D Books

EXCELLENT BOOK/STORY OF A REMARKABLE WOMAN'S RECOVERY FROM A DEVESTATING CONDITION. I HAD READ THIS BOOK A WHILE AGO AND PURCHASED THIS AS A GIFT. VERY HARD TO PUT DOWN READ IN 2 DAYS!!! KATE IS A TRUE INSPIRATION TO ALL.
ANY HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL SHOULD READ THIS BOOK!!!
KATES 2ND BOOK IS EVEN BETTER!!!
KEEP UP THE EXCELLENT WORK KATE!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as it not only is a true story of a very remarkable woman, but it is also very educational and enlightening of what a stroke victim endures. Very hard to put down--a must read!

Working as a chaplain with people who have suffered from strokes this book was recommended to me. There are many people that I minister to who are trapped within their bodies and I wonder the effectiveness of my prayers, monologues, reading scriptures and news article to them since they can't respond. After reading this book my eyes were opened. To see what Kate went through and what she experienced in a trapped body I am encouraged to continue to be there and communicate with those who are trapped within their body. Excellent book. I would recommend it to not only those who work with people who have had strokes but to anyone who wants to know more.

If you only get a chance to read a few good books a year; you should make this one of them. Kate Adamson has an unbelievable story to share. Suffering from a devastating stroke at the age of 33, Kate fights her way back with sheer grit and determination.

This is an inspirational story for stroke survivors, caregivers, and anyone else that has been touched by a stroke. Even if you haven't been touched by a stroke, it's a powerful read. Kate tells her story with honesty, humor, and courage. I give it two thumbs up and highly recommend it.

Ever said, "I have a terrible headache?" Did you feel it was the worst headache you've ever had. Then you must read Kate's Journey.

This book should be in the home of anyone that has ever had a headache, in the library of every neurologist, and in the hands of every therapist or any health care official that encounters stroke patients.

Kate's Journey delivers hope through an amazing story of recovery. In a clever and ingenious way, Kate interjects humor in the story of her recovery from a devastating stroke and the complete disruption of the life she knew.

Kate's Journey provides the key to not living a self-fulfilling prophecy of hopelessness when you or some you love is told there is, "No Hope." Kate's Journey provides the warning signs of stroke to those who may be experiencing the onset of a stroke and are totally unaware, and incredible insight to family members and friends of those whom may have already suffered the tragic disabilities of stroke. Think you're too young? Think you're in great shape? Read Kate's Journey before it's too late.

Wondering how I could ever read a book about someone's stroke, quickly turned into wondering how I could ever put the book down. It was witty and filled with Kate's actual thoughts. I was now getting first hand the pain and thoughts that were going through the mind of my own husband. He was now living Kate's Journey, her nightmare of paralysis and the inability to speak.

I recommend reading Kate's Journey, a story of recovery and hope, in lieu of books that deliver a message of acceptance of a devastating fate. I prefer the "Never Give Up" message contained within the pages of Kate's Journey; a story of bouncing back against all odds. Which would you rather read? It could happen in the blink of an eye. Stroke -- paralysis, complete devastation. Will you be next? Maybe not; if you read Kate's Journey Triumph Over Adversity.

I have found Kate to be as outstanding as her book.

I haven't taken the registry exam yet, but for those looking for a good book to review, I recommend this one. I haven't made it through the whole book yet, but there are a lot of questions with such detailed explainations for every section. The questions are difficult, but I have been told by numerous people that these questions are harder than that of the actual ARRT exam. There are questions designated to each section, way more than what the real test will be, but the end of the book contains 2 practice tests combining all of the sections. VERY HELPFUL!

This book is perfect for ARRT test prep. Make sure you get the book with the internet access. With the internet, you get to do all the practice tests you need to prepare for the ARRT boards. There are quite a few questions in the book and internet that are verbatim.

I used pretty much just this book to prepare for the Registry exam in 2006. I did every question in it over the 2 weeks before I sat the Registry, and passed it with a score of 97. What more can I say? This is the only prep book you need.

