A co-worker just lent me this book after we shared a few conversations about rural Texas life and food. I didn't want to return it to him until I got a copy of my own, as it is a wonderful blend of autobiography and cookbook.

Reading it, I found myself missing the summers spent in East Texas with my great-grandparents. I particularly enjoyed the tales of my family's childhood adventures, and the wonderful smells and tastes of Great-grandmother's home cooking from scratch.

A word of caution, however; those of weak heart (both figurative and literal) should not only refrain from eating any of the foods as prepared per Mrs. Blackwell's instructions, but reading the Chicken and Dumplings recipe in the Poultry and Meat section should also be avoided (it contains rather gruesome, but hilarious and accurate instructions on how to dispatch the entree-to-be).

Whether you enjoy authentic home cooking, rural anecdotes, or simply reminiscing, you will find quite a gold mine in this little book.

THIS BOOK REFLECTS BACK ON THE SIMPLIER DAYS. AURTHOR DEENIE CARVER WORKED IN THE KITCHEN WITH HER MOM TO COOK FOR 9 CHILDREN. DEENIE JUMPED OUT OF A HAY LOFT AND BROKE HER HIP, FORCING HER TO STAY INSIDE AND NOT WORK OUT IN THE FIELD WITH THE REST OF THE CHILDREN. THE BLACKWELL FAMILY BOOST ON HER COOKING. LOUISE DILLOW HAS LIVED A JET SET LIFE AND IS AN ARTIST AND CONTRIBUTED HER ART ABILITY TO THE BOOK AS WELL AS RECIPES.

It was amazing to read that many of the ideas and ideals around the turn of the twentieth century are still used today. Ford goes into great detail describing the origination of the Ford motor company, the labor force, the assembly line, and financial situations of the company. At a time when most of the male workers across the country were working for fifty cents a day, Ford incorporated a minimum wage of from three to five dollars a day. Henry Ford did a good job writing this book as well. There were several examples of sage advice include which are quoted by speakers and writers to this day. He was truly a visionary, business minded genius. The world was certainly improved by his presence. I'm looking forward to reading other of his works in the future.

Sometimes with the pace of business we don't take the time to review the thoughts and concepts of the great people of the past. When I read this book I was amazed at his level of thinking. We tend to believe that "our" generation is always coming up with the great thoughts and ideas. If this is your thinking you need to step back 100 years or so to the life and times of Henry Ford. All we are doing is reinventing what he did.

Paul Jeffers is a master of the popular biography, and he has produced another laudable work in this genre with this chronicle of Fiorello LaGuardia. I approached this book with only a cursory knowledge of LaGuardia, but came away with an enriched understanding of the Little Flower's far-reaching influence on New York City.

I was struck repeatedly by the parallels between LaGuardia and another successful, highly influential Mayor, Giuliani. Both wielded absolute power ("dictatorial," to their detractors), did not brook dissent easily, ran as anti-machine reformers (barely gaining office initially but subsequently amassing larger majorities), assailed corruption and malfeasance, and left New York City a markedly better place than they found it.

By his own admission, Jeffers's is NOT the definitive LaGuardia biography. He writes with broad brushstrokes, painting a colorful, big-picture portrait, and avoiding the pitfalls of needless minutae. Jeffers also has a talent for placing his subjects in the context of history. (To wit: LaGuardia spent his formative years in Prescott, Arizona, whose Mayor was the famous Bucky O'Neill of the "Rough Riders" lore. During the Spanish-American War, young LaGuardia was a stringer for a St. Louis newspaper, where he was in the company of such legendary war correspondents as Richard Harding Davis and Stephen Crane.)

As a result of this style, all of Jeffers's biographies are entertaining, easy to read, and provide a succinct overview to laypersons with a passion for history. If you fit that description, "The Napoleon of New York" is for you.

Fiorello LaGuardia was an amazing character. He was loved and hated depending on who you asked, but one thing is for sure- he did great things for the city of New York. This biography explores his immigrant roots, his rise to power, and his quest for revitalizing New York. A tough politician indeed, but one who brought greatness and glory to his city.

