W Books

I grew up reading books like the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, The Three Investigators and the Danny Dunn series. I loved these stories and now my children read these old favorites in addition to many of the new offerings. It was my love for these stories that shaped my own children's book.John Fastramp and the Dakota 3000 Challenge

Lost books from my childhood. The writing is very clever and witty, with that old 1950's charm.

My [...]son loved these books. I've always had a hard time finding books that keep him interested all the way through. He picked up the first book and read it cover to cover.

This set of books has caused quite a stir in our home! My boys (8 and 6) love to hear us read to them so much that bedtime has often been delayed because of "just one more chapter!"

For a wonder, I never read a Hardy boys novel when I was growing up, probably because they weren't on the shelves at the librarywhere I got most of my books. Of course I saw the Disney versions and the tv series, but I never read one of the books until I was sixty one years old. Then while shopping online I found this boxed set and decided to buy it and read what the books were like.
The first thing I found was that these are not the original versions of the stories written in the late twenties and early thirties. The giveaway was when some of the villains stole a case of transister radios, which were not even invented til long after the forties. So this is the series rewritten in the sixties.
That said, the stories were ingenious and well written. Also, I liked the group of friends that were always ready to help the heroes with their adventures. Television lost out on a good thing when they did not mention these guys and girls on the shows.
After reading through the books, I passed them on to some of my friends, who are eagerly reading them, too.
These books are a good read and a fine memento of a time when it was considered possible for a pair of teenagers to take on a gang of criminals and not get killed out of hands.

This is a no none sense view of precious talent. Tulgan does an excellent job of showing managers don't have to just let their talent walk out the door. Sometimes the solution to keeping good people is a simple change of schedule of 30 to 60 minutes. This book has good ideas that don't cost money!

Winning the Talent Wars: How to Build a Lean, Flexible, High-Performance Workplace is the recent softcover edition of Tulgan's workplace classic. His workplace philosophy, "Talent is the Show" is applied to all areas of HR: staffing, compensation, coaching-style management, training, and career paths. The only difference between this book and the original hardcover edition, Winning the Talent Wars: How to Manage and Compete in the High-tech, High-speed, Knowledge-based, Superfluid Economy, is a new forward.

So we're not in the go-go late 90's early 2000's anymore.

That doesn't change the basic theme of this book.

Even in the recent economy, the power at work is shifting from the employer to the employee, especially when that employee is among the best performers.

The point Tulgan raises is that that this is not a matter of salary, but a matter of *compensation* Employees, especially the best employees, are seeking more and more to craft their own dream job or dream career. If someone doesn't get that with one employer, they are likely to leave for a place where they can come closer to accomplishing that.

What is ideal for one individual is not likely to be ideal for another individual, so Tulgan advocates a negotiation process, where the company and the supervisors, work to figure out what makes a person "tick" and to change the nature of employement to make the work environment fit that as much as possible. This could be flex schedules, work conditions, more/less travel, office location, etc.

However, this is not solely the employee in charge, as, by doing this, the business will keep their best and brightest and most productive employees, instead of losing the valuable training investments. Also, productivity will increase, and the carrot is mightier than the stick in Tulgan view (how strong is the threat of firing when people are more likely to pick up and leave?)

Tulgan also mentions thinking in terms of "work" rather than "jobs" and devotes sections of the book to management by coaching (in a number of respects) rather than "command and control."

While this book was written in 2001, the arguments are even more relevant as the economy has gotten more global, especially for the top performers. While some of the "power" may have shifted back to companies in the workplace for industries subject to outsourcing, giving them a larger worker pool, the top performers have a greater pool of EMPLOYERS. The need to have the top performers is stronger than ever.

Whether you're managing, looking to manage, or just looking at how to deal with managers (and what you CAN and SHOULD ask for as a term of employment) this book will tell you how the workplace will operate in at least the early part of this century.

The book lucidly explains the fundamental shift in employer-employee relationship in the new economy. Bruce Tulgan does an admirable job of showing that managers do not have to just let their talent walk out the door. This book has useful ideas that can save your company a lot of money. It is written in an immensely readable style and has some good humour.

