Comprehensive; everything you need to know to study for the series 7 exam. The content is no different than other study guides. This is the least confusing of them that i've seen. The book's weakness is this -- you'll need to take more tests than jus the chapter-by-chapter quizzes and 2 comprehensive exams the book offers to realistically have a chance at passing the series 7 exam.

The thing that sets this book apart from many of its peers is that it doesn't offer any "quick solutions" or "bullet points." Instead, it simply lays out the material in a way that is relatively easy to understand, along with accompanying practice tests. The book is very long. It's not pithy nor is it terribly well-written (it was compiled by finance professionals), but all of the material you need is there, and if you put in the time necessary, it will help you pass. If you're preparing for the 7, I think this is the best resource out there.

If you just read Chapter 4 (pages 11-18, that's 8 pages) of this book, you can glean the essence of this entire 80 page book. This chapter contains valuable details relating to creating a WBS. This chapter explains the process of coming up with a WBS for your project. This information is not availabe at this level of detail in many other books. And more importantly, these details came out after an extensive effort by PMI (this effort is described in Appendix A-D). No project manager can afford to do work without being familiar with the information in this book. The first three chapters are short and serve as an introduction to what a WBS is and it's value on any project. If you are a PMP, you already know this information and you can gloss over these chapters. If you are new to project management, these first three chapters are as valuable as the fourth chapter because they lay the foundation for understanding how to do a WBS.

Appendix E-O outline sample WBS for different industries. I am familiar with the Web Design and Software Development fields and I can definitely say that these are too basic to be of any use unless you are a new project manager in these fields. I cannot speak to the value of the sample WBS for other industries but I am guessing you would probably have access to better sample WBS in your own company. There are vendors like IIL (International Institute of Learning) selling better templates of these WBS in the form of project schedules for various industries. It may be worthwhile looking in that direction if you are trying to collect these.

The whole book is a free Acrobat download from PMI if you are a member. The print function on this download is disabled though so if you want a copy for your desk collection, you have to buy this print edition.

As a final note, this is a very valuable contribution from PMI. I have visited too many clients where project schedules are glorified 'task lists' derived from wishful thinking. These then get put on a calendar and the client is satisfied that they have a 'project plan'. I had always wished that somebody had already educated the clients on the importance of a deliverable driven approach to project planning (WBS serves this function). As a project manager working for a consulting company, it becomes your job to do this. I plan on using this book as a baseline to achieve this purpose (hand out a copy to the client and take it from there). This book is simple enough that I believe it would accomplish the purpose.

So, at the very least, download the electronic copy and buy this print edition when you get a chance. I hope you found the information in this review helpful. And more importantly, I hope you find the information in the book even more helpful (as I did). Good luck!

The four chapters in this short, focused book introduce work breakdown structures, define them from a conceptual point of view, explain why they are the foundation of project planning, and show how to create one. These chapters comprise a scant 18 pages, but are thorough enough to accomplish the objective of explaining the Project Management Institute's practice standards for WBS.

The real value of the book is contained in appendices E through O, in which a WBS for common industry project types are given as examples. These 44 pages are the real reason to buy the book because they show real examples of the conceptual and brief "how to" approach compressed into the first 18 pages. The project types in these appendices are:
E - Oil, Gas, and Petrochemical (OGP)
F - Environmental Management
G - Process Improvement
H - Pharmaceutical
I - Process Plant Construction
J - Service Industry Outsourcing
K - Web Design
L - Telecom
M - Refinery Turnaround
N - Government Design-Bid-Build
O - Software Implementation

Appendices A-D are filler that descripe the PMI standards process and associated information, and can be safely skipped unless you are interested in those topics.

Overall this is a much needed book because WBS are still skipped during the project planning phase in too many projects. This is unfortunate because the first thing that a professional does when called in to rescue a project is to examine the WBS, and if there isn't one, the first step towards rescuing a project is to develop one. By following this book, especially if any of the example WBS is similar to your project, will go a long way towards ensuring its success.

