Adams Books

Geared especially toward first-time parents, My Heart's First Steps will find a ready audience among those for whom it is intended. The construction itself, with short chapters, essays, and poems, will make it appealing to those first-timers in the dizzy world of parenting in which some days success is measured by having found time to brush your teeth, make the bed, and decide what you're having for dinner. Not actually prepared it and served it, mind you: just decided what to fix. The entries are short enough to be read in the 5-10 minutes at a stretch that are all new parents feel they can call their own.
It's meant to be sweet and sentimental - and it is. I did find myself, at points, wishing for a little more of the gritty and grizzly side of new parenting issues, more of an Annie Lamott take on how very difficult it often is to devote yourself to a 10-pound morsel of demanding humanity.

A great introduction to parenthood for those of us new to parenting. I got this book as a gift when my husband and I found out we were pregnant and it has been my constant companion. Highly recommended!

I'm a new father and was given this book as a gift. I didn't really know what to think about it until I started reading and fell in love with it. It made me realize that I am now a part of this huge tribe of parents, that my wife and I are not alone. I reccommend it to all parents and it makes a great baby shower gift for parents-to-be. It's simply a lovingly-written, heart-warming book.

This is such a sweet, emotional, reflective book, especially for first-time parents and parents with young children. Even the format (short essays and poetry), lends itself to chaotic schedules; you can read a page or two, put the book down and then pick it up right where you left off. Over the 2 or 3 days it took for me to complete this book, I found myself much more pensive than usual, reflecting on the essays, and delighting in the fact that a moment would soon come when I could pick up the book again. The work comes straight from the heart of the authors, and Groneberg's Introduction, along with her superb job of intertwining the pieces, are a testament to her beautiful writing and editing skills. As you read through the book, you could very well be re-living your own child's birth, first bath, or sleepless nights. It may sound trite, but there truly is something for everyone here. I especially loved "El Producto," "How my Children Came to Me," and "The Digging Hole," but every piece will in some way connect to that huge, proud, protective, vulnerable, loyal, fiercely loving Parent in all of us and reconfirm that indeed it is the best thing going. I know I will reach for the book time and again as my kids and I travel this grand journey.

This book is a valuable resource for students of Eastern European History. Adam Broner's first person narrative skillfully connects the author's personal story with the larger events surrounding his life. The wide scope and long time period provide a neutral perspective and a greater understanding of the events. Broner's personal stories draw the reader into history and bring it to life in a new way. The book would easily fit into a curriculum covering World War II, Communism, Eastern Block History, Anti-Semitism, and particularly Poland. This remarkable biography can be enjoyed by anyone, but it will be especially appreciated by all scholars of history.

A fine book about the history of these trying times reported by a person that lived the story. It reflects great memory and great research. It should be read by all students now and in the future interested in this period of world history.

This man's story has touched this woman's heart. It is a simple, easy to read, straightforward, historical and personal account of the human and his indomitable spirit. This eye-opening account leaves me with a lifetime education. I am humbled by this man's love for his faith, family and country.

Adam Broner's book is a well-written, very readable one person's story of the most important event of the 20th century, World War II. It is a remarkable, I would even say unique story. At that turbulent time, most people let themselves be pushed where the changing fates of war were throwing them. Not so the young Adam Broner. He repeatedly made his own decisions, sometimes risky but right and courageous. The most important of these was to desert the "working battalions" in Siberia, and to join the army fighting the Nazis. It may sound strange, but Adam Broner's story is also unique because it tells the plain truth. He has not adapted his narrative to the now prevalent ideas. Broner simply tells us how it was. A good book. Richard Fenigsen, M.D., Waltham, Massachusetts.

With many fine works available on Napoleon and his campaigns available (second only to World War II), one must ask what does another one have to offer? The answer in this instance is very fine writing, good organization, helpful maps, and a scholarly and even-handed presentation of history.

The errors are negligible, and when author Adams inserts his opinions or conclusions, they are so consistent with the evidence that the reader readily accepts them as almost a restatement of what the reader was thinking. A writer can hardly do better than that.

The cast of characters is immense but the deftly handled by the author in the text. A newcomer to the Napoleonic Era might enjoy an appendix giving brief profiles of the marshals, heads of state, generals and other important personages, and the author might consider putting that in a second edition.