Tulgan argues persuasively that in the new economy, every term of employment, including schedules, training, career paths, location, assignments, co-workers, pay, among others, will best be agreed through a negotiation process, so as to tailor it to the individual needs of the scarce talents, which he explains will enable the organization to retain the talent. Naturally, the most precious talent will have the most negotiating clout. All this entails a novel set of organizing principles for employing highly productive people in the new economy.

Companies are advised to reflect and take note of the kind of work place that Tulgan describes in his book. Unless action is taken timely to recruit and retain talent, then the future prosperity of an organization may be in doubt. As a senior manager in my organisation, the book was a wake-up call and showed me the things I can do right now to make the workplace a place where the best people will want to come to work.

The book is essential reading for both managers and workers. The managers will learn how to build a lean, flexible, high-performance workplace. The worker will be able to understand better the background of some people policies, such as why managers are more accommodating to "talents" demands and how they can adapt their aspirations accordingly.

In Good to Great, Jim Collins and his research associates learned that the great companies "...first got the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats -- and then they figured out where to drive it. The old adage 'People are the most important asset' turned out to be wrong. People are not [italics] your most important asset. The right [italics] people are."

The right people share the same values and, together, sustain their organization's commitment to those values. If involved in their organization's recruiting and interviewing process, as they should be, they will help to ensure that the right people will be hired (i.e. allowed on the "bus"). Obviously it is important to get talent and task in proper alignment. It is equally important to keep an organization's values in proper alignment with its objective.

Tulgan's important book is even more relevant and more valuable now than it was when first published about two years ago. As its subtitle correctly indicates, he explains "how to manage and compete in the high-tech, high-speed, knowledge-based, superfluid economy." That is to say, he wrote the book for decision-makers in all organizations (regardless of size or nature) to help them determine HOW to get "the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats"...and then keep them there.

All of the companies which Tulgan discusses (e.g. Johnson & Johnson and J.P. Morgan Chase) demonstrate one of Tulgan's core concepts: "In the new economy, every term of employment -- schedules, location, assignments, coworkers, pay, and more -- will be negotiation, whether you like it or not. The most valuable talent will have the most negotiating power. Every employment relationship will last exactly as long as the terms are agreeable to all parties." There is a new set of organizing principles for employing people in the new economy:

' Talent is the show.

' Staff the work, not the jobs.

' Pay for performance, and nothing else.

' Turn managers into coaches.

' Train for the mission, not for the long haul.

' Create as many career paths as you have people.

Tulgan devotes a separate chapter to each of these principles, explaining with meticulous care how to apply each to his reader's specific business situation. Note how these principles apply to any organization which competes for available talent and then is challenged to keep its best people who, more easily now more than ever before, can leave the "bus" whenever and wherever they wish. This situation is as common among the great companies whom Collins discusses as it is among the local merchants from whom we purchase various products and services.

Extensive research indicates that only one in 28-30 dissatisfied customers ever complains to the provider of the given product or service. All others simply never do business with that provider again...while continuing to express their dissatisfaction to family members, friends, and business associates. More often than not, customer dissatisfaction is the result of an unpleasant personal experience rather than because of a product defect. To extend Collins' metaphor, customers are among the "passengers" and can also get off the "bus" whenever and wherever they wish. Much has been written about the power of BUZZ (i.e. word-of-mouth) and the importance of creating "customer evangelists." From my perspective, winning the "talent war" is essential to winning the competition for customer's repeat business. A careful implementation of the strategies and tactics which Tulgan recommends in this book will help to achieve that ultimate objective.

Otherwise, not having "the right people on the bus...and in the right place," the "bus" will either never reach its destination or in the highly unlikely event that it does so, arrive with few (if any) "passengers" aboard.

As a parent of a child with autism, I have faced many struggles.
Working with the public school system to provide my son an appropriate education has been the hardest struggle by far. I have read Wrightslaw: Special Ed Law and From Emotions to Advocacy by Peter Wright and have found them to be an invaluable resource for parents of special needs children. As with any disability, parents must educate themselves in order to help their child. These books are loaded with information that is essential for parents who wants to be strong advocates. I recommend these books to every parent who has a child in the public school system.