This book is an excellent compliation of articles written for mathematicians who want to understand quantum field theory. It is not surprising then that the articles are very formal and there is no attempt to give any physical intuition to the subject of quantum field theory. This does not mean however that aspiring physicists who want to specialize in quantum field theory should ont take a look at the contents. The two volumes are worth reading, even if every article cannot be read because of time constraints. All of the articles are written by the some of the major players in the mathematics of quantum field theory. Volume 1 starts off with a glossary of the terms used by physicists in quantum field theory and is nicely written. The next few hundred pages are devoted to supersymmetry and supermanifolds. A very abstract approach is given to these areas, with the emphasis not on computation but on the structure of supermanifolds as they would be studied mathematically. There is an article on classical field theory put in these pages, which is written by Pierre Deligne and Daniel Freed, and discussed in the framework of fiber bundles. The discussion of topological terms in the classical Lagrangian is especially well written. There is an introduction to smooth Deligne cohomology in this article, and this is nice because of the difficulty in finding understandable literature on this subject. Part Two of Volume 1 is devoted to the formal mathematical aspects of quantum field theory. After a short introduction to canonical quantization, the Wightman approach is discussed in an article by David Kazhdan. Most refreshing is that statement of Kazhdan that the Wightman approach does not work for gauge field theories. This article is packed with interesting insights, especially the section on scattering theory, wherein Kazdan explains how the constructions in scattering theory have no finite dimensional analogs. The article by Witten on the Dirac operator in finite dimensions is fascinating and a good introduction to how powerful concepts from quantum field theory can be used to prove important results in mathematics. A fairly large collection of problems (with solutions) ends Volume 1. The first part of Volume 2 is devoted entirely to the mathematics of string theory and conformal field theory. The article by D'Hoker stands out as one that is especially readable and informative. D. Gaitsgory has a well written article on vertex algebras and defines in a very rigorous manner the constructions that occur in the subject. The last part of Volume 2 discusses the dynamics of quantum field theory and uses as much mathematical rigor as possible. One gets the impression that it this is the area where it is most difficult to proceed in an entirely rigorous way. Path integrals, not yet defined mathematically and used throughout the discussion. The best article in Volume 2, indeed of the entire two volumes is the one on N = 2 Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions. It is here that the most fascinating constructions in all of mathematics find their place. These two volumes are definitely worth having on one's shelf, and the price is very reasonable considering the expertise of the authors and considering what one will take away after reading them.

These articles are great. Fills the ubiquitous need to retract the gap between then conceptual and rigorous framework of the subjects.

Physicists interested in the mathematical aspects of quantum field/string theory would do well to read these volumes as well.

Deserving, in my opinion, more than 5 stars -- many more!!

This book was very informative, of both Renoir's life as well as his art. I enjoyed reading it thoroughly and would recommend it to any art lovers.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir was an artist in the fullest sense of the word. The paintings he left us show us the simplicity and sensuality of his times and their brilliant colors and joyous images express the passion of Renoir's own soul.

The paradise of color and the changing effects of light were Renoir's greatest gift to the world. This book, Renoir: The Crown Art Library, showcases some of the artist's most beloved works and gives a brief overview of his life.

A quick glance at this book tells you that Renoir's favorite subject was always people. In fact, it is possible to select an entire series of masterpieces from Renoir's works without including even one landscape--something that would be impossible with any of the other Impressionists.

The people created by Renoir are always filled with the warm joy of simply being alive. Of the many illustrations in this book, most are in color, allowing us to both study and participate in the "joie de vivre" that Renoir, more than any other artist, communicated to the world.

There is a short analysis of the evolution of Renoir's technique and we learn why he abandoned the dark, sombre colors of the Old Masters and turned to the brilliant reds, blues, yellows and greens of which he was so fond.

We learn how and why the feminine form became a stronger and stronger element in his paintings, especially those of his later years, and we see how, in the last ten years of his life, he limited his palette to only a few colors--cinnabar, ochre, Naples yellow, black and some white, yet managed to create playful visions of a sun-bright world, seemingly devoid of weight; paintings in which contours of people and surroundings are blurred and all is joined in a concord of color and naturalness.

Renoir: The Crown Art Library is a wonderful introduction to the life and style of this master Impressionist, the world's most joyous painter. Those looking for a biography of Renoir would be better off choosing Renoir, My Father, by Jean Renoir, the artist's middle son. In-depth analyses of Impressionism and Renoir's own technique in particular, are also better covered in other books such as Rewald's History of Impressionism.

But for the vast majority of people, laymen who only want to increase their knowledge and appreciation of the world's greatest artists, Renoir: The Crown Art Library offers a wonderful starting point. With is lavish illustrations and lively text, it will broaden the scope of anyone's understanding. The book is a joy to browse and once insight is gained into the how and why of each painting, that joy is only increased.