This is a great resource!!! I recently took the ARRT board exam in Radiography and I used this prep book to prepare for it. I scored a 98% on the exam. I would recommend this guide to anyone who wants to rock the boards. AsB

With this book comes free access to an online testing web site. This online, create-your-own exam feature is what got me through the registry test. It allows you to select any number of questions (there are more than 1,400!), from any of the 5 main categories (and the myriad sub-categories), those you've already seen or not seen, or to use only the ones you've previously gotten wrong. And you can use the web site as many times as you need to during your allotted access time (details with the book.) The author was very responsive to my questions when I needed clarification, and there's a link right on the web site making it easy to ask.

Unlike other test-prep resources I've seen, the questions are equal to or HARDER than those on the registry exam! The service tracks your averages in each of the five categories, and reports results for an individual exam upon completion as well as your cumulative average. You can interrupt taking an exam and resume it at another time. And, speaking of time, your test results also include how long it took you to complete your custom-made exam, as well as the average number of seconds per question. The registry exam is timed, so knowing your time in advance can help you focus where you need to.

I could go on, but you've got the picture by now: I can't say enough about the positive contribution this resource made to my success!

First: Balzac, even in translation, is a literary giant. He paints vivid, often dark pictures of 'society' and adds no detail in jest. There is meaning everywhere.

You can read Colonel Chabert in a couple hours, dwell on it for several days after, and be done. This is a wonderful translation from the French; with it, you can mine most of Balzac's intentions without having to consult a companion piece or Balzac guru.

The story is all about life, death, and "social" identity. Others have summarized the story well, but I will refrain. For this one, all you need is a solid literary mind and a few hours. In this edition, Balzac is direct and beautiful; from the dead rising to gateways between worlds to the lamentable futility of morality for its own sake, there is no want for vivid description.

"Colonel Chabert" is one of Honore de Balzac's volumes from his omnibus work, "The Human Comedy." The Colonel is a comic figure in and old military great coat and a wig who is ridiculed by young legal workers at the beginning of the novel. But, the joke is on the clerks, because Chabert is a war hero of the Napoleonic era who was given up for dead on a battlefield at Eylau. This translation from the French by Carol Grosman tells the story of the old soldier's resurrection in contemporary jargon. The novel is relevant today considering the service of soldiers in many wars continuing in our world. What happens to these heroes when wars end, or more accurately, shift to new fronts? Balzac paints the portrait of one old colonel who remains honorable and as a consequence seals his fate. The translation is very readable and the short novel is brief "scene from private life." The work will stimulate further interest in the monumental work of Balzac who had a relatively short life (1799-1850).

...of a great Balzac novella. Ms. Cosman captures the rigorous, logical quality of Balzac's prose - most translators get lost in unidiomatic wordiness. This 100 page novella showcases the Master's comfort with legal matters, his profound understanding of "the fang and the claw" and features at its center the incomparable Derville, Balzac's great, recurring lawyer character. I usually recommend Pere Goriot for first-time Balzac readers because of the rich connections between that novel and many other Balzac works - but I am hard pressed to imagine a better one-course meal than this rendering of Colonel Chabert by Ms. Cosman. I certainly plan to read her version of The Girl with the Golden Eyes.

One of the greatest novelists of all time, Balzac was most at home in the Paris of Post-Napoleonic Paris. In a time when the middle class was showing its strength and starting to reach towards the aristocracy, Balzac shows just how selfish and grubby and greedy humans can be in attaining and how treacherous they can be in keeping their all important upward mobility.

Colonel Chabert is a man disfigured in the Napoleonic Wars who was left for dead on a battlefield. After digging his way out of a mass grave, he finds that he has no legal right to his title or his massive estate. Nobody will believe his true identity. For ten longe years he goes about trying to communicate his plight to anyone who will listen. They only see a crazy bum, and his wife rebuffs his letters. She already has a new husband and kids. Finally Chabert is able to convince a lawyer named Dervilles to accept his case, namely that of reclaiming his title, lands, and wife. The problem is that noone is really interested in his life being resurrected. Most people would rather that he remained dead. So begins the ludicrous battle of a man against the law to prove his own existence.

This short but great novel, or novella, is a tragic take on the world's thirst for social status and the judgement by visuals that our society is only too guilty of to this day. If it walks like a bum, talks like a bum, it must be a bum. Colonel Chabert has such a hard time convincing people of his identity because of how they perceive him. It sounds echoes of Frankenstein in that a good man is reduced to a monster when all he really needs is love. The fact that even his wife wishes he were dead just drives home the isolated suffering of the book. As in all Balzac novels, you feel a world moving under the mantle of the book. The Human Comedy of Balzac is one of the crowning achievements of literature and ranks right up there with Shakespeare and Thomas Hardy.

