Reviews Books

Although relatively new in the game, (when compared to veterans like the Cecil's and the Harrison's), Kelley's Textbook of Internal Medicine is in a class of its own. This 3,200 pages of sound medical gospel is an all-round platinum winner.
It is a pacesetter in outlook: covering all branches of medicine in a veridicous way that is worthy of emulation.
If the current pace established by the 4th edition is sustained in the future, Kelley's will completely douse competition from both the Cecil's and the Harrison's texts.
It is hard to find flaws in this book; and I believe that many people would like to see what its CD-ROM version will look like.

Kelley's Textbook of Internal Medicine, now in its 4th edition continues to uphold the highest standards of excellence and is an acclaimed classic world-wide. It is unique among other medical books in that as a stand-alone one-volume reference guide, no other provides such an encyclopaedic breadth of coverage and utility in clinical practice. The founding editor, William N. Kelley has succeeded admirably in compiling a superior and formidable state-of-the-art medical reference which contains several written contributions from leading medical specialists and is a powerful teaching tool for both medical undergraduates and qualified practitioners. The text is compartmentalised into 11 major sections, each corresponding to the main branches of medicine. These include an opening part on Principles of Medical Practice which is followed by sections on Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Nephrology, Oncology and Haematology, Rheumatological, Allergic, and Dermatological Diseases, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism and Genetics, Neurology and finally Geriatrics. Each section is then further subdivided into chapters which discuss the procedural aspects of how to approach a patient with a common presenting complaint from tests to final diagnosis, a focus on the main disorders of each particular system, as well as an in-depth analysis of the diagnostic and therapeutic modalities pertaining to specific disease entities. In light of the growing importance of evidence-based medicine, a major new addition to the 4th edition is a series of "clinical decision guides". These are based on various gradations of scientific evidence which propel evidence-based medicine into the front-line of decision-making when considering the formulation of guidelines relating to differential diagnosis and management protocols for major problems. Also worthy of special mention is the inclusion of an extremely useful Rapid Access Guide which is alphabetically indexed by organ system and located at the beginning of the text. This allows fast and easy retrieval of the most important facts regarding common specific diseases or syndromes. In summary, at over 3000 pages long, Kelley's Textbook of Internal Medicine is a truly inspirational achievement and must surely rank amongst the most thoroughly comprehensive and authoritative medical textbooks currently available. Certainly, I can think of no book which encompasses such scope and captures the changing face of medicine today.

I have been using this book for many years. No new edition will ever come out. Dr. Humes, the chief editor, of this textbook in the reply to my email by one of his coworkers, he stated that " Dr. David Humes asked that I respond for him to your email of 5/8. He regrets to report that Kelley Textbook publisher, Lippincott Williams & WIlkins, is no longer publishing General Medicine textbooks and that he is unaware of any plans to publish a new edition of the Textbook. Dr. Humes appreciates, however, your kind and favorable comments regarding the Textbook.."

So no more new edition of Kelley's textbook of internal medicine in the market. What a great disppointment!!!!

An excellent reference text for the practicing primary care physicians. Concise, gives necessary info without a lot of minuta.Great bargain for the price. I trained using Cecil's and I feel this is as good for less money.

I whole-heartedly agree with other reviewers. This book is a treasure in the midst of competing texts that simply do not offer the quality of Kelley's textbook.

This book does what others simply fail to do. Provide comprehensive, *practical*, and evidence-based medical management guidelines. Whereas most standard texts may provide such information about disease entities, Kelley's also recognises that patients most often present with diagnostic problems (such as hematuria or tremors) and thus devotes much attention to these. Each of these presentations is examined in terms of differentials (not just a list - you are given perspective and told what to look for in different subpopulations that present with the same complaint), then workup, treatment options, and followup considerations are explored. Facts aren't simply printed for the purpose of memorization (as is often the case in other texts); they are contextualized and presented in a manner that is useful to your goal of providing thorough and effective management options to your patients. I would also recommend this texts to medical students, as it is far easier to absorb information that is clinically and practically relevant rather than memorize those lists and flow diagrams (which at first glance may look concise and easy to study, but in the long term are actually difficult to remember).

Dr A.M.