Frank Netter, MD's series of medical illustrations remain state of the art in the world of anatomy texts. Volume 1 (and Vol. 2) of the neuroanatomy series are no exception. With comprehensive text, bright, beautiful, full-color illustrations, these books literally captivate the reader-student, no mean feat with fundamentally boring material! Original anatomical drawings by Netter, in my opinion, are much better teaching aids than those derived from neuroimaging - which tend to be dark. Netter's sometimes cartoon-like and comical artwork is so "50's" - yet so well-done that they only seem dated in terms of non-essentials and really do not distract. I am somewhat a collector-lover of neuroanatomy texts (I teach the subject)and Netter's top the list. The illustrations also make outstanding slides for lectures(which can be purchased separately as a set from Novartis[Ciba-Geigy] or scanned-in from the text). These books are fabulous and are literally going to be collector's editions!

This book is absolutely fabulous for anyone studying neuroanatomy. Netter's diagrams are exceptionally clear and comprehensive. The text which accompany the diagrams is actually more detailed and informative than I would have expected. All areas of the brain are covered in detail. In addition to information on structures, there are diagrams of neuroanatomical pathways, the projections of structures and so forth. A great buy for any neuropsychology student.

Henry Hazlitt, author of the classic 'Economics in One Lesson,' here makes the argument for replacing America's presidential system of government with a parliamentary one resembling Great Britain's. His argument is strong and well-reasoned. Even people unwilling to consider wholesale changes to the constitutional system that has lasted this long will find much to ponder in this brief book.

Hazlitt argues that the tremendous expansion of government size and power has made our original constitutional design unworkable. The more government tries to do, he says, the less it is able to do well. Additionally, as he writes in the preface to the second edition, 'No man today can possess the knowledge, the wisdom, the judgment, the humility, the restraint to know how to exercise such powers and to make such a multitude of crucial decisions. In brief, so long as a President has such awesome responsibilities and powers, no man, no human being, is fit to be President.'

Hazlitt also argues that the Nixon impeachment crisis proves that the constitutional system is too unwieldy: a parliamentary system could have removed Nixon without provoking a 'constitutional crisis.' The same argument can be made again, of course, citing the Clinton example.

In all, this book by a respected economist and political writer deserves much wider attention than it has ever received. For people who believe government is ultimately reformable, Hazlitt's suggestions are an important contribution to a long-overdue debate.

A New Constitution Now is a brilliant critique of American government. Hazlitt draws on the opinions of many scholars, as well as his own great insight, to explain why the presidential system of government is fundamentally flawed. He advocates adopting a parliamentary government much like that of Great Britain--minus the impotent monarch. Hazlitt scorns the traditional American fetishistic adoration of our Constitution and exposes the numerous problems (including the Civil War) that have arisen as a direct or indirect result of our "midguided" systems of separation of powers and checks and balances. Hazlitt offers both criticism and solutions, and the book is both compelling and convicing.

It could be an exaggeration when I call the Kobbes Opera Guide a Bible for opera lovers. But it's a very resourceful book on operatic composers, performers and the rich history of opera from its early days in Baroque Italy. Everything you want to know is here...the opera comique style, Baroque masters such as Gluck and Handel, the Rossini operas, bel canto beauties such as the Donizetti operas, German operas and French operas. It is a very monumental source of information on singers as well, sopranos from the very talked about Maria Callas (1923-1977), Joan Sutherland, Beverly Sills, and recent singers as Renee Fleming and Sumi Jo, tenors Placido Domingo, Nicolai Gedda, Luciano Pavoratti, Jon Vickers, and their careers. A must have for any true opera buff. Immerse yourself into the stories of operas and its fascinating background in music.

The new format of this magnificent reference book is the most outstanding feature of this revised, updated work. The prior Kobbe's clumsily, but not wholly improperly , catlogued composers like a taxonomical excercise. The genus being the chronological era and the species is the nationality of the composer. Thus German composers in the nineteenth century with singular emphasis on Wagner are grouped; then Italian opera for that century, and so on through Europe. Then we come to the twentieth century and all over again with this format but encompassing the world by nation. The revised volume has nothing more outstanding than an alphabetical arrangement for the subjects, but how outstanding and important this seemingly simple change is cannot be overestimated. This is a required reference book for opera afficianados whatever level of knowledge of the subject one possesses.

Before reviewing this excellent book, understand your answer to the Question I pose: Are you in-it for the autonomy and good-work, or .. are you in-it for the position/money/biz/game rush?

The answer to this question /defines/ your business/career commitment, so know it now.

