Performance Books

Honestly, unless you want to pore through every major modern quality system (ie ISO, Baldridge) and amass the details of countless companies (from Ritz Carlton to SSM Health - yes, healthcare!), buy the book.

Once you do, expect a tremendous return on this investment for an up to date, well organized, and thorough look at quality in its practical application. To get the most bang for your buck, get the latest version so your not quoting what the Ritz did 5 years ago.

Long, verbose, time consuming and WORTH EVERY BIT OF IT!

Was an assigned text for an upper level university Management course. Excellent choice. The content made sense, was well written/easy to read, and continually built on earlier chapters.

It's still on my shelf as a reference I refer to often in my business. Wouldn't be without it!

Came quickly with the software package included.
Saved over $20 from school bookstore website!

It is straightforward book. Each chapter has some case study, which is real application of Quality management. I would strongly recommend for students as well as managers to read this book. It has different point of views from various Philosophers like Dr. Deming, Dr. Juran, Crosby and other well-known persons.

I used an older edition of this book in preparing for the ASQ Certified Quality Manager Exam. It is a great reference.

Forget Drucker and Deming. Drs. Milgram and Spector along with Mr. Treger have provided a succinct summary of most of the important issues that managers at all levels deal with in both day to day operations and stategic thinking. The book is easy to understand and should be required reading for all entry level managers and professional athletes. If John Rocker could read and had read this book before he talked with Sports Illustrated, he would be a guest on Letterman and Nightline rather than the object of public scorn and ridicule. For the security of the future of America, Jesse Ventura should not read this book as it has the potential to make him extremely dangerous.

In today's complex of managerial issues, Alan Spector clearly identifies the roadmap to success. While money might be a destination for some, for Spector, it's about Managaing Smart -- understanding your abilities and the ability to learn from others. Quite an amazing story from a man who has accomplished nearly everything!

I am the founder and owner of a rapidly growing construction company in a busy market. "Managing Smart..." gave me the insight and confidence that I was looking for to help deal with my employees, my contractors and my life!

Simply put, a must have. This book should be required for every MBA graduate in the country. It's insight into the actual decision making processes that managers must cope with prove to be on target. I've read the book twice and I think I'll do it again!

Managing Smart is a book for new and experienced managers alike. It is well organized, has an excellent index, and a comprehensive list of references. It can be read from beginning to end, or can be picked up and used as a quick reference. I found the sections on time management and quality management especially helpful. And, although no one enjoys disciplining an employee, tip #159 offers some positive principles and behavioral approaches. I would recommend this book to anyone in a management position, be it in a large firm or small, from health care to manufacturing.

In this concise and very affordable book, Dr. Dong has compiled the most important concepts for anyone interested in the fundamentals of HPLC. He has also taken great care to provide clear illustrations to bring across these concepts, which, like many images, speak a thousand words. In a world inundated with almost too much information, it is very refreshing to have a text in hand that one can read through, understand, and put to use in a short amount of time. As a former research scientist turned Technical Sales Rep, I appreciate that I can put this book to work for me. Every chromatographer, new or experienced, needs to have this book on their shelf, or better yet, on top of the lab bench.

This is one of the best books on HPLC I have encountered. Gives an extremely thorough introduction to everything you should know inorder to get started and work confidently with this indispensible technology. Invaluable for the graduate student who wants to go hands on.

This is an excellent book that all liquid chromatographers should have. It covers all aspects of HPLC from theories to instrument to applications. It would benefit all levels of analytical scientists in their day-to-day operations. The book is informative and concise. It also includes an excellent list of references for further interest. I think Michael Dong has done it once again!!! Quite an impressive book! and the price can't be beat!

This is quite a comprehensive treatise on the topic of HPLC. The intended audience is the novice/intermediate and it certainly hit the mark. It is quite apparent that the wealth of recommendations/pointers/guidelines comes from someone very familiar with this topic. This book should be of great help to many aspiring LC chromatographers and should also serve as a valuable reference to those that are already comfortable in this field. - Wilhad M Reuter (PerkinElmer LAS)

HPLC has become one of the most widely applied chemical analytical techniques in the pharmaceutical industry. Dr Dong's book, Modern HPLC for Practicing Scientists, provides excellent source of information and knowledge for both beginners and highly experienced professionals who utilize this analytical tool. Chapter 1 presents an overview of chromatographic principles while the 2nd chapter deals with fundamental aspects of HPLC and considerations that enhance efficient separation. In chapter 3, Dr. Dong discusses the chromatographic column both from theoretical perspectives and applications. This is very valuable to practicing scientists.

In Chapter 4, the book provides a concise overview of HPLC instrumentation, operating principles as well as recent advances in instrumentation such as Waters Acquity UPLCTM (Chapter 11). A lot of information is provided on practical issues associated with the use of HPLC systems and the pictures and illustrations make their understanding much easier.