I love this book...I currently have about 4 chemistry review books, including an older edition of this book from my brother. The SAT II Books (like Princeton Review and Barrons) are good, but this book is very clear. There are a few trick questions, but mostly it is about the concepts. Very helpful with all the extra questions at the end of the chapter. Absolutely great! Thanks

This book has helped me so much with honors high school chemistry and explains everything so clearly and the convenience of having 40 practice questions per chapter really helps me truly understand the concepts of each chapter. I recommend this book to anyone taking chemistry!!

It may be a little too detailed for the regents student. Since the regents is getting dumbed down, I reccomend getting an older copy of the book (before 2001)-- It has more details and helpful hints in it

This is about the best book on high school level chemistry I have come across. Albert Tarendash explains each concept with care and very helpful example problems are worked out. I would recommend this book to anyone who is taking an introductory chemistry course.

This book has helped me so much with honors high school chemistry and explains everything so clearly and the convenience of having 40 practice questions per chapter really helps me truly understand the concepts of each chapter. I recommend this book to anyone taking chemistry!!

This book was chuck full of fun information, activities and history. It is the kind of book I could use to teach math, social studies, and science.I loved the recipes and fun facts about bread. Kids will love to just look through it anytime and can always find something knew.

What a great book. We incorporated it into our homeschool curriculum (great for the kid who enjoys cooking!). In addition to the fascinating historical and cultural tour, the recipes are delicious, and provide an opportunity to work with all those tricky fractions as well. We're looking forward to more books by the Harbisons.

This winsome little book is designed to take readers on a gastronomical journey through the history of the world. The history of bread is, according to the Introduction, also the history of civilzation and this book is one delicious way to make that discovery. The heart of the book consists of a timeline history of bread, beginning at 73,000 B.C. in Asia when bread began as a lumpy concoction of mashed grain and water, and ending with a look inside a modern bakery, accompanied by recipes for white bread, French bread, croutons and French Toast. Scattered along this timeline are historical tidbits and bread making stories from various cultures both ancient and modern. Readers will learn why the ancient Egyptians are credited with the discovery of yeast breads, why the Pilgrims often ate their biscuts in the dark, why Marie Antoinette allegedly said, "Let them eat cake," and how John Montague, the English Earl of Sandich, came to invent the popular lunchbox fare. Naturally the book includes plenty of tempting recipes to try out as well. including colonial Johnnycakes, Sally Lunn from nineteenth-century England, and Moravian Christmas bread. There are even recipes for readers who, instead of baking, would rather use bread-making ingredients to create gooey mixtures in the kitchen. Poster paints, squeeze paints, and play dough, for instance, can be made from flour, water, salt, sugar and oil. And those of a scientific mind can grow a little mold in honor of Sir Alexander Fleming or use a simple yeasty mixture to blow up a balloon. Since all cultures throughout history have had some kind of bread at nearly every meal, one could say that bread is the common gluten that binds us all together. LOAVES OF FUN offers a fun and tasty way for homeschooling families to combine a little history with their bread baking -- and eating -- endeavors." -Joan Torkildson, Home Education Magazine, May-June 1997

My daughter needed this book for a school report she was doing, and I picked it up one night and started flipping through it. To my surprise, I really got interested. This is a very informative book and the illustrations are just adorable. Highly recommended!

Sure you've eaten white, rye and wheat bread. But how about Welsh Rabbit, Amish Friendship Bread and Jewish challah? These and other interesting breads are made around the world. Hear all about them in LOAVES OF FUN: A HISTORY OF BREAD WITH ACTIVITIES AND RECIPES FROM AROUND THE WORLD. The book, which contains over 30 recipes and activities, also explains how French toast, pretzels and the first sandwiches were created.

-YES Magazine, May/June 1997

Did you like the movie? (I loved it!) If yes then you will want this book ... it is all you want to know (and more) about King Kong 2005. A good read.

Having always been a fan of '76 version of King Kong and never having seen the original version, at first when I knew that Peter Jackson was making his updated version, I became excited because it was one of those iconic mosters from my childhood, and also because Peter Jackson's previous works with The Lord of the Rings, which was quite amazing.

This is one very detailed hell of a book!!! Really good technical stuff as well as concept work, I just wish there would have included more Kong pics, either concept art as well as any photo from the movie. But anyway, this stuff is great!!!!