I found this book to be an excellent resource for getting the special education my 10 year old son needed. Not only does it point out the "common" methods school systems circumvent the Law (and your childs education), it tells the reader how to deal with it. Also of note was the text of several court cases on special education law and how it relates to the parents. Yes, we have a lot more rights and control of our childrens education than the school systems are willing to acknowledge! Especially educational was how it pointed out that school systems often do not have all the members present for a meeting, but the law requires ALL members to be present. This is a must have for parents of Special Educational need students.

This book is a must have if you have a child with special needs. It is the most comprehensive book around for helping your child get an education! I call it my special education bible. If you can only afford one book to help you through the special education maze, this is the ONE to buy!

Sissy

This book is extremely well written, concise and incredibly practical. As a parent of a special needs child, my copy is dogeared with tons of stickies coming out the sides and highlighted paragraphs throughout. The unraveling of caselaw portions and the clear writing style help you understand the nuances of special ed law, expectations you can have, how to be smarter in and out of an IEP meeting, and how not to be bushwacked. It has the good stuff, but doesn't skip on the real language either. Well balanced with nothing fluffy. I'd rather lose my dayrunner than my copy of Wrightslaw.

This book, is THE guide to protecting your child and making sure he receives the special education services that he needs. The author's give some VERY good, sound advice throughout the book. Just having the laws handy makes it worth the price, the legal commentaries are just the icing on the cake. It it the best book I have bought and highly recommended to anyone who has a special needs child. Whether you are familiar with the laws or not, you should own this book. There is also a companion strategy guide available from the same publisher that is very good. And there is also a Advocate's Guide coming out soon from the same author's and I will buy that as soon as it is released. Knowledge is power. The best way to help your kids is to learn as much as you can. This book is your best resource to do that.

I had been working with Unix and Linux flavors for sometime, and this book has been a blessing for me. I need a book that was willing to detail every aspect of the OpenBSD ( at least the most relevant), kernel, workarounds, etc. And it does its job. Many Thanks,ed

I purchased this book from Amazon on March 4th, 2007. Two months and five days later, after two conversations with Amazon employees who assured me that I would receive the book, they still have not shipped it.

It appears that Amazon simply does not have the book. I phoned the publisher, No Starch Press, and they don't have a copy either. A PDF is available for download, but that's all.

At this writing, the Amazon listing still says that the book "usually" ships in one to two weeks. Amazon is apparently selling a product that it does not have to sell.

If you want this book, you might do better to buy one of the used ones.

So many computer books today are 800 pages of word bloat. Michael not only keeps the writing lively, but in K&R fashion, he gives a lot of information in a succint way. Highly recommended and an easy read. Also note, he gives a complete picture of openbsd from A-Z Not too tedious and not too broad. I have not found a linux book this nice.

I'm no security freak, but I love the OpenBSD concept: security above all. When I took a course in Unix operating systems, I was introduced to OpenBSD, and recommended to purchase this text. Albeit outdated (it covers version 3.2, and OpenBSD is now at 4.0), the book offers an overview of all the basics, including 3 whole chapters on the pf firewall.

Because of its general nature, the author, Lucas, does not solely focus on pf, but instead adds flair to an extremely hostile operating system environment. I don't recall ever working with a more difficult system from scratch. Lucas really helped in getting me through some of the more cryptic areas of installation and configuration. The book itself is quite basic, so if you need something specific, like a korn shell book, look elsewhere. His style also makes the book itself a fun read, I must admit, because of his colorful presentation.

I've had this book for more than a year now.

This may be the most fun textbook-with-no-pictures I've ever read.

Realy I bought the book, I didn't have any OpenBSD contact and I bought the OpenBSD CDs to try it and play, and the book arrived before the OpenBSD's CDs and I begun to read, and learned me how to install OpenBSD, When the CDs arrived realy was very easy to install and get my first steeps in this OS.

Max Lucado addresses a pretty fool-proof section of the Bible here. It's a decent book; however, like serving someone a hard-boiled egg, it's pretty hard to screw up.

It is a helpful book for anyone unfamiliar with Jesus' most simplistic yet profound sermon. But, for those already familiar with the Beatitudes, this book serves more as a good reminder than it does as a provider of new insight into Biblical text.

For that reason, I found the book lacking in intellectual/theological stimulation.

