Titles Books

Every school library will want this book. Through diverse, inspiring examples Dr.Perry shows how teens all across America have made a difference by volunteering their time and passion to good causes. Each story is both personal and universal and brings home the point that nothing feels better than making the world a better place. In the back of the book are great suggestions for getting started with your own service project and special tips if you're shy or unsure what kind of project is right for you. This book would also be a great gift for service organizations to give to outstanding teens.

So much of what is said in the news about young people today is negative and critical of them, highlighting disasters and tragedies. CATCH THE SPIRIT focuses on a few of the many teenagers who volunteer and make a difference in the world by giving of themselves and reaching out to help others. More important, they learn that confidence and self-esteem come from taking having purpose and taking action in their lives. How delightful to hear these stories in the words of these young, courageous, and empathic teens! I'd love to see some of these stories featured on TV talk shows.

~Joan Mazza, author of Dream Back Your Life; Dreaming Your Real Self; Things That Tick Me Off; and Exploring Your Sexual Self.

Even thought this is a book of wonderful examples about teens who have volunteered, it's an inspiration for everyone -- whether they already volunteer or want to. I'm recommending this book to the thousands of people I network with while co-authoring "Chicken Soup for the Volunteer's Soul."

Covers the entire spectrum of Acupuncture with emphasis on the latest discoveries in Advanced Japanese Acupuncture. Excellent introduction on a vast number of treatment modalities. Teaches a workable method of Abdominal Palpitation for Channel Disturbance. Gives wonderful new scientific research on the possible workings of Acupuncture. Provides the non-needle practitioner with a workable and very powerful system which includes the use of Open Points. Dr. C Ledwell OM

Using ideas from chaos, quantum, systems, and information theory (and many more), this book is a truly fresh and much needed perspective on TCM. The X Signal System abandons the causal theory of western biological sciences to answer the questions of TCM and effective treatment, and draws explanations and theories of energy, information exchange, and life from modern physics.

I am a student of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and am young in the arts, but it is clear that the foundation laid in this book will be used as a framework for western science to gain a new appreciation for Acupuncture.

We have learned much since the Huang Di and his ministers, and now with the help of Manaka, we can focus on effective treatment in modern times, as well as the classics.

- Thomas

As an entry into the possibilities of acupuncture, within and beyond "TCM", this is a great book.

As an entry to understanding a methodical practice of Japanese acupuncture, - a must have.

As a reference for an experienced acupunctutist who is interested in further studies on treatment options, again a must have.

Simply (and not so simply) Brilliant and Exciting!

Since about the middle of the 20th century, it has become increasingly difficult to find poetic translations of long poems. This trend has recently been reversing, with some excellent translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey -- and Ruth Harwood Cline's translations of Troyes' works joins this new and welcome trend.

Most reviews and reviewers will concentrate on the plot -- I want to focus on the translation itself. For too long there has been a philosophy of translation that does not see any value in translating poems in the forms in which they were written. With longer poems especially, more "literal" and plot-driven prose translations have been the norm. But prose is not how these works were written, and it is not how they were meant to be read or heard. They are poems, and only a poetic translation will be able to communicate the full meaning of the poem being translated. Meaning in a poem lies not just in the plot and characters, or even in the particular words used -- though all of this is true -- but also in the rhythms and rhymes, the music, of the poem. Cline's poetic translation thus translates too the music of the poems she translates. We get the full beauty of the works only when we read them the way they were meant to be read: as poems. One hopes Cline continues to translate poems of this period into English.

And now, for a slight aside: Do not read Cervantes' "Don Quixote" until you have read all of Troyes' works, for you will miss almost all the jokes and the full satirical impact of the novel.

Chretien de Troyes invented the Arthurian romance with Erec and Enide. It was the first of what would soon come to be a genre unto itself. Tales of King Arthur and his knights are still popular after centuries of retelling, and Chretien de Troyes is responsible for many of the stories as we know them. Erec and Enide, the earliest of his surviving works, is a story about all the things we recognize as Arthurian--honor, chivalry, love, and courage.