And all too often writers limit themselves to the campaign of 1812 rather than looking at the events leading to that campaign and the campaigns of 1813 and 1814 that followed. Not Adams, and his story is good to the last drop. The campaign of 1813 brought the Russians with their allies to the gates of Paris and Napoleon finally ran out of miracles and the French out of options.

I particularly enjoyed reading a British author who did not stress British participation and influence during this time as is so common. And it must be stressed that all of the armies of the time acted more or less the same in foreign or occupied territory -- this was not a battle between good and evil but a conflict by competing parties for European hegemony. In this respect it was not the first of such conflicts, and not nearly the last. Adams is even-handed, discussing the bad with the good for all sides.

The author treats Napoleon with some sympathy rather depicting him as a power-mad orge. His portrait in undoubtedly more accurate and certainly more compelling than had he taken a non-scholarly position. Napoleon was hands down the greatest military general in the 18th and 19th centuries, but no military genius can go forever. His mistakes began to mount as he became older, and by 1814 was only able to summon up flashes of his former brillance. Fortunately for us, Adams maintains his brillance throughout.

In conclusion, if you are new to the Napoleonic Era, you can hardly do better than this book. If you are an old hand you will be pleasantly surprised and pick up nuggets and perspectives within the author's splendid prose that you might have overlooked or forgotten. It's like visiting an old friend with a fine bottle of wine and finding both the friend and wine are better than you remembered. Unfortunately I can't go higher than five stars.

The author does a wonderful job reconstructing the relationship between Napoleon and Russia. It is interesting to see the re-evaluation of the role of Alexander I in both this work and Rites of Peace, by Adam Zamoyski. Since the fall of Napoleon there has been this myth that has arisen concerning the role played by England and Russia in achieving Napoleon's fall. It is also interesting to see the mythos that surrounds Alexander I being finally corrected. The one criticism is the author states that Sweden's King Gustav IV was assassinated, rather he fell in a Coup d'etat and then abdicated.

Great Read

Beautifully written, precisely edited and thoroughly researched. Mr. Adams has achieved what no other British writer has done to date - rendered a completely neutral and fair assessment of the wars precipitated by the French Revolution and the reaction to it by the old monarchies of Europe. As one of the other reviewers mentions, it is an absolutely refreshing experience to read the history and see all sides given a fair and frank analysis of motivations and actions. Adams repeatedly provides intriguing and useful insights to the thought processes of Napoleon and Alexander I.

My only disappointment is that I've yet to find an English author willing to censure the British attacks on Denmark (a completely neutral and largely powerless nation). The naval action of Copenhagen in 1801 and the bombardment of that city and confiscation of the Danish fleet in 1807 were nothing less than heinous acts of bald-faced aggression which resulted in the deaths of many innocents. I was pleased, however, that Adams correctly points out that Napoleon had long abandoned his plans to invade England by the time the battle of Trafalgar was fought and that battle was in no wise pivotal to modern history as many claim.

I highly recommend this book as one of the best written histories of the period - period!

Michael Adam's new book; "Napoleon and Russia" is an excellent account about the uneasy relationship between Napoleon and Russia from the 1790's through to 1815. It's a great historical account covering the many battles and people involved during this period of time. We not only get to read about Napoleon and Alexander I, but also of the many Napoleonic Marshals and Russian commanders like Ney, Murat, Davout, Suvorov, Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly who fought some of the greatest battles of the Napoleonic period.

The book is refreshing in it's accounts of the many battles fought between France and Russia, offering gripping descriptions of the fighting at Austerlitz, Eylau, Friedland, Borodino, Lutzen, Bautzen, Dresden and Leipzig. For once we have an author who places greater emphasis on these battles rather than Trafalgar, the Peninsular campaign and Waterloo.

I found the book very easy to read, thrilling almost in its style. I was gripped by the story till the very end. As the previous review has mentioned (Amazon.co.uk), Adam's appears to sometimes go a little easy on Napoleon but in doing so he offers valid reasons for accepting a particular version of events. It's a nice change to read an account of Napoleon without him being blamed for every disaster or being described as an insatiable glory hunting ogre.

