Vans Books

An informative, hard hitting read about leadership as it relates to customer service policies and procedures. Should be required reading for all management.

A must for businesses who dare to make changes to improve their service and customer realtions and inspire their employees and in turn insure the future success of their companies. As expected Rick Tate is inspiring and along with Heil and Parker has written a winner.

A very good book, going through the stuff in a very nice kind. Giving you intuitive insights, easy proofs, and written with a large sense of humor.

As always, Halmos is an excellent expositor. The brief first chapter has been known to scare away physicists and other intelligent people who don't happen to know ring theory, but fortunately the first chapter can be skipped. The book is at the right level to be used by mathematics graduate students learning Boolean algebras and Stone spaces for the first time.

Some people draw a sharp distinction between the concepts of "Boolean space" (a totally disconnected compact Hausdorff space) and "Stone space", the difference being that a Stone space is the Stone space _of_ a Boolean algebra. A Boolean algebra's Stone space is the space of all of its 2-valued homomorphisms with the topology of pointwise convergence of nets of such homomorphisms. That every Boolean space is the Stone space of some Boolean algebra (namely, the Boolean algebra of all of its clopen subsets) is one of the important facts of "Stone's duality". Halmos never mentions the phrase "Stone space", but he proves the basic facts about "Stone's duality": that the category of Boolean algebras and Boolean homomorphisms is the opposite of the category of Boolean spaces and continuous functions.

The flaw is in Lecture 21. Much of that section is founded upon an error -- that a Boolean algebra may have various non-isomorphic completions, of which one is "minimal". A careful mathematician can reconstruct that lecture and get much that is of value, but some may be unfortunately misled.

One other thing irritates me: Halmos uses the word "non-atomic" rather than the much better term "atomless". The problem with "non-atomic" is that it may be mistaken for "not atomic", and that is a quite different thing.

This book is now out of print. I'd like to see Dover reprint it.

Another captivating and twisted tale by Andrea that is sure to excite the senses by taking you on a breath taking journey through the mind of the zombie Ivana....There were actually a couple parts in this novel that made me grieve along with Ivana as well...Andrea certainly knows how to make the reader empathize with the main character...I recommend this book along with A Man of Two Worlds if you are keen on horror and zombies...She certainly sheds light on these creatures in a different way then we are used to by humanizing them to some extent rather than making them out to be a mindless ghouls...Kudos for that, and I hope you enjoy Left to the Night Alone as much as I did....

Andrea has a style all her own that echo's back to the masters of old, with each page painting it's own brilliant masterpiece of color and emotion for the soul to devour.

A true love story with the quirks and twists only Andrea can supply, if you're looking for a story a little different with more honest, heart felt emotion then ten of the so called "Best sellers", this is the place to start.


J. M. Burmingham

Good book, with direct info; good length with short and sweet approach. Long enough for a good read.

I didn't buy this book to become an impressive calligrapher. I bought the book because I was seeking help in my penmanship with only a casual interest in calligraphy and, as a lefty, this book looked promising. I was not disappointed. A major strength of the book is that it doesn't patronize us lefties, and could easily be modified for right-handed writers. The author doesn't explain how to cope as a lefty, but presents the full topic as though all writers were left-handed. This focused approach makes the book invaluable to the left-handed writer who wants a meaningful book on calligraphy, and not just a supplement to a book for right-handed writers. The book also presents history of calligraphy and other supportive background information. Overall, a nice reference and the size, at 64 pages, is perfect for my needs. A person seeking professional status may need much much more, but this is a great introductory and basic text.

I emjoyed the book. The book was very detailed with its e-mail
conversations between a father and a daughter regarding the daughter's experiences in the classroom.

I emjoyed the book. The book was very detailed with its e-mail
conversations between a father and a daughter regarding the daughter's experiences in the classroom.

I recently attended an event featuring the authors of this book. I haven't read the book yet, but if the book is as genuine and insightful as my impression of the authors, I am sure it will be one that I will treasure always.

I am so tired of bad news, of discouraging information, of a prevailing feeling that we as a people, as families, as a country have little hope of surviving the pit falls around us. This book is written by real women, speaking the truth about the real issues we all face. Yet in their openness and honesty there is a sense of hope, commitment and true unconditional love. The message here is to do the right thing by those you love. It isn't instruction on how to be the perfect parent, or how to model yourself after those celebrities that our country is so enamoured with. It is about having the courage to do the hard work, honor your commitments and extend yourself to those you love. I am impressed and find myself motivated to attend to those relationships that I have perhaps overlooked.