When the poem begins, Erec is a young knight at Arthur's court and heir to his father's throne. When an unknown knight humiliates one of Guinevere's handmaidens during a hunt, Erec follows the knight, his lady, and their cruel dwarf home. There he meets an old man with a beautiful daughter, Enide. They come from ancient nobility but are no impoverished, and the girl can afford nothing but a ragged tunic to wear. The man tells him about a yearly ritual enacted there, where a fine hawk is placed on a perch and only the man with the most beautiful lady can dare to take it. The arrogant young knight from the day before has won several years in a row.

Erec, of course, takes Enide with him to the ritual and, because of Enide's superior beauty, denies the knight the hawk. The knight is furious and challenges Erec to combat, which Erec wins. The father of the girl is so overjoyed that he gives her to Erec as his bride, and the two fall madly in love.

So much in love, in fact, that Erec is soon criticized by many for staying at home in bed when he should be looking to chivalry. After overhearing complaints among the other knights, one night Enide accidentally speaks of her worry about Erec's reputation. Erec is angry and determines to prove himself. He immediately saddles his horse, has Enide follow suit, and orders her to ride ahead of himself and not speak. They set out with no specific destination in mind. Enide is understandably upset.

For the rest of the poem, Erec saves Enide from one predicament after another--three bandits, five bandits, giants, pandering nobles, and would-be assassins. It is never clear whether Erec is proving himself or proving Enide's loyalty, but in the end, when Erec is believed to be dead, only to regain consciousness and kill an overeager suitor, the two are reconciled to each other.

It is then that the poem moves from a string of episodes to a moving and deep symbolic tale that parallels Erec and Enide's own. In another kingdom there is a man trapped in an enchanted garden by his beloved after swearing to do whatever she pleases. In fear that he will leave her, she has made him swear an oath that he will not leave the garden until someone challenges him to combat that he cannot beat. Dozens have tried, and all failed. Erec is victorious, and the man and his lover are set free of the garden.

This, in part, saves Erec and Enide from becoming a tedious, episodic story without a point. The poem--just under 7,000 lines long--is so carefully constructed and unified that a second reading is just as rewarding as the first time. Throughout the story, seemingly every incident in the lives of Erec and Enide have a darker parallel that must be overcome. And, of course, the two lovers must prove to each other that they have "the proper balance between devotion and freedom," that they are not so tied to one another that they neglect their duties, or vice versa.

These themes and the history of the poem are explored in an informative afterword by Joseph Duggan, who has written scholarly end matter for all of Burton Raffel's translations of Chretien's works. Raffel himself has written a short translator's note, and the translation itself is outstanding. As he has proven time and again, Raffel can perfectly balance literalness with beauty--his translations actually convey the spirit of Chretien's poetry.

Erec and Enide is required reading for anyone with an interest in medieval poetry, Arthurian legend, or great literature in general.

Highly recommended.

With Arthurian Romances seemingly always staging a comeback, how nice to have a fast-read, "words-a-poppin" translation of the very first Arthurian Romance, written in Old French around 1170. What I found most intriquing was that the book essentially wrestles with the ways in which men and women define themselves when becoming partners. Erec's rather pig-headed forcing of Enide to lead the way in the forest and never speak to him has odd contemporary overtones. But they are sweet compared to the couple they meet in Erec's final quest in the book - wait until you find out who "The Joy of the Court" is. Burton Raffel's translation, even if you don't like poetry, reads like a smooth silver skate. I gave the book a "9" instead of "10" because it doesn't have any illustrations. I know it's a University Press, but come on folks, with a story about knights couldn't you throw in at least one old woodcut or something

My mother got this book for me when I was a child, and needless to say, it changed the way I learned fairy tales. Iona Opie presents some classic fairy tales as they were ORIGINALLY written... Dark, lurid, mysterious, and pessimistic. The artwork littered throughout the pages is commendable even if it were its own title.

