign and battle narratives are adequately covered in 34 pages, supported by three 3-D "Birds Eye View" maps (all of the Battle of Towton in various phases) and five 2-D maps (England in 1460-1, the march to Towton, skirmish at Ferrybridge, final positions before battle and England after Towton). The volume also has four battle scenes by the talented artist, Graham Turner: the fight at Ferrybridge, the melee at Towton, the rout and the opening barrage. The final section, on the battle's aftermath in overly long at ten pages and includes and unusual discussion of modern examination of a gravesite on the battlefield. The section on the Battlefield Today and bibliography are decent.

Although any work on the Wars of the Roses is hindered by a paucity of detailed information, the author works through this deficiency rather well. He is somewhat less effective in explaining the complicated politics behind the campaign, and this subject virtually demands an appendix with capsule biographies on the major participants. The author's background as an authority on medieval arms and armor enables him to add considerable insight into his discussion of what 15th Century close combat was like at Towton. Furthermore, the Battle of Towton was rather unique in being a large-scale engagement fought amidst snow squalls.

In terms of military history, a study of Towton has relatively little to offer, since it was essentially a straight-up infantry on infantry fight until one side cracked. The leadership example of the young King Edward IV, who raced to join his troops in bucking up a crumbling flank, is interesting. Neither side made any egregious errors or did anything overly innovative, although each side employed a ruse or deceptive effort. Unlike many other battles of this period, cavalry only played a role in the pursuit phase, but the main battle was a pure infantry fight. While exact numbers are contentious, the author argues that about 45,000 troops from both sides fought in the battle and about 13,000 were killed in the space of a 6-hour battle, making Towton a very bloody day indeed.

The Trespasser is the tragic tale of Siemund, a music teacher with an unhappy family life, and his student, who becomes his lover. It isn't a worthless book, but your time would definately be better spent reading one of the famous Lawrence books - this is clearly the creation of a young, impressionable mind. For instance, Lawrence makes constant reference to Wagner's 'Ring' in the book, rubbing the reader's nose profusely in heavyhanded hints that Siemund is borrowed from the German composer's work.

This is a nice look at one of the prettiest of the new ballparks around today- Turner Field, the home of the Atlanta Braves. It has enough nice pictures to give you a feel for the stadium if you've never been there before. This would be a nice book for any Braves fan.

Over all, I was disappointed in this book. Early in this book (pg 31) Mr Turner writes in reference to the Little BigHorn battle, "Some of Custer's personal family members, including his brother Captain Tom Custer, Nephew Boston Custer, and a brohter in law were killed with him in the battle..." Boston Custer was George Custer's brother. Not his nephew. This glaring mistake made me skeptical of his research. But the biographical information on Wild Bill was just a rehashing of previous material anyway. Turner relied heavily on Joesph G Rosa's earlier works on this topic and he does give him credit. The strength of this work is the vivid picture that Turner aptly describes of Deadwood during Hickok's time. If one is looking for a very detailed picture of Deadwood, this is a great source. But as a biography on Hickok this pales in comparison to Rosa's work on the subject.