O Books

Many texts are oblique and indirect, written so the author can be published. However,Mr. Gronbach's book is a fresh, well written guide to accurate market forecasting that gives the reader immediately useful ideas and methods. Application of his well presented, easily understood method enables products to be brought to the market to catch the crest of the selling wave. Product planning and distribution techniques become clear and sensible. I have not seen anything that is this useful. I recommend anyone in consumer marketing to digest this book..

This book is simply written and simply...very insightful! The basic, simple and very practical formula of supply and demand based on population growth is simply explained. This formula is very practical in almost everything and anything. What ever topic it is this common census rule should be apply with the expectation of great results.
In a nut shell....It makes Common Census!

This book hits the nail on the head. It catches you shaking your head thinking "why don't they teach this in college??" A "must read" for anyone in the business world and anyone who just wants to understand simple economics! Ken is as brilliant a writer as he is a public speaker!

This book contains a point of view that many businessmen dismiss, or don't even consider. It teaches business in a simple way and portrays it in a way that IS common sense. It has helped me to think about the big picture of business and consider why corporations fail and succeed. I would recommend this book to anyone because it is understandable and simple, yet thought provoking and complex.

Common Census is curiously simple, yet profound. If you sell anything, goods or services, this is a must read before ramping up. This study of generational populations reveals why the Ipod is a homerun, and the retirement community, as we know it, will fade away. This quick read has helped me define where the money won't be, and the best generation(s) to market to. You'll want to read it over again!
L.L.Bowden

Most MDs really don't know much other than to tell patients with elevated blood pressures to cut back on the salt.

All the recipes that I've tried have all been tasty. If you really want to get your food intake in order also read the current bestseller "In Defense of Food".

This book is a "must have" along with "The No-Salt, Lowest-Sodium Cookbook", both are ESSENTIAL for anyone serious about low sodium cooking, lots of great advice, information about sodium content in common foods, great recipes - a real bargain.

This book is wonderful for cooking with low or no sodium. I bought this because my parents needed to decrease their sodium and potassium. This book does list the potassium count in the nutrition breakdown which helps me. I highly recommend it for people looking for healthier recipes.

I keep wondering why nearly all of the cookbooks have to be in book form. Use spiral bindings, please. Make them easy to use!

I agree, this is a must have for anyone following a low salt diet. Who says food has to be tasteless??? I learned so many cooking ideas from this book.

I bought a copy of this book about 25 years ago when a family member was put on a low sodium diet. It was a great beginner's guide to managing a low sodium diet, with lots of helpful tips. But even after I no longer needed to cook low sodium, I continued to use many of the recipes, just because they taste good. I finally gave my copy to a friend who was starting out on low sodium, and now I miss it. I think I'll have to get a new copy for myself, just for the recipes.

I really liked the first of the Jake O'Hara books. The characters were hilarious, the mystery interesting, the descriptions of different areas of NYC very well drawn. I particularly like the funeral scene in Calvary Cemetary. It was a perfect description of a burial in that old cemetery. This is a good start to the series.

I really enjoyed this book. One reason was because of the interplay between Jake, the amateur sleuth, and her mother with whom she lives. The book also covered an area of writing that has not been talked or written about much...the ghostwriter. It was interesting to learn about this group of writers and their feelings about their work. I couldn't help but wonder just how much was real and how much was author creation/speculation. All in all, an extremely good read.

Noreen Wald answers that question in her book Ghostwriter and she answers it well. This is a great first in a series.

A witty, quick read, Ghostwriter tells the story of Jake O'Hara, ghostwriter extraordinare. She lives in New York with her mother and belongs to GA (ghostwriters anonymous). All is fine until she is asked to ghost for the Queen of Murder Most Cozy and her fellow ghosts start turning up dead. Will Jake be next? Who is killing off her friends by the book? Could it be the handsome and wealthy Dennis Kim, a successful agent and a childhood enemy of Jake's? Could it be Too Tall Tom or the Mob? What about Gypsy Rose, her mother's best friend and occultist? Or the sensual therapist who seems to have a connection to everyone and anyone?

With the help of her family and friends Jake teams up with the police detective assigned to the case but can she find the killer before he finds her?

While this was not the most suspenseful mystery I have read it certainly was fun - mostly because of the wacky characters that Noreen Wald has so expertly drawn. I can't wait to read more of the series.