Once you've answered the question, though, then NO MATTER which answer you discovered yours to be ( and almost all business-books, including this one, assume that ONLY entrepreneurs exist, and don't consider propreneurs or our needs/motivations... )
... this book you need. It gives you the what, the why, the /sense/ of startup-surviving.

Excellent book. These guys have /really/ been there: when they say ( paraphrase ) "fix it right, or you're paying endlessly and /still/ not having it right" they give examples... including one where the standard chemical-engineering-textbook version of what they were doing wasn't correct! Only by having the active integrity to perceive-it-right, and fix-it-right, up-front can one survive competition ( and having one's textbooks all be incorrect on a point fundamental to one's own current endeavour, is competitive pressure from a /really/ unexpected quarter ).

The rest of the book? Ah, that's for you to read, eh?

I'll give you the TOC, though, since it isn't included above in the book-data listed ( and I'm including page-numbers so you get the sense of the quantity-of-information given to each area in the book )

Preface
Acknowledgements
1.Preparing Yourself - 1
2.The Business Concept - 24
3.Building a Team - 53
4.Market Research - 84
5.Finding Your Niche - 105
6.The Marketing Function - 125
7.Sales Tactics - 147
8.Production - 171
9.Research and Development - 189
10.Financial Planning - 207
11.Management Systems - 228
12.The Business Plan - 247
13.Finding Capital - 259
Appendix: Assorted Unavoidable Topics - 287
Reading List - 297
Index - 301

One of the most logical, useful books ever written. Can jump around or read from the start. Concentrates on real-world examples and less on financial abstracts. Especially good section on analyzing a field before you get in, then tells how to best enter. Recommended also by INC Magazine.

OFFSPRING OF EMPIRE: THE KOCH"ANG KIMS AND THE COLONIAL ORIGINS OF KOREAN CAPITALISM 1876-1945 is a detailed economic, historical, and biographical polemic about the origins of capitalism in Korea. The author argues, that Japanese "(c)olonialism...for better or worse...was the catalyst and cradle of industrial development in Korea...". Using the example of two brothers, Kim Songsu and Kim Yonsu, Eckart reveals a rough portrait of middle-class life in pre-and-Occupation-era Korea. Wading through economic statistics, newspaper clippings, boardroom minutes, and interviews, the author also contends against nationalistic, whether South Korean ("sprouts theory") or North Korean, theories of Korean development. What remains is the disturbing thought, that the glue holding nationalism together on the Korean peninsula, is morally bankrupt.

Although this book was published originally in 1991 (reprinted in 1997), the full effect of the events it describes are still unfolding. Relations between the two Koreas, and both Koreas' relations with foreign nations, particularly Japan, China, Russia, and the United States, are complicated by questions from just this period of history. Where is Korea? Who are the Koreans? Both these basic questions continue to unnerve Koreans as they try to locate themselves in the larger world outside Asia. Eckart's argument undermines the Korean argument, that Koreans were developing into a modern nation just like any western nation. He also undermines the role of Koreans in the capitalist development of their own country. He even, by questioning the origins of Park Chung Hee's inspiration for developing South Korea after the Occupation, undermines all of Korea's development efforts. One is left with the disturbing thought, that Korea, as the average Korean loves to say, is the land of one racial group, a theory fraught with serious moral implications.

Eckart's argument also frustrates the search for an alternative to authoritarian development by a strong government, whether colonialist or Park-esque. Its as if the Americans had crowned Washington after all, instead of devising an original alternative to the despotism the revolutionaries had just defeated. As Korea stumbles through reform with a president highly unpopular and limited by constitutional restrictions, these thoughts,this book raises,take on more urgency.