I love this book so much that I have purchased it as a gift for countless friends, including a pen pal from Japan who found it amazing that our Western fairy tales (the stories told to our ancestors as young children) were indeed so graphic.

Great, great book -- a classic. Hope this one never goes out of style.

I first read this book in 1983, and was amazed with it then. It's unique and extremely interesting. Iona and Peter Opie have the original tales as first printed in the English language. Added to that is the history and the actual gruesome origins of what we now consider children's stories! For example, Sleeping Beauty is not awakened by a kiss. Her Prince Charming violates her while she sleeps (and since she doesn't wake up, we can only imagine how mediocre he was...). She only awakens 9 months later, during the birth of twins! He eventually returns to her, and then the story gets more complicated with his ogre mother who wants to canibalize the children. The story of the Frog Prince is even stranger. Since these are the actual tales, we can see how we've changed the stories to fit in with our culture. This is not a book for young children. The history part was the most fascinating to me. In addition, litle details such as learning that Cinderella's slippers were originally made out of squirrel fur, not glass. Both words in French are spelled similarly (vaire, verre...I'm not sure of the spelling either)and the original printer had a typo that lives on til today.

Everything the Opies write is fascinating and approachable, and this book is a revelation. All these tales, familiar and no-longer-so-familiar, are great to read in this age of sanitised, bowdlerised, or Disneyfied folktales. But the historical details of how the stories evolved, what and from where the variants are, and the significance of various elements of the stories - all these are of great general interest, and are also invaluable to the storyteller needing to do a bit of research.

Richard Swinburne came highly recommended to me. Yet, after reading this book, I can say that he has greatly exceeded my expectations. I found Swinburne's argumentation to be clear, concise, and in many cases interesting. But not easy. There were several parts of his book which I had to read, and re-read, in order to fully understand his line of thought, which I expected.

Swinburne's task is to discover whether or not Theism is coherent. He concludes that it (probably) is. He doesn't argue that it's true per say merely that the Theist can not be charged with holding incoherent views. The book is split into three separate sections. In the first, Swinburne goes about defining what it means for something to be `coherent' and `incoherent.' He argues that a statement is incoherent if it entails a self-contradictory statement. He also argues that the easiest way to find a statement to be coherent is if that statement entails another statement which is coherent. He spends the rest of section 1 describing religious language--i.e. whether language describing God is used equivocally, univocally, or analogously. Throughout the book Swinburne maintains that we can describe God using words (such as "love" and "good") in their `mundane' senses without (always) appealing to analogy.

In section 2, Swinburne argues for a `contingent' god. He looks at eight different characteristics that Theists have typically used to describe God--an omnipresent spirit, free and creator of the universe, omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly good, a source of moral obligation, eternal, and immutable. He goes through each and argues first, that such notions are in fact coherent, and second such notions can be successfully defended against critiques. The bulk of the book takes up this portion. Perhaps what I found most interesting was how he indicated how several of these characteristics (for example, omnipotent and omniscient) entailed other characteristics (omnipresent spirit).

In the final section, Swinburne argues for the notion of a necessary being. He first lists different criteria for something to be necessary. Then he sees how these criteria apply to God's existence, and God's possession of these characteristics. He concludes that in order for a Theist to express what he normally expresses when saying that "God exists" the Theist must use some terms in a slightly analogous way. And since, it's not clear which terms are being analogously, and to what degree the question of coherence cannot (ultimately) be removed from the question of whether or not Theism is true. All in all, I highly recommend Swinburne's book as a fascinating read and a great defense of the coherency of theism.

This book is the first of his trilogy, the next book being "The Existence of God" and concluding with "Faith and Reason."

Swinburne's book is essential reading. I originally bought the book to see how he deviates away from the Thomistic doctrines of Analogy. I was very glad to see that his tough minded philosophical explications of God-Talk are defensible without much fallback to analogy(or from what he says). From my perspective, Swinburne is tops in the Philosophy of Religion.