From Joan Mazza, author of Dreaming Your Real Self: A Personal Approach to Dream Interpretation.

Ghostwriter is a funny, funny book and a wonderful new character in Jake O'Hara. A page-turner as well. Can't wait for the next of the series! Noreen Wald's mix of humor, wit, and mystery lingers with a grin.

Ghostwriter was a fun book to read. The humor wasn't insulting and obvious. The author avoided stating the obvious, particularly when it came to the ethnicities of her characters. The final sentence was great. I particularly enjoyed the insight into the world of ghostwriting.

Gone with the wind is a novel packed with action, love, distress, hard times, and most of all, scarlet's strong sense of lofe. be it love of the land person, or thing scarlet is so emotional its almost unreal. it is an amazing book and i reccomend it for anyone with atleast a 9th grade reading lvl.
I think that the views expressed in this book about slavery and the civil war are more realistic than in any other book i've ever read. for instance, although uncle tom's cabin was another great book i believe that the viewpoint on slavery is too dramatic. i do not believe that all southern slave owners whipped their slaves.
i hope that reading this review has encouraged you to read this book. Gone With The Wind was deffinitely a book i can and will always remember, and i can't wait to read Scarlet, the sequel!

This is an excellent book that chronicles the making of the legendary screen classic "Gone With the Wind". The book moves in chronological order from it's start as a novel all the way through the pre-production, production and post-production stages of what was to be one of the greatest films of all time, if not the greatest. The book is filled with numerous photos, some of them in color, many of them rare and all of them crisp and clear. There are close-ups of all of its stars (Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia DeHavilland, Leslie Howard), the crew at work, movie posters and it's world premiere. This is a great book that will make an excellent addition to any library!

This book is packed with information and great photographs, both in color and black and white. The majority of the book deals with the filming an abundance of behind-the-scenes shots.

Also of particular interest is the post-production section dealing with the public's reaction to the movie and the section on the Premiere. This is a great book to add to your personal library.

Gorgeous pictures. Wonderful history of the novel to movie story. All GWTW fans should have this.

First I was impressed by the quality of photos - excellent. I come from Poland where, for a long time of communism, the good quality was a rare luxury. I could see every single element of fabulous clothes. Good taste, an unattainable world of really rich people - different from those starving and hungry after war in "Gone With the Wind". A lot of pictures, too little stories and anecdotes, but this is an illustrated story, so I shouldn't complain. Vivien Leigh, Olivia de Havilland, Clarke Gable are warm and human as private persons. As actors they are shown as professionals.

My thirty-five-year-old copy of this book is worn to tatters, and not just because of O'Connor's killer sense of humor. When overwhelmed by it all, this book does the trick. These letters won't be what her readers expect. True, they are ironic, economical, vivid, and eccentric. But their eccentricity runs not to blood, evil, and delusions; it runs to peacock farming. And--although a few noted writers are correspondents-- O'Connor mainly recounts the daily routines: setting the table, collecting the mail, entertaining the neighbors, reading the latest book. But seen through her eyes, these events are page-turners. Meanwhile, without one grain of saccharine, she conveys her acceptance, contentment, and steely dedication to writing while crippled with lupus (which killed her before she was forty.) But no bitterness here. Not only do you get absorbed in the writing; your own problems become trivial. By the way, aside from being one of the best writers I've ever read, she may also be the most authentically southern. By this I don't mean she's from the south. I mean she nails southern speech without ever resorting to embarassing attempts at "dialect."
If you're from the south too, you'll know what I mean.

This book is wonderful. If you're interested in O'Connor, you should definitely read it. AND, if you're NOT interested in O'Connor, this will make you interested in her. This book gives meaning to all her other stories.

I thought the title, "The Habit of Being" was extremely strange. But as you read it, it becomes very clear why a) it was titled that and b) O'Connor exemplified that motto.

Throughout this book you will see a thoughtful, kind, and analytical artist love on her work and her friends--in the most natural, uninhibited way. She spells words wrong. She speaks of her failing health. She talks about life on the farm. In the next letter it'll be theology and Aristotle though. It's beautiful and you will learn a lot from it.

That said...it's almost 600 pages long. BUT, I couldn't put it down.

She's witty and extremely funny too.