The author offers valid reasons for accepting one account or reason for Napoleon's actions over another and he is convincing in most cases. Having said that, the author doesn't let Napoleon off the hook for his mistakes and Adam's ensures that he brings those to the reader's attention. The book appears to be a fair and balanced account of the period of relationship between France and Russia during the time of Napoleon's reign.

Overall the book is a great historical account, well researched, refreshing in its approach and easy to read. The book has 560 pages of narrative with a number of maps, which are reasonable and allow the reader to follow the course of the battle described. What I found to be a bonus in this book was the bibliographical essay at the end, which gave me a few good ideas on books that I should also consider buying for my library. I would have no hesitation in recommending this book to any Napoleonic buff or anyone interested in military or general European history, it's a damn good book.

The authors appear to go to great length for completeness in a companion reference for programmers creating DotNet Forms, an important new feature of the DotNet frameworks. We have been always looking for a capable web enabled report writer without integrating a third-party product, such as Crystal Reports for the Web. DotNet Forms promises in creating at least simple, yet dynamic, multi-paged reports without a whole lot of work.

DotNet provides for creating dynamic Excel-like forms for ASP.NET html. Additional form paging provides for DB presentation similar to Yahoo and eBay searches, which is a familiar and intuitive format. DotNet provides these DataGrid forms with the DotNet Forms API. The API architecture is listed in the last two-thirds of this book, which is an inch and a half thick.

While the authors claim to include a "very fast-paced" tutorial (p1) in the first third (313 pgs) of the book, the DataGrid portion is a mere 6 pages (p307-312), very steep indeed! I'd highly recommend its combined use with another MS Press book by Dino Esposito (0-7356-1578-0) which devotes about half of his book to DataGrid reports and code examples. Another is Jesse Liberty's O'Reilly book on VB.Net (0-596-00438-9) which has one chapter devoted to ADO.net (34pgs).

The publisher include a MS Visual Studio.Net Add-in on the accompanying CD which has the text of the book as integrated help files, 1.7MB MSI files for VS.Net 2K2 and 2K3. Appears a tad bit small? I have not tested the usefulness of the claimed dynamic integration of the O'Reilly Help files along with MS Help during coding process within VS. It appears that this is the initial product enhancement from this publisher. I wonder if an annotatable PDF file of the book would be more useful; at least this would be in a separate window. This tome was read at a local library.

At a local SQL Server Users Group meeting, a new technology that will embellish on the DataGrid and Forms was discussed and demoed. It is the forthcoming SQL Server 2K Reporting Services that will be a low/no cost add-on for SQL 2000 Server and authoring with a Visual Studio.Net 2003 download. It currently is in beta and will be released in 4Q03. It appears to be XML based and production reports can be rendered for browser, printer, PDF, and TIFF output. What a seemingly great idea.

Overall, this detailed 469-page reference on the DotNet Forms API appears needed for the programmer, although this is probably duplicates what's available on a MSDN subscription CD somewhere. The appendix includes another 69-page API term cross-reference and a 23-page index.

Databinding is handled later, and lots of interesting stuff I wasn't knowledgeable about came sooner. Bravo. This is a great book that will always be on my desk! (I'm a professional developer with walls of books by Microsoft on Wrox, primarily.)

This was the 3rd or 4th WinForms book I purchased. The others were good, but they were lacking in detail. This book does a great job in explaining 'under the cover' details. The authors do a good job explaining DataBinding, Controls, GDI+, Form, Menus, Inheritance and much more.
This is more than a resource book. The first half is devoted to getting you up and running with building WinForms apps. The 2nd half is an incredible reference, one I turn to almost daily.

If you plan to use or are using .NET WinForm, please, do yourself a big favor, buy this book and leave it on your desk

This was the 3rd or 4th WinForms book I purchased. The others were good, but they were lacking in detail. This book does a great job in explaing 'under the cover' details. The authors do a good job explaining DataBinding, Controls, GDI+, Form, Menus, Inheritace and much more.

This is more than a resource book. The first half is devoted to getting you up and running with building WinForms apps. The 2nd half is an incredible reference, one I turn to almost daily.

If you plan to use or are using .NET WinForm, please, do yourself a big favor, buy this book and leave it on your desk.

If your company sells products to other companies, this is a must-read.