This book is one of the best "Making of" volumes I have read - informative, interesting, intelligent, and with plenty of 'insider' views of the film making process. Refreshingly, the focus is less on the "let's chat with the movie stars" aspect, and far more on the complex process of pulling this huge movie together. A real salute to Peter Jackson and his team!

Very simple...a fantastic book from a fantastic film. Well written and concise. The photography is perfect and fills you in on the myriad of details that went into this stunning film. The parts on how Wellington, New Zealand became New York are worth the price alone. The detail is overwhelming. As someone who lives in New York I was amazed that Peter Jackson and crew captured the rows of piers that once jutted out into the Hudson, towards Hoboken, New Jersey. This didn't have to be put in...yet is a small example of the attention, pure attention to detail that went into the making of this film. This will not destroy the mystery behind the making of this epic...it will enhance it.

Having watched Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong three times already, I wondered so often during the film how they made it all look so real. I never doubted for a second that there was an uncharted island of the coast; it was all so real and vibrant I couldn't help believing. I wanted to know exactly how they created not only Skull Island and it's creatures, but the whole city of New York, the actor's takes on the movie, and Peter Jackson's vision. Having said so, I believe this is the best possible guide for the movie you could have.

Each page is a veritable explosion of color and detail as they take you through step-by-step, explaining the creations of miniatures and models, motion-capture of Andy Serkis, and blue and green screens suddenly turning into lush tropical jungles, or cold, dirty, city streets. They give histories into the Skull Island natives, personal actor narritations of their characters, and detailed explanations of the process of creating an image in the computer and bringing it to life on the big screen. This is one of those books with something for everyone, and you can skip around to whatever interests you most. Myself, I read the entire book and often went back to certain sections to just immerse myself in the creative genius of the people who made this production a reality. It also made me a bit amazed at times, when I learned that the famous log scene was conducted on a bucking constructed log in the middle of a sea of blue screens only 2 meters from the floor. Or that New York wasn't really New York at all. Or even that the biplanes were all reconstructed by hand from old blueprints, because there were no surviving ones. It also talked about teh detail put into the shop windows, where everything was bought or made by hand. After reading this, I had such a deep feeling of respect and amazment for the people who worked on this production, making it as realistic as possible. I know that sounds weird, because King Kong is a fantasy story, but with such heart and detail and life, it's hard to think of it as anything but real. In all, this is the perfect book for anyone who wants more insight into the world of Kong, or even wants to be entertained and amazed time and time again.

Having read Jack of Hearts I was immediately interested in "A million would be nice." You don't need to read Scotts first novel to enjoy this but I was glad I had. The story features Donavan Smith who is as bad as they get but attractive in his evilness. From start to finish I was captivated by the storyline and events which are in tandem with Scotts first book but in my opinion, that little bit better. Plenty of action and drama written in a smooth manner with plenty of twists and turns. The book lasted forty eight hours until I had to sadly hit the last page and I would suggest it as a definate suggestion for the book collector.

Ken Scott has done it again. A MILLION WOULD BE NICE, THE sequel to JACK OF HEARTS, takes us back once again, to the roller coaster life of Bob Heggee. Just when Bob thinks he has a calm life after winning alot of cash and robbing a bank, he meets up with a cold-blooded character named Donavan Smith who turns the novel into a spine-tingling journey through Paris, Spain and Cannes, where Donovan kills, blackmails and kidnaps, all for the sake of a million bucks.
The action and story-line makes this suspense thriller a page turner. Mr. Scott did a great job of weaving the lives of all the characters into a fast-paced story that is parallel to one of Stephen Kings best novels.
I highly reccommend this novel for those who love suspense, hate putting a good book down and those who keep thinking about the characters long after the book is read.

Kate Genovese
author of TWO WEEKS SINCE MY LAST CONFESSION
WWW.KATEGENOVESE.COM

Ken Scott's book is well worth the read. Like many of you, I have a stack of books on my nightstand and sometimes I read two or three simultaneously, choosing whichever one matches my mood. Occasionally, I'll start a book that demands attention and won't allow time for the others. "A Million Would Be Nice" is one of those books. I couldn't divert from it until I was finished. It was much better than others I've read in this genre of crime thriller/suspense. Scott writes with intensity, and he is able to shift gears and thrust us into the warped thoughts and motives of various characters. While the main character is not traditionally sympathetic, there is no doubt about the origins of his sexually charged, murderous arrogance and cold-heartedness. What makes this book curiously different is that despite a few academic literary flaws, the intense writing style carries the story and lifts it above the others. Therefore, I can easily recommend "A Million Would Be Nice." I didn't want to stop reading, which is the best measure for any fiction, regardless of genre.