Chapter 5 provides a hands-on approach to HPLC analysis including mobile phase preparation and parameter optimization. This is a great chapter for a novel analyst who is often saddled with numerous options on the choice of HPLC parameters. Dr. Dong's attention to details makes it possible even for the novice chromatographer to undertake a full HPLC procedure with little or no supervision

Although Chapters 6 and 7 deal with applications in the pharmaceutical, food and environmental industries, the practicing scientist who this text is best suited for, would benefit more by integrating information from these chapters with the fundamental and practical concepts documented in the earlier chapters.

The inclusion of method development and regulatory issues with respect to HPLC techniques and applications in chapters 8 and 9 is particularly commendable. Industrial R & D scientists who are not only challenged to develop and optimize methods but also work within the constraints of regulatory agencies would find these chapters immensely rewarding. These chapters provide hands-on guidance for laboratory scientists in the pharmaceutical and other regulatory industries.

Chapter 10, dealing with troubleshooting is one of the special attributes of this book. This chapter provides quick fix approach to resolving some of the HPLC's often encountered problems. This chapter is bound to save some cost because more often than not, the HPLC analyst tend to vainly envisage and explore more catastrophic problems ignoring the simple remedies that are succinctly documented in Chapter 10.

Overall, Dr. Dong's book is very well written. Each aspect of the text is clearly and succinctly presented, making it easy to understand. The chapter on maintenance and troubleshooting guide (Chapter 11) should be a great asset. Dr. Dong has managed, in a very basic but meticulous manner, to produce an essential text for both the novice and experienced HPLC practitioner in the pharmaceutical industry.

Reviewed by Juanita Watson for Reader Views (8/06)

Pamela Harper is an internationally know speaker, author, and is the president of Business Advancement, Inc. She has over 20 years of experience as a consultant with companies ranging from small-business to Fortune 500. She is sought out by leaders in the business marketplace to transform their internal strategies and increase performance results.

The first part of "Preventing Strategic Gridlock" Harper reveals and explains seven of the most common hidden roadblocks that stall business growth. She outlines real-life examples of the step-by-step path to the downward slide giving readers a cut-and-dry visual of how this happens.

Part Two of "Preventing Strategic Gridlock" details Harper's six-step process for reducing the gridlock and enabling leaders to more smoothly integrate execution with strategic thinking and planning. Harper discovered these six principles and guidelines during her research and consulting experiences and research, and has formed U.N.L.O.C.K. to `unlock' performance.

Pamela Harper guides businesses to re-evaluate their strategies and enables leaders to run a more effective and efficient organization. Bottom line - Every business leader would benefit from having "Preventing Strategic Gridlock" on their resource shelf. It is educational, consistent, and proven effective, and will help leaders spot gridlock problems before they get out of control.

The other day, I came across a very interesting book called Preventing Strategic Gridlock, by Pamela Harper. Ms. Harper is the President of Business Advancement Inc., a consulting firm dedicated to helping leaders transform strategy into high performance results. Check out the link to the article entitled The Key to Aligning Strategy with Execution on her website.

I really like Preventing Strategic Gridlock.

Ms. Harper begins her book be describing what she calls the Seven Hidden Roadblocks that come about because leaders have mistaken assumptions about their organizations' reality.

The Seven Hidden Roadblocks are:
1. One size fits all -- The tendency to adopt previously successful solutions without regard to whether they can work in your organization now.
2. Management by lobotomy -- The tendency to rely on organizational "surgery (layoffs, reorganizations, budge cuts) to solve persistent organizational problems.
3. Act now, think later -- The tendency to assume that you have enough information to select strategies and intiatives to meet your organization's real needs.
4. Magic of the marquee -- The tendency to expect the organization to instantly accept change.
5. Roller coaster -- The tendency to assume that introducing a rapid series of new strategies and initiatives will move the organization forward.
6. Tin ear -- The tendency to preceive only one "tone" of reality.
7. Lighthouse -- The tendency to "stay the course" despite clear cut danger signs.

Ms. Harper goes on to explain how to U.N.L.O.C.K. strategic gridlock

* U -- Understand the full challenge
* N -- Negotiate key stakeholder buy in
* L -- Locate cultural 'advancers and 'blockers"
* O -- Organize priorities, goals and action plans
* C -- Communicate credibly
* K -- Keep adjusting

I won't go into more detail here. You'll have to read the book yourself. However I believe that any leader who wants to move his or her organization forward will benefit from reading and applying the concepts in Preventing Strategic Gridlock.

Several studies of strategic management have found that around 70 percent of all new strategies fail. The main culprit is that they are not effectively executed. In many cases, the strategies would have been all but impossible to execute because the organization was overburdened with other challenges, did not have the resources in place and poorly communicated what was to be done.

Preventing Strategic Gridlock aims at overcoming those problems by both selecting more appropriate strategies to implement and avoiding the common pitfalls of execution for strategies that could be executed well by an organization.

The book is divided into two parts. The first part looks at the main causes of strategic gridlock (assuming anyone can execute any strategy any way they want, continuing to restructure and streamline to address strategic and implementation issues, being too quick and not considered enough in reacting to new problems, thinking that everyone knows what to do if you just announce a new program, switching to the flavor of the week fix so that everyone is confused and dispirited, not listening to what's not working, and not considering immovable obstacles to progress).