While certainly far from exhaustive, Renoir: The Crown Art Library, is a lovely book and anyone with even a passing interest in Renoir and Impressionism will find it well worth their while.

Steven Bullock has added a great deal to the study of Masonry with this book. If nothing else were accomplished he makes clear to the Freemason the true difference between ancient and modern Masonry. This book is also a fine study of the social history of the United States in its early years. Often overlooked by historians, the importance of the Freemasons in the early republic is finally looked at in depth.

Freemasonry often claims a large role in the advent of the Revolution which according to Bullock does not seem to be the case. On the other hand its importance to the American cause during the Revolution can hardly be overstated. Southern planters like Washington and Lee had little in common New Englanders such as General Greene, a Quaker from Connecticut. They had even less in common with the likes of Lafayette and von Steuben. Their one common link was Freemasonry. It seems that the officer corps of the American army forged its strong bonds around the fraternity. Not just the generals but many officers of all ranks seem to have bonded through Masonry. Military lodges spread the fraternity through out the army and soon some regiments actually marched with the officers wearing their Masonic badges of office.

Freemasonry as the title of this book suggests seems to have been important in the transformation of the American social order after the war. Masonry acted somewhat as a school for democrats but the fraternity itself began to grow into an elite order of "nobility" that almost became a new aristocracy. This status would help bring on the antimasons as the brotherhood which had helped mold early America's social order failed to change with changing times. The more open democracy brought on by the age of Jackson made a seeming aristocracy like the Masons seem out of place. In an odd twist, the father of this age was himself an active Mason. Jackson in fact served two terms as Grand Master of Tennessee.

There are only two small things about this book that I can fault. The writing style as is often the case with history professors is just a tad dull. The wealth of information to be found tends to make up for the style though. The more serious problem is the manner in which Bullock decides the Masons grew out of the stone masons guilds. There are many ideas about the origins of Masonry that deserve more attention. Bullock may well have taken the true path but he fails to document his conclusion in the way he documents his other insights.

Finally, this book which was written as a history offers important warnings for today's fraternity. As the brotherhood failed to change with the times during the antimasonry frenzy and almost died the changes in society today are also slowly killing Masonry. The fraternity must take the warnings given us in this book and learn from our past mistakes. Change is hard but sometimes necessary.

As the first third party in an American presidential election (1832) the Anti-Masonic Party has usually appeared suddenly in the story of the Jacksonian Era with little explanation except that the Masons were suspected in the murder of one William Morgan, who threatened to reveal their innermost rituals and secrets. The prosecution of the case was hampered by the fact that Masons dominated local and state government, which came to be seen an secret, elitist plot against democratic institutions. Steven C. Bullock traces the history of the Masonic movement from England to America and demonstrates how Masons were critical to the success of the American Revolution and the creation of a new nation under the Constitution of 1789. As such the Masons were not a sudden a aberration in American history but a group central to the early history of the nation. Masonic meetings gave members a place to learn how democratic government worked, how to socialize, how to argue without resorting to force, and how to participate in establishing a concept of national interest, or virtue, in the language of the times. Bullock's volume is one of the most critical interpretations of this period in American History. Do not be put off by its academic style or philosophical tone, especially in the first chapter. It really moves along afterward and demonstrates how an organization that boasted such diverse members as Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Joseph Smith (the founder of Mormonism), and Andrew Jackson came to be seen as a conspiratorial institution that needed to be curbed for the betterment of an egalitarian American democracy. It also illustrates how the Masons sprang back from near destruction to be the charitable organization better recognized by Americans living today. It's well worth while!

Russia's return to capitalism has caused economic collapse and political and social chaos. Kagarlitsky's book proves that workers cannot live under capitalism because it does not meet our needs. Stalin had found Russia a ruin and left it a great independent power. Gorbachev and Yeltsin found Russia a major power and left it in ruins: Kagarlitsky depicts this criminal and treasonous ruling class.

He shows capitalism's dire effects on Russia's economy, industry, the trade unions, the media, the intelligentsia, and systems of government. Capitalism ended full employment and free education and medical care. Between 1991 and 1998 overall production halved, and the population fell by 3.4 million.

He notes, "In the West, ... the bourgeoisie was being forced to wage a drawn-out positional war against the welfare state ... with the adoption of the Maastricht Accords, the advent of the euro and the establishing of a European Central Bank independent of the governments and the population." These international monetarist bodies ordered privatisation, to breathe life into a dying system.

