Mike Scott's guide provides an ideal overview for the horse owner/enthusiast interested in learning about equine massage. The book is very well organized and surprisingly easy to read. It introduces the layperson to how muscles work and discusses the importance of learning about horse anatomy. It moves on to various massage techniques and strokes before describing a massage session. It then contains a very helpful section consisting of anatomical line drawings of "active points" to be worked accompanied by black and white photographs demonstrating the techniques. Mike also includes helpful sections on stretches for your horse and saddle fitting.

As good as the book is, I found it could have benefitted from more extensive photo selection and diligent proofreading. The photos that were included were extremely useful; however, I found it somewhat frustrating that some photos were repeated when other angles or shots would have helped. Most of the captions are also appropriately descriptive, but there are others that could have been a bit more specific (particularly when identifying which muscles were being worked). Finally, there are more than a mere handful of grammatical, typographical, and punctuation errors. While the lack of care to cure these errors certainly had me wonder if there was a similar lack of care about the substance, all in all, I do recommend this book.

Excellent book! Mike Scott communicates well with the lay person in easy to understand terms--almost as though he is speaking directly to you. His perspective is interesting--and the book is a great anotomey lesson or review as well. I highly recommend it and would look forward to a next addition.

My horse recently got a massage and it helped him a lot. When I worked him afterwards, he looked wonderful, and his canter, which is really a rocking horse canter, looked great! I really wanted to know what I could do to keep him in such great shape, especially through the winter.

I am glad to have a copy of this book as it gives me a very good overall understanding of all the X window essentials. I used to program using Motif and the tools, and that was not sufficient when I came to the graphical aspects of the X Windows. This book puts things into perspective for me, and is easy to read. One thing I dislike about the format of this book is the brackets at the margin of the book to enclose code snippets.

This book, in addition to two other books, supersedes X Window System: The Complete Reference to Xlib, X Protocol, ICCCM, and XLFD, published in 1992. You can get the content listing for this book, and other Digital Press books, at http://www.bhusa.com/digitalpress/.

This book is probably essential to anyone wishing to utilize the X Window System; however, as a contributer to XFree86, I still find this book useful, though it was not rewritten specifically to be a contributers guide.

Covers Xlib, ICCCM, and XLFD. X Protocol coverage has been split into a book called X Window System: Core and Extension Protocols. The other book in this three part series is titled X Window System: Extension Libraries.

Stephen Coonts manages to wrap up three years' of Vietnam experience into a very well-written novel. While the characters are fictitious, the mood is very real. Many pilots faced the same dangers as Coonts' Jake Grafton. Low-alt dangers from small arms fire, SAM's, explosive concussions, in-flight refueling (a very hazardous proposition in itself), carrier launches in pitch-black darkness, landing on a heaving deck on a storm-swept sea. All these are in this book. This was Coonts' break-out book, the first in a series. Hollywood turned it into a film, but as usual, the book is better (and has a different ending). A must-read for aviation fans.

This excellent novel took place in Vietnam. As a controversial time for our country, Coonts captured this theme well. The protagonist, a humble, but typical flying ace, Jake Grafton became sick of the war. He was frustrated with losing friends for a cause he didn't understand. He eventually pairs up with a hotshot navigator/bomber, and they fly up to the "no-fly zone" of Vietnam, (Hanoi) to bomb something "important" for a change. Something worth "going for." The ensuing plot is accented by a casual romance with an American girl Jake met in Hong Kong, which eventually develops as a substitute family/friend during the war. Many flying sequences are included, and the majority of the novel is in a combat naval context.

Stephen Coonts' first novel, Flight of the Intruder, was superb. A Vietnam flyer himself, Coonts depicted historic naval aviation very accurately and compellingly. Not only did he include accurate and detailed facts about the technological aspect of carrier aviation, but a unique and flowing writing style that captures the reader. His beautiful and simple descriptions of the sky, the sea or flight were powerful and intriguing. Action-packed, well-paced, and worthwhile plotline and cast made this novel the best seller that it was. Anyone at all interested in the military or Vietnam would find this novel to be thought provoking and meaningful.

This is the story of navy attack pilots during the war in Vietnam. It is also the story of one particular pilot, LT Jake "Cool Hand" Grafton, an A6B Intruder pilot flying off the coast of North Vietnam as part of the Tonkin Gulf "Yacht Club."

This is a first novel by a writer who lived the experiences of his fictional character. When I first read this book about the time the hardcover was first published, I felt as if I was in the ready room with Grafton, Boxman, Razor and the others being briefed before "going downtown" to bomb Hanoi.