Balzac, one of the greatest writers who ever lived, did not trip up with this one. I read it with great pleasure and conclude, as people so often say, that the movie based on the story did not equal the original. Ever the cynic (some might say 'the realist') Balzac portrays here the efforts of a noble-minded soldier, who rose from an orphanage to serve his country under Napoleon in Egypt and eastern Europe, only to reap the all-too-common fate of dedicated and true warriors---to be forgotten and ignored. Death (which he accepted) might have seized him, but he found a living death, a denial of his sanity and identity, as the reward of his service. Reported killed at the battle of Eylau, against the Russians, after a heroic action, the soldier literally crawls from his grave to a kind of shadowy survival. In his earlier life, Colonel Chabert had raised a woman to his own status, but now finds that she is unwilling to let others learn of her origins and does not want to recognize that he is, in fact, her long lost husband. Honestly thinking she was widowed, she married a highborn aristocrat who knew nothing of her humble beginnings.

The tale is one of greed, intrigue, loyalty and disloyalty. As usual, Balzac manages to cast a light, pitiless and bright, on every rotten corner of the human condition, while offering a few inspiring examples in contrast. Every detail of a lawyer's life in 19th century Paris is scrutinized, every glimpse of urban dairyman or elite country squirehood rings true. No wonder I admire him so much, no wonder I have no hesitation in urging you to read COLONEL CHABERT and any other volume of Balzac you can lay your hands on.

Jill Raiguel's "Life Skills" has given me a solid principles to live life daily feeling mentally and emotionally healthy and well. This is a must book for everyone in recovery or anyone living in today's world!

As the child of an alcoholic I've found Jill Raiguel's book so helpful in huge ways and little ways. I shifted from feeling lost and damaged to knowing I'm OK. I learned that there are steps to making friends, expressing emotions safely, some of Jill's life skills from the quiz at the beginning of the book. my mom and I have read it together. Its great!

As an active minister of a church and spiritual growth center in Southern California, I have had the opportunity to use Ms. Raiguel's book both in teaching (ministers and practitioners) and in counseling situations. The information is presented in a clear and simple way- so that topics, which might normally be a bit overwhelming within themselves, are more easily received.

I recommend this book to other ministers, counselors and churches. It has become a 'must have' for me.

I bought this book for myself and found my 21 year-old daughter had picked it up and was participating in the excercises. That was the beginning of a whole new line of communication between us. We have both been affected by the divorce between me and her father years ago and this book was a key to opening the lines of communication between us after all these years. We were able to deal with some important issues at a level we have never reached before. The life skills exercises are so helpful in providing the element of "action" with learning that was so critical to us.

I urge anyone with unresolved issues to try read this book. I think it would be an excellent resource for teens on up.

My life has been one of grose alcohol abuse from all sides, both parents were alcoholics, both spouses and numerous friends in between. I attracted to me those that would hurt me. Jill's book helped me identify patterns in my life and understand how I was worthy of having a very different life. After reading the book and applying the principles and seeing who I am, my life has soared. My confidence in who I am has been elevated to new levels.... I am complete with me, and it is wonderful.....

I would recommend Jill's book to anyone who has had any verbal or physical abuse from twisted alcholic thinkers. You do not have to stay a victim nor do you need to remain in situations that corrupt your life. Read this book apply the insights to your life and become free to be who you are....You're worth it.

A very good book for even teenagers too read. Well written. Would give too my own children and grandchildren

What an easy way to spread the word about breast csncer...and how a significant other male can offer patient loving support through this kind of crisis. If there is a woman in your life, buy this for both of you, you'll never regret it.

I read an article about this book in Heal magazine, the magazine for cancer survivors. I am a 1 year Non Hodgkins Lymphoma survivor. When I received the book, I couldn't put it down. I read it through in one sitting. This is a great story for everyone-cancer victims, survivors, caregivers and anyone who wants to learn just a little bit more about patient's emotions. You don't have to have breast cancer to read this. It gives people who don't have cancer a greater understanding of what we go through.
I cried after reading this story-not for me, but for all the Lisa's out there and especially for the husband she leaves behind. I found myself worrying about her husband and the wonderful way he took care of her.
What a sensitive, thoughtful and caring story!