I loved that section. It reminded me of the first part of the book I co-authored The 2,000 Percent Solution, in which we looked at the stalls to organizational progress. These hidden roadblocks are illustrated with very funny cartoons that make the point very clear, good examples that you will understand, underlying beliefs that can get you into trouble, how to uncover the problem, a check list to help you see how bad the problem is in your organization, and a list of questions and answers to issues that you will probably be concerned about.

In the second part, Ms. Harper describes a six-step process organized around the acronym UNLOCK. This process encourages you to understand the full nature of the challenge you face, negotiating the enthusiastic participation of those who need to implement the new direction, considering how your culture can help or hurt in the change, organizing to get the work done, communicating in ways that make sense and to keep adjusting in response to what you run into.

I thought that the process was not quite sufficiently detailed for what most people will need to follow this advice. That was the only significant weakness in the book. But the second part does a fine job of raising the right issues.

Again, I was struck by the parallel to The 2,000 Percent Solution where we describe an eight-step process to make progress in our second part.

After sleeping on my reaction to the book, I feel like Ms. Harper has produced a 2,000 percent solution for overcoming the problems of making strategic change. Nice stallbusting, Ms. Harper!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is thinking about developing or implementing a new strategy.

Pam Harper's does a great service to the pervasive, male-dominated (and I'm a male) culture of business leadership that thinks strategy only involves "making the numbers". In an engaging style, she uses the first half of her book to describe 7 common, but hidden roadblocks that companies can easily hit when they are tried to implement strategic growth through changing elements of their business. I like the chapter on "Tin Ear", where management has a tendency to tune out the opinions and concerns of others. The company may have an open door policy, quality circles, and a suggestion program (with cash rewards!) but may miss the more obvious daily chatter from employees, customers and other stakeholders that are providing valuable feedback.

The second half of the the book presents the author's UNLOCK methodology for addressing strategic gridlock. It contains 6 steps, with steps 2 and 3 (Understand the Full Challenge and Negociate Key Stakeholder Buy-in) as highlights. The focus on seeing the complete job to be done helps get the timeframe and effort to be more realistic, and the buy-in step focuses on how to play both offense and defense as you are communicating and implementing important changes.

Having your management team familar with these concepts will allow you to sense and discuss when you may be hitting roadblocks or not doing all the work to unlock your organizations full potential.

Highly reccomended read before you set off on your next strategic change journey.

Obviously, it is highly advisable to identify and then eliminate potential problems before they occur. That is as true in business as it is in healthcare, athletic competition, and international travel. What we have here is a solid, well-organized, and well-written guide to preventing strategic gridlock. First, Harper carefully examines seven of the usual suspects which can cause it. Next, she introduces what she calls U.N.L.O.C.K., a system based on six principles by which to avoid or eliminate them. Finally, she shifts her reader's attention to countless real-world examples.

Obviously, an inappropriate strategy almost invariably results in conflict, confusion, acrimony, perhaps operational gridlock, and worse yet, chaos. Moreover, Harper fully understands that even a fundamentally sound strategy can fail because of internal resistance by those whom Jim O'Toole describes as being captive to "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom." Or that strategy can become less effective or even ineffective because of market forces over which the organization has little (if any) conrol. Harper has absolutely no illusions about the complexity of these and other issues. She could easily have identified 14 or even 21 "roadblocks." Her U.N.L.O.C.K. system could have been based on 10 or even 15 principles. That's not the point. Rather, when crafting a strategy, decision-makers in any organization (regardless of size or nature) should identify and then prepare for what they perceive to be the potentially most formidable roadblocks to that strategy's success. (FYI, my personal preference is to view strategies as "hammers" and tactics as "nails.") Everyone must understand and support the strategy. What amounts to an "early warning system" is needed and everyone at least directly involved with the strategy and its tactics must be especially alert during the strategy's initial implementation.

Although I encountered no "cutting edge thinking" in Harper's book, I hold it in high regard because it fully serves the needs of decision-makers who need (perhaps urgently) a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective system by which to avoid or extricate their organizations from strategic gridlock. Another major benefit of having an "early warning system" is that if the strategy is a dud, that will soon be obvious and Harper's book can assist with whatever adjustments may be necessary.

Those who share my interest in how and why even major corporations such as Ford, Coca-Cola, and McDonald's make bad strategic decisions, I urge them to check out Matt Haig's recently published Bad Brands.

This book was a joy to read. It gives a great overview of quality issues within "Web systems" - meaning Web applications and architectures. The book balances a too-specific look with a too-general look and succeeds quite well in a balanced treatment that will make the whole worth the attention of any quality assurance or quality tester professional in the Information Technology industry.

In particular, the second chapter, on the RSI Approach, is a nice addition as this is something that most practitioners of quality subjects will not find elsewhere and the general subject matter is generally that which is avoided in books of this type. Another topic often avoided in these books is that of usability and accessibility concerns and yet these are covered here in good detail chapter six.