The feel for time and place is all here. The descriptions of the life aboard a carrier on station, the shore leave in Subic Bay and Olongapo City all ring true according to my navy veteran friends. As I read, I felt as if I could have been one of the characters Stephen Coonts wrote about.

For a debut novel, this one was extrememly well done. It was the entrant to a series that I hoped Coonts would write, and subsequently did. I like Jake Grafton because he is a man all of us could only hope to be. Most of all, he is a man of honor and integrity and this is demonstrated when he decides to put his career (and freedom) on the line by going after a target "downtown" after President Johnson has called a bombing halt over Hanoi and Haiphong.

Another wonderfully drawn character is LCDR Virgil Cole, Jake's B/N (bombardier/navigator). Cole has seen combat before and has the Silver Star. He trusts no one but himself but, does his job magnificently. In the movie version, the casting for this character was brilliantly handled when Willem Dafoe played the part to perfection. Although the book and the movie differ at the end, the characterization was true to Mr. Coonts' intent, in my opinion. Jake and Cole became a team and stuck together in thick and thin. Their friendship and loyalty to each other was proven when they went after their downed squadron commander, CDR Camparelli, were shot down themselves and had to survive. The two, who are bound by a well-defined sense of honor, keep their commitments to each other and their squadron.

Although Coonts the writer was also Coonts the lawyer at the time he wrote the novel, he introduces a question of military ethics and obedience when the navy investigates Grafton's and Cole's unauthorized mission against the North Vietnamese capital. Senator Fred Dalton Thompson of Tennessee, in one of his supporting screen roles, does an effective job as the navy Staff Judge Advocate arguing that control of the military must remain in the hands of civilians and elected officials if the United States is to avoid the dangers of military control of the government. Again, this actor turned politician mirrors exactly Mr. Coonts' character in the novel when he and other senior officers attempt to determine the fate of the two aviators who flew side by side in that wonderful Grumman attack aircraft.

Stephen Coonts' wrote a novel that begged for a sequel or a series. I am sure that most readers clamored for more of Jake Grafton after reading this book. I know I did. This book proves that Mr. Coonts is a man of many talents. After all, he flew the Intruder, came home to become a successful lawyer and then launched a very successful career doing something he really likes namely, writing popular novels. Even though I first read this book almost 11 years ago, I finally got the chance to thank the author for all the hours of reading enjoyment he's given me. I'd also like to thank him for his service in Vietnam and in the reserves from which he retired not so many years ago.

BZ CDR Stephen Coonts USNR (ret) and thank you!

Mr. Converse has written with this helpful introductory course, a fine textbook for introducing one to the craft of directing. When viewed in that context, this book serves its purpose well. Having used this text in conjunction with William Ball's superb book "A Sense Of Direction", in the directing class I teach, I have found Converse's excercises to be helpful and precise (if rather dry) in building craft. Especially helpful is Converse's chapters on blocking and creating pictures. His suggestions and activities designed to teach one how to communicate and direct traffic are most helpful. If one is looking for a great read, this is not the book to use. For that I again suggest Ball or Clurman's fine "On Directing". But for some "hands on" activities in the dramatic classroom or for the director just starting out on their own, this will work just fine- as long as you have someone else to bounce your ideas off of.

In 10 years of teaching high school drama, this is the first book where the theory of directing is embodied in a series of lessons which can be taught sequentially or mixed and matched. I have used the open scripts in acting class with junior students and amended the lessons to my own ends in picturization, focus, tempo, pathway, subtext and a myriad of other directing skills which need to be built upon.

This book is simple, concrete, and to the point. It will help you develop various directing techniques, and it will leave the rest up to you. Its purpose is not to try and train you into some special type of director, but to give you the basic technical skills that will allow you to find your own artistic style. It is most certainly a great book to start with, and its exercises would likely help more advanced directing students hone their skills.

For the relatively small cost, this source should give the beginning player the basics of scales and two-handed techniques for the anglo concertina. The charts are clear, and help to show the logical arrangement of the instrument. Songs are a bit hokey at times, but again should suffice for the beginner, or those who wish to improve their sight-reading skills.

After reviewing this book I was able to take my new concertina right out of the box when it arrived and begin to play. My wife was amazed and made the comment that the concertina must be the easiest instrument in the world is to play. I had never even held a concertina before. I am not ready for public performances but this book helped me to play some simple tunes that my wife reconized right away.
The book does contain some music for tunes I had never heard before. It did make it easier to play tunes that were familiar. So I wish this book had more music for familiar folk tunes.