As in Britain, the Russian working class cannot avoid head-on assault by capitalist forces; if workers don't fight, we won't survive: we will have no pensions, no jobs, no NHS, no education, no housing, no law, no order. In Russia, Kagarlitsky warns us, "A shift to compulsory medical insurance ushered in the collapse of the entire health care system."

He writes, "There is no capitalist solution to Russia's problems." In fact, capitalism is the problem. He calls on Russia's workers to make a new revolution. They must find a new way of survival and work out how to run their country again. They have to restore their organisations and fight for democracy and sovereignty.

As Kagarlitsky writes, "The American Revolution showed that democracy and independence are interlinked in the closest possible fashion. The essence of them is that a country's fate is determined by its citizens alone, and not by a parliament in Westminster to which the inhabitants of Boston have not sent deputies, and not by the International Monetary Fund, whose policies are not formulated in Moscow."

Ably translated into English by Renfrey Clarke, Russia Under Yeltsin And Putin by Boris Kagarlitsky (Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Comparative Political Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences) is a compelling contemporary political analysis of the radical changes that have reshaped the former Soviet Union during the last twenty years. From the influence of "Westernism" to the twilight of the "Second Republic" and the uncertain future of Putin's new government, Russia Under Yeltsin And Putin is a fascinating study, and highly recommended for Russian Studies supplemental reading lists and academic reference collections.

This book was produced by the Foreign Service Department in 1965. Although it's old, it's extremely comprehensive. It's 600 pages long and comes with about 20 audio cassettes.

After completing 6 of the 25 lessons, I went to Bosnia for two weeks and was able to struggle by with the help of a pocket dictionary. Nothing helped my language skills like that two weeks in Bosnia--you can't beat total immersion--but this is the next best thing. It's helped me far more than any other course in a classroom setting (I've taken two) and any other textbook I've studied (I've tried three other textbooks). It forces you to drill with the new vocabulary and new concepts out loud, over and over again, until it's permanently imprinted on your gray matter.

I'd estimate that this course takes 200-300 hours to complete, and you will be able to speak basic Bosnian/ Croatian/ Serbian quite well by the end.

The course has a Serbian bent to it, because it was written when Belgrade was at the helm of Yugoslavia. It includes some cyrillic text in addition to roman, and many words are spelt the Serbian way. Some of the Serbian vocabulary introduced is not in common use in Bosnia or Croatia. However, I think this is only a minor drawback for those wishing to learn Bosnian or Croatian. If you actually travel there, the minor differences in Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian pronunciation and vocabulary will become readily apparent.

I'm still looking for a course that doesn't require the raw, brute effort that this one does--I've been looking at James Asher's TPR learning method--but for the time being, this is the best thing I've come across.

I agree with most of what Chris McGrath has to say. Note: this course actually has two parts; Part 1 and Part 2 EACH have a 630 page book and 22 audio cassettes. I think Amazon.com is just offering Part 1. If you decide to do this get both parts.

The State Department Foreign Language Institute courses (this is one), created with your tax dollars at the height of the cold war, are all excellent. This course is for those who are serious about being able to live and work in the countries of ex-Jugoslavia. If you are just going to visit don't waste your time here; it's way overkill. This is definitely the brute force method. The thing is, unless learning languages is a snap for you, and unless you have some exposure to Slavic languages, the brute force method is the only way to go. This course is incredible: it is extremely well done, both in explaining the structure of the language and in the exercises that gradually re-progam your brain for this new structure. It is very thorough. You HAVE to get the audio cassettes; don't waste your time without them. I would add that there is one other mandatory addition for those going down this path: the Morton Benson full edition English-Serbo Croatian and Serbo Croatian-English dictionaries. The combination of this course and the Morton Benson is the way to go.

This is heavy reading (but then again which book on costing isn't?). However it contain heaps of very useful and relevant approaches to the very elusive and difficult field of supply chain costing. What you find missing in other books on supply chain management is here!

Conducting research in supply chain costing, I found this book a very helpful source of information. The concept of supply chain management addressed by the product and the network dimensions are excellent, as this brings all aspects of material and information flows and partnerships in supply chain management together. Dividing each dimision in a decision (product design / network formation) and an operations phase (product manufacture / interfaces) provides a framework for supply chain costing. This framework is used to show how various cost management techniques (e.g. target costing) are applied in supply chains. Still, the interlinkes between the dimension could have been addressed clearer. Furthermore, the aspects of managing all costs along the supply chain are only partly covered. for example, the cost of organisational designs and negotiations / contracting in the supply chain are not discussed. Still, the book is a must for people interested in supply chains and cost management. Both the concepts presented and the case studies provide very valuable information.

