Publications Books

This book by Muhammad Hisham Kabbani give so much background on the tariqat and deep dive into the lives of saints of Naqshabandi sufi way. Book motivated and affected me deeply and my way of looking life changed and I have much peace than what I had before. My Allah sanctify the secrets of Mawlana Sheikh Hisham Kabanni.

Secrets Upon Secrets: Sh. Nazim description of one of many unveilings "He prayed the Dawn Prayer and I prayed behind him. Outside I could hear the bombardment of the two armies. He gave me initiation in the Naqshbandi Order and he said to me, 'O my son, we have power that in one second we can make our murid reach his station.

As soon as he said that he looked into my heart with his eyes, and as he did so they turned from yellow to red, then to white, then to green and black. The color of his eyes changed as he poured into my heart the knowledge associated with each color.

What are the Nine points , What are the Colors, Who are the Saints in Charge of Those Points, Meditations Practices etc..all inside this masterpiece
For More Secrets you have to buy the book !

This book by Shaykh Hisham is a wonderfully produced and poetic work, beautifully presented, about the Most High Naqshbandiyya Order of Sufis. It gives detailed biographies--not available elsewhere in English--of some of the greatest Muslim saints who were part of this chain. Also, as the Naqshbandiyya Order is uniform up to Hazrat Muhammad Mas'um (May Allah sanctify his secret!) in the names of its Masters, only then splitting up into different sub-orders, this is a good history book also of the Naqshbandiyya in general and of the Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya in particular. Beautiful!!

This book by Shaykh Hisham is a wonderfully produced and poetic work, beautifully presented, about the Most High Naqshbandiyya Order of Sufis. It gives detailed biographies--not available elsewhere in English--of some of the greatest Muslim saints who were part of this chain. Also, as the Naqshbandiyya Order is uniform up to Hazrat Muhammad Mas'um (May Allah sanctify his secret!) in the names of its Masters, only then splitting up into different sub-orders, this is a good history book also of the Naqshbandiyya in general and of the Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya in particular. Great!

This is a miracle. Words cannot express the praise of this book. It needs a soft and pure heart to be appreciated in its full strength. The honorable Shaikh Hisham Kabbani has done the impossible. He captured the divine realizations of the pure hearts in words of ink. Therefore the heart of reader shall smell the divine fragrance of the pure hearts an will be illuminated and decorated with heavenly buties

I have bought several books, tapes and DVDs on Qigong. This book seems to have combined a lot of the movements from the other media. Unlike the other media I own which cover only a few movements (18 the most), this book covers 36 movements, which for me great. I am always skeptical in learning movements coming from a book since I find it difficult to follow the written instructions without seeing the actual video demo, but I was suprised this book is easy to follow. I do have previous know how on some of the movements, so maybe that helped. And the exercises are grouped in 6 sections, making it easy for me to remember them. A great Qigong book!

This is a wonderful book easy to use and incorporate its exercises and principles. The diagrams of exercises are easy to follow. The book contains extremely useful information about qigong and other aspects of
Chinese medicine.It is well-written and highly recommended!

I just started practicing Lian Gong in 18 Forms about a month ago to finally get rid of all the tension, back pain, tightness, and inflexibility that western exercise such as weight lifting, aerobics, and rowing machines has caused me! I am completely amazed that in only one month I can feel it all fading away! I purchased every video available on Liangong, including the $100.00 set from the actual inventor himself! The videos are all great, the books are all good, except for one MAJOR flaw!! None of them offer breathing instructions!! The most any book or video will tell you is that you breath in when expanding and stretching, and out when relaxing. Except in certain cases, there are exceptions, which they never explain. Well, this book tells it all! If you purchase any of the videos, you MUST, I repeat MUST buy this book! Not only is it well written, but it gives you all the secrets! Buy it NOW!