After a few fireside mishaps, a friend pointed out that the accordioned object in my hands was not a bellows but a musical instrument called a concertina. Mel Bay's book taught me the basics, and now I can play a few tunes and torture the dog with my rendition of "Waltzing Matilda." A great guide for the beginner!

I have been working with executives for years and this story reflects so many of my experiences. I've coached a lot of undereducated CEOs that worked very hard, impressed the right people, and got lucky. This book was a page turner, a genuine retrospective that touched my heart. I identified with Mr. Despain on a personal level and was encouraged by his transformation from admitted tyrant to open-minded, respectful, empowering, and appreciative. When the corporate landscape is a minefield of scandals and ethics violations, it's invigorating to think the needed change is as simple as sharing values, defining standards for behavior, and giving people the freedom to exercise their talents and ideas within a shared cultural context.

Bravo on a good read and an important reminder to leaders who have forgotten their own roots, who don't appreciate the fragile nature of the human ego, or who simply take their own power too seriously. Try to see yourself through the eyes of those around you. You set the tone for your own culture. If you commit to change, apologize when you falter, and create an atmosphere of trust and respect...people will respond!

We all know that what we (really really) believe and believe in determines what our values are; they in turn determine at least our voluntary our behavior. (It is human nature to resent being required to act against our beliefs and our values. Some people have died rather than doing so.) If you agree with me so far, then perhaps you will agree that the meaning of "values-based leadership" depends almost entirely on what a given leader believes. Moreover, her or his leadership behavior will be determined by certain values. They could include greed, arrogance, and contempt for others; or they could include generosity, humility, and respect for others. All this seems pretty basic, indeed obvious to me. Throughout history, the range of leaders is wide and diverse. Evil leaders in the 20th century obviously include Hitler and Stalin. Other leaders contemporary with them obviously include Churchill. All three had very strong beliefs, were committed to quite specific values, and behaved accordingly. I mention all this by way of suggesting the context of the remarks which follow.

What we have here is a profile-narrative (rather than a biography) which focuses on the life and career of James Despain up to, of course, Converse's completion of this book's manuscript. Like most of those who read this book, his parents and childhood experiences had a significant impact on his values as he worked his way through the Caterpillar organization, rising to a senior-level executive position while marrying and then starting a family along the way. Of special interest and value to me are the the lessons he learned while attempting to change the culture of the workplace in which he and his associates struggled to achieve the objective set for them by management. In time, he became an important part of the same management structure (in and of itself a culture resistant to change) and learned other lessons from his involvement with it.

The Appendix (pages 189-198) offers a series of summaries of key points. As Despain learned to his dismay, frustration, and occasional disappointment, it is far easier to formulate lists such as "Our Common Values" and " Our Common Values Leadership Guide" than it is to (a) achieve a consensus of agreement on the points listed, (b) effectively engage everyone in a collaborative commitment to the values, and finally (c) to sustain that shared commitment over an extended period of time, especially when there are serious problems to be solved. My own rather extensive experience with culture change has convinced (and perhaps Despain) that the single greatest barrier is what Jim O'Toole characterizes as "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom."

Although there are no cutting-edge ideas in this book, it does offer a comprehensive explanation of how and why effective leadership focuses on people; also and more importantly, how and why the process of value-based leadership -- if the values affirm trust, mutual respect, teamwork, empowerment, prudent risk taking, a sense of urgency, continuous improvement, and commitment to the highest quality of customer service -- can enable any organization (regardless of size or nature) to achieve "unbelievable, sustainable performance and the personal joy it brings." I agree with Despain that value-based leadership so defined can thus unlock greatness in every individual and thereby ensure dignity for all.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out David Maister's Practice What You Preach: What Managers Must Do to Achieve a High Achievement Culture, O'Toole's Leading Change: The Argument for Values-Based Leadership, Ronald Heifetz's Leadership Without Easy Answers, and Danny Cox's Leadership When the Heat's On (Second Edition).

First when our children are young we read them "The Little Engine That Could". This book, "And Dignity For All", is the adult version of that inspirational classic. This book should be required reading for every high school student. This knowledge could help everyone through life.

