DCM is a renowed Australian architectural practice and has designed many interesting projects. This book has a comprehensive coverage of its architectural works. However, the no. of photographs and drawings for each project are very limited and not fairly representative.

For example, I have actually visited the Australian Embassy Building in Beijing, China. The architectural design is very humble and static, reulting in elegant consistence with the surrounding context of the Chinese captial which has a long history. This project is definitely not recognizable at the first glance to be any works of DCM. It is the respect paid by the architects to the local context and culture which is highly appreciated. However, the photographs and drawings cannot reveal such ascent to the readers.

Generally, the photographs and drawings for the projects are fairly fragmented and in relatively small sizes, which can hardly present the whole picture of the project, not to mentioned the architect's detailing.

Consequently, as a comprehensive monograph for the practice, it is worth reading and being collected by one who likes contemporary Australian architecture.

This book is the required text for a class on trees and forests that I am currently taking at UC Davis. It is an imposing text and reads much like a journal of ecology. It is far from a good study aid for undergrads and grad students in forest ecology. However, given its copious literature citations, it could easily serve as a reference text for an advanced undergraduate course or graduate seminar.

The book comes full of graphs, charts and pictures, but much of it is superfluous. Key terms and concepts are not fully explained for initiates, a glossary of terms is non-existent for quick reference, and brief, detailed summaries of each chapter are not provided at the end of each chapter for time-pressed students. The book also contains numerous photographs of forest stands, maps, diagrams, and charts; however, because none of these are in color, they lose much of their visual impact, detail and valuable utility. Furthermore, there are no study questions at the end of each chapter for exam preparation. As such, initiates to forestry or landscape ecology looking for a good introduction to the field are pretty much out of luck.

Although the book has gone through four editions, it is still quite far from being a good textbook. In addition to the above mentioned comments, the writing style needs to be tighter. However, negatives aside, teachers and educators looking for examples of many of the concepts in forest ecology for use in class discussions will find this an invaluable text.

Taking in consideration that this book was probably unique in 1986, I found the whole idea of Rock and Roll, in this case: Wrack and Roll, playing a key role in world politics, nuclear war, etc, a little much....but...the characters and dialogue move along at a rocking pace, that's for sure! Part cyberpunk, part alternate history and very humourous...I devoured this book. I particularly loved the antics of the cynical, alcoholic physicist who is a pawn for both sides: the Wrackers - the rebellious, anti-establishment types and the Straights - the established followers of order. There is plenty of conflict between the two sides even when the lines become blurred but the book becomes bogged down in it's idealistic view of the power of Rock and Roll.

When the movie "Dumb and Dumber" came out, the New Yorker had this to say: "Two Nitwits on a take a cross country tour." That was the entire review. It captured the depth and breadth of the movie. This book deserves a similar review. It has virtually nothing to say but if you are 14, you might enjoy the humor. The big difference between this book and the movie is that one was hugely successful despite its inanity and the other one probably won't be.