Independent Books

Yes, this book could have benefited from more editing. Also, an index would have been helpful. But the book does include endnotes and the occasional inaccuracy or typo is more than balanced-out by the multitude of interesting details and the quality of political perspective. I attribute deficiencies in editing and packaging to the print-on-demand publisher. Such an arrangement is often necessary for talented writers with something to say who may lack commercial appeal or academic connections. I'm not too judgmental about the end result. Would it be better for no book to exist at all? I don't think so. I gladly recommend this book to political activists, political scientists, historians, and citizens.

Scallon writes as a populist, a viewpoint as American as apple pie but one which is neglected or scorned by elite-oriented professional scholars. Scallon has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of Midwest political history. For example, he can put Paul Wellstone's career into a proper context. He goes beyond just looking at elections and politicians. He highlights cultural aspects and grassroots voters. The author conducted numerous interviews with political leaders and scholars, and did on-site research in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota. So this isn't just a reliance on secondary sources. There is some new and important research here. And Scallon writes well.

Polk County, Wisconsin, is used as a case study for a fascinating examination of La Follette's Progressive Party. Scallon does not claim that this county was the center of state, or regional, progressive activity. On his web site, the author responds to criticism in the Amazon review below: "Yes, I could have highlighted Progressive activity in Madison and Dane County, but without places like Polk County there would not have been a statewide Progressive Party. Polk County had the demographics that are the building blocks any political party needs to be successful. Non-major parties need to organize themselves in this fashion.....A movement of upper-class Madisonians would not have cut it. The Progressives needed Scandinavian farmers and co-op members to work..." [......]

I'm currently reading this book, and as much as I'd like to say I like it, I find it disappointing. It's premise of holding up the third party movements of the progressive Midwest as a remedy to today's problems smacks more of nostalgia than deep analysis. And that history is retold in a most clumsy manner, eschewing any chronological narrative in favor of a more scattershot regional approach that often digresses into other areas and other area's reformers.

I also found many inaccuracies. For example, Charles Van Hise is dubbed as Bob La Follette's mentor, but in fact he was a classmate. It was UW president John Bascom who was the greater inspiration. He claims that socialists held the office of Milwaukee mayor until 1960, but that wasn't without interuption. His affinity for a northwestern Wisconsin county accounts for his claim that the tiny local progressive newspaper there was the engine behind the Progressive movement in Wisconsin and beyond. That story certainly deserves telling (and one wishes he would have instead written the entire book about that corner of the state), but his praise is all out of proportion.

On top of this, Scallon's syntax is often awkward, and the book is rife with typos and poor grammar (or extremely poor editing.) His historical narrative only briefly touches on current situations, and I can only conclude that Scallon relishes retelling the story of the progressives, but his insistence on revelency seems forced and tacked on.

Sean Scallon has written a book that illustrates some ways current non-major political parties can fulfill a "traditional" role in national politics.

Scallon wrote "Beating the Powers that Be," recommended reading for those who are not finding what they need from the Democrats or Republicans - and for those who simply find political history fascinating.

The book does a good job at making us think about how entrenched we've become with the two-party system.

The book makes for interesting reading.

I find this book very helpful for translators. If you need a business or business related word in either English or Spanish you will find it here. It is very complete, easy to use and easy to understand. A great investment.

lacks coverage of even the most basic terms. plus, the name is not so challenging

I bought this after reading a good review in a translator's journal and it's very good. I translate for corporations in my area - and this covers translations of tens of thousands of the business words I need. There are lots of basic general terms, but it's also comprehensive with specialist words and expressions. It's got definitions and translations so would probably be okay for college business students too.

This test preparation book is very useful for students preparing to take the SSAT and ISEE tests. Especially well-explained are the scoring norms and conversions of Scaled Scores to Percentiles. Problematic is the titling of the scoring tables chapter. It might be better to re-title the chapter, "Your scores and where you rank". There is ample practice, explanation and examples of the distinct question types in all areas. The two full sample tests constitute sufficient practice for the purposes of this test. Consideration should be given for future editions to separate the ISEE from SSAT preparation sections into distinct texts.