An interesting start into a functional aspect of evolving information-based warfare. Going beyond just having "information dominance," this work explores the application of such knowledge with an explication of "BattleSwarm" doctrine. Returning to the controlled chaos of Mongol hoards, this study sees our capacities for information for integrated attack from all sides and from all dimensions. With a broad, historical outline that helps one's imagination, this study is a good start at the pros and cons this doctrine for the future.

First off, it should be stated that this is by no means a full book. Rather, it is more of a fleshed out briefing paper. That said, the authors have done a superb job of positing a new theory of combat and have gone to some lengths to establish it in the context of military history, and to consider some of the potential strengths and weaknesses of this nascent doctrine.

Swarming, or "BattleSwarm", as the authors refer to it, might be considered the logical endgame of maneuver warfare theory: small, highly mobile, highly lethal, and most importantly, largely autonomous units that converge on a point (either with force or fire) from all directions, and then disperse until called upon again. This mode of attack has the advantage of maximizing the application of fire when needed, while minimizing the exposure of friendly units to PGM's and massed enemy formations when not. To a degree, this is what we have seen American forces do in Afghanistan, but that was a result of ad hoc planning born of necessity. What the authors propose here, however, is a complete rethinking of the military (primarily the Army) to effectively engage in this new kind of fighting.

As one might expect, of paramount importance to the success of BattleSwarm is the development of networking technologies that can allow widely dispersed units to communicate with each other and command elements in an effective fashion. Moreover, the authors point out the need for a new command doctrine that will limit micromanaging of the battlespace, on the one hand, and insufficient coordination of assets on the other.

Ultimately, this study is just a first step, albeit a critical one. I fully expect that the authors will flesh this work out into a full-fledged book that will seek to overcome some of the difficulties they have outlined. In the meantime, this briefing provides a valuable framework within which to evaluate our successes and failures in Afghanistan (it should be noted, this was published prior to 9/11). It seems that military, out of necessity, is moving in the direction that has been outlined here, and as a result, understanding swarming and its application will be critical for anyone interested in the shape of our armed forces in the years to come.

Note: this review is not just for this one volume but for the entire series. This volume is a reference guide and is a good basis, but the meat of Talmud study takes place in the rest of the series.

The main problem with studying Talmud is that at any point in the Talmud, you are expected to know the rest of the Talmud. The way to circumvent this problem is to study Talmud with a group and make sure there is at least one rabbi presence (two or more is optimal since much of the learning comes from the divergent viewpoints and the tension in between.)

What Steinsaltz seems to be trying to do is to place almost every commentary into the his series. This is great for the commentaries, however if you are not familiar with the particular tractate (Ketubos and Bava Metziah are the tractates currently published but there are other ones.) or the argument you will lose the thread of the argument and something that relies on you remembering a statement made a page back is going to be difficult since most Talmud "pages" (long story but there is a popular class in which you study a Talmud page a day) are taking about 4-7 pages to play out.

This is an invaluable book in conjunction with a class. It is also a great series if you have already studied these tractates and would like to come back and see what you've missed (and in Talmud study you do tend to miss a few things, especially if you are starting out and you don't know all the context.)

However, I would recommend the Artscroll Talmud if you are a beginner.

It is said that there is a Talmud for every generation, and the one for now and the next fifty years or so is the Steinsaltz edition, first in Hebrew, and now appearing in English at the rate of a couple of volumes a year from Random House. The "Reference Guide" is a "how to use this tool" sort of book, but in Steinsaltz's unusual case such a specialised book turns out to have general application. For the Christian who wonders about the relevance of Scripture to life -- and what exegesis can mean for lay people of faith -- this Reference Guide can serve as an introduction to their own faith reading. For the youngster attracted to the classics of the East, as Rabbi Steinsaltz was for many years, the book can serve to teach just what books _are_, how to use them, how to be captivated and even captured without being enslaved. For the Jew whose Hebrew -- and Aramaic, and Greek, and history, and.. -- are not up to full-time Talmudic study, this guide can be just that, a guide, and one which will very likely lead to buying the rest of the English language volumes as they appear. A natural bar and bat mitzvah present for all, except those so frum the boys will already have read it in Hebrew. :-) -dlj