i purchased this book based on the reviews here and overall i agree that it's well written and presents the grammar clearly and thoroughly. my one complaint is with the print quality. at times it looks like a xerox of a xerox of a xerox, which can be quite annoying when trying to puzzle out the arabic. [contrast the much nicer but unfortunately unvowelled arabic in Thackston's book.]

also, the exercises are of dubious usefulness, since they mostly consist of translating stilted sentences such as "The foreign traveller mounted a swift camel and escaped. For two months he drank camel's milk, and found it very bitter, because he was used to cow's milk." [unfortunately all too typical in traditionally-minded language textbooks: compare Moreland and Fleischer's Latin book, with gems such as "After the torches had been carried into the city gates, the king was able to show the lofty walls to the guests from the province who had come to learn the art of fortifying towns"!!]

This book is technical and a bit dated, but its content and clarity is easy to follow. Unless you have a few years of formal grammar it can be difficult because the terminology and rhetoric may require some explaining by an instructor. It is knit picky with the details in Arabic so if you can use the language well but feel like you lack a strong grammar base then this book is perfect for you.

I picked up a copy of this book in 1978 when I was in the Middle East. I taught myself Arabic from this book and T.F. Mitchell's "Writing Arabic." I've worked with and reviewed many other books for learning Arabic since then, and I still feel that this is the best concise one-volume introduction to the subject you'll find. It is true that there are no tapes available for it(at least not as far as I know) and some would consider this a serious drawback. There is, however, a key to the exercises published separately. I cannot recommend it too highly. Even if you are using other books to learn Arabic, this one is worth having for reference purposes.

This is a well-organized book that gives a lot of useful info on how to fix the greed-crazy corporate S.O.B's, especially developers and loggers, that are systematically and uncaringly destroying this country for profit. Is this stuff criminal? Well, the laws passed by the corporately paid-for Legislatures may say so, but any real human being knows better. Ludd and Abbey weren't always right, but far milder souls than these may be become too outraged and....at least now they know how to do it right. Don't like it, corporate America? Then shape up your ethics that you learned at Enron.

Despite the bad review given by the reader from TireFactory, USA, this is a great book - whose main point is that it's never too late to fight the Ohioification of the rest of the United States.

The essential book for those concerned with the protection and survival of the Earth and its animals. 1.12.6

Aaron Gunner is a streetwise private eye working out of an office in Mickey Moore's Barber Shop in Los Angeles. He's already working for Connie Everson who wants him to find out who her City Councilman husband is having an affair with--she already knows about his white woman, but fears she has a black rival. Now, he's also hired to find Yolanda McCreary's brother, Elroy Covington. Elroy never returned home from the Million Man March. When last seen, he was in LA at the Stage Door Hotel and he had Gunner's card in his room.

Looking for Elroy leads Gunner to Barber Jack Frerotte, a notorious razor blade wielding psychopath and then to the Defenders of the Bloodline, who are dedicated to ridding the African-American community of "Uncle Toms".

As always, Haywood is stronger on setting, character & dialogue than on the actual mechanics of the mystery. While he doesn't measure up to James Sallis or Walter Mosely, it's still a fun series.

GRADE: C

Gar Anthony Haywood has done it again. As usual, he has two plots going at once and the reader has to figure out "who done it" for both of them. He doesn't have predictable endings.

This was my first Aaron Gunner story, and it won't be my last. This book had the the P.I. tackling two mysteries at the same time. Looking for a disreputable writer missing for over 9 months and tailing a congressman in search of his indiscretions had Gunner at his wit's end, but each plot had it's own twists and turns, and there was no way to guess each ending. Believe me, I tried! It is so hard sometimes to settle down with a good mystery, because in order for the story to work, the detective must be familiar and accessable to the reader. With this P.I., it was no problem. If you are a fan of Walter Mosley's Easy Rollins or Valerie Wilson Wesley's Tamara Hayle, then this guy is for you. Good Work, Mr. Haywood!

All though it's been almost 30 years since I was in the third grade, one of my fondest memories is when the teacher read Carolyn Haywood's stories about "Eddie". They were my favorite.

