"Strange that Ulysses does a thousand things so well." - Iliad

My (12 volume 1904 Federal edition) set includes the private as well as the official and scientific correspondence of Benjamin Franklin. The breadth of his works, writings and interests in unparalleled even by other great ones like Jefferson. By himself, Franklin changed the world like very few others, mostly for the positive.

I have, as I read, found myself shaking my head in amazement or laughing out loud with pleasure at various times. B. Franklin was a true wonder. The collection is a joy to read, there are minimal "interpretive" footnotes, and those that are included are almost always useful.

A few particular favorites:
- An essay concerning virtue and pleasure
- An erudite and ground breaking treatise on economics
- Most fun, magical circles and squares (my kids were absolutely amazed by these).

The series drops in rating from a 5 to a 4.9978 when it moves exclusively into his private (especially scientific) letters, but only because we're only getting one side of the conversation.

The Preface (which my general practice is to ignore) contains an excellent review of a number of similar works and the branches that each editor followed from just after Franklin's death until this publication, including very interesting details about the ownership of Franklin's papers.

A couple of years ago, I had used this book in a US history class. It is very good with detail and information. If you are looking for a good teaching book, this is for you!

This humourous collection of quotes hits home! Everyone will enjoy Kimo's witty sayings. I'm already repeating his wise-cracks to my friends and have posted several quotes on the bulletin board at the office. This would make a great gift for anyone young or old.

"Zimring does us a great public service in examining the United States' retention of a primitive and brutal punishment long after it was abandoned by other developed nations. This book will help insure that the inevitable abandonment of capital punishment by the United States is not delayed for another generation."

Stephen Bright
Director, Southern Center for Human Rights

"Frank Zimring's book will revolutionize how we understand the death penalty in the United States. Why, Zimring asks, does capital punishment persist in America, almost uniquely among established democracies, despite entrenched unfairness and the virtual inevitability of error? His original and provocative answer is America's vigilante tradition. Like vigilante action, the death penalty suffers from the biases of the dominant social group and the unwarranted assumption that the guilty have been correctly identified. Highlighting this uncomfortable comparison offers a promising new approach for those committed to ending this inhumane institution of American life."

Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch

"Frank Zimring's new book makes a major contribution to understanding the present situation of the death penalty in the United States and to predicting what lies ahead. Central to his analysis is his judgment that a "fundamental value conflict" lies at the root of the struggle: Will America's frontier "vigilante values" that support our death penalty practices survive their collision with our attachment to "due process" values? Written in his characteristically lively style, this provocative and completely original work has much to teach both defenders and opponents of capital punishment."

Hugo Adam Bedau, author of The Death Penalty in America

This book is written by leading psychiatrists who were among the first to identify the powerful danger of addiction to this form of cocaine. Crack was introduced into the Bahamas before it began to have its devastating effects in other countries including the U.S. Drs. Allen and Jekel have studied the crack problem from its inception. Containing much information based on extensive professional involvment with crack addiction and the large-scale social damage it causes, this volume is necessary reading for all serious students of the crack problem

I'm not really a fan of Hardy Boys books but this book was really written well. It starts off when Bayport High implements a new rule, "No Cards in School". Chet is really upset about it but he still decides to bring his cards to class because he wants to brag about his new card. His cards get confiscated and gets stolen from his teacher's locked desk. That's when all the fun starts to pile up. Cards get stolen around the school and the Hardy's are stumped. It could be anyone at school. I suggest this book to everybody out there even people who aren't really Hardy Boys fans. This book is a must!!

"The Crisis of the Old Order" is well written and researched. It captures the times and era of great depression and the stock market crash of 1929, so vivdly that no other book on the subject can compare to it. This book is definetly worth buying and reading, also check out the other two volumes of the trilogy, "The Coming of the New Deal" and "The Politics of Upheaval."

As a dancer and a beginner I was struggling with jazz technique for a long time. The imagery approach has helped me greatly to improve my plies and turns, posture and interaction with space. The essence of the imagery approach is to identify yourself with an image. As an example the one that inspired me was "a growing root". I keep coming to this book again and again, when I need to recupirate and find inspiration. It also developed my imagery and gave me another prospective on relationships, energy and dancing. The book has helpful illustrations and photos. A must!

Dead on Target, the first of the hardy Boys casefiles series, is by far one of my favorites of the series and always will be! I muct have read this one at least a dozen times. In the beginning it opens, with Joe hardy's girl friend, and sister of their best friend Chet, being killed by terrorists/ assasins. It really shows Joe's true character and emotions. Joe and his brother Frank, must stop the assasins from continuing their plan, killing hundreds and maybe thousands of people! The assasins planned on destroying the bayport mall, and killing sesveral people doing this. But when they toy with the wrong boys, Frank and Joe go after them, in search of justice! Joe gets his chance with his girl friends killer in the end. This book is a deffinate buyer! If you don't have it, or haven't read it, get it! You won't be disappointed. I know I wasn't! You won't be! This book is by far one of the greatest I have even read, and it will be one of yours to!

Dr George Matthews, a psychiatrist, encounters a patient who claims he is paid by a leprechaun to wear a flower in his hair. Another, he claims, pays him to whistle at Carnegie Hall during performances. A third pays him to give quarters away. Jacob Blunt wants Dr Matthews to confirm that he's mad. Dr Matthews is curious, so he accompanies his patient to a rendezvous with one of the leprechauns. His name is Eustace and he isn't at all pleased to see the doctor.

So begins the Deadly Percheron. After that it gets strange. First published in 1946 this unique murder mystery transcends the boundaries of the genre. It's noir, it's nightmarish, it's compulsive. John Franklin Bardin drags the reader into a world where the nature of identity is constantly questioned. Is our hero who he says he is? Can he be trusted? Is he, in fact, sane? Reality, as seen through his eyes, is a shifting kaleidoscope of memories.

As the murders mount up the fragments of his shattered psyche are slotted together. Slowly reality stabilises. At the end of the novel, but only then, it all makes sense. Who killed Frances Raye? Well, now, let's start at the beginning..."Jacob Blunt was my last patient. He came into my office wearing a scarlet hibiscus in his curly blond hair. He sat down in the easy chair across from my desk, and said, "Doctor, I think I'm losing my mind.""