One of the strengths of Lian Gong Shr Ba Fa is that it is the sort of exercise system that actually can be learned from the printed page if you are reasonably well coordinated and are good at learning from books. Even without a teacher, you can get major benefits from practice on your own.

This book is a clear, well done presentation of the exercises. Anyone interested in learning the system would get a good start from this book. I would only recommend Wen Mei Yu's version over this one because a) WMY's book explicitly announces that it is a Lian Gong with its title on the cover, and B) the layouts, photographs and book design are somewhat more effective and pleasing to my eye, and c) the accompnaying instructional text is a bit clearer and more helpful to the beginner.

But if you want to get started, and you see this book on the stands, don't hesitate to get it and get started.

This book is a wonderful introduction to not only the Qi Gong excersize but also Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It will give you an easy to understand overview of TCM concepts so you can understand how practicing the excersizes described in the book can improve and maintain your health for years to come.

The descriptions of the movements and multiple photos for the different movements make it easy to learn and practice. Of course the best way is to join a group of people who are practicing (http://www.taichihealing.com) and practice the movements along with the group. In any case, this book is an excellent resource for people who are interested in improving and maintaining their well being and good health.

Be well!

It's so useful, especialy with me, a young I/O psychologist in Vietnam. Thank so much.

I get the feeling that some of the comments by readers suggest that managers cannot understand academic books. We can, if we buckle down and read them. Sure, the quick one-liners of a Covey or a Blanchard are cool and easy to understand. After a while, though, those books become a bit empty. Too much of "how too" and not enough of "why".

I kind of liked the challenge of reading a book that is written by researchers. All of the chapters (14 in total) were quite easy to follow except for the second chapter (about definitions of leadership), which I skipped, and also the last part of the third chapter (on using science to study leadership). The other chapters were very applied. I liked the chapters on traits, information processing, contingency models, transformational and visionary leadership, culture, and ethics. The Bennis chapter is pretty good too.

The Nature of Leadership is a book everybody claiming to speak about Leadership has to read. This book does not provide any easy method to be used to become a leader; instead, it demonstrates with scientific evidences what are the attributions of a leader. It will help any students interested by this field of research better understand what this matter is about.

Some of the reviewers below are bit too excited about this book. Okay, it is a good book but a bit heavy (I got a hard cover)! For the almost 500 pages you do get good bang for your buck ($50/500=$0.10 per page). What I liked about the book is the way it's laid out. It's pretty well organized and covers leadership from many angles. That's an advantage of this book. It doesn't have one message but many messages. The authors of the chapters know what they are talking about. The editors are psychologists/leadership specialists and have good credetials from Yale University. The downside (for some an advantage) is that it looks more at leadership models and says a lot about the state-of-the-art regarding leadership research but not about practice (well the book is not about that and the authors don't claim to do that).

This book will help you if you want to know what leadership model to invest your money in. It's a bit like a consumer car guide. Tells you what's good and what's not so good. If you have this book then you know how to spend your money wisely on other leadership books.

The reviewer that refers to this book as being "painful" is partly right. This book is difficult to read, that's for sure. However, leadership, as a topic is not simple. There are no quick fixes. To learn about leadership you will have to read a lot, particularly what the researchers have written. The topic is not simple and certainly cannot be summarized in simple graphs or charts. You'll need some level of intelligence to understand "The nature of leadership"

Managers or students, who have some basic education will be able to understand this book. If you are looking for quick stories, this book is not for you. Reading "Who moved my cheese?" or "Good to great" will be a better fit for you--these types of books are certainly easier; however, these kinds of books are very simplistic and not well researched (even though they pretend to be).

If you want to get fit, there is not simple way to do it. You have to watch what you eat, you have to exercise, you need persistence, and you need to work hard. If you are the type of person that believes in working hard then this book is for you. You are the type that likes to take the straight and narrow way. You believe in "No pain, no gain."