This tome is a must-read classic for any serious philosophy of religion student. Swinburne is fair, concise, and clear. The Coherence of Theism will likely be influential for some time to come. Simply outstanding!

The story told in Conquest by Law could be the Enron scandal of the 19th Century...the irony is that it is all true and that you wouldn't have imagined it in your wildest dreams. We are used to a context in which the Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court of the land. It is implicit today that when the Supreme Court says what the law "is"...that is it, 'the final word'! However, when this story began there was no such confidence and no history of Supreme Court precedent! The Supreme Court was just another forum for speculation and that is what the protagonists do in Conquest by Law.

The speculation on land and the profiteering that was the underlying motive was not originally designed to marginalize or dispossess Native Americans...but that is quickly what it became... It was, as so many scandals are, all about money. The King and then later the Congress implusively protected Indian Land, but not for the Indians, for themselves. And that is where the conflict begins, with a tug of war over who had the right to buy land directly from the Tribes. The nation's first and arguably, most important jurist eventually crafted the answer...an answer that created a "legitimate" dispossession of Indian Land, a legal conquest that remains the most devastating defeat in the history of Native Americans.

Prof. Robertson exposes the scandal and legal manuevering behind Chief Justice Marshall's answer. The truth is a story of lies, bribery, politics, and and scandal that reads like a cross between McCullough and Grisham.

This is a great read if you are interested in legal scandal, Native American History, the Supreme Court and/or corporate intrigue. Enjoy!!!

I love a good mystery--and the resolving of the twists and turns that led to it. This book is not only a good "who dunnit" but is also a serious study of a fascinating subject of interest to all English speaking people in the world. I enjoyed the book from cover to cover--it is well written, sprightly, serious, detailed, and generally a good read.

It is not granted to every historian to discover a trunkful of old documents up in an attic somewhere. The fact that the Illinois-Wabash papers, which fortuitously fell into the capable hands of this particular historian, were located in a basement instead, hardly alters the aura surrounding this discovery, nor does it affect the drama of the issues involved. In sifting through the evidence brought to light by this remarkable find, Lindsay G. Robertson has provided more than a mere tale of "olden days" which might be of interest to a cloistered few: he has produced a revolutionary document which may have far-reaching consequences on the "history" of the future, as well as on our reading of the past.

Mr. Robertson's capable exposition of a complex history, and the drawing out of the major themes and undercurrents informing the events of the period makes this work of interest to a broader public than just those who may find themselves involved professionally, or by association, or in the case of Native Americans and aboriginal peoples elsewhere, because it is very much part of their own story. Indeed, the wider ramifications of the judgment in the case of Johnson v. M'Intosh for both Canada and Australia and the indigenous peoples of those far-flung lands, heighten the importance of the decision itself and extend the range of interest of this original work of historical detection and analysis.

It is not an easy story to come to grips with, and our thanks must go to the author for his careful unravelling and clear explanation of the facts surrounding what has partly been obscured by the mists of time, and partly intentionally covered up by many of the original participants. We live in age which has much to consider in the way of recognizing past faults. Much is owed to exploited populations in many lands: from the time of Cortez, no treaties have been signed in South America, and those lands have been subject to plunder for centuries. That the native peoples on our own continent have been herded and exploited perhaps to a lesser extent is no reason for not now attempting to reconcile the historical faults of which all Americans and Canadians now living are the heirs. Mr. Robertson's sensitive review of how the legal foundations for the transfer of Indian land into the hands of speculators, prospectors and other worthies of the period came into being, deserves our full attention.

All in all, Mr. Robertson has produced an eloquent, eminently readable text that ought to foster much debate within the United States and abroad. It is a commendable work of scholarship which should not, must not, go unnoticed. It can, should we decide to take heed, contribute greatly to the furthering of better relations between communities in North America and around the globe - and, in a world which stands in dire need of developing governmental systems that take a diversity of communities into account (Liberia, Rwanda, and the Balkans come to mind at once, but the problem is widespread), that is no small accomplishment.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard that there is a political movement called "neoconservatism" which pushed for the current war in Iraq. What is neoconservatism and how does it differ from conservatism? And who are the "paleoconservatives"?