In general, I think the book offered a great amount of detail just where it was needed and gave a lot of "mini best-practices" in each chapter with the use of bulleted lists to highlight specific points. The detail of the book extends to various topics, like performance, compatibility, usability, and security - all topics that are of high concern in the current world of making qualitly Web systems that customers and user respond to. The appendices in the book are also excellent. The "Test Tool Evaluations" section will be a welcome addition to those who wish there are more concise evaluation forms for automated tool solutions.

I highly recommend this book to quality assurance/testing professionals, quality assurance managers, and even those who work more in the project management and development spheres. Those latter will get benefit from the book because the book manages to highlight topics of concern to both groups and also gives them insight into the quality aspects of the projects and products that are developed within an organization.

Although the authors of this book are noted experts in software testing this book goes far beyond testing by addressing the full range of quality and design issues for web-based systems.

All of the major elements of web-engineering and quality are addressed, including SECURITY (this is the first test or quality book that fully acknowledges the relationship between quality and security, which is a cornerstone of the Reliability-Availability-Support triad for systems in production), PERFORMANCE (I especially liked this section because it got into the guts of performance and scalability), COMPATIBILITY (essential for ensuring that your system works with the world of users over whom you have no control - web-based systems can and usually do extend into the great unknown), and USABILITY (this will make or break a commercial web site).

Aside for the complete coverage of all of the important topics that need to be considered, and the life cycle approach to quality and testing this book contained a real gem: RSI approach to use cases. RSI (Requirements-Service-Interface) is an interesting and highly useful approach to use cases. Some key strengths of using the RSI paradigm is that you will ensure traceability between requirements and the services and interfaces that are implemented. Moreover, this approach partitions services and interfaces, which allows you to manage the complexities when developing a test strategy and associated test cases. To me the chapter on RSI was worth the price of the book.

Overall, this is a solid book that covers testing, as well as the larger domain of systems quality. It gives some unique insights of issues and factors related to testing, but is not solely about web testing. It should be read by all key team members including requirements analysts, architects, developers, test engineers and project managers *before* a web project is initiated.

This book is excellent for any web systems tester. It covers all areas of functional and non-functional testing related to the Web.
It covers how to most efficiently model a web application using a specific use case approach, in addition it covers how to test for security, performance, usability of a web site. The book has been very useful in our testing efforts.

This book covers quality assurance of web systems beyond merely testing. It offers practical insight for designers, developers, project managers and quality assurance team members. A big bonus is the appendix which details and compares automated test tools.

This is one of the best quality assurance books in a while... Thinner than Automated Software Testing, but as informative! If you are doing any kind of web testing, this one's a must have for your library. Talks about all aspects of software testing on the web. I give it 5 stars hands down!

It's an unexpected thing to say about a backstage book (not a genre I'm fond of) but this is an inspiring book about artistic collaboration, and a dream fulfilled.

The recording it celebrates can now be seen to be not without its flaws. For example it's tragic that Hotter's vast voice had gone "woofy" by the time they recorded Walku:re, the last of the cycle to be recorded. Despite the awesome conviction and power of Hotter's vocal acting, he wasn't beautiful, and the transformed Wotan at the end of Act III has to be beautiful. And it's a shame that they replaced Paul Kuen's excellent, musical, Mime with Gerhard Stolze's over-the-top cackling, which has not worn well with time.

But the Culshaw book helps put these flaws (and I can't bring myself really to consider Hotter a flaw, on balance) into perspective against the grandeur of the achievement - which, though complete Ring cycles are now common, remains unchallenged.

Culshaw himself is a fine, clear and sometimes amusing writer and, it seems, a likeably modest and decent man. For example he kindly withholds the name of the tenor, a potential superstar as Siegfried, who nearly killed the project by refusing to study his role. It's now known that that was Ernst Kozub, by the way, and you can consider Culshaw's claims about the magnificence of his voice by listening to his Erik on the Klemperer "Fliegende Holla:nder". He must be kicking himself to this very day. On the other hand, the story of Wolfgang Windgassen's artistic integrity and decency in stepping in and singing to save the recording, even while his agent was still working out the contracts, only adds lustre to the excellence of his performance. And if it were in a movie ("The hell with this; I'm going in to sing") no-one would believe it.

Kirsten Flagstad appears as perhaps the most loveable soprano, or singer of any kind, I have ever heard of, and the story of her death still, when I read it again, brings tears to my eyes. Culshaw's considerably more guarded treatment of Birgit Nilsson, undoubtedly a fine artist, tells a very different story...

It's also inspiring to read about record company management who were not solely motivated by the bottom line. Perhaps nowadays that would see the book classified as science fiction. :)

Good book. The best of it's kind. Recommended. (And they should re-print it.)

Laon

I was in elementary and junior high school when the legendary first-ever recording of Wagner's Ring Cycle was being set down and released. I did not get interested in opera until junior high and did not have access to the recordings until later, but in the meantime I did find and read this fascinating book, and have read it several times in the meantime.