To offer a disclaimer, I feel compelled to inform you that I bought "A Million Would Be Nice" because it is published by Libros International, the same company that will publish (or has published) my own novel "Where the River Splits." Often, as with any reviews, I don't necessarily agree with nor understand the high ratings and sometimes befuddling raves. However, I truly enjoyed this book and can without hesitation recommend it.

Jeff May, askwritefish.

I don't read many books that claim membership of a genre. In my humble opinion, a work of fiction should aspire to create its own world, describe it, communicate it and then live in it. I want a book's characters to inhabit the events that are portrayed, events that are clearly influenced by the character's presence, but which are also usually bigger than any individual's contribution. Wars don't exist unless people fight them. Crimes are not committed without criminals. Love stories are made by lovers and ghosts don't exist.

For instance, in my own book, Mission, there are four wars, but it's not a war novel. There are at least three love stories, but it's not a romance. There are several deaths, one of which is a murder, but it's not a crime novel or a thriller. And then there's a character who comes back from the dead to haunt an old man, but it's not a ghost story or a fantasy. In short, it's Mission, a novel set in Kenya.

So I approached Ken Scott's crime thriller, A Million Would Be Nice, as a reader unused to the genre's codes and forms.

Unlike general or literary fiction, I recognise that learning what happens in A Million Would Be Nice is one of the main reasons for reading the book. My review, therefore, cannot reveal too much of the plot. Suffice it to say that there has been a bank robbery. It was an inside job and the scenario for its execution is carefully concocted and inventively created. The perpetrator gets away with it and scarpers with the loot to live it up in Spain.

On an apparently separate thread, we meet Donavan Smith, a quite incredibly vile piece of humanity from Newcastle, of which I hope he is not representative. He's a successful young thing, a kind of nouveau riche moron, who apparently defines his identity by surrounding himself with requisite items of designer consumption, clearly knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing. He has everything, does our Donavan, but he is never satisfied. He wants more.

There isn't a lot to endear us to Donavan Smith. He's a misogynist, and occasionally indulges in some quite bizarre behaviour in the bedroom. He justifies everything with quotes from the Bible, a source of justification that was beaten into him by an abusing mother. He lets nothing get in his way. He has his ideas, knows how to achieve them and then ruthlessly destroys anything that might resist. In some ways, he is quite creative.

But one of his conquests becomes an accomplice, because she has inside information about that money that went missing in the bank raid. He needs her and together they visit people all over the prestigious bits of Europe, Paris, Cannes, London, the Costas, Newcastle, to pursue and realise their dream. And believe me, this Donavan is nothing if not resourceful and he certainly has a knack when it comes to making things happen.

The story moves at a fast pace. Different characters are drawn into the thread and many are inevitably cast aside by Donavan Smith, our single-minded, calculating anti-hero. And that is as much as I will relate. A Million Would be Nice claims to be a crime thriller, and a crime thriller is exactly what it is, fast paced, and packed with greed, obsession and ruthlessness.

Ken Scott's own background as an employee of a major British bank provided him with much of the detail surrounding the original robbery. Since the back cover of the book shows him, like the robber in the book, living it up in Spain, I can only hope that this is as far as the similarity goes. A Million Would be Nice will appeal to readers of thrillers and crime fiction. It has all the elements you would expect and, in the relationship between Donavan and his mother, perhaps something extra as well.

A Million would be Nice picks up the baton from Ken Scott's first novel Jack of Hearts. Bob Heggie is pursued by his nemesis in the form of Donavan Smith. The action is exhausting and the characterization so good you can almost taste the tension. If you don't like suspense thrillers then this is not for you. I recommend starting the book on a Friday, as work will only get in the way of what is a superb book.

This book is the best question book you will ever use third year. It was dead on for the NBME in IM. I used a review book, then case files, then did all these questions twice and honored the NBME (first in my class to do it because we only have 8 weeks of IM instead of 12 weeks). There is no reason to look anywhere else for IM questions prior to the test.