This is one of the best drum books for drum set available today, hands down. It basically has a list of patters to be played over ostanado patterns (that is, ones that do not change). It starts simple, with quarter notes, and by the end of the book, its highly syncopated 16ths and whatnot. Very challenging, but it' the type of book that will really, really help anyone develop their creative mind with the kit. Most importantly, this is NOT one of those 'play through and then throw into the closet' kind of books. NO!! This book can be used for entire careers endlessly. It's like Stick Control. It's a bible of a book, it's to be interpreted not just read and played! This book will separate the men from the boys!! Buy it now!!

I'd recommend this book for any intermediate to advanced drummers. It's too involved for beginners. It does get a little to academic at times, but those areas still build skill even if you'll never use the pattern. The ideas in this book are also good for exercises that are not mentioned. Really, Chester has only scratched the surface of what is possible with his concepts. With a little imagination, one could work out of this book for years.

gary's approach to the drums uses exercises which are both musically and technically challenging. begin by singing the click track while playing the first system...right from the start you'll realize how much room there is for improvement. if practiced carefully with a click while singing all of the parts, the improvement in your playing will be tremendous. i had the good fortune to have experienced this process first hand while studying with Gary back in the 80's. it is a sure way to ramp up your focus and independence. guys like kenny aronoff, danny gottlieb, and dave weckl used this method as a launch pad for their own creativity...

This book does indeed assist drummers to building their own creativity. Take heed, this book can be difficult and one will need patience, persistence, and passion in order to get through it. The use of "Book with CD" can be misinterpretted as a CD with sampled grooves; the CD is an interview with Gary Chester, the author of the book. It is a raw cut, so the volumes aren't equalized.

If you're serious about drums, or seriously need to grow as a drummer, this book is for you.

This book is loaded with excercises that will dramatically improve limb independence - it's not easy stuff! Also, it's not really a play-along kind of book where you'll immediately apply the patterns to your playing - so if you're just looking to pick up some cool beats and fills, you should look elsewhere. Now, if you're into buckling down and honing your chops, then this is definitely a book you should consider!

...I read it! Kudos to Kathleen for caring so much about this very special breed. I was especially touched by the book's inscription, dedicated to certain canine friends: "It hurts so much when you leave".

outstanding pictures. Clear explaination of how to raise and train. Recommended reading for everyone interested in Siberians

Found this book to be extremely informative! Straight and to the point from one of the most knowledgable authorities on Siberian Huskies. Thank you Mrs. Kanzler for such a helpful book!

to a Siberian pet owner, this one is it! It covers basic care that all pet owners need to be aware of. I especially appreciate how Mrs. Kanzler conveys on what to expect in the Siberian's temperment. This book should be given to every new Siberian Husky puppy owner, and anyone considering this breed should read it! The price is definitely affordable. The author is a top breeder world-wide, and she certainly knows her subject.

I found this book most interesting and useful.I have read it over and over again and i love the pictures.I do not yet own a husky but will in the future so i bought your wonderful book in advance.I have done alot of research on siberian huskies and found your book to be the most helpful!Thank you!

This is like the handbook version of the Being and Doing book by the same author. Something like a fist-aid kit in case of an "emergency" on stage or during a take. Break glass before storming off the set in disgust.

This is one the of the best approached to acting. It makes everything clear.
Also an easy read.

I'll admit that at first glance Eric Morris's System can seem scary and misaligned. But I believe it to be a very misunderstood system.

I too was skeptical in the beginning, but after studying this technique (with Eric, but mostly with Anthony Vincent Bova in NYC, Eric's protégé), and after seeing the difference from "acting" and what this Work creates, there's no way I'd ever go back to the "acting" form.

Eric Morris teaches the actor how to react honestly and in the moment, including everything that's going on inside and out-the other actor, the props, the imagined objects that one might be working for-that impels you to "do" whatever the character is required to "do", but out of a real reaction, not just because you're doing it.