One of her best friends complied this set of letters to share the real Flannery with the public. That she did, and it is a blessing indeed.

is like the impact of violence," Flannery O'Connor once wrote, which doesn't explain her stories but does help illuminate them. Having read her short stories and seen the cult film of Wise Blood, I nevertheless approached her letters gingerly. However, they hail from a time and tradition when letter writing was not only an art but a means of expression and communication. She works out a lot of the ideas she's writing about in her letters, which makes reading the finished works that much more fascinating.

O'Connor raised peacocks and lived on a farm in Georgia, but she also had lupus, an incurable disease. She's not sentimental about it (or about most things); she'd be a candidate for a Catholic realist (if there is such a category). Almost any writer or reader will find these letters fascinating for what they reveal about O'Connor and her method of working. Almost any spiritually-minded reader will find them equally intriguing for her insights on the human condition. Because Protestants don't have sacraments (Catholics have seven sacraments, Protestants have two), she once suggested, they have to make everything up as they go along. That seems to me to be the case in some post-modern churches where, it would seem, anything goes. But it would be incorrect, as Ralph Wood shows in Flannery O'Connor and the Christ-haunted South, to think she therefore held the fundamentalists who people her books in disdain, as did liberal Protestants and much of society in her time. Her generous nature is one reason so many are returning to reading O'Connor, and so many new readers are discovering her.

These letters offer deep insight into the importance of the Catholic faith to Flannery O'Connor and to her audience of a number of decades ago. I found it an important book for today as well because we are still breathing in the toxic gas of nihilism. Not only did I enjoy her writings, but I found them to be exceptional well constructed.

Flannery O'Connor's correspondence is a fine testimony to humor, faith, and work in the life of a fascinating and absolutely unswerving human being. As she says in a letter to Andrew Lytle from this collection, the fact that she was a Catholic kept her from being a regional writer and the fact that she was a Southerner kept her from being a Catholic writer. If you want the best tutorial you're apt to ever read on how to write fiction, forget the usual "Write a Novel in 30 Days" garbage and get a copy of THE HABIT OF BEING. She'll also teach you quite a bit about living.

I agree with Van55. (What else is new?!) This is a fantastic book. I bought my copy used through Amazon over a year ago, and I am still making reference to it. If you are a fan of quality Cuban cigars, you need this volume along with Min Ron Nee's work. In contrast to Min Ron Nee's book, this one has much more on the history and production of the cigars. The photos, many full page, are colorful and moving.

While this book does have descriptions and evaluations of various vitolas, the ones in MRN's book are much more thorough and complete. That does not mean that the ones you will find in the book are not useful, but they are best treated as an overview. Don't look for detail here. But then again, this book is less than half the price of the MRN book, and it is much easier to find.

Again, you probably need both books, but buy this one first. You won'd be disappointed. Makes a great coffee table book too!

I really appreciated this book for the photography and the explanation of the manufacturing process. Del Todesco does a great job of walking the reader through the myriad processes of creating a puro. The only thing about this book that left me a little disappointed was the review of cigars in the back. It seems a little difficult to review a cigar in one sentence, especially cigars that are as complex as a Montecristo #2 or a Hoyo de Monterrey...but time and again, he sums up an otherwise world famous cigar as "suitable for a beginner" or "mild, not much to recommend about this cigar". It just struck me as odd to have a compilation as deep as what is presented in this book and then give the cigars an extremely indifferent and passing glance en masse. The first 130 pages were interesting no matter what level of aficianado you are...the encyclopedia could use a good second edition enhancement.

This is a great reference book for specific havana brands. Life sized images of most cigars from nearly all brands is included along with vitola information and author's tasting notes/suggestions. This is in addition to general cigar information like history of tobacco, tobacco cultivation and creating a cigar. The specific details are a bit dated (1997) but still the best I have seen published in the US. However, Min Ron Nee's text is superior if you can obtain it.

I found this book at Amazon while searching for the second printing of "An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars" by Min Ron Nee, that I understand is soon to be released for sale within the United States.

Mr. del Todesco's book, though now nearly ten years old, remains a valuable addition to the library of anyone who has an interest in Cuban cigars. The first 130 or so pages contain a detailed history of Cuba's cigar-making as well as a seed-to-cigar description of the creation of Cuban cigars. Most of these pages consist of excellent photographs of Cuba and of the farmers, torcedors and others whose skill and knowledge contribute to the manufacture of, arguably, the best cigars on earth. The last half of the book consists of sepia photgraphs and brief descriptions and tasting notes of the brands (marcas) and sizes (vitolas) of Cuban cigars that were in commercial production in 1996. Comparing these notes to more recent reviews of examples of later productions of these cigars is fascinating.