Culshaw begins by giving some background: the earlier attempts on the part of Decca/London to record and issue a Ring the "easy" way (by going to Bayreuth and taking one down, which they tried in both 1951 and 1955); their ultimately successful attempt to snag Kirsten Flagstad, who had retired from recording, into the Rheingold cast; and the early attempts at creating stereo productions for the phonograph which finally jelled when they got around to recording Das Rheingold.

There are many, many fascinating stories within the main fabric of the tale, and it would take a review much longer than 1,000 words to even mention all of them. For example, although the reasons had to do mostly with the technical quality of the recording, this first-ever Das Rheingold captured the imagination of the opera-buying public in a way that nobody could have imagined or expected, despite the doubts of the competition and the lack of interest on the part of the Wagner cognoscenti. Another story is that of Kirsten Flagstad's tragically deteriorating health which ultimately prevented her from participating in any of the other operas, despite the glimmers of hope that kept flickering and the constantly changing plans Decca/London made to accommodate her. The story of the young unknown tenor who was supposed to be the ideal Siegfried except that he was unwilling to take the time to learn the role is a study in frustration. On the lighter side are the tale of the horse the producers brought into the studio to surprise Nilsson during the recording of Gotterdammerung, and the story of Regine Crespin's kicking James King in the shin during the recording of the Walkure Act I love duet.

Culshaw has a definite way with words and thus has the ability to allow the reader to feel the tension, time pressures and catharses involved in the recording sessions. One example of this is his description of Decca/London's attempt to record an acceptable Rheingold prelude--in the middle of the night yet!--given that the first half of the piece could not be edited because of the way it is written, and so had to be recorded without mistake; the tension here is almost palpable. It is in areas such as this where Culshaw is at his strongest.

Unfortunately, sometimes Culshaw fails to understand the power of his pen and as a result the book also has its weak and even offensive areas, usually centered around the author's own prejudices. For example, he dismisses the 1951 Bayreuth Gotterdammerung, which Decca/London almost issued but did not, as an inferior performance except for the Brunnhilde and the Hagen. However, this performance was finally issued a year or two ago on the Testament label and in the opinion of many immediately jumped to near the top of the list of contenders for best-ever recording of the work. What could Culshaw have been thinking when he wrote his cavalier dismissal of the recording? And if the Gotterdammerung *had* been originally issued rather than the legendary Parsifal from the same year, would Culshaw then have said that the Parsifal was no good? Given a glaring error in judgment such as this one, I have difficulty trusting Culshaw's objectivity in other areas. And even given his bias in favor of the German repertoire as opposed to the Italian, his words to the effect that no *real* conductor has ever shown any interest in Bellini are at best unprofessional if indeed not irresponsible, as Serafin and Berntein provided contemporary evidence to the contrary, while others such as Levine would come along later to prove Culshaw wrong yet again.

Another drawback to the book is that Culshaw can be incredibly condescending. The conclusion to the tale about the man who owned a rare steerhorn and came to Vienna during the Walkure sessions to help Decca/London get the relevant passages on tape is not only condescending but just plain mean. Likewise Culshaw makes the comment that he wouldn't expect anybody who hasn't been exposed to the pressures involved in recording music such as the Ring to understand the necessity of briefly lowering the temperature with the horse episode; such a comment assumes that Culshaw is writing to people who are unsophisticated if not worse.

These drawbacks aside, however, Ring Resounding is really an excellent read, and gives a wonderful idea of the joys and struggles involved in recording an opera. I'm sorry to see that it has gone out of print and hope to see it back soon. I want to edit if it does return, though...

This is one of a handful of books indispensable to the history of "classical" recording. It relates the on-again, off-again, 7-year history of what it took to record the first complete, commercial RING. (Other such books include Roland Gelatt's THE FABULOUS PHONOGRAPH; the Legge-Schwarzkopf ON AND OFF THE RECORD; and Culshaw's posthumously published memoir PUTTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT -in which Culshaw's observations are far less reserved than in RING RESOUNDING- and he names Names.)

The 1972 Time-Life edition of RING RESOUNDING is the one to have- if you can find a "seperate" copy. (Originally, it was leather-bound, in a big black box, together with Peter Gutman's 1968 Wagner bio and Bernard Shaw's The PERFECT WAGNERITE.) Not only is the layout more generous (with thick, glossy pages), but in this edition we get many more photographs of the Solti RING artists- most of them taken by Hans Wild at the actual recording sessions. (The commerical hard-cover edition of '67 has only a few pages of smaller-sized photos.)

Granted, Culshaw had his blind-spots and biases. Still, it is perilously easy to look down on this man and his work when, in terms of appreciation and musical hindsight, we "record collectors" of today are standing on his shoulders. Because without Culshaw and his Decca-mates (Ray Minshull, Gordon Parry, Erik Smith, Christopher Raeburn & CO.)- without them, such a thing as the Solti RING would have taken much longer to materialize...And by THAT time, it would have been too late to capture (in stereo/studio conditions) the last generation-or-so of great Wagnerian singing which we can hear on the Solti RING.