Adams turns much of the traditional voice-of-the-customer conventional wisdom on its head. He makes a compelling case that your business customers are much different than end-consumers; they're highly trained, are not as easily manipulated by Madison Avenue, are fewer in number and so on. And if so, then using 30-year-old consumer-goods VOC techniques is sub-optimizing.

He lays a groundwork of new-to-the-world principles for business-to-business product development. The book isn't long--just over 200 pages--and I would like to have heard just a bit more of how he developed his theory (although the book is well footnoted). On the other hand, it has great "idea-density" and seems to be designed for reading by the busy executive. Many readers will like the fact that about half of the book is devoted to practical hands-on tips that a marketing person could begin applying right away.

Everybody knows you have put the customer first. It has become one of those business clichés, like "cutting edge technology" or "thinking outside the box" or "the customer is always right." But what does it really mean in terms of product development? How, exactly, do you move beyond lip service (oops, there's another cliché!) and really put the customer first? Read this book and you'll know the answer. New Product Blueprinting takes a pretty complicated subject and boils it down to a series of how-tos that are invaluable to any manufacturer who has to make things his customers will want to buy. I highly recommend it.
Adam Prestwood
Pampco, Inc.

Having worked in sales all my life, I've always known that what sets a company apart is its ability to partner with customers to help them solve their problems. Adams puts a different slant on the process. He starts out by explaining that you don't try to sell customers your products, nor do you start out by solving their problems for them. (I suspect most of us have been bitten by a prospect that took the solution you developed for them and gave it to someone else to execute...ouch!) Instead, you use a methodical, proven approach to probe customers about their desired outcomes. As Adams writes, "After these outcomes are understood and quantitatively prioritized, there is plenty of time for the supplier to privately develop solutions and build an intellectual property hedge around them." (I liked that phrase so much I went back and looked it up.) This is a good book for anyone who wants to find good customers, make them happy, and keep them coming back for more.
Patrick Hendren
SMC Corporation of America

I own a company that makes custom cutting tools for the woodworking and solid surface industries. As such, I am no stranger to innovation. But Dan Adams takes the concept to a whole new level in New Product Blueprinting. He does a brilliant job of explaining how to get inside the customer's mind and uncover what he or she really wants and needs. Adams lays out a step-by-step interview process that not only sets you up for great product design, it endears you to the prospect or customer. This author recognizes something very important: it's all about trust. Even if you're the best company for the job, if you don't come across as caring and respectful, all the expertise in the world won't matter. If your livelihood depends on new product development--and in this economy, I think that pretty much covers everyone in the manufacturing world--do yourself a favor and read this book.

Anthony DeHart
DeHart Tooling Components, Inc.

The authors give a full account of this historical trial. I had no background knowledge of the Nuremberg Trial, and I found this book easy to read as well as complete and detailed enough. I would complement it with Nuremberg's Diary, by Gilbert, to get a deeper insight of the defendants personalities. Although I can't compare this book with the others available on the subject, I would certainly recommend it as an excellent choice.

I first became familiar with the Tusas' study in 1985 while covering Argentina's "mini-Nuremberg" trial of the three military juntas that ruled in Buenos Aires from 1976 to 1982 for Newsweek and the Washington Post.

It is a wonderfully written, comprehensive study, really the best I have read on the subject either before or after. I recommend it without hesitation for all those interested in the trial itself, its effects on international law, or anyone who is just trying to make sense out of the murky period in which we now live.


Martin Edwin Andersen
Churchton, Maryland

This book is well written and informative. If your goal is to know about the Nuremberg Trial, or if you're a lawyer studying issues that arise in conducting international tribunals, you'll enjoy this book and it'll be five stars for you! If you're looking for an exciting book on WWII or the aftermath of that war, you'll probably be a bit bored with portions of this book and at best think it's worth three stars.

Best parts of the book deal with the opening and closing statements at the trial, testimony and cross examination of Goering, Speer, etc, the deliberations of the judges, the verdict and subesquent executions, including the mystery of how Goering got the cyanide the night he was to be hanged in order to commit suicide.

What might bore you if you're not a lawyer is the international law stuff, so I'll give the book four stars.