I don't know of a recent book that discusses this question, but this 1992 work by paleoconservative theoretician Paul Gottfried is a good place to start.

To simplify matters considerably, paleoconservatism is a political theory that traces its roots back to the Old Right and lions of that movement such as Russell Kirk, Robert Nisbett and Richard Weaver. The paleocons, however, have a populist edge that wasn't found in the Old Right. The paleocons support free enterprise (although not dogmatically), advocate a non-interventionist foreign policy (again not dogmatically) and oppose most immigration (dogmatically).

The taxonomy of the neocons is more difficult. At least some were influenced by political philosopher Leo Strauss and had roots in the left (and at times far left). Many of the neocons operate from more liberal presuppositions, namely universalism and egalitarianism. They support free enterprise (although not dogmatically), a "globalist" foreign policy (generally dogmatically), and immigration (with various degrees of religious fervor). Often it seems as if neoconservatives are the classic case of liberals "mugged by reality": things were fine until about 1968, when all hell broke loose.

The neoconservatives are highly influential in what's left of the conservative movement. One periodical of the Old Right now runs foreign policy articles claiming "creative destruction is our [the U.S.'s] middle name" and praising the growth of "expressive individualism" in Middle East music videos. The neoconservatives are more numerous, but I agree with the late Russell Kirk that you have to wonder how much of their writing will be read 15 years hence.

The dispute between the neos and paleos came to the forefront in the first Iraq war. Many of the paleos, feeling that the Cold War was over, thought it was time to take a less interventionist foreign policy. The neocons supported the war. During the Clinton years, most of the neocons advocated involvement in the Balkan wars supporting, of all things, a war for "human rights" and cultural diversity.

Things spun further out of control with the Second Iraq War, which saw the neocons taking the lead and advocating an explicitly Wilsonian foreign policy. Unfortunately, some of the paleos attacked the neos (many of whom are Jewish) for their support for Israel, neos attacked the paleos for being "unpatriotic" and an intelligent dialogue on these issues has became all but impossible.

Conservatism, especially since World War II, has meant a lot of different things to a lot of different people: economic libertarianism, traditionalism, anti-communism and American nationalism, for example. Different combinations of "conservative" values and reasoning might lead one to different conclusions on key issues -- for example, certain "conservative" values (economic libertarianism, traditionalism) point toward isolationism, while others (anti-communism, American nationalism) point toward military interventionism. In another twist, the Cold War made it possible for a person to support the welfare state but still be accepted as a conservative if he was a staunch anti-communist. Gottfried's book explains the different strains of American "conservatism" since WWII (not just one "conservative movement" but many of them), and why different groups of people who call themselves "conservatives" actually agree on very little, pretty much despise each other, and do not acknowledge each other as true conservatives.

Although "The Conservative Movement" is a scholarly and well documented political history book, in a way it's also an insider's guide to some bitter struggles within the American "Right." The faction that Gottfried sympathizes with has done poorly in elections and has no voice in, for example, the "conservative" Bush administration. It is noteworthy that Gottfried never goes out of his way to defend the views of his own faction, but instead offers insightful criticisms of that faction's failed political strategies. If you're interested in modern American politics, "The Conservative Movement" (as well as Gottfried's "After Liberalism") will make your brain happy.