I'm glad that I happened to have stumbled onto the existence of this beautiful volume.

With the plethora of books currently available on cigars in general and on Habanos in particular, this is (still) the one item no cigar aficionado dare be without.

The book came in plenty of time for a gift. It did have a slice in the paper cover and slightly on the main book it's self. Looks like when someone opened a box with a box cutter. It didn't effect the out come of the book though.

This cookbook contains many of the most popular dishes served at the Inn at Little Washington. I was surprised how true the recipes are to the dishes served at the Inn. Few recipes require exotic or inaccessibly expensive ingredients. While some recipes are labor-intensive, others can be prepared rather quickly and easily with excellent results, such as the Rockfish with Mushrooms and Grapes.

The Red Pepper Soup with Sambuca Cream has become a favorite in our house, even among those who typically do not enjoy red pepper. The Medallions of Veal with Calvados Cream is also well worth the effort. The ice-cream recipes in this text are also excellent.

If you are not an avid cook, this book has lovely pictures and makes for a good coffee table book. The text is also well-written and interesting. Highly recommended.

This is the restaurant by which all other restaurants are measured. It is perfection in every way. Therefore, it is not surprising that I would want the cookbook. What may be surprising to some, then, is how good the book is. There are many notable restaurants and famous chefs are not rare. Chefs, however, who write well and present good cookboooks is less commonplace. The writing is excellent and the recipes turn out as anticipated. I pick up the book (together with Levin's book) sometimes just to recall the most splendid restaurant experience of my life and to look forward to dining there again soon. This should be a good book even for those who have not had my experience; it should be for any lover of good food and good dining.

We have been guests at the Inn at Little Washington and enjoyed lovely repasts there. In the book, "The Inn at Little Washington Cookbook," we have taken the magnificent offerings to our own table. Especially memorable is the tomato salad, rated the best by the Washington Post reviewer, with tri-colored tomatoes, basil, pine nuts, and shaved asciago cheese - a feast for the eye and the palate. The lobster medallions with grapefruit are delicions and easy to prepare. There is practicality in the preparation and easy-to-find ingredients. The photographs are wonderful. I have given this lovely book to many friends who have shared my delight with Patrick O'Connell's gift from the heart!

We had the pleasure of spending a weekend at the inn and on one of our 2 dinners there actually ate at the "chef's table" in the kitchen. While there we were able to sample a large portion of the menu and obtain an autographed copy of his cookbook. Upon returning home I assumed the recipes would be convoluted and difficult to follow. THIS IS NOT THE CASE! Patrick's recipes are clear, straight-forward and enable any cook with moderate kitchen skills to wonderfully replicate the dishes he serves at his fantastic inn! If you want to produce delicious dishes, with a hint of southern US, French & Italian influences then buy this book!!! You will not be disappointed & your guests will be amazed!

A fairly interesting book. O'Donnell lists the campaigns of the elite troops of this theater of command, details the plan of battle, and then gives the oral histories of those who served in those campaigns. Most of the veterans are at the end of their lives, so these oral histories present a heartfelt tribute to the difficulties these soldiers endured during combat. What surprised me most was how these soldiers/veterans got choked up recounting the battles they went through, and the friends they lost. Freedom isn't cheap, and these soldiers are living proof of how America was affected by the battle.
This is a good read. Oral histories are good at describing the personal experiences of soldiers, but they don't put perspective on the actual battle campaigns. If one wants to know more about the War in the Pacific, one needs to read a general history, before reading this book.

This review is of the Audio CD version of this excellent book. Jeff Riggenbach did a fantastic job reading this text. He managed to give proper emphasis without drowning the material.

Many soldiers are reluctant to talk of their wartime experiences for fear of seeming boastful. O'Donnell got these veterans to open up and tell their stories. They did so that the fallen heroes would get proper credit, not to tell of their own exploits in a grand fashion. Many of the other reviewers have told of the specific episodes relayed in the book, but what struck me was the depth of feeling that these men had many decades after the fact. One soldier tells of looking up the family of a fallen buddy after the war. It was as if he felt driven to tell them of their son's valor and his worth to his fellow soldiers. Another tells of a friend he saw die in combat after having met his wife and been their with him during the arrival of their child. It was a common theme that these men had these experiences with them every day, if only just beneath the surface. I highly recommend it to those who would like to grasp the depth of the sacrifice these individuals made on our behalf.