This book must be the best account of the Nuremberg trial out there. OK, I'll admit I haven't read all the other accounts, but this one gives all the information any interested person needs to know about the trial without getting mired in needless detail. Plus it's written in narrative style and the Tusa's personal observations are side splittingly funny at times (Hard to imagine for such a serious topic, but they do it)

The book begins before the actual trial and details the discussions that the four powers had about the trial - what the scope of it would be, which countries would be represented, what the charges would be, who would fund it etc... The actual pre-trial preparation was such a mammoth task and this book helps the reader appreciate the difficulties facing the judges, lawyers and administrative staff.

After this introduction, we get a view of the prosecution and defence teams and the judges. The Tusas have done an excellent job by bringing us behind the scenes of the actual trail and getting us up close and personal with the 'stars' at the trial. They help us understand where the judges are coming from and how the different systems make it difficult for them to agree on certain aspects of the trial - very accessible to those who aren't lawyers.

What is the more interesting part of this book is the character studies of the various defendants. The Tusas have succeeded in making these men come alive. I was reminded of the movie Nuremburg with Alec Baldwin when I read the description of Goering and Speer. (Incidentally that would be an excellent movie to watch after reading this book.). The cases against these men are explained both from the prosecution and the defence side. Heavy sarcasm lightens the mood especially when some of the heinous crimes are described; it is amazing the blatant lies that some of these 'leaders' told when faced with their crimes.

There is a short section on the case against Organizations; the SS, SA, Gestapo etc... which is followed by the verdicts and the executions. I think that this book is fairly unbiased and factual (there are references at the end of each chapter and it's from the BBC J ) I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the second world war and especially the part that the Germans played in it.

This account was writt6en in 1994 and covers the story of the murder of Medgar Evers up to the time when Byron de la Beckwith was convicted. The author makes the trial seem like a slam dunk so far as the law was concerned, but a perusal of the Mississippi Supreme Coutt opinions show that there were real legal problems in bringing him to trial so long after the murder. The citation for the case is 707 So. 2nd 547. The conviction was affirmed by a four to 2 vote with 3 justices not participating. Nossiter tells the story from a number of angles and it is simply absorbing reading. And since the book ends with justice triumphant it is a most satisfying book, showing that some things do eventually turn out right.

First, my reviewer credentials for this book. I was born in MS and lived there through the 60's. If one wants to get a real understanding of the expereience of Mississppi in the that time,
read Nossiter's book. It covers far more than just the Beckwith trial, though that part of the book in and of itself makes for a fascinating read. This is an outstanding book on so many levels.
This was truly one of those books that I sort of hoped would just never end.

I concur with the previous reviewer. Mr. Nossiter has produced a well-researched and fascinating chronicle of the case of Medgar Evers, including a detailed and chilling portrait of his assassin. Nossiter also effectively re-creates the eerie atmosphere of early 1960's Mississippi, where the Klan, the White Citizens' Council, and the Sovereignty Commission flourished, and where a man like Beckwith would become a sort of folk hero to his fellow racists. However, it is also a story of dogged determination and the quest for justice, as exemplified by Myrlie Evers and Bobby DeLaughter, whose efforts culminated in the long-overdue conviction of Beckwith. It is a story of tragedy and triumph, skillfully crafted by a talented and deeply insightful writer. Well done, Mr. Nossiter!

Forget the Movie. This is the book to read about the assisination of Medgar Evers and the subsequent retrial some 30 years later of the killer.

The author provides a moving and engrossing story as well as sharp analysis of the social conditions and personalities involved.

My kids ask me to read this book over and over again. A boy is supposed to keep his little sister quiet so his dad can sleep but he scares her with stories of ghosts, witches, werewolfs, demons, and skeletons. The rythmic text and spooky illustrations are sure to be one of your children's favorite Halloween books.

"Oh No, Not Ghosts!" finds a brother and younger sister still up at night while dad is sleeping as they try and remain quiet and not wake dad. But the brother soon gets the sister's active imagination up and running with his descriptions of ghosts, werewolves, witches, and skeletons. The story is told in a spirited rhyme as each monster described by the brother gets more and more terrifying and the sister gets more and more scared.

