Howard Zinn, lefty historian and author of "A People's History of the United States," once gave a talk during which he quoted this book (or possibly its previous edition), which he termed a "machiavellian guide to teaching," as an illustrative example of the atmosphere in which much teaching takes place. Here's the bulk of his comments regarding it:

"[the book poses the question:]
'Can I involve myself in political causes as a professor?

'The institution of higher learning may not look kindly on such activities. Be wary of introducing your political conclusions or social thought into classroom situations. Be on guard not to take sides, if it is possible to avoid it at all. Play dumb.'

"That's interesting. [Zinn interjects] Until you get your PhD., the advice is to play smart. Then after you get your PhD, play dumb.

'Be somehwat submissive to the senior faculty.'

"The only thing about that that I didn't understand was the word 'somewhat.' I thought that took courage.

"If I had had this book available to me when I started my teaching career, who knows what I might have become? [comedic pause] A dean, maybe."

Zinn is an astute activist, whose opinon may or may not carry weight with the reader. While the above does not constitute a review per se (hence my neutral 3-star rating), I'm offering it as some information that may contribute to your purchasing decision.

I thought this book was quite entertaining and that it contains a good deal of knowledge in tactical and leadership techniques

I bought this book to plan a family vacation to South Africa. I was hoping to get something as well organized and chock-full of information as Fodor's standard travel guides. I was disappointed.

Unfortunately, this book is more like a big brochure, with lots of colorful pictures (which is great) but text that is not laid out well and plenty of annoying sidebars and boxes that often make it hard to follow the main text. I'm pretty sure that much of the necessary information is there, but it's not nearly as accessible as it is in the other guides. And without that, what's the point?

I would probably buy this book as a supplemental guide, but not as a central vacation-planning tool.

I'm not quite sure why the book costs so much. It may be because it's so old. The information is pretty good. They describe just about every Liberty ever built. There are stats, dates, times, places and everything. Some operational history as well. I would have been happier with a hardcover and more photos. Better photos would help one understand the complex changes made to some ships of the class. The book does not include current status on the 2 preserved ships-Brown and O'Brien since it was written while they were still non operational.

This book is a collection eleven papers delivered at a University of London Institute of Archaeology symposium, in April of 1981. The first three chapters are on three sites: Buseirah (near Petra), Wadi el Hasa (north of Buseirah), and Iron Age burial practices throughout the Jordan area. The second section has papers on Tayma, Edomite and Midianite pottery. The third section, on metallurgy, contains the results of a lab reconstruction of an ancient copper smelting furnace, and a look at iron working and its perception in Biblical Israel. Section 4 is on Social and Political History subjects, with the first one being on the campaign against Moab in 2 Kings 3 (and the identification of the kings involved), the second examines the relationship between the Midianites and Ishmaelites, and the third paper discusses the extent of Midian holdings and the possibility that Gideon was a Midianite.

The font used make the text look like it was typed on a typewriter, with the illustrations being few and primitive. As for the articles, they are quite interesting, but sadly written in an academic style, which makes them less interesting to the casual reader. That said, the articles are quite interesting, and well worth reading. The papers I found most interesting in this book are Professor Khair Yassine’s took at Iron Age burial practices, and Professor John Sawyer’s look at iron in Biblical Israel. I found the latter work quite interesting.

Therefore, I give this book a rather qualified recommendation.

This is easy to use. Has a great chapter on how to start a radio station by using Shoutcast. It once was a great book, but now it is aging. Use your search first before buying this book. The Net is free and current. If then you are still in need of more info, buy this book. Not every thing is out of date. It is a novice friendly book. Wyatt Kaldenberg

An excellent, thoughroughly researched and well indexed tome on the history of the Chinese propensity for intelligence collection at all levels. This book combined with "Chinese Intelligence Operations" by Nicholas Eftimiades provides valuable insight into one of the worlds most populus, yet fairly closed societies. With tensions in Asia in a constant state of flux this book is a must read for intelligence professionals and enthusiasts alike. The only drawback is the author's style, which makes for some dry stretches, still worth the money.

If you are learning how to use plain TeX, this is a pretty good book. It teaches you the basics quickly and quite well, but it fails as far as more refined uses are concerned. The more difficult commands, especially related to vertical and horizontal glueing are not properly explained, and the appendix about LaTeX is altogether pretty useless. Still, since experimentation is the name of the game in TeX, you might as well have this book on your shelf rather than some other, especially if you would rather dispose with cute drawings and other nonsense you do find in other TeX user manuals.