I found this an unusually readable book as first person narratives of combat. The emotion was left in the accounts and you can't help but be touched by the various stories as opposed to a detached historical rendering. The latter is important as a context for these highly personal accounts. There is no attempt to cover the gore and pathos of combat. The accompanying maps were very good also and helped to pinpoint actual events; many of the battles I never heard of. Reminds me of With The Old Breed and Pacific War Diary for its impact, also Flags of Our Fathers. It's great that these veterans lived until a time when they could have permission to express these emotions; they weren't allowed this I don't think until the last decade or two.

I read this book after "Beyond Valor" by the same author and I wasn't disappointed. "Into the Rising Sun" is a collection of first hand accounts of the brave men who fought in the Pacific. The author sets up the accounts with some background material to make more sense to it all. After re-living some of these battle through this book, I started to understand what a living Hell these guys lived through. The intensity of the Japanese soldier was astonishing.

This book has special meaning to me since my father was a Marine fighting the Japanese in the Pacific. He was at Guadalcanal and Okinawa .I now know what a hero he was!

This is the second of Patrick O'Donnell's books. O'Donnell is a gifted oral historian who's been collecting the recollections of men who were soldiers and served in the Second World War, partially through a website he set up some years ago, and partially through other sources. This compilation shows off O'Donnnell's strengths, and weaknesses (such as they are) and is a good example of his work.

O'Donnell, for whatever reason, is very attached to "elite" infantry units. In his book on the European Theater, this included paratroopers, rangers, and the members of the 1st Special Service Force. In the current book, which covers the Pacific Theater, the distinction between "elite" forces and the regular ones is somewhat more blurry: Army Rangers, paratroopers, and members of Merril's Marauders are the participants from the army, but the author chose to distinguish the Marine Raider and Parachute units from other Marine outfits. This is a weakness as all of these forces were disbanded in 1943-4, and so the book would be rather truncated as far as the Marine Corps went for the last 18 months or so of the war. This (of course) is unacceptable, so the author merely follows former members of these specialized units who were absorbed into other, regular Marine regiments.

The result is that some battles are covered in considerable detail here, while others (notably Saipan and Peleliu) are ignored because the Marines who participated in these campaigns weren't "elite." This includes members of the 1st Marine Division, who were arguably the most experienced in terms of combat against Japanese soldiers. So what's here is rather skewed and somewhat disjointed, but if you accept that, then the material that's here is worthwhile.

I enjoyed this book, within its limitations, and I would recommend it and the others in O'Donnell's series, provided you accept what they are.

Explores the spiritual formation of King David from his earliest experiences with Goliath to his time in the desert running from Saul to the death of his son Absalom and his eventual death. Makes a great adult study in a small group or Sunday school context.

I found a copy of this book in my in-law's attic. I looked through the contents and decided to read the chapter on Friendship - David and Jonathan. Peterson is profound in this chapter. His comments on friendship as an expression of spirituality were so insightful that I am viewing my relationships with others in a new way already. I was even convicted that my friendship with my wife was not sufficient by God's standard. Wow, what a difference one chapter can make. I can hardly wait to buy this book and read the all of Peterson's reflections on the life of David. I like this "earthy spirituality." Give it a try, you might like it too.

What does it mean to be a Christian? Is the Bible passe, or is it still relevant for today? Does Christianity mean the triumphalstic life? What is the end goal of being a Christian? How can I live an authentic Christian life?

Eugene Peterson (the author of The Message) reflects on the life of David in this book and looks at what we can learn. Every chapter contains important lessons to being a Christian, and areas that we are to reflect on, and how we interact with God in our relationship with Him. The life of David becomes a platform for us to learn about our spirituality and relationship with God.

The following are some facts about David:
- The David story is the most extensively narrated single story in the Bible. We know more about David than any other person in the Bible.
- The life of David showed the humanity of this man after God's heart, and there are many themes that run through the life of David, e.g. parents, relationships, danger, murder, temptation, adultery, pride, humiliation, children, wives, rejection, sickness, justice, fear, peace, death...
- David did not perform any miracles.
- David sinned more than Saul, yet he was known as a person after God's own heart.
- David was known as a man served God's purposes in his generation (Acts 13:36).

