In this book, Mr. Vryonis speaks for an institute whose avowed purpose is to propogate a particular version of history, a version which demonizes all things Turkish. In short, it's an unhelpful contribution to a complex--even Balkan--set of problems and an oversimplification of a quite complicated historical legacy. Look for more objective books if you need background on these questions: this one is a rant.

This book is a review by Prof. Vryonis of a book that was authored in French by the late prime minister of Turkey, Turgut Ozal. The apparent aim of the book is to make propaganda about Turkey, Turkish history, the language etc. that is so incredible that it could not possibly be believed by anyone even passingly familiar with history. Vryonis does a great job deflating this incompetent job of chauvinism and bungled attempt at historical revisionsim. Ozal goes down as just another Turkish politician who gave his people a bad name. A must read for all those interested in learning the dark side of modern Turkey.

The author, a well known scholar, provides an excellent analysis of how the modern Turkish state, ever since its founding in 1923, has worked intensively, though incompetently, on distorting history.

This is done by reviewing a recent book written in French by the assistants of the late president Ozal of Turkey, in order to convince the Europeans that Turkey should be allowed to enter the European Union.

Mr. Ozal, turned historian, attempts to persuade the readers of his book of such things as: all Greek history is in fact Turkish history; all history stems from the Turks and could not be possible without the contribution of the Turks; all language stems from Turkish etc.

In the second part of the book, Dr. Vryonis examines how the Turkish state is buying influence in the United States by bankrolling the work of corrupt American scholars to parrot such "theories" as those in Mr. Ozal's book and by endowing chairs of Turkish Studies in American universities.

The chief characteristic of Turkish civilization when it comes into contact with other civilizations is that an orgy of taking and usurpation develops -- that is the Turks taking from the other civilization. The current book -- superbly documented with Turkish as well as international sources -- shows that this cultural tendency to usurp and appropriate extends not just to material wealth and to the genes of the forcibly Turkified populations, but -- beyond that -- to the history of the peoples the Turks come into contact with.

In our times this tendency is manifested by the Turkish state denying the identity of 20% of its population which is Kurdish and by its insistence to refer to them as "mountain Turks" while prohibiting public speech or publications in Kurdish.

The book should be read by all, but especially by those who believe that Turkey is a Western nation. Distortion of history and manipulation of national identity is not a particularly western value.

This book provides a good look at Captain John Smith. Smith, a complex man, led an interesting life -- including neing sold as a slave in Turkey. This book illuminates his tough demeanor, which helped the early colonists survive, but also led to quarrels with them. For those of you who want to know the real Smith -- not the Disney version - this is the place to look.

The definitive work on Smith's writing is Barbour's three volume set, which is expensive and difficult to find (special order on Amazon - $250). That said, Kupperman's work is a useful introduction, arranged in themes she perceives in his works: life and legend, leader of Jamestown, relations with the Indians, interpreter of environment, and advocate of a concept of colonialization. As such the reader does not progress through Smith's writings in the chronological order in which he created them, but there is a cohesiveness which might otherwise be lost if she clung to the actual timeline. No volume of this size could encompass all aspects of this complex, albeit difficult, man, but Kupperman puts the limited space to effective use. I found her introductory essay on Smith to be among the best material I have read on him. If someone had time to read only one thing about Smith, I would recommend these 23 pages. There are some things about the book I wish were better. Kupperman helps the reader with some of the more arcane lingustic artifacts of Tudor English, but I wish she had explained more about the context and references than she did. I also wish she had said more about Smith as a cartographer. His map of the Chesapeake was the definitive map of the region for about 60 years and was copied by the most famous names in cartographic history. His map of the coast of New England were instrumental to further English settlement there, inc. that of the Pilgrims and Puritans. She touches on this but I would like to have heard more. These points aside, however, I found this to be a useful and well written volume.

...but alack, I can't say much for her knowledge of the trends that she claims shape the form of the Hollywood Musical. For example, her explaination of Brecht's verfremdungs-effekt (which she never labels as such, using instead the much maligned 'alienation' translation) completely omits the most important aspect of Brecht's aesthetic: the political one. While it may be valid to maintain that Hollywood Musicals are apolitical, it is a travesty to invoke a political concept without addressing at least the omission of the political aspect. Likewise, her comparisons to Goddard are fallacious, as I would hardly call a musical about what goes on backstage ('Gold Diggers of 1933', for example) any sort of demystification, especially when film is the medium!