My 3rd/4th grade years were chock-full of reading stories by Carolyn Haywood.Annie Pat and Eddie might be in the Eddie series-but in many ways,Anna Patricia is more the central character.Her vacation,spent with Eddie(who'd rather be a cowboy than an actor),has many things which are realistic for children and things that could happen.Eddie Wilson was my favorite fictional character...until I grew older than he was.(Chuckle!)

I rarely write reviews, and as an author myself I'm loath to criticize another's work. But this one I couldn't let go by...

At 147 pages (main text) there was nowhere near enough "meat" to justify ...[the price tag.]

The writing style was boring and pedantic.

Most of the chapters just skimmed the surface and lacked
substance; the topics are covered much more thoroughly by other
authors.

Chapter 6, Networking Technology, at 12 pages, was much too
"thin" and already out of date; less than 2 full pages
were devoted to the 'section' on securing the network -- a
major concern these days.

I have really looked a long time to find a book that has a practical management perspective. Most of the books I've read on virtual teams either focus on bits and bytes (which I don't need since I'm an IT Director) or high level organizational theory. This book had some really practical suggestions that I could implement to improve communication and control for my team.

If you are managing geographically distributed teams this is a "save your life" kind of book. Short and to the point with techniques based on actual research instead of myths or stories. I found the 4 key principles for effective distance communication very helpful. I saw immediate improvement in my team's communications once we began using the ideas.

I can honestly say that I have never read a romance novel in which the hero and the heroine first meet over the huge pus-filled mass in his abdomen.

Exchanging glances over the mangled body of toddler impaled on a tree limb, ooooh romantic.

Believe me, escapism in romance is still allowable.

I wish more people would discover this author's wonderful work. I've read all her books except the first one (Shadows in Velvet), but plan to do so pronto! Her books are not only rich in history and romance, they have a touch of mystery as well. Also the plots are well developed with high quality prose and facinating characters that you fall in love with from page one. In DANGEROUS GIFTS, Claire and Palmer are two lost souls who find each other through the magic of healing. The author does a great job of delivering an excellent read here. Ten stars! Other really good books by H.S. are SECRETS IN SATIN and DAMASK ROSE.

This book is her best yet! In an era when life is hard and painful, two soul-wounded and lonely travelers find room in their hearts for each other. A spiritually uplifting read in which we are reminded that we cannot succeed alone. The depth and sensitivity that Haywood builds into her characters is phenomenal. I will read this book again and look forward to her next!

While there is a lot of information here on the gansta rap scene and its denizens, and while Mr. Haywood has considerable talent, there's a certain flatness to this book that leaves the reader feeling rather empty. The investigation of rapper C.E. Digga Jones's suicide by Haywood's series detective, Aaron Gunner, introduces us to some interesting, very well-developed characters. But the resolution of this story just doesn't have the chilling effect it should, perhaps because of Gunner's somewhat cool, distanced position on what he ultimately learns about the death. The writing is clean and crisp, but Gunner's understated emotions deprive the ending of its punch.

This was a very good book. The author takes subject matter pulled from recent headlines and gives it a new twist. Aaron Gunner is a welcome mix of brains and brawn but flawed and vulnerable enough to be human.

Gangsta-rap superstar C.E. Digga Jones seems to have everything. His career appears at its apex and yet he seems to be rising even further into a mega-superstar. He is extremely wealthy and his personal life appears even more prosperous than his career. Yet at the pinnacle of personal and professional success, C.E. Digga commits suicide. Only the father of the popular rapper thinks someone murdered his son. He hires LA detectivre Aaron Gunner to elarn the truth.

As Aaron digs into the Digga case, he rejects serving as a bodyguard to Sparkle Johnson. Though he could use the cash, Aaron has ethics and the noted radio talk show host is hated by just about everyone, including the private sleuth. Sparkle rejects Aaron too until a car bomb makes both reconsider their mutual animosity. As he struggles to keep Sparkle safe, Aaron learns that Digga had several enemies and loved ones benefiting from the superstar's death. He begins to agree with his client that someone killed the rapper, which takes Aaron into the ugliest streets of Los Angeles in an effort to obtain the truth.