If this sounds like an exaggeration, consider that : 1) Kirsten Flagstad's terminal illness cut short her "comeback," within a year of her RHEINGOLD Fricka. 2) Within five years of this RING's completion in November 1965, Wolfgang Windgassen retired (and died soon thereafter). 3) Not much later, Brigit Nilsson passed out of her peak/glory days- even if, "out" of her prime, she could still clean the clock of any other Wagnerian soprano. 4) Soon after the mid-1960s many of the older players, who formed the last vestige of the pre-war Vienna Philharmonic, began to retire- taking with them a unqiue, burnished sound. (In time, even the Concertgebouw and the Vienna Philharmonic got infected by the Post-Jet, Post-Karajan "International Sound.") That is to say, Culshaw and his team were able to record this RING, in state-of-the-art sound, only just in time.

True, if you can put up with some smeary orchestral playing, there's the stereo '67 Bohm/Bayreuth RING on Philips- with a host of great singers, including Wolfgang Windgassen and Birigit Nilsson (who preferred her Bohm/Bayreuth performance to her Solti/studio one).

And yes, the live Bayreuth RINGs of the 50s (Krauss '53 and Keilberth's early stereo '55) allow us to hear several of Solti's singers, in younger and fresher voice...But remember that due to various "contractual" problems, these performances would not be legally OR widely available for decades to come. (Just for "starters," EMI had a "lock" on any Bayreuth RING recordings, from 1951 to 1958.)

This brings us to the old canard that, out of self-interest, Culshaw "eighty-sixed" the release of the '55 Keilberth/Bayreuth RING (which Decca taped in stereo). Now, it's true that Culshaw (to quote a certain Politician) "misunderestimated" Keilberth's conducting, going so far as to describe his 1953 Bayreuth LOHENGRIN as "limp." (Not many Wagnerians would agree with this.) There's no question that Keilberth was indeed one of Culshaw's blind-spots, and that Culshaw's input to Decca's corporate "suits," vis-a-vis Keilberth, would have been "negatory."

Still: in 1955 and '56, did Culshaw, by himself, have the sheer CLOUT to prevent the release of the '55 RING?

Culshaw had produced Decca sessions as early as 1947, but the fact is that during the '55 Bayreuth Festival, he wasn't even WITH with Decca, but with Capitol. Yes, he returned to Decca, but not until August 29, 1955- after the Festival was over. Not only that: as "A & R man," Culshaw would not take over Decca's Continental recording schedule from Victor Olof until the following year.

But the biggest "snag" for the release of any Decca/Bayreuth RING was the 7-year "lock" which EMI had on any Bayreuth RING recordings, from 1951 to '58. Still, if you insist on assigning the role of "culprit" to Culshaw, then you must assume that

(a) Culshaw's Zurich boss, the notoriously conservative Maurice Rosengarten, had considered Keilberth's "name" big enough to sell a complete RING in 1955
(b) that Rosengarten actually thought of a complete RING as marketable at that time, under ANY name. As it was, getting him to "sign-on" to a studio RHEINGOLD, in 1957, was something of a "coup." (Yes, he had given the go-ahead to TAPE the '55 RING- but contractual legalities had to be worked out, prior to "publication".)
(c) that the formidable "Uncle Maurice" would EVER (at least so far as he knew it) allow his perogatives to be swept aside, simply on the say-so of an A & R man (i.e., Culshaw) whose greatest successes were still in the future.

That is to say, Gimmee a break. And besides, would anyone really WANT to go back in time, pre-empt the Solti RING, and deprive us of Kirsten Flagstad's RHEINGOLD Fricka?

This is an enjoyable "read" which stands up to repeated traversals...What fascinating stories, what an abundance of example after example of seeking out just the right ambience, the right textures, moods, tempi, effects...And when Culshaw relates how difficulties and crises were not only weathered & overcome, but turned to the advantage of the recording, it's nothing less than inspiring. (By the way, does anyone know HOW Windgassen's voice was changed to sound more like Fischer-Diskau's, in the GOTTERDAMMERUNG Tarnhelm scene? It's the only instance where Culshaw wouldn't reveal how an effect was achieved.)

Going through this volume, it is painfully nostalgic to behold a time when such vision, quality and craftmanship were not only sponsored, but ENCOURAGED by big record companies. Still, a periodic re-reading of RING RESOUNDING can replenish appreciation of all-out quality and dedication to one's craft (whatever it may be) - and help the "gentle reader" become part of the greater public which once supported such visions, much more than they do, now. So, in spite of the pain of knowing that there are no Culshaws or Legges walking among us in 2006 (much less the corporate leeway thereto), we can still keep alive the larger visions - and enhance our lives. (No mean feat, that.)

This book came as an insert into the Package of the Ring(Solti). Purchased the set back in 1976, at Westwood/LA'sTower Records. Clerk said,"Wanna see people's heads turn?" And cranked up the concludng portion of the Immola-tion scene for me...on the PA......THAT decided for me notjust which version of the Ringto buy, but just how beautifu-lly and faithfully this recor-ding really IS to Wagner's very precise original direc-tions...I take it out every sooften to remind myself of just how much we opera-lovers oweto the pioneering work doneby Mr. Culshaw and his team ofauditory/sound engineers forEMI/London Recordings.Indeed, I daresay it is due invery large part to their pain-staking work that full-length recordings of Bach, Mozart,Verdi, for that matter, ANYopera, oratorio, or longer-length piece, could have beenrecorded, let alone attempted,at all, or have sold enoughcopies to justify furtherpioneering works.I am in debt, as are we all, to this pioneer in music!