Most internal medicine clerkships have a shelf exam at the end of the rotation. There is no gold standard textbook for internal medicine that I have encountered due to the fact that there is such a breadth of knowledge found in the discipline. However, for the shelf exam, this book is essential. It has been updated past the 2nd edition to include questions and information about current guidelines for treatment. Also, an additional feature that is great is the cd-rom which contains the entirety of the book in a computer based exam which can be customized.

This book is a wonderful review! Internal Medicine Essentials is a great companion for this question book. I feel it covers the relevant topics, and points out the main take home message in a clear and concise manner. The Essentials book is sort of like a "Blueprints" except it is written by ACP. I haven't taken the boards yet, so I can't promise this is the best approach...I feel pretty confident however. Hope this helps!

This is an excellent preparation tool for the shelf exam.

I highly recommend using this book during your internal medicine rotation. The questions are shorter than those on the actual shelf exam, but they require the same thought process. On the shelf, the questions are less focused on "what disease does this patient have?" and instead involve choosing the appropriate diagnostic test or treatment. The same can be said of the questions in MKSAP 3. Another nice feature is that the book comes with a CD with all of the questions. This allows you to keep better track of your progress and to take the questions in a random mode, rather than just subject-based. Besides doing the questions themselves, it is also important to read through the answer explanations, which are excellent. Overall, a great investment!

I grabbed this book right before our camping vacation in the great Canadian countryside--well-- what a journey!The book that is! I couldn't put The Moonlit Cage down and was glued to it for a full three days. The descriptions of the journey of this incredibly drawn young Afghan woman just blew me away. I actually could visulize and almost smell and hear the many scenes that this book takes you through--from Tajik nomadic tribe, Khandahar, the Hindu Kush,northern Pakistan,India and 19th Century customs and culture/including the British Empire's political and cultural influence. Topping this historical novel is the intertwining of a romance that really does surprise and compell the reader on.It's probably one of the best historical(and geographic) reads that I've enjoyed.

Honestly, this was one of the best historical fiction books I have ever read. It opened up a whole new world to me, one that I hardly knew anything about until now. It gave a lot of facts about Afghanistan and India in the 1800's, but not so much that it was more of a non-fiction book. The characters were so incredibly well drawn. Especially Darya, who is one of the strongest, bravest heroines I have ever read about. David was just too amazing for words and Shaliq and Osric were just horrible villains. This story was dripping with deep romance, one that will keep you reading this book just to find out what happens.

The only complaint I have about this book was that it was very slow. They story was great, but it moved along slowly, and I think the author could have taked out some parts to make it tighter and more concise. But despite this, it was still and amazing read into the mysterious world of a Muslim woman, one who was determined to live her life and change it for the better.

Beautifully written. The carachters were so real. A story of love, hate, duty to family even tho it was unfair and cruel.

Having read the author's previous novel, I was eager to embark on her second literary journey. What a wonderful trip! The Moonlit Cage is well researched with a plausible story line and multi-dimensional characters; chock full of interesting and provocative historical detail that stirs the imagination. I read long into the night----several nights! Darya is a testement to the human spirit and all it can, and does, endure. Patiently waiting for this author's next offering.

Every once in a while you come across a book that offers you the chance to enter into someone else's world, share their thoughts and experiences, and come away feeling that you have met an extraordinary person, one who stays with you even after you have finished their story. The Moonlit Cage is such a book. Linda Holeman has done such a wonderful job in creating the character of Darya that I was sorry to finish the book and still wanted to know more about what happens next. Not only were the characters beautifully created but the sights and sounds of 19th century Afganistan, India and London as well. If you enjoy historical fiction with a twist, stories of self-discovery, or a good romance, you won't be disappointed by this book.

Movie Sets 101: The Definitive Survivor's Guide by professional special effects and makeup filmmaker Paul J. Salamoff is the complete and deftly written 240-page guide covering every important detail of the movie making business. Readers will be educated with seasoned and experienced advise drawn from over 70 working professionals, including Wes Craven, Ron Underwood, Tom DeSanto, James Gunn, Daniel Roebuck, Owen Roizman, Andrea Weaver, Kenny Myers, John Medlen and many others. Movie Sets 101 is highly recommended to all readers, whether they be aspiring movie makers, experienced professionals in the film business, or the ordinary movie enthusiast viewing the finished product. Movie Sets 101 it can really teach its readers every perspective of the movie making business and should be a part of any personal, professional, and academic library Film Studies reference collection.