I've studied Adler, Strasberg, Meisner, and with Robert Lewis. I've hashed through the process of verbs, actions, objectives, obstacles, and onward; and they're all good and dandy for figuring out what's going on in a script, what the characters are doing and why; but other than that, these techniques never helped me figure out HOW to make it real to ME... How to get to a place where I'm actually functioning from a real, organic, truthful state ... How to get to the point where I am "doing" all the script tells me to do, fulfilling the "actions," out of an honest REACTION to what's going on.... Not just "playing" as if I am; how, in essence, creating the realities of the character....

No matter where you go, all the great teachers (and actors) say the same thing, "Acting is reacting." Even the most used and cherished word in the actor's language, LISTENING, is about focusing outside of yourself and REACTING to what is there. This Work trains the actor to create the stimuli that will fulfill the demands of the piece, specifically, wholly, and with Truth.

For the most part, plays and movies are imagined circumstances, and we as actors, have to create stimuli to react from, so we're not just faking, or indicating our performance. I'd rather watch two people have a relationship on film or on stage, than two actors reciting words, no matter how well they "act" it. If they don't believe it, I won't. This System trains you to create those stimuli and REACT to them honestly, fully and truthfully.

A crucial part of Eric's System is based on Instrumental Work, which is the process of identifying blocks and fears and tensions to expression and, one-by-one, through the use of hundreds of exercises, eliminating them. It's really about self-awareness-learning about yourself and how you function, so you can "get out of your way" and function truthfully on stage or film and get to where you need to get to in a scene. I think this is the aim of every method, but I feel that this System is the only one to address the issues of the actor on a personal level. If I'm tense and depressed (in real life; me the actor), I'm not going to be able to REACT truthfully in a scene where the character has just won the lottery and is jumping with joy. If I push for the emotion, I'll be faking and will "act" that I'm joyful. If this is enough for you, then Eric's work is definitely not your thing. But if you're looking for creating reality and REACTING with truth, nothing surpasses this Work.

I know that Meryl Streep, Brando, Ed Norton, Johnny Depp, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, and a handful of other amazing actors don't fake it, don't just indicate the realities of the character and the circumstances. They create them. Be it imagined stimuli they are creating, or through the available stimulus around them, they open themselves up and REACT truthfully to everything -the other actors, the set, the space, the props, the object or person via Sense Memory, etc. I KNOW they do this for a fact! They've talked about it for years.

Eric helps you get to the place that they do-where you can function truthfully, where your instrument is accessible and available, where you are open and are willing to go where the character needs to go, emotionally, psychologically, and physically.

My advice is read Eric's books. If they pique any interest in you, if they strike a cord, study with Eric or Anthony, or at least contact them for further information about the system. I think you'll be quite surprised and utterly amazed at the tools this Work can provide you as an actor.

I am personally an Eric Morris actor. I live in Los Angeles and I attend his workshop weekly. Having actually experienced his Craft personally and by watching hundreds of others come and go, and succeed and fail: it has become strikingly obvious to me that his Work works. One of the elements of this uniquely personal Craft is that it can be very overwhelming and emotionally draining. Through my two plus years of experience in the Work, I have found that very few Eric Morris actors actually uses the Craft exactly as it is intended. I believe as do many of my contemporaries that the Craft provides the actor with a limitless supply of "acting" tools, which encourage the actor to experience truthfully. It is painfully obvious that "truth" or an organic expression of impulses and emotions is severely lacking in theatre, television and on screen. There is not one person who has come to class and gone on stage who has not gone through a substantial growth. Being a student of acting my entire life, on a constant pursuit of truth in my work, and having over 25 teachers since first grade: I have found the one teacher on the planet who can answer all of the difficult questions actors ask about the mysterious art of acting. If you have a thirst for truth in your acting and in how you live your life, you foolish to remain ignorant of Eric Morris.

I give this book a fairly high rating because all acting technique is personal. An actor's job in receiving training is to simply find the approach that works best for the individual. Method acting simply means to find one's own method. While responses to acting texts, approaches and classes are always subjective, one should always remain open for new ideas.