On the other hand, she invokes other things like Dwight MacDonald's 'Theory of Mass Culture' quite elegantly. Aesthetic and theory aside, the book is an excellent examination of the trends of a Hollywood musical and the archetypes represented therein. I was also delighted to see that she included a section in the second edition printing on how camp has affected musicals in the past 25 years or so.

As mentioned, the author truly does know her subject - she is a veritable mental compendium of information regarding her subject matter. But I give the book two stars as I think anyone who tires easily of discussions surrounding theory and aesthetic will find the book a bit long in parts, and because anyone looking for incisive views on musicals as they realate to theory will be sorely disappointed.

The Hollywood Musical is ground breaking book in the area of film studies. Feuer exemplifies a total package, by not only tracing the orgins of the musical, but the affects of the musical to society. Feuer also shows a masterful understanding popular culture in defining the newly found teen musical. Feuer's most genius work can be found in Chapter 4. It is here, where Feuer defines the drean worlds and dream ballets. This chapter not only defines dream sequences for musicals, but the complex dream theory can also be applied to other genres. Feuer's work in the musical should be honored as a true gem for the field. You can almost hear Judy Garland sing as you turn the page. I would also like to personally thank Jane Feuer for teaching me and others the byways of this most complex genre...for that I am forever indebted to her.

The opening sentence of Acknowledgements succinctly summarizes this book: "The papers in this volume are from the . . . conference . . . held December 2, 1998." Well, a lot has changed since then. Most importantly, the USPS surpluses of that time have turned into severe deficits. Therefore, If you're not familiar with USPS issues, do read this. If you are, for example, if you have read Hudgin's previous book on USPS, this contains little that is new.

Have you ever wondered why the cost of stamps keeps going up, even as technology brings the cost of so many other goods and services down?

Have you wondered why, at so many post offices, service is poor and employees have a surly attitude?

The simple answer is that the USPS is a monopoly. This book does a good job of explaining the problems of this government monopoly, why a private mail carrier would do the work more efficiently and at less cost, and how to get from here to there.

Highly recommended by this reader.

If you've always wondered what the hoopla over the Media Lab was all about, this book can help fill in the blanks. It covers the basics about the founding of the lab and provides a little biographical background on people like Negroponte and Minsky.

However, a large portion of the book is spent describing specific projects, many of which are obviously a little out of date. Don't get the wrong idea, though. These projects were obviously very exciting when new. Further, some of the projects still seem so far out that I would not be surprised to see them announced as new research in 2000!

All in all, recommended. But perhaps you're better off skimming a copy from your local library than buying this one. That's why 3 stars instead of 4.

This book was given to me as a gift when I learned that I was admitted to MIT in 1988. Over the years (and more so recently), I often see things that are the end result of the research done during the '80s at the Media Lab and documented in this book. Lego Mindstorms, custom Portals and personalized Internet, virtual reality games, this was all developed, envisioned, conceptualized, or influenced by Media Lab research.

After reading it, I lost it somewhere along the way. I came here to see if I could find a copy to re-read it and check my memory. It really should be an interesting read after all these years for anyone interested in the process and history of science.

While this book does have a few pictures, they seem quite old. The one or two items I liked didn't have any instructions for. If you are not a sewer, than this book is not for you. I found the book very confusing - definitely written for the person with sewing background. Sorry.

This was one of three books I purchased on window treatments; I turn to this one for advice and direction. Step by step directions with pictures on such topics as installing hardware, including hanging a mounting board, to the basics of sewing. Great ideas for rod pocket curtains and custom shades. I used it to create two different window treatments, scarf swag and shoji-style screen. Each project tells you how to measure and materials required. Due to the great instructions, both treatments turned out very professional!!

I was very disappointed with this edition of the book. It is very hard to read because the description are just sentence after sentence of facts, often one not related to the other, and other times multiple sentences saying the same thing.

The sections on naval air wings is very hard to read and lacking a lot of information that would be useful.

The photographs and line drawings were also extremely disappointing in their quality, with some photographs of such bad printing quality they're almost useless.

This book may be a lot less expensive than Jane's Fighting Ships, but the quality of Jane's descriptions, pictures, and diagrams is certainly worth the extra money.