Max Lacudo explains the beatitudes in such a simple yet enlightening way one can't help but say "yes" as you read! He literally changed my life as I realized through this book that I too wanted to be up on the Mountain, and not left in the valley. And King of the Mountain is not the goal! For anyone looking to find the light this is the book! I keep extra copies to pass on and give as gifts. A wonderful book!

Great study on the beattitudes for small groups.
Chapters are short enough not to be a burden on busy people.

I read this several years ago, and just read it again. It is a great book over the beattitudes. Max Lucado does a great job of teaching through stories and this book is no exception. It gave me a fresh perspective a very popular Bible passage.

I have read this book at least 5 times. Without a doubt this book has the happiest ending a story could ever have!

An accumulation of some of the most stimulating and exhaustively-researched details on the intel and counter-intel during WWII, particualrly surrounding D-Day. Truly amazing events chronicled extremely well; even after these many years since the book was first published, Cove-Brown's work stands out.

"Bodyguard Of Lies" is one of the most compelling and important reads out there. Lovers of Clancy novels should put them away for a year and concentrate on some of the most real bizarre, yet important, machinations of espionage and counter-espionage ever created and implemented. What gives this phenomenal work its incredible allure is the knowledge that these creations of historical intelligence import occored only a little more than a half-decade ago. The book takes its title from Winston Churchill's remark regarding the crucial role of good intelligence, where he stated, "In war-time, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies." Using for his research information that had only been de-classified the previous year (1975), Anthony Cave Brown takes us through the minefield that was "Ultra", the Allies means of reading the secret ciphers of the Third Reich. "Ultra" was of such devastating importance that the entire city of Coventry was sacrificed in order to keep secret the fact that the Allies had, early on in the war, broken the German "Enigma" ciphers. This top secret cipher would time and time again put vital information directly into the hands of the Allies. It is safe to say that "Ultra" may have been the difference between victory and defeat. Brown also details what can only be referred to as the most convoluted espionage and counter-espionage schemes that only the minds of men at war for the highest stakes ever perceived could conceive of. In one instance, a false 'cadaver' was planted in an apparant shipwreck, replete with false identity papers, false obituary, false love letters, fake funeral, and, more importantly, false maps and information intended to persuade the enemy that they had stumbled upon ACTUAL information, and act accordingly. Brown relates other tales - some quite unsavory on both sides - for instance, Allied baiting of French resistance in order to convince the enemy of the plausibility of invasion (or non-invasion, as the case warrented) at a given place or time. Agents were sometimes dropped into situations where their 'handlers' knew that cover had been blown or compromised...all done to keep a certain game afloat or a certain secret intact. Perhaps the most interesting revelations, for me, in the book came from the 'dangling' of certain German Generals and Intelligence officials who were not simply sympathetic to the Allies, but in many cases actually working against Hitler and taking incredible, traitorous risks to help defeat him (the Schwarze Kapelle, or, in English, the Black Orchestra). Abwehr head Wilhelm Canaris is studied in depth, and his behavior, not to mention his persona alone may be one of the deepest level secrets of the Second World War. Churchill is again quoted at the start of the section on 'Special Means', "In the high ranges of Secret Service work the actual facts in many cases were in every respect equal to the most fantastic inventions of romance and melodrama. Tangle within tangle, plot and counter-plot, ruse and treachery, cross and double-cross, true agent, false agent, double agent...were interwoven in many a texture so intricate as to be incredible and yet true. The Chief and the High Officers of the Secret Service revelled in these subterranean labyrinths, and pursued their task with cold and silent passion." This book will leave you relieved that men like Churchill, Sir Stewart Menzies, Alan Turing and the like were on the side of the Allies. The book may also leave some disturbed concerning what deep levels of intregue - double, triple, even quadruple-cross - can be invoked when men, and women, are convinced that they are fighting on the side of right against what they are sure is the side of wrong.