_The Conservative Movement_ by Paul Gottfried and Thomas Fleming is an account of the conservative political philosophy and its growth in post World War America featuring the conflict between rival factions of the conservative vision. The authors note how this movement consists of several different, sometimes discordant, features. These include libertarianism and individualism (often carried out to extremes) which emphasizes anti-statism and resistance to the welfare/managerial state of the post New Deal era as well as isolationism as a general principle. This philosophy originally upheld by certain segments of the "Old Right" rose to prominence with the publication of Friedrich Hayek's book _The Road to Serfdom_ which argued against the controlled economy. In addition, certain segments of the original conservative movement were traditionalist in aspect, often composed of Catholics or Anglo-Catholics, and advocates of traditional morality, religion, and classical literature. Traditionalists including Russell Kirk and Richard Weaver as well as a whole host of Southern agrarians played an important part in shaping the philosophy of conservativism (rooting it in the writings of Edmund Burke or in Platonic philosophy or neo-Thomism under the influence of Aristotle). These two aspects of the conservative movement were combined in the early years of the journal _National Review_ put out by William F. Buckley. Buckley's journal maintained a virulently anti-communist stance (Buckley at one time wrote an apologetic piece for Joseph McCarthy) and advocated an interventionist foreign policy against communist tyranny. However, as the authors note, conservativism came to lose sway in the universities as the original mentors of the right abandoned their posts for more practical endeavors. With the social unrest during the Sixties, conservativism completely lost hold of academia which was abandoned to social protest and subsequently political correctness. While certain parts of academia, especially including key areas of the social sciences which lend themselves to an hereditarian interpretation (as opposed to environmentalist), may be interpreted in a conservative manner, those who have discovered these key features of the human animal have been almost unanimously shunned. The authors then note how conservativism subsequently underwent a split, possibly brought about by conflicting elements within its philosophy and the decline of the Soviet empire. On the one hand, a new brand of "conservative", remnants from the Old Left who no longer upheld the radical tendencies of the newer Left, came to the fore. This was the neoconservative, a primarily Jewish sect centered in New York, but which subsequently came to take hold of the Republican Party. Alternatively, a more populist approach was advocated by those on the New Right, composed almost entirely of Evangelical Christians (with some Catholics) and focusing almost completely on single issues, such as abortion, homosexual rights, feminism, education, and the family. Both of these were opposed by members of the remaining "Old Right" who came to be known as "paleoconservatives", in contrast to the newer conservative upcomers. One stark contrast between these two brands of conservative concerns matters of foreign policy, where many paleoconservatives continue to advocate a more isolationist stance, while neoconservatives call for a "global democratic revolution". The authors show how the influence of neoconservativism came to play a role in the two prominent conservative politicians of the era, Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. This book is somewhat dated, being originally written in the late 80s and since that time the difference between various "conservatives" has widened. Particularly difficult remains the necessity of hammering out the various contradictions within the conservative movement. For example, the libertarian element (advocating laissez faire free market capitalism and anti-statism) seems opposed to the more populist brand of conservativism (whose economic platform can often approach that of socialism) which seems at odds with the elitism innate to the traditionalist and classical brands of conservativism. It remains unclear how these contradictions in the movement can be ironed out. In sum, however this book remains a good introduction to the conservative movement, written from a particular point of view sympathetic towards the "Old Right".

Coyote and the laughing Butterflies is a magical book about a coyote adn his duty to bring salt to his wife from a huge salt lake. It hooked my attention right away and I didn't want to put it down until I was done. The illustrations in this book are grogeous and since I'm an animal lover teh cover and title attracted me right away.
In the book because of teh vivid word choice i could imagine everything the author was telling me in my mind. It was wonderfully written and was very descriptive during parts of the story. i loved the way the author described the beautiful butterflies and teh huge salt lake. Even at times were i couldn't picture sections of teh book in my head the illustrations definately helped me. i highly recommend this book to young kids who liek animals and adventures. Don't pass this wonderful book up!

Coyote and the Laughing Butterflies is a very amusing bit ofNative American folklore that can be enjoyed by all ages. It is abeautifully illustrated work in vivid color, written in explanation of why butterflies always fly in an erratic, fluttering way. It is funny, interesting, and compassionate. It is delightful light reading to be lovingly shared with your children to introduce them to Native American folk stories.