I disagree with the first review of this book. I am a naval officer and found Baker's book to be a terrific reference for naval platforms. Too many people confuse a reference with a novel which this is decidedly not. It's wealth of data surpasses that of Jane's at a fraction of the price. This book, combined with the Naval Institute's Guide to Naval Weapons Systems, makes a first rate navy reference library for a relatively small sum. Many of the photos are poor, but many readers do not appreciate how difficult it is to get quality photos of many foreign and domestic naval vessels. The book is organized by country and then in hierarchical platform categories. It contains far more data on each vessel than Baker's previous efforts which had more plain language discussion and less hard core data. I think it is a superior publishing and one of the best I've seen in 20 years of looking at these types of books. If you want flashy pictures and voluminous text, look elsewhere.

It is a beautiful book for Patio's and Porch's but was lacking in yard landscaping.

I checked this book out of the library. I love it and am now buying it online for myself. (The library seems to want their copy back).

The fountain on the cover is the project I'm working on now; but there are so many others I want to do that I want my own copy.

This book is pretty basic. The first 23 of the 32 pages are devoted to very basic material such as reading the program, the tote board, types of bets, and how to place them.

If you are going to the track for the first time with a group, and you want to bone up on the sport real-quick, this is the perfect book for you.

If you are a serious handicapper looking for an innovative theory or deep discussion on overlays and handicapping, this is not that book.

Prof. Jones book is a great basis book to use for handicapping. It will help you develop you system, and gives honest, sound advice. (there is another review of a different book under this book I also reviewed, sorry for the mixup)

This book gives pretty good insight and suggestions on handicapping, and the techniques work well with the higher grades.

As parents we all require occasional assistance when it comes to parenting. We seek advice from friends, family members, doctors, and other "experts," and if you're like me, you reach for a book. My five-year-old is delightful in most ways, but I'm concerned that he should take more initiative and accomplish additional simple tasks on with limited guidance. In fact, it seems he has been conditioned to wait for my wife and me to perform simple tasks for him and, therefore, he has been "taught" to be helpless in many situations. For this reason, I sought a book to give me a few ideas on everyday responsibilities that five-year-olds ought to be accomplishing on their own.

I bought "Your Five-Year-Old" by Louise Bates Ames after it was recommended to me by an expert in positive discipline.

The book is very short, at 111 pages, and is divided into ten chapters:

1.Characteristics of Age Five
2.The Child and Others
3.Routines, Health, and Tensional Outlets
4.Discipline
5.Accomplishments and Abilities
6.The Child's Mind
7.School
8.The Five-Year-Old Party
9.Individuality
10.Stories from Real Life

It also includes appendixes on good toys and books for five-year-olds and also books for parents of five-year-olds.

Because I have more reasons to dislike the book than to find it appealing, I'll begin by sharing my complaints. My first criticism is that the book is dated, having been written in 1979. The time period of when the book was authored leaves the contents with many outdated notions, many of which I would have overlooked had they not been so irritating. Firstly, the father-child relationship is referred to only a few times, and primarily in a stereotypical manner. Conversely, the mother-child relationship is referenced in much detail throughout the text. Secondly, there is a disparaging reference to Indians, albeit as shared by a little girl from a nightmare. Thirdly, the book recommends that a five-year-old ought to be able to walk alone two blocks to a store. Not that crime against children is any worse now than in the late Seventies, but what parent in his or her right mind would let a child of this age do this? (Am I wrong?) Fourthly, and perhaps trivially, when it comes to common activities for five-year-olds, many are dated, such as listening to records.

My second criticism of the book is that it gave me no new ideas on how to have my son initiate and complete more simple tasks on his own, which was my purpose for buying the book.

On the positive side, the book can be read in a few hours. Secondly, it contains several enchanting pictures of smiling five-year-olds. The "Accomplishments and Abilities" chapter does give the reader some indication as to whether your five-year-old is on track, but the substance is primarily common sense.

All said, I doubt this book will provide much enlightenment to parents looking for suggestions such as I sought.

I enjoyed reading the book especially the sections on school readiness and how a 5 year old child's mind works. This is a good book for parents to read in light of the tendency to push children academically and socially before they are ready developmentally.

When you know what behaviors are "normal" for your child's age you can relax, stop the worry, and focus on appropriate solutions. This whole series of books accurately defines the ages and stages of children. These books keep your expectations realistic and allow you to avoid anger caused by a lack of understanding of your child's developmental stages.