The new and warranted reinterest in World War II, and D-Day specifically has given this book new life. What I am wondering is whether or not the content has been changed, Not an easy read back in 1975 when Anthony Cave Brown first slogged through the newly declassified material which help to make this book fascinating, I am tempted to wager that some things have been re-written. Only a guess of course. This could also be a good thing, as in the case of Pearl Harbor, where after 1995 declassification documents were used to prove ("Day Of Deceit by Mr. Stinnett) that the attack was not, in fact, a complete suprise. Seeing that the original was out-of-print I suppose that this is a welcome development to have a new edition, retitled or no. 30 years is a good long time - and perhaps more information is included while staying true to the "old" edition.

One of the most fascinating behind-the-scenes stories of how the fate of World War II hung in the balance which was tipped ultimately by seemingly inconsequential actions. A real page turner of little known facts..................................the reader will have a hard time setting it down

This is an extremely detailed book on Allied (mainly British) deception operations during World War II. While it was written in 1976 it still hold up well, though some new information on the role of GCHQ and signals intelligence has been released since 1976. I am still amazed at the scope of operations the British ran during World War II. A very well written book, though it is by know means a quick read. It took me almost a month to get through it. If you are keenly interested in intelligence operations try to track down this book.

In 1929, Joseph Stalin ordered the collectivization of all Ukrainian farms. During the resulting upheaval, some seven million Ukrainians died of starvation. But, while it ended with mass starvation, the Soviet program of oppression started with property confiscation, arbitrary arrests, judicial and extrajudicial murder, and a whole constellation of unspeakable mistreatment.

One of the survivors of this holocaust was a young Ukrainian boy, who survived the conflagration and World War II, and succeeded in escaping to the United States. Written under the pseudonym of Miron Dolot, this heart-rending book tells the story of what he saw throughout the holocaust, and what he felt and thought.

I originally picked up this book because my own family, who were Russian Mennonites, left Ukraine before this time, but all of the relatives that stayed were annihilated to the last man, woman and child. Even so, I dare anyone to read this book and not be moved. The author does an excellent job of bringing the heartless insanity of this holocaust home to right where you live.

So, if you are interested in Russian or Ukrainian history, then I highly recommend this moving book to you.

When Hitler was asked about the possible negative consequences of the "final solution" in gassing all the remaining Jews in the world, he is reported to have responded by asking the question of "Who remembers the Armenians" who were killed by the "young Turks" at the end of the Ottoman Empire. While the numbers are in dispute, the reality is that over a million were killed outright or died of hunger during the campaign to exterminate the Armenians. But the real hidden holocaust took place over a decade later, when the Communist jackals running the "Evil Empire" in Moscow set about to eliminate the Ukrainians by systematic starvation, in far greater numbers than Hitler was able to accomplish with his ovens in concentration camps all over Europe.
Whoever Miron Dolot is, since he wrote this under a pseudonym for some reason, he lived a horror for many years that is incomprehensible for normal human beings. His description of the day-to-day struggle to exist under a system so evil that it boggles the imagination was very eloquent. Dolot talks about the neighbors who starved to death, families who engaged in cannibalism in order to survive, mothers committing suicide after the last of their children had died from malnutrition, frozen bodies stacked like firewood, roads littered with the remains of those who died trying to find a kernel of corn to ingest, and many other horrors that bring tears to your eyes. The Soviets did everything they could do to kill their opposition, including killing dogs and cats to keep them from becoming the last remaining food source for farmers who had no other option to stay alive. Even birds were shot from the trees to keep them from the starving peasants. But it was not limited to the Ukrainians; just ask the relatives of the millions of Chechens, Ingushetian's, and others who wanted independence and were rewarded with death in Soviet concentration camps called Gulags. Most of this story deals with a small Ukrainian village, but it is a microcosm of what happened in the Communist utopia under Stalin. Some of the stories from those who returned to the village after the horrors of being transported in cattle cars and escaped from the gulags are no different than the pictures of the same form of transport shown in many Holocaust movies.
But this story is far better than many of the holocaust films we have seen from Hollywood that concentrated on the one committed by Hitler. And why have we not seen this book on film to put all of the holocausts committed in the last century in context? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that McCarthyism still exists in its original form, when the communists controlled Hollywood in the 30's and apologists like Walter Duranty of the New York Times, who carries the label of "Stalin's Apologist" won a Pulitzer prize for his misreporting from Moscow about how great Stalin was. Ken Billingsley and his masterful book "Hollywood Party" shows that the real "blacklist" existed when loyal Americans veered from Moscow's party line, and explains Ronald Reagan's contempt for the communists who controlled his union until he won election to rid the union of these lice.
This is a great book. Hopefully someone like Mel Gibson will convert this to film for those who do not read, but are mislead by the Hollywood elite who condemn the USA and would have lasted two minutes under the Stalinist regime they glorify.