As a children's librarian, I am always tooking for folk tales from around the world to read or tell to children in the 4-8 year old group. This tale is fun to tell, but reading it and showing the colorful illustrations of the Southwestern United States is a good way to show children in Maine a different region of our country. The listeners loved having the coyote outwitted by butterflies, and many were able to re-tell the tale to parents. I used a coyote puppet to tell the tale, and the children did a butterfly color page after story time. I would highly recommend it to children's librarians and to parents.

DEEDS FOR CALIFORNIA REAL ESTATE by Mary Randolph, J.D. is another excellent updated guide: this to choosing the right kind of deed, creating it, then filing it with a county recorder. Step-by-step instructions for so doing have been updated in this latest 7th edition to include the latest forms and reflect the most recent legal changes.

If you need to change a deed on your house or other real property -- changed your name, separated, married, adding a survivor to inherit -- don't pay a lawyer or title company hundreds of dollars to do it. Buy this book. Read the instructions carefully, fill out the forms and then go to the county recorder's office and file it yourself. Even if you have to pay for parking.

If I can do it, anyone can do it. After finding this book such a great help, I have turned to Nolo Press time and again for self-help legal books. Written my will, created powers of attorney for my domestic partner, even helped my folks set up living trusts. If you read the book and decide you do need legal help, you'll be better prepared to ask questions and direct the professional to do what you want, and to do what you can yourself to save dollars. Just shaving a half hour off a lawyer's time spent more than pays for the book.

I am experiencing some Deed problems in California and to try and get detailed information from the clerks office is impossible. This book has all the info you need. I highly recommend it!

If you are looking for a well-organized, comprehensive, detailed book in the subject of detection and estimation, this is the book you must have. The author explains every subject very clearly, elaborates on important points, and, most importantly, supports the theoretical basis with many useful examples. It seems that Prof. Van Trees used his experience as a professor teaching this subject very effectively. In the book, there is nothing unclear, nothing too complicated to understand.

Van Trees, Part I (together with Wozencraft/Jacobs' Principles of Communication Engineering, and Gallager's Information Theory) is a must read to establish a solid background in detection/estimation theory and form connections to applications such as communications engineering and information theory.

Although most recent graduate education uses Kay's book (which is also a remarkable book), there are still a lot of details in which Van Trees, Part I excels. Especially, the exercise problems are actually lectures by themselves, and first time reader is encouraged at least to look at selected problems listed at the end of the book. Note that there is a solution manual floating around for these selected problems.

A good comparison between Kay and Van Trees, and their complementary nature, can be established how they treat the description of the Cramer-Rao bound, Kay emphasizes the recent developments and derivations (mostly of arithmetic and bookkeeping nature, results from post 1968 papers), whereas Van Trees goes leaps and bounds and discusses other bounds which apply when Cramer-Rao does not. I appreciate having both books as a result.

It is interesting to note that after almost 20 years using Van Trees in a couple of courses, I can still navigate my way through the book with ease since it well organized and methodical.

RECOMMENDATION: BEST BUY.
But dont stop here, and buy Wozencraft/Jacobs and Gallager as well.

I have just taken this course from Dr. Van Trees at GMU. Est&Det organized many concepts taught in other graduate engineering courses into a coherent philosophy. The result is not only a rich understanding of estimation and detection, but also random processes, Wiener filtering, Kalman filtering, radar and communications theory etc.

The course was taught directly from the text with little outside material. Very little has become obsolete in the 30+ years since it was written.

The strong positives of this book are the philosophical organization, clear concise writing, and incredibly well conceived homework problems.

The only negative of the book is that there are many proofs done in great detail. This provides the necessary foundation for the material, but also makes it easy for the student to lose track of the bigger picture.

Dr. Van Trees tends to try to drive home the higher level concepts while glossing over many of the details when he is lecturing. The exercise problems then force the student to give the necessary attention to pertinent details. In my opinion, this is an excellent approach to teaching the material.

Overall, this course was as good as any I've every taken. The text is as important and useful as any other I have.