Decent descriptions and examples of functions, etc. Kind of heavy on the abstract-math-formulas-as-examples-- if you like a book to use real-world examples to illustrate various implementations of a language/technology/etc., be forewarned: you really won't find anything of the kind until Part III (Advanced Techniques), and in the meantime, you'll be maddened by the dozens and dozens of scripts that result in nothing more than an integer or set of integers being printed onscreen... Works better if used alongside PHP Essentials (Julie C. Meloni), as the Bible is more of an intro guide to everything NOT database-related than is Essentials, which itself ONLY covers MySQL integration in any way that one could call "in-depth".

As nascent a technology as PHP is, though, you have to give the authors credit, and just hope that someone else will come along and improve on their serviceable first attempt. Well-rounded for a first edition, just not quite on-par with most other titles in the IDG Bible Series.

I originally wrote this review for my site bitgems.org.

I bought the book "PHP 4 Bible" to start learning PHP. I'm an experienced C++ programmer, but I had never seen PHP before looking at this book. Below you can see my brief assessment of the book.

I've been reading the "Bible" for several weeks. I bought it and started to read it to familiarize myself with PHP--even though I'm a dedicated technophile, I still enjoy having a book I can flip through. It was good as a basic introduction to PHP and MySQL, and it exposed me for the first time to many important concepts. I found the level to be a bit simplistic--the book is aimed in part at beginning programmers--but for the most part, I find the advice sound. And having something be too easy to understand is certainly better than too hard.

I found the parts about MySQL to be a good introduction, though as they point out in the Bible, their objective isn't to teach MySQL. I was in fact learning SQL at the same time, but so far I've primarily used the excellent documentation at mysql.com to learn about it.

In conclusion, I found it to be light reading. I enjoyed their sense of humor, and had no problem reading straight through to the "advanced" parts. Don't think that this book is anything like a reference, however--I find myself frequently needing to look things up in the online documentation that are simply not covered by the Bible. So if you're just learning PHP, it's a worthwhile purchase. If you're trying to find a good reference book with a lot of depth, you will need to look elsewhere.

This book is excellent if you are new to programming. It is also IDEAL for people with a certain learning style (mine) although it is apparently anathema to some others.

The book is well structured. It begins by explaining concepts in a non-confusing way. It allows you to feel confident with basic terminology, and begins at the beginning so that you understand control structures, functions and syntax from the core up. There are also plenty of cross-references so that you can see where you are going. The writers also did a great job to anticpate my questions -those bits where you go "eh?"- and to highlight and effortlessly resolve such areas where the language is apparently ambiguous or confusing. I was never "lost" at any point in this book.

In this way it differs from most programming books i have tried; most lose interest in the beginners after a few pages and start introducing new terms and techniques arbitrarily without flagging them up and explaining them. I already had Julie Meloni's PHP Essentials but had to give up on it for this exact reason.

PHP4 Bible is NEVER guilty of this (with the exception of the chapters on Object Oriented Programming); this is its most commendable feature. (By contrast, Meloni's book is for a programmer's programmer or a "see one-do one" learner, not for a beginner, although it might provide an excellent companion when one needs to refer to code samples.)

Other reviewer's have complained that the code samples are not applicable or fun. I think this misses the point in that the samples are designed specifically to explain a concept; there is no need to execute them all as you can just read many of them. There are plenty of other sources for useful code samples out there for those who want them.

The key thing about this book is that it is great if you are someone who likes to break things down into manageable concepts as you go. I think many true-blue hackers do not like this book as they have more of a "see one - do one" learning method relying on trying things out and learning by experience.

For me, this book almost gets 5 stars. It doesnt because there are a couple of chapters that feel half-finished and fall far below the others in terms of clarity. Hopefully these will be fixed in the next edition! I like the style of the writers, the style is human, any humour is nicely understated and BEST OF ALL they NEVER make the mistake of (gggnn!!)trying to "be your friend".

The text by Spencer and Amos is a readable source of the misconceptions that are taught to students and believed by too many economists. This text is noteworthy in presenting a chapter on 'General Equilibrium Theory' (or 'Welfare Economics'), which explicitly exhibits misconceptions about the notion of stability of equilibrium. The book seems to have been written with a supply-side rather than Keynsian prejudice..