Having been with a close friend who as found a lump, opted for double masectomy, been declared 'in remission' only to have it recur, spread and ultimately overtake her, Batiuk really captures the whole experience--the good, the bad, the sad, and the infuriating (even the lab bungle reads as it happened to my friend).

If you've lost anyone to breast cancer, this will cut deeply. But it is worth it. It's a story that is true, and very well told. Keep the tissues nearby.

I have never read a book that could make me laugh and cry all within 2 pages of it. I read "Lisa's story" for the first time in the comic strips and fell in love with Funky Winkerbean. Now every Sunday I look forward to getting the Sunday paper just so I can read it first thing and see where Tom Batiuk is taking the characters next. It's great having the whole collection because now I can see what happens in between the Sunday ones and it actually makes me feel like I'm living the story. I really genuinely feel like I knew Lisa and when I read the line "She's gone" I cried. The imagery that Tom Batiuk used to portray her dying was incredible because it's like saying that we don't know where exactly we go when we die or whose face we're going to see on the other side, but it's comforting in a way and when she said "I love you" as her last words, talk about rip your heart out. I also love Summer and how she reacted to her mommy being sick and then her passing, it definetly reminds you of the innocence of a child. You also feel so bad for Les losing Lisa like that after being by her side and sometimes you forget that it's not just the woman going through it, but it affects the whole family. Bravo to Tom for having him stick by her through the whole ordeal. I highly recommend anyone male or female to buy this story, it's like making a new friend that you can see anytime and grieve with. Also, if you're going through it or know someone who is, it helps you to understand how they are feeling and know that you're not alone. BRAVO TOM BATIUK, you're story of Lisa is very inspiring!!!!!

You will be pleased by this book- generous amount of good pictures on this famous WWII battle tank. I found the coverage of the variants and production very useful. To top it all off the price is excellent!

While not perfect, this is a very good history of the M4 Sherman. Better use of photos and (more important) coordination of photos would have upped this to five stars in my opinion. For example, in many cases one model of tank is being discussed while all the photos show a completely different model. Very good use of diagrams, which ARE usually located on the correct page. Well worth the money, if you want perfection you'll be spending more.

The M4 series medium tank, commonly known by its British-applied nickname of "Sherman", was one of the most important weapons of the Allied ground effort in WW2. The Sherman started as one of the best tanks in the desert when introduced in North Africa, but soon fell behind German tanks in guns and armor. This was because US doctrine didn't emphasize tanks fighting other tanks, but the German doctrine saw the tank as the primary anti-tank weapon. While not a great tank killer, the Sherman was available in large numbers, not only for US forces but for many Allied nations. It also proved itself quite an adaptable design, with room for growth and was able to serve a number of special roles that were never even envsioned when the tank was originally designed.

This soft cover book covers much of the technical developments of the Sherman tanks. Mr. Green uses many period photos, plus views from restored tanks to illustrate the many changes and variations in the Sherman's design. He looks at the tank in the context of actual useage. He also touches on the US tank crews, one of the secrets of the Shermans ultimate success in battle.

For the money this book is a good investment in the basics of the Shermans design and use. Very useful to military historians, wargamers, model builders and tank buffs.

Military specialty libraries strong on World War II history won't want to miss M4 Sherman At War, a survey of a tank which played a key role in every aspect of the battles, enabling the Allies to manufacture enough units to overwhelm the superior German tanks they faced. The design and employment of a tank which beat the odds is reviewed in chapters packed with vintage black and white photos, cut-away diagrams, and historical and design facts: a fascinating, involving read.

The M4 Sherman is THE American tank of the Second World War, seeing service in all theaters of war and being operated by a number of Allied units. That being said, the Sherman was a badly designed tank that was never the equal of its German contemporaries. That Sherman crews accomplished so much says more about their courage and steadfastness rather than the quality of the tank they manned.

The Sherman went to war an under-gunned, under-armoured and under-powered tank whose boxy, too-tall silhouette provided German tank and anti-tank gunners easy opportunities for kills. In a rare, pre-war blunder Chief of Staff George Marshall decided the M4's main mission was to be a weapon of explotation rather than a slayer of enemy tanks. The newly created tank destroyers were tasked with that duty. Yet realistically how could a Sherman crew pick and choose its opponents in a combat situation? Nevertheless Marshall, aided by General Lesley McNair, pushed through this doctrine and Sherman crews went to war in a seriously flawed design.