That said I reject Eric Morris' approach to acting on a personal and professional level.

As every actor knows (or at least should know), his/her job is "to do nothing more than to be believable while telling the best possible story that serves the script" (Bruce Morris). Or as Stanislavski defines acting: "Acting is living truthfully under imaginary circumstances". The root of an actor's technique must always be action. Again with Stanislavski: "while on stage, an actor must always be enacting something". Action verbs are the basis of all acting/storytelling craft. An audience does not pay precious money to watch an actor have an emotional moment, but rather to have the moment themselves.

All the great acting teachers, building upon the work of Stanislavski, have stressed the importance of finding and playing an action as opposed to an emotion. Robert Lewis, Sanford Meisner, Stella Adler, Uta Hagen, Michael Checkov and even Lee Strassberg (although he ventured too far into the emotional realm) all taught students to find the appropriate action and embrace that reality as the basis for their storytelling craft. Emotions are the by product of a person engaging in an action and either failing or succeeding in the quest to fulfill that action.

Eric Morris' approach, centers on "Being" exercises. He asks his students to simply get up in front of a group of people and simply "Be". As related in this book, he proceeds to grill them about their day and call them on the carpet for any false emotion as he dredges for some emotional moment. Morris' approach, at least to this reader, comes off as simply another example of acting teacher "power tripping" as well as pseudo-therapy hidden in the guise of acting. This approach simply leads to the teacher holding such power over his/her students as they become obsessed with pleasing the teacher as opposed to truly pleasing the audience.

This approach leads to emotionally crippling an actor. Actor's become obsessed with evaluating their acting on the basis of whether or not they "felt" the scene. If an actor finds they cannot reach the emotion, they immediately fill themselves with a great sense of guilt and personal disgust at their inability to produce an emotion. Acting should ultimately be a freeing experience as well as a fun and celebratory bit of life. Many acting teachers and actors, bowing under the weight of thousands of years of social stigma feel that they must deny the "fun" factor of acting and make it a painful and serious affair.

As any director or acting teacher can attest, when one simply asks an actor to "be" on stage, one will watch an actor squirm, blink and fold inside him/her self. Put an actor on stage and ask him/her to push a giant stone up a mountain, one will watch a fantastic story filled with all the emotional truth an audience could ever hope to find.

The key to acting is not "being" it is in fact "doing". Apparently Morris has a workbook that combines the two concepts. I will certainly read that as well- again the justification for the high rating. I am still learning my craft and I pray I will always continue to do so.

NO ACTING PLEASE is certainly worth reading and worth trying though so that one can form their own opinion. After trying Morris' approach, this review is simply my opinion. Proceed with caution.

i have not read any of these books but p dogg is my english teacher

I like potry. This book has great rime and meter. I remember when my Uncle Liam from Ireland came over, he brought me a huge bottle of wisky and a case of Mickeys Big Mouth, that Uncle Liam was always three sheets to the wind, I think it runs in the genes, after all, look at me, hck! Uncle Liam and me went to the woodshed with all that good stuff, we had a very pleasant time....

I was absolutely blown away by the caliber of this book. Brian Pinsker has a way with words that is truly brilliant. He can evoke many different portraits within the minds' eye with a simple twist of phrase. Jay Passer also is inspired, although his is a different, more harshly provocative style. I enjoyed this work thoroughly, and consider myself very fortunate to have been able to take a glimpse, through their written word, into both authors' thoughts.

The poetic pair of Pinsker and Passer pen yet another epic opus! Pinsker starts us out with some of the bizarrest metering I've ever read, expounding upon his adherence to the B'ahai Faith through his H. Rap Brown-inspired rhyme scheme. His Seattle street-style adaptation of the Cornish "Mmph -Kaph-Kaph-Hmm-Mmm" is one of the most sullenly beautiful pieces I've ever read. The second half consists of Passer's more conventional, yet equally beautiful Dickinsonian poetry. I hope that Passer brings back Jeremy Surbrook in the future -- he really lends a lot to Passer's poetry. All in all, a fine book.

