Accounting Books

The authors do justice in refuting the many pessimistic views of Stephen Long's career as an explorer in this great little book. Long received a plethora of negative criticism, especially after his 1819-1820 expedition across the plains to the Rocky Mountains. Some of this may be justifiable, such as not searching out the sources of the Platte, Arkansas and Red Rivers, which he had orders to do; or his nomenclature of "The Great American Desert", referring to his return trip from the Rockies. The scientific contributions from his expeditions speak for themselves. Along with publications by Long himself, there were innummerable papers and a few books from the likes of Thomas Say (zoologist), Edwin James (botanist), William Keating (geologist) and art work from Titian Peale and Samuel Seymour to vindicate the efforts of these early nineteenth century explorers. The book was easy to follow and comprehend, and a total pleasure to read.

It is for scratching three words on a map of the southwestern part of the country he had recently explored, along with writing a short descriptive paragraph of the same area, that has condemned Stephen Long in the annals of western history. Those three words were Great American Desert, and the description said in part that "this section ... is almost wholly unfit for cultivation and [is] uninhabitable ...." Nichols and Halley try to correct, or at least shed a less damning light on, this harsh view of Long's opinion (for one thing, Zebulon Pike had pretty much the same impression after visiting that section of the country 10 years earlier). Long was also much criticized for not finding the source of the Red River, and the authors deal with that brouhaha as well. But they are not trying to make a wronged saint out of Long either, and are quick to point out his inefficiencies as an explorer, i.e. not exploring the headwaters of the Platte River and going into the Rockies.

After a brief summary of Long's apprentice years (1784-1817), the authors recount his major explorations: the 1817 exploration of the Fox and Minnesota Rivers, the 1818 exploration into Arkansas and the founding of Fort Smith, the 1819 expedition to the Rockies, the longer 1820 exploration of the plains along the South Platte and the Front Range (Long's Peak being named and Pike's Peak first climbed) to the Canadian and Red Rivers (this being the Great American Desert voyage), and the 1823 exploration of the upper Minnesota region. Their narrative of Long's life and career does not go beyond the Minnesota expedition.

The authors are impressed with what Long's expeditions accomplished, but believe with better organization and leadership could have done more. They place much of the blame on Long himself, but feel there "is little evidence upon which to base an examination of his personality or character traits," though at times he quarreled bitterly with his men and more than once subordinate officers refused to obey his orders. But details of these incidents are lacking. Their book is clearly written and fairly presented. It's an excellent, straightforward account of Long's explorations and their contribution to the scientific development of the country. Highly recommended.

Passed E20-120 with great score. As intermediate-level Documentum
professional I found the E20-120 exam very challenging and your book was
enormously helpful during my prep time. All in all, I have found your set of questions very brain teasing, rich and well thought.

Being under pressure to deliver and meet company's deadline it was essential to effectively bridge conflicting demands (work, family) and outperform when it is needed the most. Your book evidently boosted my performance. Furthermore, your book revealed many bottlenecks in my knowledge and significantly helped me to eliminate them, one by one, in time effective way. What I fancied was your clear, concise, focused writing style and the content of the book structured in manageable and digestible chunks. Of course, it is an extra effort to study in the evening but it pays off and now I am motivated to go
for E20-405.
Pawan, keep up the good work!

This book is a great introduction and overview of the Documentum platform. I wish I had something like this available when I started working with Documentum years ago. It not only introduces Documentum concepts to beginners, but it also serves as an excellent study guide for those wanting to become Documentum certified. It can also be an excellent reference book for even experienced Documentum users and administrators.
It is easy to read, with helpful self test questions at the end of every chapter.

The authors of this book, respected widely as accounting professors and as cheese analysts, brilliantly combine the keener points of e-business accounting and cheese analysis.

Just finished reading, marking, dog-earing this book! This is an excellent sourcebook for anyone, particularly business professionals, who want perspective on e-Commerce and e-Business. In fact, I wonder if the book has been mis-titled somewhat. In this five-chapter book, only the last chapter or two is directed to helping accountants and other assurance-service professionals understand their position in the e-Business space. The first three chapters are worth the price of the book to anyone interested in a fast, but in-depth, overview of how e-Business has emerged, its basic technology, and where it is likely headed. I particularly enjoyed the authors' effort to incorporate a lot of specific examples of successful and not-so-successful companies. The footnotes and references to each chapter are also extraordinary! Like most of us in the human race, I don't often read the footnotes. However, with this book, I was marking and crosschecking references with abandon. We're all struggling to "keep up" with the e-Business race. As I read this book, I felt like I finally fully understood a number of key issues of e-Business-despite having been a CFO of a fast-moving e-Commerce startup! I certainly recommend this read to anyone who feels that they might be slipping a little in "the race."