Green and Brown do an excellent job of documenting the Sherman's flawed beginnings, the seemingly endless - and usually unsuccessful - attempts to upgrade the basic design and its armament along with the stateside struggles between various Army bureacracies that hindered production of the best possible design.

Likewise in describing and illustrating the tank, its various components, and combat record, the authors do a bang-up job. The book is packed with photos, cutaways, profiles and digrams, many in color along with dozens of wartime photos and contemporary acccounts of the M4 in action.

All in all, a comprehensive, insightful, well-illustrated, and entertaining guide to a a combat legend. And only $19.95!

Recommended!

I enjoyed this book very much and only wish it were bigger in size to display the pictures better and that more could have been included. Of course spanning 75 years and so many balloons and events with each parade is a daunting task. I gladly would have paid more money to have more pictures and info especially I would have liked to know more about the marching bands and talents represented over the years. This book does a good enough job to give the highlights though through the years.

I love this book....BUT it has a big lacking...there's no complete listing of which balloons were in each year's parade. I chatted with the author awhile back and he said such a list was forthcoming....but then we lost touch and I don't think it ever appeared. Does anyone have such a list so that I can insert it into the book....and then it will be a 5 STAR book! Thanks!

When I ordered this book, I thought it was another one, which I'd seen in a Barnes and Noble bookstore some years ago. That one had pictures of a number of the "hosts" of the parade-like Jackie Gleason, etc. It was closer to a coffee table size. However, I was surprised when this one arrived. This has many more pictures than that book, and mainly of the balloons(which is really the best part). Plus it documents the history of the parade and its high points. This is, by far, the best thing I've ever found on the parade, in any form of media, whatsoever. I'll keep my eyes open for the other book, but this is the ONE to definitely get.

This book is a WOW! The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is the Miracle on 34th St and this book is a miracle too. That for the first time the glorious history of the Parade is presented in a fantastic mix of photos, ads, and a very enjoyable and readable text. The authors present their history in a conversational manner that encourages you to read the book from front to back and all over again! The images in black and white and color bring the parade to all, and year round too! Great for anyone planning on seeing the parade in person, or whom have seen it in person or watched on TV. A keepsake and collectible that does the Parade proud!

Being a Macy's Parade fan forever it is always sad when it is over for another year. Now with this book you can enjoy the Macy's Parade throughout the entire year. The book is chock full of glorious vintage ads and totally awesome pictures. The NY Daily News images are stunning and all of the images seem to leap off the pages. The writing is done in a conversational manner that draws you in and the parade is presented decade by decade and year to year with many interesting facts along the way! Then after the feast of glorious pages of text and black and white images the book ends in a splash of color and what color it is, eye candy indeed!

What a great book from a great person. the different chapters and the different adventures. I have never seen a book quite like this one. Will keep you reading from chapter to chapter. Keep up the great work and look forward to the next one. The children you are supporting from the proceeds of the book also a very noble cause.

AWESOME BOOK! You will not find a more personalized, "real life" travel book out there...Excellent photographs from around the World! Once I finished reading it, I started it all over again--couldn't put it down, it's a real page turner...

This book is not at all what you might expect. If you open it expecting the diary notes of someone who descended into insanity, you won't find that here. What you will find, instead, is a big, lush, lavish volume, rich with pictures and personal notes, splashed with artwork and experiences of the author's cross-global journey through South America, Africa, and Asia. It is as much as work of art as it is a book.

What Garner calls his "madness" is what he refers to as his previous obsession with making money and building corporate empires. He spent years of his life at this until one day, he just dropped it all and went off in search of himself. For two years he and a companion, Heather (whose last name we never learn), wandered the world living with the people of the countries they visited and looking for adventure. They found plenty of it--from a fearsome night they spent in Mexico thinking they had been kidnapped, to being attacked by the most unusual brigands in Central America, to living among the Masai in Africa. Everywhere Garner went in search of answers, he found people in every part of the world who were honest, hospitable and somehow managed to live happily even without water, food or school supplies to educate their children.

Not only is this an emotional journey of discovery, it is also a treasure hunt. The author has placed a secret code in his volume and given readers the key to deciphering it. All over the world, he has hidden objects which he invites readers to find as they unravel the code. He has dedicated sales of the book to helping poor children worldwide, and every time a new child is helped, he places his or her picture on the website.