Brian Pinsker's poetry dazzled and amazed and bemused me. This is a man who speaks and writes the language of the street. He blends and combines elements of H. Rap Brown, Public Enemy, Shakespeare, Rilke, Rumi, and the Pope. Totally cool!

Florence Nightingale greatly influenced modern nursing, to focus on the needs of the patient and establish nursing as a profession requiring assessment skills as well as caring presence. This brief, well-written & clearly understandable book is a must for the personal library of any nurse or nursing student. It is amazing to realize how advanced Nightingale's thinking was in her era; her lessons remain essential today and provide a basis for understanding why we do the things we do. A great read for anyone interested in nursing!

I received the book within a few days of the order and it was in perferct condition.

A book for true Nightingales! I enjoyed this book a great deal, some parts had me laughing out loud. It is an excellent gift book for nurses!

This makes a wonderful gift for a nursing student who is graduating, a nurse who is retiring or one who is being promoted. It is fascinating reading from a historical aspect will be relevant until the end of time.

Nursing is a vocation; not "just a job." Miss Nightingale knew this, and this book reflects this philosophy. Nursing-schools, many years ago, designed the curriculum--and educated the aspiring nurses--with this in mind. Sadly, many present-day nurses (and nursing-schools) have lost this ideal...and the state of affairs in nursing bears this out.

If you're seriously considering nursing--or are a nurse who is "burned out," read this book. It will enlighten and edify you.

Like a good box of chocolates, this book is best consumed one piece at a time, slowly, with time to ponder, cry, and hug your dogs between portions. In Daniel Pinkwater's perfectly crafted essay, the reader can actually feel the writer's love for his big old fur-friend. I'm crying just thinking about it. Anyone who has had to put down an adored dog, anyone who has lost an old pal to illness or accident, will love this book. But it should come with a warning -- may cause ceaseless sobbing. It's worth the tears.

I first read this book when my own dog died. The collection of stories from sometimes famous writers about their own dogs and own losses is incredibly moving. It helped get me through a rough time. Since then I've given the book to others when they've lost dogs (or cats) and each one has really appreciated it.

This is a great book to read if you are grieving the death of a beloved dog. This a great collection of short, long, moving, funny, serious, and sentimental stories about dogs. Many of the writers are unfamiliar names to me and I found myself wishing that the book included a brief bio of each author, or at least the date of the first publication of each story.

Some of the greatest writers of our times have humbled themselves to celebrate the memory of lost dog-friends amd provide us with a spiritual boost. To experience the depth of feeling and understanding a human and dog can share is only possible through direct experience, or through the masterful language of these gifted people.

As a dog trainer, shelter worker and rescue volunteer, I am continually confronted with man's inability to respect, admire and wonder at the enrichment domestic dogs and cats bring to our lives. Even the most expensive purebred specimens are not exempt from man's ability to be inhumane.

Knowing that human intelligence and emotion at its highest levels of achievement and expression, through the works of these brilliant writers, recognizes the treasure that is the dog's presence in our lives, and deeply mourns its loss, gives me continued hope for humanity.

Barbara Davis
BADDogsInc
Corona, CA

Old Dogs Remembered is a wonderful collection that reflects on the joy of being owned by a dog and being the object of unquestioning devotion. While it is the collected remembrances and obituaries for famous people's dogs long past, it also focuses the reader on the dogs in our lives now. Our dogs pass away, but we have the power to make sure they are remembered. Take a minute to reflect on your current companion or one that awaits you in an afterlife that can only exist because we love our pets. Write his or her story, and save it, for yourself, your children, or just for the future. All old dogs deserve to be remembered.