I got this book s part of a boxed set of Solti's Der Ring des
Nibelungen back in 1976. Culshaw was the sound engineer on the
Sofiensaal recording of Wagner's Ring, beginning in 1958, the
preparations took years to bring to fruition, and the whole ef-
fort was a gamble on Decca/EMI/London's part, as noone was tot-
ally sure that the record buying public would support financial-
ly such a monumental recording. Just as the logistics of get-
ting an internationally famous assemblage of singers weren't
daunting enough, there were the gargantuan tasks associated with
recording this Mount Everest of music-and getting it right, with
out having to recall singers, conductor, and musicians again and
again. This part is absolutely fascinating, and if one gets the
dvd/video as a an illustration, one will get a very fine appre-
ciation of the tremendous efforts that go into the making of any
operatic recording.

This effort made it feasible for whole operas to be recorded and
sold, not to mention pioneering recording techniques that con-
tinue to be refined to this day.

You really want to understand what goes into making an opera re-
cording tick? Or what efforts go into recording sound? Then
buy this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This book is an excellent application of formal methodologies for e-business cases. The examples are useful according to the explanations. I was expecting more emphasis on cost of IT resources or methods in order to calculate. But, the authors guide the book in the resource and performance chapters showing an approach on how to measure from regular sites not from new e-business projects which begin from nothing, without any data from logs or similar metrics. However, the estrict compliance with the methodology presented and the explanation about security provided me with a good reason to have it.

I think it is the only book that deals with the e-business implementation methodocally and lays down a formal procedure. It is very well written and contains appropriate examples. It is recommendable not only for designers but also for managers.

There's not much else I can add to the string of reviews before mine, which ALL give full marks. The words in this review's title are the only that might add value.

This is one of those rare works which does not care to have one eye for the wannabe market. Suitable for both technicians & those folk needing to see the "big picture" (e.g. Managers)

This is one of a series of books about performance and capacity metrics by the authors. Each of their books covers a specific environment (client/server, mainframes, web services), and each explains the theory, quantitative methods and practical approaches using common tools like Microsoft Excel.

This book's focus is on performance and capacity of applications in the e-commerce infrastructure, and like the other books by the authors, it covers every facet while explaining the what's and why's. More importantly, this book will not overwhelm readers who are rusty in math because the authors weave in refresher material as they go along.

What makes this book valuable is the blend of business and technical topics, particularly in Part I where business models are thoroughly discussed. I personally believe that this material is as important as the more technically focused material in subsequent chapters because it wakes up the technical reader as to why their job of developing scalable solutions is important by linking the technical aspects to business imperatives.

Parts II (Evaluating E-Business Infrastructure and Services) and III (Capacity Planning for E-Business) are the heart of the technical matter, and the chapters systematically dissect each aspect of an e-commerce infrastructure from the application layer point of view. This is where quantitative methods are introduced and where the value of the spreadsheets on the CD ROM increase. Note that there are more up-to-date versions of these spreadsheets on the book's associated website, as well as errata for the book.

Practical considerations that blend the business and technical perspectives are presented in Part IV (Models of Specific E-Business Segments). This chapter consists of case studies that tie together all of the preceding material using real world examples.

Because this book is more focused on performance and capacity at the application and business model layer, you should read the authors' newest book, "Capacity Planning for Web Services: Metrics, Models, and Methods". That book covers the lower level details of the infrastructure
to round out the picture of an end-to-end view of performance and capacity management.

A Excellent Book witht a lot of examples and mathematical models that will help to found the correct way to implant a dot com business, Every IT must read it

This book is great and shows tons of diagrams and shows the models of legal silencers. It is a great way to find out how everything works. ~ Paul

Excellent discussion of various commercially produced silencers and their attributes. Testing data and technical discussion. Covers the history and design of many silencers no longer in production. Not a "how to" design guide but those in the manufacturing business would gain from the information presented.

Lots of things explained in a very clear language not often seen elsewhere, usually with good sketches of silencer designs and good explanations. Might be a bit much for a complete newbie or somebody totally lacking any knowledge about physics and ballistics, but you will get guided to it. Actually, this book made my apply for a few purchasing permits for silencers, and I have not regretted it ever since. It will also explain a bit about the history and consequences of silencers, something in my opinion very important. In my opinion, the best book on the subject. I'm craving for the second and third volume!

Great Information! If you're looking for how's and why's of how this stuff works, this is the book for you. It's not filled with duct tape and pop bottle concoctions. This book is about professionally fabricated items and the theory behind how and why they work.

of the dangers of reloading rifle ammo down to subsonic velocities. A rifle round that safely holds 15 to 20 grains of powder can explode and possibly kill the shooter when loaded with only 4 grains of powder.