And the website is as lavish and artful as the book. It contains more information about the secret code and Garner's personal campaign to save the world, one child at a time.

And he gives the most unique explanation of typos I have ever seen. On little cards inserted in the pages, he says things like: "Think you saw a typo? Think again." Now that's a stroke of genius that other authors could envy. It automatically excuses every error missed in proofreading.

On the book's gorgeous full-color cover, he says, "This is more than a book, it is an experience."

Armchair Interviews is inclined to agree with him.

I have to say, being an avid book reader, this book was truly a wonder. This is a book for everyone who is interested in travel, adventure and buried treasure. It has 40 amazing chapters of travel stories from around the world. The stories themselves are so well written and it amazed me they are all true. Also, inbetween each chaper you get to see full color artwork and photography that the author has taken from all over the world. In addition to all that, GD Garner has actually hidden clues inside the book that lead the reader to a buried treasure! The clues are hidden on all 7 continents as well as online and the reader can use the book and website to uncover the buried treasure! This book is really an amazing and unique experience for every reader. It is an absolute MUST READ for anyone interested in travel, photographgy, or just really amazing true stories. I highly recommend this book as a next purchase for your book collection.

It only took reading the book's prologue for me to completely commit to following the author through his journey. The perspectives on geography, culture, and humanity were vivid, enlightening, and entertaining. The artwork and photography included alone has value way beyond the asking price. I've dreamed of traveling the world. I can only hope that I would receive the experience a fraction as well as the author. Add that part of the proceeds from the book benefit children's charities makes this book a must buy!

This is the book for you if you are new to MATLAB. The book covers the basic steps of MATLAB and how to apply them to real word engineering or mathematical problems in an interactive environment.

The book is well written and is very easy to use. This is a great book for the beginner, but I would not recommend the book for anyone that has over 6 months of experience.

The Item was in very good condition & the shipping was prompt & before time.

I am a robotics engineering masters student who is REALLY behind on his Matlab knowledge based on the fact that i have a background in biology. (Long story). I just completed my first semester and bought this book in May to learn matlab more thoroughly over the summer. This book is just FANTASTIC. I couldn't ask for more. It is structured logically, the examples are CLEAR and it just makes total sense. I never realized that it would be this readable and excellent. If you are a beginner it can truly be read cover to cover. The problems are interesting and the step by step guides are just what i needed. I initially thought twice about spending the $80 when there were cheaper texts available, but let me tell you from experience, don't bother. I have read some other Matlab texts and they pale in comparison to this one. It is worth every penny. If you have a limited knowledge or are without any knowledge of Matlab GET THIS BOOK. It is great and worth the extra money.

If you plan to start with Matlab with no prior experience, this book beats most of the other available titles.Since an inside view of the book is not available on Amazon, I will for the benefit of others list out the chapters here.Ch1 begins with the necessary introduction,developing familiarity with the command window,display formats and precedence of operators.It moves on to Ch2 and Ch3 where arrays are introduced and the mathematical operations on them explained.Ch4 is about script files,Ch5 on elementary plotting techniques using in-built functions like plot and fplot.Ch6 introduces functions and Ch7 extends the previous material to formal programming techniques like loops and control structures.Ch8 explains curve fitting and interpolation,Ch9 is about three dimensional plots and special graphics.Ch10, the last one of the book uses Matlab to do symbolic math which cover elementary algebraic equations.The examples contained in the book are from elementary physics and engineering,so if you are looking for more advanced material that has been treated using Matlab,this might be a little less helpful.The numerical techniques again cover simple problems like projectile trajectory,flow of water from a vessel with a small hole punched in its sidewall,RC circuits, viscosity and so on.Relatively advanced topics like Fourier transforms and applications to signal processing are also left out.If you are done with this book or feel that the material isnt of much help, I will suggest that you might try "Numerical Computing with Matlab" by Moler(he is perhaps one of the architects of Matlab).This book(electronic version) is available for free from the mathworks website [...].Overall this book does a good job in explaining details and is also generously sprinkled with figures and screenshots.Please try it if you are first timer to Matlab.

I purchased this title because I am starting a numerical analysis sequence next year using Matlab and I knew only how to plot in 2D and do simple calculations at the command line. After studying from Gilat's text for the past month or so I feel very comfortable using Matlab for all the basics and I am ready to learn how to exploit the full power of the program.