Someone did a horrible job of proofing this book. My child took an ISEE test for practice and several questions had major typos or missing information. One question asked about a rectangle, but there was no rectangle, just an empty space, so it was impossible to answer the question. Another question had all three angles of a triangle labeled with the same letter - again making it impossible to answer the question. There were other problems similar to these. In one of the reading comprehension sections at least one question was given an obviously wrong answer in the answer key. Buyers should also be aware that although the book claims to offer several different practice tests they are for different programs (SSAT vs. ISEE)and different levels (lower level vs. higher level) so there will probably be only ONE test relevant to any single child.
The book does have some good tips on test taking and preparation. The word lists, problem/question examples and math review are useful. But the pathetic condition of the sample tests means you are not getting what you pay for.

This book is a lifesaver for kids preparing for the SSAT. This book outlines great shortcuts and testing strategies to help students improve their overall scores. The skills are clearly outlined so even the parents can figure out what to do. This book is especially good for the lower level test takers.

I bought this book and took the test but it wasnt what the book said. I found out that the test changed but the book didn't.

I used that book and I go a hundred percent on everything

Great book, guys. I aced the test

This book is exteremly essential for a person who wish to apply for Canadian Immigration under skilled worker category

It cover's all the details of Immigration process along with providing necessary useful address helpful to potential Immigrant

The book is full of advertisements of the author's company. At least one third consists of things like addresses of Canadian embassies, occupation list etc (which is free on Canadian government's website). Almost all of the information and suggestions in the book can be found (free!) on various immigration-related internet sites. What's more, the scripts on the sample forms and tables at the end of the book are so small that it is almost impossible to recognise and read. The printing quility is REALLY POOR and the pages are simply put into a spring binder.

It is a do-it-yourself kit. It contains: 1) how to assess yourself (most engineering and natural science degree + English/French communication ability); 2) how to apply; 3) where to apply; 4) major steps; 5) how to prepare interview; 6) the benefit of becoming a Canadian citizen. It saves you several thousand US dollars laywer or consulting fee.

This book was indispensible when it was first published. Though there were numerous ommissions, and possibly a few errors, the editors of this work did far more than yeoman's work in the compilation. Unfortunately, a decade has passed since publication and no update has been forthcoming, making it of little more use than a 10 year old computer reference manual would be. The information presented is mostly accurate, but is now woefully outdated.

In the past century, there has been a proliferation of dozens, if not hundreds of churches claiming relationships to "Old Catholic" or "National Catholic" bodies. This book is a veritable "Who's Who" in this rather specialized field. Although the author is unbiased in his organization, arrangement, and discussion of the various persons purporting to be "bishops" in various churches, it is easy to see that there are many pretenders in this arena.

Any scholar who is interested in tracing claims of Apostolic Succession can not afford NOT to use this book. It is, by far, the foremost work on the subject.

This being said, this is the sort of volume which needs to be updated on a regular basis. It's been a decade since it's publication -- it's time for a new edition.

It is the nature of directories to go out of date; indeed, many directories of all sorts are out of date even as they roll off the presses, given the mobility of people in the modern world. However, there are fewer more mobile and metamorphing groups than that population of people who fall under the categorisation of bishop in Old Catholic, Independent Catholic, Liberal Catholic, Independent Anglican, Independent Orthodox and other such labels. Few things bind them together; indeed, many regularly disavow and even excommunicate each other. One thing that does seem important to most, if not all, is the apostolic succession and historic episcopacy (however, even these terms are subject to question and interpretation among the many groups).

Prior to the advent of the internet, such directories as this one by Ward, Persson and Bain were very hard to compile, and notoriously difficult to find. Published infrequently and having to rely only upon the voluntary efforts of a few dedicated compilers, the 520-pages of entries here cover bishops past and present throughout the world, but largely focusses upon North American and European settings. Entries for bishops can be as short as a sentence fragment indicating no information or another cross-reference, or can span up to two pages, showing a progression of churches and affiliations (another fairly common trait among these individuals is a tendency to either switch jurisdictions and groups, or to re-invent themselves anew every so often).

The preface, by J. Gordon Melton (author and researcher in American religion), gives a little history of discovery of the whole phenomenon of independent bishops. He states that his first contact was primarily with two, Bishops Pruter and Fris, who typify the various extremes of such bishops in many ways, from the serious and pious to the tragic. Melton talks about the different ways of studying the phenomenon; Ward and co.'s methods are different from Melton's own.

Ward's introductory essay is also worthwhile, giving historical perspective, a discussion of the geographic nature of authority, the idea of modern bishops, terminology, and methods for compiling this volume. Perhaps the most valuable piece of this portion of the text is the listing of resources used to make this edition, including Bain's prior text, 'Bishops Irregular'.