Liberty ships, seen by many as the backbone of American sealift in World War Two, actually got their start before the U.S. entered the war. And not long after we became a combattant, we realized the need for a ship that could carry more cargo, and do it faster, than the Liberties. Hence the Victory ships, a class that ultimately included tankers, troopships, and other auxlilary types, as well as basic cargo ships. This book is a catalog of the Victory ships, and also of purpose-built tankers, and their role in the war.

When I say this book is a "catalog," that pretty much sums it up. Much of the text consists of lists of individual ships of the various classes, divided up by where they were built, and including launch date, the name or names they sailed under, their post-war disposition, and ultimate (as of 1974, anyway) fate.

You won't find here any of the stories of heroism at sea, battles against fierce odds, clashes with the elements in the storm-tossed seas, or any of those other fixtures of war-at-sea literature. Although the descriptions of individual ships sometimes include interesting details (like the brief recounting of the MUHLENBERG VICTORY's stint as a livestock carrier, with cows berthed in "first class" accomodations, or the explosion of the tanker SALEM MARITIME in Louisiana in 1956), there's little mention of the ships' wartime service, either generally or specifically. There are, however, many details of design, construction, engines, modifications, and other technical specifications.

A number of the Victory ships are described as being mothballed as part of the US Navy's reserve fleet. Of course, thirty years later, I'd be surprised to learn if there are still any Victories so disposed. Though there might not be much call for updating this particular volume, that is one area in which it is particularly out of date. But for an overview history of some important classes of ships, and basic details about each of the members of those classes, this book might be a useful thing for interested researchers to have around.

... That's the only way to explain how I feel after finishing Meryl Sawyer's latest romantic suspense novel. I've enjoyed many of her books in the past, especially Unforgettable, and was looking forward to this one. I was disappointed.

This soap opera of a romantic thriller is set in South Beach, FL, which is something the reader can never forget for a moment since Ms. Sawyer uses the local term for the area - "SoBe" - on almost every page. It is unnecessary, ultimately annoying, and it is attention to those kinds details at the expense of characterization that sink Every Waking Moment for me.

The plot. How to describe the plot? There is a family-owned company that the family members want to sell, but can't because they're having security issues they need to solve first. The matriarch of the family is dying of cancer and desperately wants to locate the daughter she gave up for adoption before she dies. The daughter she didn't give up, Taylor, is the heroine, and she's reeling from a series of "personal misfortunes" (as described on the back of the book), including the years-ago disappearance of her lover, who is referred to as Paul Ashford and Paul Ashton at various times in the novel. There's an uncle who married a really smart ex-stripper as a trophy wife then fell in love with her and is too afraid to tell her that they need to cut back on spending because they're up to their eyes in debt and won't recoup it until they can sell the company. Then there's Taylor's brother, who was married to Taylor's best friend until he decided he was gay and took up with a drug-addicted player who wants in on the family company. Oh, then there's the de facto hero, who is a security guy who happens to know who Taylor is because he once met the long-lost Paul many years ago in Colombia and he never forgot her face. And then there's best friend Lisa who is so close to Taylor that she disappeared for a year, came back to SoBe and never told her best friend until she'd been back for a month. Oh, but she was grieving from being dumped by Taylor's brother, so it's all OK, right? She's going to open a wildly successful sexy lingerie and sex toy shop because, hey, why not?! This is SoBe, after all.

Ay yi yi. What a mess. It's a shame too, because some of the characters show promise. Shane, the de facto hero, is actually a good one, and he deserves better than dishwater dull Taylor. Brianna the ex-stripper and Uncle Doyle have the most interesting relationship, and Brianna is actually a very interesting character. She has layers, and shows them to the reader without the reader having to be told about them.

That's the biggest problem with this book, actually. It's a classic example of the author telling the reader everything without showing them anything in particular. We get pages and pages of exposition, way too much foreshadowing, too much ANGST in general....

Although I managed to finish the book, I found the cast of characters for the most part unlikable. Taylor, the heroine, spent most of the time in self doubt. The hero, Shane Donovan, although not well developed, deserved better. Taylor's family took the fun out of dysfunctional.

I am such a fan of Meryl Sawyer's so I was disappointed to have such a hard time getting through Every Waking Moment. Even the main characters didn't interest me. Look for her older books, i.e. Hide Away.