The story of David is simultaneously earthy and godly. It shows us that we are never more alive than when we are dealing with God. David was an unfortunate parent, an unfaithful husband, and if we look at him from a purely historical perspective, he was a barbaric chieftain with a talent for poetry. But David's importance isn't in his morality or his military prowess but in his experience and witness to God. Every event in David's life was a confrontation with God.

Spirituality and humanity cannot be separated. We can't grow spiritually without understanding our humanness. We can't grow humanly without understanding our spirituality. David shows us that we can't be human without God. Understanding all this gives hope to many Christians that God looks at the heart, and it is about having a relationship with God. There are many lessons to learn, one of the most impactful to me was David's years in the wilderness.

It seems that all of God's leaders will at sometime go through a wilderness experience at least once. The wilderness experience is not something that any flesh likes, but it is an experience that can sanctify and consecrate the flesh. "Wilderness is the place of testing, the place of tempting" (pp. 75). In David's wilderness experience, he was being set apart, made holy, for God's use. The more he dealt with God, the more human he became (pp. 75). The wilderness was an attack on the flesh and a thrust towards dependence on God. In fact, David seemed most "spiritual" in his days in the wilderness.

Wilderness spirituality also includes being with the company of people we would not ordinarily choose to be with, and who would not ordinarily choose to be with us. (pp. 96). God uses others to point us to Him. If we see that the wilderness is filled with people we do not want to be with, we would have missed God. But if we see the wilderness being filled with God, we would not miss the people in it. "The wilderness taught David to see beauty everywhere. The wilderness was David's school in the preciousness of life; through wilderness testing David learned to see God in places and things he would never have thought to look previously. The wilderness immersed David in beauties so profound that a cheap revenge was unthinkable. The wilderness trained David in loyalties so binding that a broken oath was impossible. The wilderness exposed David to the presence of God in the most barren piece of rock so that no thing, and certainly no man, could ever be treated with scorn or contempt." (pp. 77-8) We cannot be naïve about the wilderness; it is a dangerous place. But we must never avoid the wilderness; for it is a wonderful place (pp. 80). "Hardship brings out the best in David. Suffering can, if we let it, make us better instead of worse" (pp. 198).

If you have ever felt discouraged by your own imperfections in your Christian walk, read this book! David is about as earthy and real as a person gets. As another reviewer wrote, the chapter on the friendship between David and Jonathan is also insightful and valuable. Eugene Petersen explores the reality of David's life situations and choices, and how his relationship with God was affected by them. In so doing, he highlights how God grows us and walks beside us throughout all of the trials of life, even those we bring upon ourselves. Ultimately, despite everything, David remained "A man after God's own heart" proving the existence and endurance of God's grace and acceptance, and that there's hope for us all!

A fantastic life-giving work in the middle of an insipid age. This book about David is a book about real and bold living. A great encouragement and a call to live the Kingdom life now... today. One of the most significant books I have ever read, this belongs alongside the Narnia Chronicles and Robinson Crusoe as a standard bearer book for living bold and free in God's realm.

Fred Neff has done a commendable job drawing together commando techniques and tactics for self-defense in his book Lessons from the Fighting Commandos. It provides training built on centuries of development of fighting techniques and tactics in the western sports of boxing and wrestling. When Fred Neff wrote this book in the 1980's it was a pioneering effort that made people aware of the rich heritage of fighting moves available from western sources. Since this book's publication through modern kick-boxing, tough man battles and other fighting tournaments that allow contestants to use Asian and/or western fighting techniques, the strengths of western fighting have been proven. Fred Neff's Lessons from the Fighting Commandos provides valuable information in a coherent, brief and well-composed manner. There are chapters in Fred Neff's book on answers to common questions, physical conditioning, fighting posture, manner of movement, punching, kicking, dodging, blocking, combinations of fighting moves, combining boxing and grappling and strategy. One really unique aspect of this book is the information it supplies on fighting an opponent once you have been thrown to the floor. Another valuable chapter deals with fighting strategy. Fred Neff has crafted a book that brings out the best of western self-defense in an interesting and useful manner. Woven throughout the book is a non-violent approach to defending oneself, which is commendable in and of itself. Lessons From the Fighting Commandos is a book that is well worth reading and studying.