A pragmatic guide to appropriate film set behavior with a complete and concise reference section. Simply put, it's a great tool for anybody starting out in the film production business, required reading.

An outstanding and unique guide to what the numerous players in producing a movie do and should not do with illustrations and antidotes from well known professionals in the field. Fascinating to the film lover, the curious and necessary for those plying the trade.

Why spend thousands of dollars on film school when you can learn everything you need to know for $17.95 on MOVIE SET 101? A certifiably great book, intensely well-researched, full of valuable info for the rookie and veteran alike. A must have!

This is a great book. Even if you already work in film and tv there's something unexpected to be read. It gives you a really good heads up about on-the-set mayhem you could never really anticipate and wouldn't expect until it happens. Invaluable stuff.

I learned so much from this book. When I purchased it, I thought it might be like an annotated dictionary of sorts -- perhaps in alphabetical order, so that I could look up Topeka or New York. But it's not like that at all. The author starts with the blank canvas of the American landscape, before recorded history, and describes how a place becomes a name.

The book is arranged chronologically, so the reader moves from pre-history to native Americans to colonists; and from the edges of the country (like Florida, California and New Mexico) to the middle regions; and from colonial governmental debates on names to the Congressional debates on state names in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The information about the place names comes at the reader not as a dry history lesson, but almost as an epic novel in which the main character is the landscape, and the minor characters are the natives, the immigrants, the politicians, the storytellers. The prose is spare and compelling. The depth of research is mind-boggling.

This is a book to be read, re-read and referred to for the rest of your life, especially if you are a traveller or a proud American.

It is always humbling to discover how limited my education is in key areas, especially geography. Names on a map that I have seen dozens of times, cities and towns I have visited but never given deep thought to, and the evolution of language are all present in this slim volume. I found myself surprised that I had read thirty or forty pages without realizing any passage of time. I lost myself in this book -- like exploring familiar territory for the very first time. An engaging, worthwhile, illuminating book.

So far I'm only about 1/3 of the way through "Names on the Land," but I'm enthralled. The sub-title, "A Historical Account of Place Naming..." is right on. The book approaches it subject from a historical perspective. The reader travels with the early explorers as they encounter landmarks on their journeys, so one learns about the namers and their times, as well as about the names they left behind them. Based on my reading so far, I can strongly recommend this book.

Wallace Stegner was not only a great writer ("Angle of Repose") and teacher (Stanford English Dept. who mentored people like Harriet Doerr), he was also a great lover of writing. His UC Berkeley colleague and friend George Stewart appeared on Stegner's list of "must read" Western American writers for "Names on the Land" as classic non-fiction and for fiction ("Earth Abides" that he recommends as reading in tandem with Miller's classic "A Canticle for Leibowitz").

Dr. Stegner points out that Stewart was not prolific as a writer and, for that reason, is sometimes overlooked as a star in Western American literature. "Names on the Land" underscores the painstaking process of good writing as it was practiced by Stewart and very much appreciated by Stegner. The research is incredibly precise and reliable; the language is as clear and fast running as a mountain stream; and the effect on the reader is overwhelming.

In an era of instant gratification and 10 second sound bites, "Names on the Land" doesn't seem "contemporary." But for a thoughtful reader of books, Stewart's masterpiece merits a place of honor in his or her permanent collection and (as Stegner admitted) a lifetime of periodic re-reading and reference.

In this unusual little book, George R. Stewart has compiled an endlessly intriguing account of the whys and wherefores of American place-names. The book as a whole provides a haunting, curiously oblique perspective on American history, as he delves into the cultural, historic, and (sometimes) military themes behind the names we use every day. The book goes into the names of cities, states, rivers, mountains, streets, and more.

I think you might get more out of this volume if you are aware of the way it is organized. I myself half-expected this book to be organized by state, perhaps in alphabetical order. This is not the case. Stewart has organized his data by THEMES in naming, and how these themes have emerged in our history. Therefore, the book (very roughly) follows our history chronologically, as various naming trends have come and gone, in the context of various cultural waves. This pattern tends to approximately follow the "peopling" of the continent (by descendants of Europeans) from east to west. Some chapters are mostly devoted to single states, but this is the exception, rather than the rule.