Burk's Beethoven is a nice handbook, one I have used for years despite the many stronger Beethoven texts in existence. The first half is a solid, standard biography, and the second half a listing of all of his works by groupings into symphonies, sonatas for piano, etc. Many of the works are given a brief description, always with the movements listed. A good index. For the price, this is a solid, useful book on Beethoven you will use again and again. Totally accessible to the average reader. You do not have to have a university education in music to enjoy reading this book.

Of all the books about artist that I have read, this is the best. I first realized that I was reading something special when the discriptions of Beethoven,s personal life began. Page after page of deep, insightful writing followed and the understanding of this genius was compleat and full. A first class book

It's easy to dismiss stories about Rudolf Nureyev's abilities as a dancer as mere "tall tales"--until you see this book. Nothing could be more astonishing than the shot of Nureyev leaping into the air in "Le Corsaire." This was an artist over whom gravity had no hold. The photos were taken in 1978, when the 40-year-old dancer was at the peak of his powers. His movement, his leaps, are all captured here in photographs of truly stunning quality. Nureyev's own recollections of those days are an additional treat, as are the scenes backstage and at practice, when you can see the man honing his craft. Well worth the price of admission.

This book of rare Nureyev photographs is of the highest quality, from the paper to the printing to the binding. Ansel Adams' former printer produced "Life Behind the Metaphor", which explains the astounding achievement. If you're a fan of fine photography or ballet or both, then this is definitely for you. There are next to no photographs of Nureyev in performance during the time period in which these were taken--the dancer's contracts forbade it. So, the fact that these photos exist at all is pretty amazing. In the book, the photographer, Urban, explains how he gained access to and the trust of Nureyev during a Dutch National Ballet tour of the US. The two eventually became friends. Given all the hoopla about the Nureyev biography released last year, it's a shame that this book hasn't garnered more attention. A worthwhile purchase, to say the least.

Stuart Van Slyke has led an amazing life - born at the end of the First World War, he lived through the Depression and served in some of the most interesting theaters of the Second World War. He leaves out no detail, no matter how painful or seemingly small, which has the effect of building a very rich story - at the end of which you feel you know the author and his times quite well. I highly recommend it.

This book is one of those rare finds for which historians are always looking. Mr. Van Slyke managed to keep all of his old correspondance and notes from a lifetime of over 80 years, and has compiled them into a gripping story of one person's experiences through the Great Depression and WW II. Although not interested in the "big picture", this book conveys a ground's eye perspective of some under-developed areas of WW II history. The portion about the author's challenges in the military government in Korea at the end of WW II, provided this Iraq War veteran an eerie sense of deja vu, as well as highlighting several key lessons that are still valid today.
The writing style is very simple and flows naturally. The reader feels like they are sitting in a living room, while their grandfather relates his stories to them. The addition of actual copies of orders, pictures and other documents throughout the book serve to further enhance the experience.
In sum, this book is a must have for any serious student of American life from the 1920s to the end of WW II. Future books may include a continuation from WW II until the present day.

***Truth in Lending***
The author is the Maternal Grandfather of the writer of this review. However, the reviewer has been trained in history at the United States Military Academy, and conducted research on WW II history.

This book is great. Nearly everything about it is clear, concise, informative, and inspiring.

The format is worth mentioning because the author does everything right. Each chapter is dedicated to a single principle of lighting design, and is immediately followed by a case study that beautifully illustrates that same principle. Also, whenever the text mentions a particular building or room - there is always a lovely and appropriate photograph of that very same room or building RIGHT ON THE VERY SAME PAGE. This is a rare example of a well-concieved and thoughtfully executed book on architecture.

Any spatial experience is intimately connected with the experience of light. The author has very articulately described this phenomena in architecture, using four major themes - where light helps with a physiological EXPERIENCE, gives a building FORM, defines and enhances SPACE, and thus gives it MEANING. This is an excellent book, well written and has a good association with all aspects of lighting, studied and explained with the help of a wide range of buildings and architecture. It makes a very strong (and convincing) argument, for all designers to pay attention to the importance of light while planning and designing their spaces or buildings.