Most of the contact information in the directory is out of date; as an historical document, it does have some value as another link in the chain of data. However, it does not give source citations for the information it contains, and this limits its value as an authoritative listing.

Worth having for those in the Old Catholic/Independent Catholic/etc. movements if it can be found in an inexpensive manner. Most of the information is available now on the internet, and even that has difficulty with being up-to-date, but has a greater likelihood of having current information.

I read all three of the books in this series and really wanted to see more. its best to read them in order or a lot of thiongs might not makes so much sense.

I am enjoying this series very much. I held off at first thinking that it was trying to just build on Mr. Doohan's reputation and that it was a "trekkie" book. I was so wrong. It is a series all of its own and a good one, at that. Try it, you'll like it!!! BUT--begin with #1 and proceed in order. Much better idea.

It's a nice book with not much to say about. I felt good reading it. A bit short perhaps. I recommend it fore those who want a story with ht "sparkle" in the eye.

This book provides allot more detail than your average island guide book including town maps, ferry schedules and details about numerous tourist activities. I have seen no other books with town maps such as these. Of course this level of specific details will change frequently, so reconfirm the data you find here. For instance, a previous reviewer complained that ferry schedules were a year old. Of course that is to be expected; really you should not even trust schedules more than a week old!

If you are somewhat self-sufficient and able to confirm what may be out of date, this is a great guide book. If you are not, maybe you should consider a vacation in Orlando.

My experience of this guide book is the exact opposite of the previous reviewer. I have travelled to more than 30 islands and found the guide to be accurate and extremely useful. If you know what kind of vacation you want (quiet beaches versus lots of nightlife, for example) the pages which rate the islands are worth the price of the book. The page which shows how the various ferry lines interconnect with one another is indispensable for planning an island hopping tour. And once you get to an island the description of the island is almost always accurate. However I have found that the names of hotels and restaurants sometimes change over the winter and the guide may not have have caught up with the change. Of course, ferry timetables do change but even a one year old timetable helps you to understand whether the ferry runs everyday, or perhaps only twice a week.
Finally, the brief guide to Athens and accompanying map, is also very helpful. I highly recommend the book.

Initial impressions of the book are good. The author has even included ferry timetables. Closer reading however reveals that most of the book is a waste of paper. The ferry timetables are last years which have very little bearing on the current yar - why bother including them? Additionally the author does not appear to have visited some islands and others have had only flying visits so a lot information is incorrect or sketchy in detail. To cover this lack of research he seems to make up detail some of which is wrong or just irrelevant - e.g. he has a fascination with windmills. The worst aspect of the guide is the authors negative phrasing - he does not seems to rate any island, his attitude is that some are better than others but still not up to much! Would not bother with this book.

The author robs INDEPENDENT VIDEO PRODUCERS of their money, which should be spent on buying miscellaneous items such as video tapes or anything else of the same price. Unless you are an absolute idiot, there is nothing you can learn from this book. If the book was titled "The complete idiot's guide to..." or "... for dummies", you could not have been reading this review. Anybody with a modicum of common sense knows what the author has to tell you. If you don't even have this modicum of common sense, you had better give up being an independent video producer.

I now understand why Bob Jacobs won an "Emmy" award. I picked up a copy of the THE INDEPENDENT VIDEO PRODUCER and was amzed! This is a complete manual-- a how-to manual--- on going into the video production business for oneself. In this day of emerging opportunities for video producers who know their stuff, this book is the key to unlocking a profitable future, indeed! The author demonstrates his "Emmy" winning skills throughout. The material is presented clearly and in terms that anyone can understand. All you have to do is read this thing, put what the author tells you into practice and get to work--- for yourself! As an engineer and private businessperson myself, I wish I had come across something like this when I took the entrepreneurial plunge and opened the doors to my own company. I recommend this book highly.

I am launching my own video production company with one employee (so far) - myself. This book did a good job of covering basic fundamentals from how to find clients to how to prepare a proposal to how to maintain professionalism, etc. A few good examples are given throughout the book as well. It could have gone into each of the topics in more detail with more examples, but this is a very good reference to start with.

Best Book after UsMLEWORLD

Better than kaplan

I will buy this book for the cost - 800 questions

Be careful! I am not even through the first section of this book, and I have found several errors: answers that are not consistent with their explanations, answers that are correct, but whose explanations are wrong and make no physiologic sense.

I was able to pick up these errors in subjects that I know well, but now I doubt the answers for subjects that I don't know well, like OB and surgery.

Great book,really helpful.Questions are much harder than you'll find on the boards.