The text starts by defining 'capital' in such a loose way that trees, e.g., are defined as capital, which presumes a common 'value-judgement' that is accepted in the US but not always in various parts of W. Europe where there are remain some strong restrictions on the economic 'development' of farm and forest land. The 'curves' in the book, as in Samuelson, represent no dynamcs and are generally not derived from real data. Instead they are drawn representing expectations based on the typical incomplete misunderstanding of neo-classical theory that is pervasive in economics and finance, where the dynamics of that theory have not been worked out except under the most unrealistic assumptions. An example is the so-called 'Laffer curve' on page 347. From the beginning, e.g., equilibrium is presummed to be the normal state of affairs and it is assumed to be stable, in disagreement with real liquid market data. The quotes from the text and my commentary follow next.

"Is Perfect Competition a Fantasy?" (pg 536): " ..no, ... like the assumption of a frictionless state in physics..this assumption creates an idealized situation that permits simplification of a problem so that it may be analyzed." This assertion represents a deep misconception. In physics we have real data, namely local motion in a gravitational field, where the assumption of force-free motion can be tested and verified as a good approximation (on the moon even better than on earth). Force-free motion is not merely a good approximation but lies at the foundation of physics. Economists and finance theorists have not understood this. The other side of the coin is that perfect competition, as defined in the text (requiring stable equilibria) does not exist in the world as a decent approximation to anything that occurs socio-economically.

From chapter 30 (pp 632-3) on General Equilibrium Theory: "Equilibrium was defined in earlier chapters as a state of balance between opposing forces. An object is in equilibrium when it is at rest. ... In economics "objects" may be prices, quantities, incomes, or other variables. You cannot consider a problem solved if, at the point you terminate your analysis, the variables are still changing. Only when the variables settle down to steady levels, or only when the future equilibrium positions can be predicted, can you consider the solution complete." Unfortunately, no real economic data behave even approximately in this way. A data analysis can be 'forced' to approach equilibrium only by abandoning real data and replacing it by a wrong model with stable equilibria. Continuing, "The study of equilibrium is not an end in itself. Economics is concerned with understanding the forces that can disturb an equilibrium and the policy measures that may have to be undertaken to restore it." Given that there are no stable equilibria in real economic systems, the assertion is meaningless in practice. Continuing with the text, on page 633 Exhibit 1 shows three figures, (a) a cone sitting upright on it's flat base, (b) the cone balanced perfectly on it's point, and (c) the cone lying on it's side. Figure (a) is compared with the authors' cartoon of a price vs quantity 'graph' showing the intersection of supply and demand curves as equilibrium. That is, the existence of the equilibrium point in the cartoon is advertised by the authors as 'stable', which of course is wrong. There is no implication of stability in the existence of any equilibrium point, a mistake that is sometimes made by freshman students in physics. The authors go on, " Figure (a) illustrates a case of stable equilibrium. this represents the normal situation. In physical terms, it may be depicted by a cone resting on it's base. In economic terms, it can be represented by the intersection of ordinary supply and demand curves. If the system is subjected to an external "shock" or disturbance sufficient to dislodge it from equilibrium, self-corrective forces will cause it to return to it's initial position." Real markets never behave even approximately in this way. Whenever anything likeAdam Smith's hand can be found in the data, which is seldom, it is destabilized by noise. There are no equilibria, much less any stability in finance data, which are so far the best economic data available, for the most liquid markets. I define a liquid market is one where you can approximately reverse the trade over a short enough time scale, as in the stock market when it's not crashing.

Real data are shown in exhibit 5 on page 397, where meaningless 'Phillips curves' are illegitemately drawn through a terrible scatter of points that in reality cannot be represented by a curve at all (see also Ormerod's 'The Death of Economics').

The text repeats the usual misconception that utility maximization is an equilibrium condition. enough said. What's a good text on economics? It hasn't been written yet.

I used this book for a Micro course and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The quality of scholarship is unsurpassed. My only real beef is that it only has one paragraph about environmental concerns, and with the impending ecological crisis, such cursory treatment is insufficient. Also, the 1993 publication date means that there is little-to-no coverage of such recent developments as NAFTA and the WTO. Maybe the author will come out with a Ninth Edition?

This book is undoubtedly one of the important books ever written on voting. This does not mean it is one of the best. I can provide two reasons for this observation. First, the data they use is not as good as the modern data. Second, Partisanship has changed a lot in 40 years. Still a vital book for the library of any student of voting behavior.

This book contains many useful Swahili phrases, but they are rather specific. And there's no explanation of Swahili grammar or the structure of the language. This isn't the book to get if you want to understand exactly how each phrase fits together, but if you just need things to say when conversing with a Swahili-speaker, this book contains common phrases that will help you get your point across. But it takes some reading through, since the index will usually direct you to the wrong phrase or section of the book.