Each chapter gives just enough mathematical background to provide anyone with at least college algebra/trig enough to understand what is going on.
Although this book does not cover any topic too deeply, it does cover the fundamentals of many aspects of Matlab in a way that allows the reader to move fairly quickly through the whole book without getting bogged down in any one area.

In the end you will know the basics about how Matlab operates: how to work with vectors and matrices, how to write simple programs and function files, how to plot and format data, how to fit data to a curve, and how to differentiate and integrate both numerically and symbolically, and a bunch of other great tools for solving problems.

Also, as the other reviewers mentioned, the book makes very good use of graphics to show how input and output should look, as well as what exactly each line means.

I would recommend this text to anyone wanting to learn the basics of Matlab.

This is a clear and concise overview of Marxism. It breaks down the major thoughts of the ideology and presents them in an understandable manner.

This is fantastic book for college students, particularly those who will be presenting research or essays that include Marxism as a topic or thesis. The most difficult concepts of Marxism, such as dichotomy, are easily understood by the manner in which D'Amato has presented them.

In truth, the ideas within this book, as they are presented, has made this book a citation treasure trove for presenting key arguments within several of my essays. The logic that is laid out can be used to analyze a number of historical, cultural, and socio-political topics in a relative manner.

Paul D'amato takes the classical works of Marx and Engels (Capital, Communist Manifesto, The German Ideology, and others) and selectively quotes the trenchant passages and then parses and elaborates their meaning with simple (but not simplistic) explanations. For an example early in the book:

"Greed and selfishness are not the result of bad individual choice, but are engendered by the competitive and profit driven nature of capitalism. A capitalist who is not greedy for profit is a capitalist who will lose out to his more greedy competitors. The problem with the notion that it is only necessary to change people's ideas in order to change society is that this leaves the social structure of society intact. `This demand to change consciousness amounts to a demand to interpret the existing world in a different way, i.e., to recognize it by means of a different interpretation,' Marx wrote of some German idealists of his day. In doing this `they are in no way combating the real existing world,' but are `combating solely the phrases of this world.' The materialist view is exactly the opposite. Morals are derived from particular forms of human social organization. Capitalism breeds greed, not vice versa. In societies that foraged for food and shared it as a collective, greed was frowned upon because it disrupted the functioning of the group." [Page 26]

That short paragraph explained Marx's views arguably better than did Marx himself! Marx's explanation of the same phenomenon takes up thirteen pages in the original text. I truly wish that the political science professors and graduate assistants who taught me Marxist political economy in college had had D'amato's book on their reading list or even used it as the principal text; it's that good.

This book is written by a dedicated Marxist-Leninist. I am most definitely not one (though I have sympathy for the Marxist critique of capitalism). However, not being one to judge a person by her or his political convictions, I gave this book a look when I saw it in a university library bookstore. It was actually quite well-written, and I ended up buying it. I'm about 100 pages in, and I have to say, it's not a bad book at all for introducing the thought of Marx and Engels (plus some Lenin, but not TOO much). The author also quotes several non-Marxist anthropologists, sociologists and economists to make his points, so he's definitely a well-read guy. Although I'm not done with the book, I'd recommend it. There isn't a whole lot of emotional rhetoric, as you might fear; there's only a clear, straightforward, sophisticated (yet easy-to-understand) presentation of Marxist ideas. So if you are interested in understanding the ideas of classic social thinkers like Marx, but don't have the time or inclination to suffer through their dense original works, then for Marx I'd say this book is not a bad choice for an intro.

If you want some original Marx, a very good place to start is Karl Marx on Society and Social Change: With Selections by Friedrich Engels (Heritage of Sociology Series), edited by Neil Smelser.

This book truly blew my mind. What did I know about Marxism before reading this? Not a lot. Now I feel ready to take on the world

There are plenty of philosophical and political guides to the ideals of Marx, but few which draw the connections between ideals, politics and social issues as does The Meaning of Marxism. It's a blend of explanation of philosophy and politics with links to contemporary issues, and provides a survey of just how Marxism was to transform the world. Chapters provide the perfect introduction for students from high school to college levels who are new to Marxist thinking and who wish to relate Marxism with contemporary social and political perspectives.