I'm Salvadoran and I'm married to a Jewish-American woman. She bought this book for us to take a tour in El Salvador. Let me tell you, this is the best guide book I've ever read. It's so easy to use and it has ALL the information about this little beautiful country that you need. I even used some of the information on my website, of course with the permission from the authors. Thank you Jeff, Julian and Veronica for making this possible.

For years I looked for a book that would cover travel to El Salvador. I have been married to a Salvadorena for 16 years and have made five trips to the country since 1991. I love El Salvador, its beauty and its wonderful people. You can't travel there without this book! Buy it today!

I found this book quite helpful. I'm a native from El Salvador who had been out of the country for 20 years. I found it a good supplement to other sources of information (e.g., local phone books in El Salvador, people and friends). Although some of the directory information may be dated, most of the facts and directions still hold. It's best to cross-reference the book with a local phone book for more accuracy. Yet, the book is a great trip planning tool. It allows you to pick and chose places and things to do at a pace that not even locals can keep up. It's clear that a lot of good work went into making the book. The level of detail is beyond what any local can know all by himself (e.g., bus routes, mores, festivals, local rituals, etc.). I found the hand-drawn maps most helpful and the history/background informaiton information least helpful. Advisories should apply to all locations outside the central city or popular foreign tourist attractions. Also, the book does not address which locations are most ideal to visit depending on the small universe weather conditions, e.g., heavy rains or dry, hot to extremely hot temperatures. I recommend this book. I've found no other books as helpful as this one but feel that the book and its contents could be much improved, e.g., day-trips, sports events, local festivity schedules, shopping information, entertainment options, ground and non-ground recreational activities, specific coverage and related-activities regarding aviation, boatin, sailing, surfing, fishing, golf, lakes, rivers and bodies of water, etc. (perhaps on future editions, beyond the 2nd). I currently own both of the first two editions. They're both pretty much worn out and it's because they go with me and take me places each time I visit there. I just wish the book were more expansive and provide material for all the other sites that one encounters while going from place to place, yet this would make it too thick and heavy. Also, if you ever go to El Teleferico, please say Hi to Mr. Moon (a local cartoonist) there for me!

This is really the only comprehensive guidebook to El Salvador that is widely available. The Lonely Planet and Let's Go and other books have chapters on El Sal in their books on Central America, but none of them go into real detail. In fact, I've noticed that most of the guidebooks don't recommend going to El Salvador, or skipping it if you're short on time.

Well, you should go. There is a lot to see and do but it's important to realize that it's different from the other Latin American countries. It's maybe a little less pretty and the people are a bit more hardened from the long guerra civil. This book does a good job providing sociopolitical background and anecdotes from important periods in history. Other than that, it's your basic guidebook, going region by region in the country, detailing sights, hotels, transportation, all that stuff. There are also several pages of decent color photos.

The one problem is that the book is now nearly ten years old. While most of the things are still accurate, a lot has changed. Things like prices and bus routes especially. There are also many different sights, museums, roads and enormous Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises that did not exist when the book was published. Likewise, some things no longer exist. The only way to find out, unfortunately, is to go and discover these things for yourself.

El Sal is not the most tourist-friendly nation in the sense that the infrastructure is not really there to support a heavy flow of tourists. The people are _wonderful_, don't get me wrong (don't think for a second that it's the people's fault), but to give one example, some of the bus routes to tourist sites make absolutely no sense and can be very frustrating to navigate. This is the fault of the government. Likewise, the El Sal government tourism agency could do themselves a big favor by publishing or funding an up-to-date guide.

But this book is as good as it gets.

If you are going to spend any time in the country and want to tool around, you'd be a fool not to get a copy of this book for your backpack. I just got home and gave my friend a hug for grabbing this book out the the bargain bin at Borders for me. In several cities I was able to pick it up and quickly flip through to find a map and make my way through the town. Or simply discover something interesting within or nearby my location. It's an absolute must for anybody going into the country. Well put together and concise - 5 stars for sure!