OFFSPRING OF EMPIRE is, in one aspect, history of a powerful landlord family, Kochang Kims, their interactions with Japanese colonial authorities and the active role they played in the growth of textile and other industries throughout 20th century Korea. More broadly and importantly, it is a rigorous and insightful analysis of the emergence of industrial capitalism in Korea. When it was initially published, the book received criticism from Korean scholars for challenging the then-dominant model of the nationalist scholarship; "sprout theory," or the notion that indigenous sprouts of industrial capitalism were nipped by the colonial exploitation by the Japanese. Recently, however, nationalist scholarship has come under attack by a new generation of Korean historians. Much of the nationalist criticism -- including the claim that the book "rationalizes" Japanese colonial rule -- were operating under the (unstated) assumption that economic development was an unquestioned good, and since the Japanese colonial rule was evil, it could not possibly have helped Korean economic development. Some young Korean historians are now seriously questioning this assumption. Economic development , in either colonial or postcolonial Korea, no longer appears to be an unquestioned good, given its gross human rights violations, environmental destruction and other negative legacies. (North Korea in its way had to deal with the legacy of colonialism -- it can be seen as a nation where nationalism, emerged as an oppositional ideology to the Japanese colonial rule, has been elevated to the level of religious credo. The result of this, as we all can plainly see, has been disastrous to the basic human dignity of North Koreans) The evidence for continuties between colonial and postcolonial regimes is too numerous and obvious to be brushed aside. The fact that there was economic development under the colonial rule by no means justifies or excuses the Japanese domination, an act of profound disregard and contempt for the people of Korea. Acknowledging this fact simply opens the way for raising more questions and topics to be investigated about the nature of Japanese colonialism. The critical attitude of many young Korean historians indicates, indeed, that one of the most important negative legacies of Japanese colonialism, i.e. absolutist, unyielding allegiance to nationalism, (which so often breaks down into the "blood is thicker than water" variety of ethnic chauvinism) is becoming the thing of the past. Read OFFSPRING if you are interested in modern Korean history, modern Japanese history and East Asian economic development, and make up your own mind.

Yesyesyes. I have lived through post war America and Grunwald has recalled and revisited the troubling events since 1945. If I hadn't lived through it, it would be even more important to have read this book. I have been gripped by it for days and I am richer and wiser for having read it.

Insightful, impeccably written autobiography that reveals the man -- the major events, and the people who shaped those events, as chronicled in Time Magazine ... of which Grunwald was editor-in-chief.

Okay, it's the middle of winter, Christmas is past, and now is the time to break out the gardening catalogs and begin plotting the new growing year. According to Henry Mitchell, we can enjoy the garden year-round if we plan strategically and the middle of winter is a good time to begin.

Mr. Mitchell wrote two weekly columns for the Washington Post for a number of years--one of them a garden column I never missed reading. His garden columns have been preserved in several books. ONE MAN'S GARDEN follows his first book THE ESSENTIAL EARTHMAN which spread his well-earned reputation as a garden guru far beyond the Post market area. These two books were published while he was alive so one must assume they were collections of his favorite essays. The essays are arranged by season and correspond to the months he wrote them.

Mitchell can be read by gardeners living anywhere. Although his essays contain information helpful to those working in Zone 7, the reader can glean sage advice applicable anywhere. He shares anecdotes about his experiences in his own backyard, and while that might seem far from novel as every other Tom, Dick, and Henrietta is writing a garden book these days, his essays are the best. His writing is funny, philosophical, useful, and a joy to read, especially on a cold winter day when you need to be reminded of irridescent dragonflies hovering over lily ponds (former horse troughs).

In his essay on dragonfiles (July) he informs us they require lily pads for landing, they can't just plop on the water like a pelican. This little item helped me understand I needed to do more to make my back yard friendly to butterflies, dragon flies, and their insect kin. I now have shallow spots in my birdbaths where they can dip their tiny feet.

Mr. Mitchell shares all sorts of interesting insights from his adventures with clinging vines--planting them where they will not grow, growing native variants such as the American Wisteria. The American Wisteria is often overlooked by those who grow the "Oriental" kind from China which Mitchell says if left untended can form a 20-foot clump in the middle of your yard. The Chinese Wisteria is very ornate, and the U.S. Park Service has planted it all over the National Gallery of Art on the Mall, but the American Wisteria is a pretty little thing better suited for the back yard. Mitchell says you can see this Wisteria in bloom at the Henry Botanical Foundation in Philadelphia.

Mitchell's essays range far and near, from Jefferson at Monticello to flower shows in faraway places. He writes in December of bananas, not a local plant in Zone 7 by any means, but one Mitchell considered a "great good plant" nevertheless and he grows one in his back yard in a pot. Although MItchell died several years ago, his essays are every bit as timely useful and funny as ever, and not to be missed.

This book is a delight and a pleasure to read aloud. The author has helped us focus on spring planting even though the wind chill factor has been -35 degrees most of the weekend. One Man's Garden helps "cure" the cabin fever that rages at this time of year in the northeast. Well worth the money it's a refreshing window into the love of gardening.