This problem was not mentioned in the book, and there are ways to eliminate the problem (enlarge primer hole, use PISTOL powders, start high and load down).

I have been slowly reading and researching the automobiles this book mentions for the past month. The book is filled with references to never before publicized engine programs.

For example, did you know that Ford made a V12 out of their now legendary 4.6L V8? The car is used in an Austin Martin, Ford is the parent company.
Little details like this will keep popping up as you read this book. You'll never believe which V6 Ford engine was used to make the other V12 detailed in this book.

The book was printed on high quality paper, giving the images of these rare engines an almost artistic quality on the pages inside. The photo of a BMW V12 engine pulling on a dyno with it's turbos giving off a red glow is spectacular!

Ludvigen's book on the V-12 is a well researched but compulsively readable account of the extraordinary and powerful engines with the lavish specification of having twelve cylinders. While giving details of design and development, the author also evokes the mixture of power, refinement and mechanical sophistication offered by these exotic engines from Ferrari, Aston-Martin, Mercedes and BMW while not neglecting the glorious history of the American Packard and Cadillac applications of of the V 12. It is like reading a book describing food where every bite is of gourmet quality, a city where all the streets are clean and beautiful or a dinner where all the guests are witty and candlelight glows off the bare shoulders of lovely, sophisticated women.

A truly excellent work for those enchanted by the fine detail of technology. A myriad of fine drawings and half tones backed up by colour plates of the V12's birth and development through the century. Karl's fluid and emminently readable style maintains interest with pithy anecdotes like Henry Ford's reason for sticking with 4 cylinders rather than 6: "A car should have no more cylinders than a cow has teats". From 1.5 litres to 27 litres the V12 story is always absorbing.

Finally, a book that lives up to it's advertising. Every page is interesting in this voluminous 600 page masterwork. No long boring company histories and endless pictures of people here. Ludvigsen stays on subject with clear modern pictures and expert analysis from makers and users of such engines. There is not one weak point in the whole thing, I feel I got much more than I paid for with this great book.

The author is British plain and simple, and it show with whimsical sayings like 'monkey motion' and the like. Outstanding historical documentation, but the author overwhelms with minutiae like bore and stroke for every engine, and which cylinder bank is staggered forward.
Also the author completely disregards the 180 degree V-12s (not boxing, boxing has 180 Vee angle with a 180 degree split crank journal) and spends too much time on VV12s (three banks of four cylinders).
There are some errors in the coverage of modern engines, notably VW VR6 and W12 information. and the author fails to explain the inherrent balance of an inline six, and how any vee angle V12 is balanced, but not necessarily even firing.
A good value, and the color photos are icing on the cake.

Steve Ilg is an interesting character and an incredibly fit man. I have been working out for 15 years, but when I tried some of the programs in this book--they tested my will! Its a terrific book to give an athlete new training ideas. The concept of changing your training routine it really useful. How many of us fall into the routine of doing the same thing over and over again? Of course, Ilg's merging of the spiritual, intellectual and physical is also awesome.

I never dreamed that working out could be such a spiritual journey.This work is TRULY innovative.There is NOTHING like it in the world. I have studied this work for over 7 yrs.It has taken me taken me on a journey that to this day continues to inspire me.We are blessed to have this book!

this book is one of the best bargains about outdoor sport on the market today. it's 450+ pages are jam packed with tips on equipment and technique, other books to read, phone numbers . .on and on and on.

nearly one third of the book is devoted to sport specific training programs-complete with illustrations-distilled from a lifetime devoted to outdoor sport both competitive and non competitive.

besides nordic and alpine skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, ice climbing and mountaineering, the winter athlete covers a lot of ground that's not snow covered as well. there are chapters on cycling (road & mtb), skating, rock climbing, trail running, kayaking . .

there is something in this book for everyone. everytime i pick it up i learn something new.

along with sport specific training advice, ilg also covers general strength and endurance training, nutrition, flexibility and mental preparation.

ilg's training philosophy is not without it's critics. he believes that everything an athlete does can be considered training. how you live your life is how you perform your sport. ilg is apt to tell a weight lifter to free his mind and his body will follow or a runner to "run with the earth not upon it." ilg's writing style is informative and fun. he loves the natural world and it shows.

you can accept his philosophy or not. for the humble sum of twenty bucks you get a stunning buffet of information that you can partake of or leave alone.

what more can i say. winter athlete rocks.

This book is a must read for all people who venture outdoors in pursuit of sport. While the emphasis is on the winter sports, the lessons transfer easily to all seasons. What is refreshing & unique about Steve's approach is his refusal to compartmentalize sport and exercise into another item to be checked off a to do list. His approach teaches that the lessons of effort and grace and persistence learned on the slopes & trails & tracks can and should transfer to the daily activities of life. A more unique book you will not find. Buy this to increase your enjoyment & skill of your chosen winter sport and you will get that benefit & much more.

"The books arrived today. I have informed Messr. Albert Camus that, despite his having won a Nobel prize in literature, he would have to share my mind, bedstand, and reading focus with The Winter Athlete." - George Watson, Boulder, CO