The chapter titles are not necessarily always very helpful, which is the closest thing I have to a caveat about this book. I'm telling you right now that the chapters roughly follow the settling of our continent, from east to west (and from south to north in the far western states). So, this should help you get oriented if you are browsing around... You might want to think of each chapter as a little independent essay. That might help you break the whole text down into digestible parts.

Some themes in naming include: the popularity of the name "Columbus," during and shortly after the Revolution; the tendency to adapt feminine names for the Southern plantations; Greek or Latin names; ancient indian names; English town names given new life on our shores; and many, many more.

One interesting fact I learned, reading this book, is that five of the six states in my native New England should, technically, probably be considered to be spelled wrong. (New Hampshire is the lone, proud exception). Stewart tells the tale of how each state was named, although he doesn't clump the five stories all together. You have to do saome digging... If you happen to harbor an inner, pedantic curmudgeon, who sometimes likes to rail against the stupidity of all humanity apart from him- (your-)self, this is the kind of thing that could give you great, and prolonged, delight. Also, you might be surprised at how many place-names have warm, human stories behind them. This can foster a real sense of human connection to our nation's past -- a connection that is not necessarily to participants in our nation's huge struggles, but simply to quiet, thoughtful people who tried to come up with words that just sounded right.

I would like to post here a private theory I have about George R. Stewart, which may be of interest to you in this context. Professor Stewart taught English at Berkeley, for much of the twentieth century. Concurrently on the faculty at that institution was the great American anthropologist Alfred Kroeber, who today is perhaps best remembered for his work with the last Yahi indian, Ishi, and also for his status as the father of acclaimed science fiction author Ursula Kroeber LeGuin. This last-named person, Ursula K. LeGuin, would have grown up hearing about Professor Stewart, and his odd hobby of place-names. If you read her young adult fantasy trilogy, the Earthsea Trilogy, you will find there a character called the Master Namer, who is a sort of professor in a school for young wizards. He and his classes exhibit many of the traits that we find in evidence within "Names on the Land." I believe that Ursula K. LeGuin probably based this character upon the fascinating George R. Stewart, and his hobby. Therefore, if you enjoy this book, you may wish to read Ursula LeGuin's "A Wizard of Earthsea," to encounter there a thinly disguised fictional version of Professor Stewart.

At any rate, this book is really something special. I recommend that you seek out a copy, and if you know a local history teacher, maybe you could lend it to him and suggest that he fashion some lesson plans from its singularly neato contents. Two thumbs up!

This is a good reference for Nightmare on Elm Street fans and collectors. It contains both color and B&W still photos, lots of trivia and behind the scenes facts, etc.

I wish they'd update this and bring into a full-color format with a more modern media-centric look, and add material From New Nightmare and Freddy vs. Jason. As it is, it covers up through Freddy's Dead, the Final Nightmare, and is relatively complete.

It's hard to come by, but is great for the completist if you can get your hands on a copy.

This is the ultimate collectors item for any Nightmare fan. A good variety of pictures from each of the movies (Nightmares 1 thru Freddy's Dead), plus some good insight into some of the special FX that went into the movies.

The only real problem I had was, if your a devoted NOES fan like I am, you will notice a lot of minor mistakes throughout the book. For instance, Lisa, from Nightmare 2, is listed as Lisa Poletti, but in the movie her name is Lisa Webber.

Other than the few minor mistakes, this book is definetly worth picking up!

This book has everything you need to know about Freddy Krueger and all the Nightmare on elm street films! This book is not missing one detail! Its has a summary of every Krueger Film! It also has ever picture from all the Krueger films including behind the scene footage! It is the best Freddy Krueger book ever made!!!!

If you love Freddy Kruger then this book is a must! It shows many secrets of each films from 1-6.

This is a must with great pictures and biographies of each cast member and a large amount of pictures,charts and biographies on each film from: A Nightmare on Elm St -to- Freddy'd Dead

I'm a huge collector of Freddy Krueger and Nightmare On Elm Street stuff, and when I got this book, I was just blown away. The great pictures and behind the scenes made it excelent! email me if you wanna talk Freddy!