My first introduction to Lessons from the Fighting Commandos was after I had acheived a black belt grade in Japan. When I first started graduate studies here in the United States, I found there was no one to practice my style of karate in the area where I was going to school. After a few months, I did meet another graduate student who had also earned his black belt in a style of Okinawan Karate that in some ways was very similar to my own art. One night we were at a local nightspot and a local tough guy picked a fight with my friend. My friend proceeded to fight this guy in the same way he handled me in sparring, which proved to be a disaster. The tough guy ended up taking my friend to the ground and pummeling him. After the fight my friend and I agreed that he had failed to assess his opponent's strengths and weaknesses and used the one-type-of-fighting-fits-all approach that we had both been taught. A few weeks later my friend found a copy of Fred Neff's Lessons from the Fighting Commandos. This book teaches you to adapt to the needs of the moment. While my previous training in karate had taught me technique, it did not teach me the all-important lesson of adaptation. The more my friend and I studied Lessons from the Fighting Commandos the more we appreciated its lessons. Frankly, this book's messsage of learning how to size up an opponent's strengths and weaknesses and develop a strategy is essential to good self-defense. A few months later my friend and I ran into the supposedly invincible tough guy at a local fast food joint and again he proceeded to pick a fight with my friend. They had a rematch, but with much different results. This time my friend used a hit and move strategy that eventually resulted in the tough guy finding himself on the ground hurt and worn out physicallly and mentally. My friend had not used the one-strike-will-end-the-fight approach that we had been taught in our respective arts, nor the charge in and hit with a quick series of open hand blows taught by some other schools; instead he used an approach taught in Lessons from the Fighting Commandos--that of out-thinking and manipulating his opponent. It has been many years since graduate school and I now live in an area where finding people to work out with is much easier. I still practice and greatly appreciate my style of Japanese Karate, but I also regularly work into my practice routine techniques and strategies taught in Lessons from the Fighting Commandos. I have introduced Lessons from the Fighting Commandos to my sparring partners, who also find it a valuable resource. This book is truly outstanding and well deserving of a 5-star rating. It is an essential resource for those interested in martial arts and self-defense.

A super present that I got for Christmas this year was a book by Fred Neff on the Fighting Commandos. I especially like this book's coverage of topics not normally discussed in other books on fighting techniques such as defending against hand and foot attackes from different ranges and in prolonged fighting situations. Unlike the typical karate books, Lessons from the Fighting Commandos covers basic grappling maneuvers and defenses when forced to fight on the ground. This book is solid platinum from cover to cover in its exploration and explanation of how to fight.

The other day I again came upon Fred Neff's book "Lessons from the Fighting Commandos," a book that I can best characterize as a classic in the field of self-defense. Years ago, as a high school wrestler, I thought I was really a tough guy until I took a beating at a party from a bigger guy. To add insult to injury, he told me that the next time he ran into me I could expect an even greater beating. Given the size of my hometown, it was inevitable that I was in for another beating. My pride was hurt and I made up my mind that if we were going to fight again, I was going to be on the winning end. A friend of my older brother, who had been away from town for several years serving in the military, recommended that I read a book on fighting commandos written by a great fighting master, the book was Fred Neff's Lessons from the Fighting Commandos. I read the book cover to cover and then started to use it as a practice guide. Every day I practiced the fighting moves from boxing and wrestling contained in the book. Within a short time, I felt confident enough to take on the bigger guy that had given me the beating. We ended up running into each other at a local hangout in a shopping area and as expected he picked a fight. This time I used the fighting tactics that I learned in Lessons from the Fighting Commandos and won. My friends made a hero of me because of my win. Lessons from the Fighting Commandos gave me more than fighting skills, it taught me the value of practice, adapting a winning strategy in dealing with an opponent's aggression and the power of thinking your way out of a problem. This is a five star book all the way, that really packs a powerful punch and will be appreciated by anyone who takes the time to read it.

A friend recently purchased this book for me knowing my interest in hand-to-hand combat and fighting techniques. This is an excellent book! It is jam packed with useful information while at the same time it is concise and to the point. The photographs illustrating each step of the techniques is terrific. The pictures provide step-by-step illustrations of the described techniques. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about hand-to hand fighting techniques. I found the approach taken by the author to be one that I can highly recommend to anyone, from child to adult, who is interested in self-defense.