This book is a record of what some daily life was like in the Ukrainian villages during the Great Famine.
It is his memoirs, so it cant really be judged for facts and such, but it seems very intresting to read, and accurate.
The numbers couldt be a tiny bit too high, but it might actually have been that, but we will never know due to the destruction of any documents concerning mass death in The Famine.
I say its a good book, but would only recommend it too people intrested in Russian History specifically, because its such a specific and narrow read on a subject, from a first hand account, which usually dont know everything. There are better academic books out there documenting the famine well, but this is nontheless a good read and history.

Excellent first hand account of the attempts of collectivization under Stalin; attempts that met with little or no success. I earned and received a Bachelor of Arts in History and this subject was never covered as well as it should have been. The "less hidden" Holocaust always seems to take center stage in this society. I became interested in the subject due to the flight of my paternal grandparents from the affected area prior to the full onslaught being felt.

It seems impossible that, in a place comparable to the American Midwest for rich soil, that the people who live there, millions of them, starve to death in spite of the bounty of their land. But their Ukrainian farms are collectivized by orders from faraway Moscow. The food is shipped to wherever the authorities decide it will go. This is not a dry history of bushels shipped and numbers of private farms collectivized, but a compelling depiction of lives progressively ruined as an ideology takes over. Families who resist collectivation are demonized as dirty, selfish kulaks, and are punished. The promises to the communities sound good, early on, but the resulting devastation of the Ukrainianian people that results ultimately reveals that there was not much in it for the people who worked the land.

Hi:
This book is a very helpful guide for someone trying to start and understand a complex language such as Java. This book introduces us little by little to the confusing web of Java structures, procedures, objects, instances, classes...
Besides, it explains how to use some data structures and arrays, sometimes with very complex but understandable excercises that makes the reader produce a clear mind for Java's complex procedures.
The bad part is that is does not dig into Java graphical interface. Being this a very complex part of Java itself, the book does not tell us how to make panels, menus and many other features that are needed for simple graphical programs. Although it explains something about graphical structures, the explanations are not very good and sometimes you will have to look for another source to understand how it works.

I am not a programmer nor do I wish to become one. My interest in computers is driven by what they can and cannot do. My interest in Java springs from the many books based on Java that teach interesting things such as artificial intellenge, problem solving etc. So my view is based on what I learned how to do, not on if this is the best book for a coder.

Perhaps it would be best to state what this book is not first. It is not a complete guide to Java. There are many topics this book does not address at all such as swing. The Dietel book is denser and has many more details than does this one and might be more appropriate for a pure coder.

This is a book for beginners to Java. It does a great job of giving one a feeling for the language without bogging one's mind in all the gory details. It also did a good job of capturing my imagination as how to use the language to model things I am interested in. For me, this is superior to the Dietel book.

Another point worth mentioning is the speed this book can be read. I had no problem working through 1 to 2 chapters each evening. This ease of reading is do to three factors; good organization, good writing ability, and the focus on the main themes of the language.

Someone looking for a solid overview of Java would do well to buy this book. A hard core coder that is beginning with Java could use this book as a quick suppliment to the more detailed manual they are using.

As a knowledge of C would also be useful to me, I plan to purchase the author's book on that subject as well.

Let me start of by saying, if you want to learn Java to add it to your resume, do not use this book. This book is very very weak on Java graphics programming, which you will need to know. I would suggest a book that would help you pass the Sun programmer, or developer test. This book is intended as a textbook for an intorductory college class in computer science.

This book is great for learning Java as a college, or high-school student. I am using this book for AP Computer science. This book covers all of the topics, except for recursion. The author starts out with talking about what most people need to know about computers. He gets into programming by chapter two, and classes by chapter three. He explains classes very well, but you might need some help. Classes are much more well explained than in Java 2 for Dummies.