I took Dr. Deserpa's Law and Economics Class when he was using the manuscript for this book. The cases presented are relevent, and provide some much appreciated pieces of humor. As a first-year law student right now, I can honestly say I consult back with (what eventually became) this book for insights into my classes when we go over the cases Dr. Deserpa presents. This book has my highest recommendation!

and it's terrific. Dr. DeSerpa presents a complex topic in way that blends the basics of economics with "real world" applications. Most importantly, I still use what I gained from DeSerpa's curriculum. This book is definitely a must have for econ students and anyone interested in the subject of law and economics.
Sincerely,
James D. Ray
New York, NY

The book provides a hard hitting summary of both the risks and opportunities of the developing countirs. It also included a lot of solutions to the problems one faces. I liked the way in which it addressed issues from an operating company, equity investor's, and lender's perspectives. Nobody else does that. The anecdotes on various regions were entertaining.

Former investment banker Jeffrey C. Hooke now carries out financial deals in the developing world. He describes the potential for doing business or investing in the world's 156 emerging markets. Hooke is realistic about the great risks - such as unstable governments in impoverished countries - but he highlights future potential. His book is a solidly researched and clearly written guide to assessing the business climate and deciding what types of products make the most sense in different developing countries. After an overview of the nature of emerging markets, why companies want to participate in or avoid these markets, and how to invest and make loans there, he looks at particular markets in Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa. We [...] recommend this worthy book to those considering working or investing in emerging markets, but academics or readers interested in how business is conducted in foreign places may also be intrigued.

I am a technical professional. I thought this book was excellent. It spoke to me in a way I could understand.

This book is a great resource for people with no knowledge of investing, to a mildly experienced investor.

Finally, a book that answers the retirement question, "How much is enough?"

After years of reading books on investing, and saving the way I was supposed too, I needed to know when to stop. I thought I knew -- and now I have the equations, statistics and rules of thumb to test my assumptions. This is a book that Engineers and MBAs who have done a good job on savings will love. It even gives you the secret of life! (sort of, see page 90)

Finally, a book that does its homework. Well done!

Thank you, Mike.

An excellent text for use with students of accounting, banking, and finance who are speakers of other languages bringing them into the 21st century--"The Global Community."

Like all the other books in this series, this proves to be my favourite course book in my ESP classes at the School of Economics.

Finally, a book that incorporates corporate responsiblity for the environment while maintaining the practicality of concern for the bottom line. It covers all the bases with respect to how within the financial sector companies can adjust to environmental change, include environmental reporting in their balance ledgers, and learn about the wide variety of investment products with origins in environmental issues being introduced into the market. Truly a pioneer in a field that commands attention.

An excellent overview of an emerging field. Discusses the development of environmental policies and products as well as the new products that are being created, such as pollution permits, weather derivatives, catastrophe bonds, etc. A good resource for those interested in hedging environmental risk and exploring the growing intersection between finance and the environment.

This was one of the better finance books I've come across and a definite keeper for reference. Instead of mindless rambling or chocked full of jargon, the material was concise yet contained enough detail to cover all aspects of equity valuation that one might need to know suitable for the CFA Level II prep. But even for laypeople who have no intention of taking the CFA, this book will be very easily understandable with just a rudimentary background in basic finance theory.

The layout is very logical, basically covering the four important aspects of equity valuation: DDM, Free cash flow models, price multiples, and residual income. Under each of these, the reading builds up to form a bigger picture of what needs to be understood. Examples are very clear and do not rely on specific methods of solving, such as being only relegated to math equations, spreadsheets, or financial calculators. You basically can approach any of the problems in whatever way you want. The emphasis is on understanding rather than route "do it my way" methods. The book appears to have been very well proofread, so you don't find numerical errors that can make you pull your hair out as with other books.

There is also a workbook for this series but at my time of writing, it has yet to be released. When it is out, I would give this book series six stars in strength.

It is an extremely important reference book because I am preparing for CFA Level II exam. I've found the book an introductory one to illustrate basic concept in investment industry. Any one who wants to enter the investment banks,mutual funds,asset manangement corps. should have this book in hand.

I strongly recommend it to all candidates on the road to getting CFA charter, and other partitioners in investment field may also find it helpful.

This is the most practical book on financial statement analysis that I have encountered. I wish we had used it in my MBA finance classes.

The authors provide a logical framework for predicting balance sheets, income statements and cash flow going forward, based on previous financial data. Through this methodology they develop valuation estimates. They also apply research to estimate things like bankruptcy probability or likelihood of financial fraud. I have found this methodology very useful in analyzing the data within annual reports, and catching questionable accounting practices.

Since the authors provide updated financial data (typically in May of each year, including annual report data for the previous year), you do not need to worry about the data going out of date.

With used copies of this book now available at very reasonable prices, I do not see how you can go wrong obtaining a copy of it.

Whether you are a Finance student or a wanna-be analyst, I think this book is for you. I just bought it for one of my MBA courses and found it very easy to read. Each chapter is relatively short and well-organized. It covers many different topics and issues to watch out for when trying to value a company.
The eVal software that comes with it allows you to see past performance for many companies, create your own forecasts and perform analysis of financial ratios. The software is easy to use - much easier than creating your own spreadsheet - although you should spend some time to figure out what inputs you can and can't change.