The brother parades about, pretending to be each of the frights as his sister stares wide-eyed and clings to her dolly. It's quite a humorous little tale and certainly most girls who had older brothers will be able to relate to being teased by their older sibling. It's a bit scary, but not too scary. Younger readers might need to hide a bit when the skeleton makes his appearance from the closet but it's all in good fun. My four and a half year-old enjoyed it quite a bit!

The story is written by Richard Michelson and it's a snappy tale with a quick cadence. Helping great are the illustrations by Adam McCauley. The illustration are bold and colorful and the brother, while telling his sister that there are no such things as ghosts and witches, still has a mischievous glint in his eye. He's clearly enjoying himself! A great book to read at Halloween but good enough to be enjoyed year round!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Whatever evolutionary requirement is served by the fiendish delight we derive from teasing -- or terrifying -- our siblings is served, without the damage, by this fabulous book. Its spooky, stylized illustrations and rhyming text are a great substitute for the terrorizing we don't let our girls do.

Simple, repetitive and fun. With dad asleep and the kids SUPPOSED to be sleeping, this sister and brother embark on a self-induced fright fest which leads them from one kiddie scare to the next...each one a bit more outrageous than the last. This is great for young children and those just starting out on their own with reading, it's one of those books that is very repetitive (the Oh No, Not... line is repeated though out the book and kids can predict what the next line is going to be and "get in" on the fun by reading along even if they can't read all the words...this makes it a good, fun, silly and light-hearted read (for a "scary" story) that kids from ages 2-8 (ish) will love. The illustrations are dark and suitably campy kind of scary that are great for kids of this age! I'd add this to my permanent collection for reading during the fall and most especially leading up to Halloween! I give it a sold A and both the kids loved this so much they had me read it twice, then Girl read it to Boy several more times with him chanting along...Oh, No, not... Simply a fun story!

Nice variety of genres. Thought-provoking stories. A few stories not for children/young adults.

I am one the the group of 12 who cooperatively wrote and published this book of south Florida short stories. Living in what some call "paradise" produces a unique life experience which we want to share with those living more traditional lifestyles. You'll enjoy a tropical getaway with each story. Read them slowly, they'll last a long time in your memory.

Hopefully we will continue to hear from The Key West Co-op. These insightful writers capture the essence of what is wacky and wonderful about Key West.

I am one the the group of 12 who cooperatively wrote and published this book of south Florida short stories. Living in what some call "paradise" produces a unique life experience which we want to share with those living more traditional lifestyles. You'll enjoy a tropical getaway with each story. Read them slowly, they'll last a long time in your memory.

I have had this book for years and have used it in many work/office situations. It has served me well as a reference book whenever I have had a need to keep myself and my work organized. It's also great to read through the entire book to get practical tips and information. Most of the ideas presented are very simple but it's those simple ideas which can make your life easier and save you loads of time and stress. I have found this book to be well worth the money spent and I believe that you will agree. If you want to be more organized in your work and your life - this book will help you achieve that goal!

surfergal

I highly recommend this book. If you have had a reputation for being disorganized in the past, by following the instructions here you can really clean up your act. This book includes chapters on how to arrange tickler systems, how to keep your hard drive orderly and high-functioning, and hundreds of tips on how to trim minutes off tasks. The arrangement of the book is effective and clear, and the presentation of concepts is well-written too. This book isn't just for office managers--as a professional I find it extremely useful.

Wow! Dubbed "The Bible of Organization" by the media, the latest edition (4th, to be exact) is not a disappointment. The author (Susan Silver) has included all the tips you need for organizing your life at work, from time management to streamlining your workspace and all the points in between.

Whether you are looking for tips on managing projects or trying to create an organized workspace, Organized To Be Your Best! is the one guide you need for balancing it all.

Now in an updated and expanded fourth edition, Susan Silver's Organized To Be Your Best!: Simplify And Improve How You Work continues to be an indispensable instruction manual enabling the reader to control multiple, ever-changing projects and priorities, intense workloads and information overload. Readers will learn to manage email, voice, fax, and other instant communications, devise a time and information management system tailored to their needs, work more effectively with others, master a messy desk and "piles of files", maximize the work space (including alternative, virtual, and home offices), and get the most from the computer and the Internet. Very highly recommended, Organized To Be Your Best! is as practical and applicable as it is "reader friendly" and workplace productivity improving.