All in all this book is very good, even though I couln't get to know that much about GUI, or graphics programming. If you want to know about applets(this book focuses on applications) just read Appendix A. If you want a good approach to Java, than buy this book.

I've read this book cover to cover, and I think it is an excellent way to start programming in java. I think it is a wonderful introduction, my only gripes are that the new GUI interface, Swing, is not covered, only the older AWT. Also, this book is very weak on graphics programming, he never even explains how to incorperate java graphics into programs! He basically writes it off by saying its too complicated.

I came to this book with almost no programming experience but good analytical abilities. I wanted to learn the equivalent of what is covered by a CS1 course, and this book fit my needs exactly. This book is an interesting read, clearly introduces topics, and avoids unnecessary wordiness. The exercises and programming projects are thorough. There are always one or two more lengthy projects included in each chapter for those who want the challenge. I used this book to learn Java on my own, and I found myself eager to open it each day. I agree that there is no coverage of Swing, but there are other books devoted to that topic which one could move on to. I highly recommend this for those who are new to object-oriented programming and want their first taste of what this field is about.

Love love love this little book of end-less information. I have the HUGE regular DiPiro which isn't a joy to lug around. This handbook is the perfect reference for any pharmacy/med student. It covers the same topics as DiPiro 6th edition, but in a much more condensed, straight-forward way, including foundation & therapeutics. Very happy I purchased this book!

much more concise than Depiro; it's like ESPN for therapeutics, all the best highlights... but if you have a very picky professor they might bring up something specific enough that it isn't included in this book.

I bought this book hoping that it would serve as a shorter version of the larger and more detailed textbook. It turned out to do just that. I have used this book on many occasions to review the key things about certain conditions without having to read the lengthy chapters of the textbook.....this is a must have for anyone in the medical field....it provides a concise summary and key points from the bigger version.

Great therapy book to have in your pocket, but doesn't discuss much on etiology of diseases. Basically it's good as a review, but it's not helpful if you are trying to learn the disease for the first time.

gives a detail summary of the book... a must have for all pharmacy students.

Exeptionally good study guide. Has helped raise my son's grade in his AP physcology class.

This is the best textbook I've ever used. It is interesting and engaging. The content is excellent, but the charts, photos, quotes, cartoons, etc. make studying even more enjoyable. If you want to learn the basics of pyschology, but this book!

I finished reading this book about a month ago. I loved it. It covers many aspects of human behavior, albeit much of it rather superficially- but that's to be expected from an introductory Psych text, where a LOT of ground is covered in ~700 pages! Dr. Myers's writing style is very engaging, and the book is a joy to read. Practically every sentence in the book is backed up by at least one scientific study (the References section is downright intimidating... 97 pages!). The book is full of illuminating graphs & illustrations, quotes, captions, even relevant and humorous comic strips. Each section concludes with a "Review and Reflect" section that briefly summarizes the material and tests your understanding (answers are in the back).

I began reading this book in my spare time for my own enjoyment, and to sort of brush up on the introductory material (I'm a Psych major in school). During that time, I transferred schools and was told I would have to retake Intro-Psych because it didn't transfer credit. I sped up my reading so that I finished the book literally 2 nights before the semester started. So far, the class has been a breeze, and looks like it will continue to be. I am more than prepared - I feel like I'm almost as qualified to teach the class as the grad student that they have doing it. Thanks, Dr. Myers, for writing such a great introductory text on Psychology.

It is long and gruelling reading but what else would one expect from a textbook on psychology??? Learned a lot though.

I absolutely love this book. I'm one of those dorks who keeps her college textbooks (some, not all.) This is the one I have turned to the most of all of them, and always with reward.

Most of the reviews here cover everything well, but I want to add one comment. One of my favorite things about this book is a minor one: there are quotes by famous people in the margins, every few pages, that are really humorous and/or insightful. I look forward to coming across of those quotes while I read.

The book reads more like a feature article in a magazine rather than a textbook. I guess that's why it's the only textbook I have that I enjoy reading from.

My comments are based on the 5th edition, which was current during my college freshman year in 1997, so I'm sure the 8th edition has improved greatly. Thanks to the publishers for continuing to publish a quality book. I hope more colleges adopt this one.