The sixth Aaron Gunner tale contains the elements that have made this an award winning series. Yet, author Gar Anthony Haywood imbues a freshness into the story line that makes ALL THE LUCKY ONES ARE DEAD feels like a debut tale. The dual story lines are both interesting though separate plots. The links are the mean streets of LA and Aaron. Mr. Haywood makes the novel work as his African-American detective brings the city to life in a way rarely seen in a novel including those well written previous tales starring Gunner.

Harriet Klausner

What a delightful addition to the series. Wish there were more.

You know when you're playing a video game and you have to pause it to go do something, and you cannot even wait to return to the game well that's how this book is. It's hard to stop reading it and when you do you can hardly wait to be swept back into the book. I am not one to read books often, but I haven't appreciated a book more or read one as fast.
This book in narrated by a retired woman by the name of Dottie. Dottie has several children who are all trouble makers and cause lots of stress. Dottie has a great sense of humor along with a big heart with lots of love for all her kids even though they are hellions. She is married to an equally aged man named Joe. Joe is still young at heart but his body doesn't keep up anymore. They are both energetic and they travel the country in an Airstream camper. Joe's camper is his pride and joy and he even named her Lucille, and he feels that it is a crime to do harm to one or call it a Winnebago or along those lines. Together they have agreed to avoid all of their children (except one, their daughter Maureen) for as long as possible.
This story takes place in Washington D.C. where the couple were visiting because it was one of their life goals. But when they arrived their son Eddie some how found out about their arrival and invited them over to his place for dinner and to meet all of his friends. They were rudely interrupted by an old friend of theirs who they did not care for very much, Eddie and him exchanged some harsh words and then he left. A day later Joe and Dottie were notified that their son was being held in jail and being charged for the death of his old friend.
This book is a mystery book, and it definitely has you on your toes. Throughout the book you find yourself stopped from reading and trying to solve the case in your head. I definitely liked all of the twists and turns in the book. But when you start reading the book you feel completely lost, I found out later that this was due to the fact that the book is a sequel and they expect that you have read the first book. The characters were very real and easy to relate to, I mean Dottie kind of reminds me of my grandma because she's the caring one but there is never a dull moment when you are around her. As for Joe, his character fits my grandpa extremely well; stubborn, assertive, and always thinks he is younger than he is.
The book seemed to have quite a boring start to it, and took a while to get the story rolling so that you became interested. That would have normally caused me to find another book but instead I just kept on reading and now I am glad that I finished it.

Delightfully humurous and entertaining while also being a good mystery. Follows after Going Nowhere FAst an equally good book.

First, disadvantages:
- too few maps and those available are with a small scale, so one can get only a rough idea about the changes on the word and especially European political maps within the century;
- the timeline doesn't contain the exact dates wherever it is possible (months, at best).

Meanwhile, all in all, due to the brilliant and concise annotation it is worth keeping for reference even by advanced students of this period. I also consider it good value for money

While these maps do not go into great and glorious detail, they do provide an excellent overview for students or lovers of 20th century history. Published in full color, therea are good keys, timelines for each map, brief explanations of historic events, world, regional and detail maps divided by era. An excellent value for the money, it should be in the library of any student taking 20th century history courses.

Most history books that I have read have far too few maps to help you visualize the events that you're reading about. Moreover, these books do not provide a quick overview so that you can appreciate the long-term trends and the significance of some arcane details.

This book solves both problems. It is extremely simplistic with few details, but provides maps (thank you) and an overview of the major trends (thanks again). If you plan to study any aspect of the 20th century in detail, start with this book first.

FYI, this book is actually just the last chapter (of 6) taken from "Atlas of World History" by the same author. If you're concerned about portability, then buy this lightweight volume. Otherwise, get the entire book, which starts at 10,000 BC and runs through the present -- and only costs $20. It's an INCREDIBLE bargain!