Bates Books

Having loved the film for years, I thought it was time to read the book that inspired it. What a delight. The writing is suspenseful and clear. The characters are well drawn and three dimensional. The intersection of chapters that allows the reader to see what different characters are doing simultaneously is dynamic and keeps the reader intrigued.

As for the story itself, well it is simply brilliant. The action starts quickly and never lets up. Norman Bates is far more developed and sinister than in the film. Mary Crane is dark and depressing. Even Sam Loomis is complicated! Poor old Norman Bates just cannot seem to catch a break, well, until he has a break down.

The only complaint I have is that my very old used copy (that is aging and looks like was once for sale at the checkout of a supermarket) has quite a few spelling mistakes and weird errors: Lila becomes Lisa for 3 pages and punction is sporadic for a page! (I thought is was funny more so than anything else.)

The book is just superb. The last lines linger in your mind. I highly recommend it!

I have been reading this book and have only a little more than 23 pages to the end. However, so far, I have been bowled over by the strong use of language and the way themes and concepts are introduced! This is one book that I think could (and possibly should) be assigned to read in junior high or high school. That's how moved I am by it. The human condition is one of the central threads of the tlae and you and I being human can certainly relate to that if I'm not mistaken.

First off, I was a fan of the movie before I read the book. There's no doubt that the movie is a classic, a must-see for any fan of the horror genre and one of the scariest films of all time, but the book is a classic in itself. Essentially, the plot in the book is the same as the movie, but there are big changes in dialogue and in several other details (Ex. The character Mary Crane is named Marian in the movie, Norman in the book offers Mary coffee to go with her food while Norman in the movie offers Marian milk.)

The biggest difference is that Norman Bates in the book isn't the clean-cut kid that we see in the movie. Anthony Perkins was great as Norman, but the Norman in the book is someone that a lot of people can level with: Anthony Perkins plays as the twenty-something mama's boy, Norman in the book is a 40 year-old pervert with a lot of personal problems that are pretty much out in the open for the reader to see (he's an alcholic for one thing.) With the movie, it is difficult to see how Norman deals with his struggles with Mother, and we see him as someone that we can easily sympathize with because aside from his anger towards his mother, and his willingness to protect her after the murders began, he still seems to be a pretty nice kid until we discover the truth that he is his mother. The original Norman that we see is a chilling portrayal of a sexually-repressed psychopath(with more than one personality, of course.) When it comes down to it, the Norman we see in the book is grittier and more true to life than in the movie, which is not to insult Hitchcock or Perkins.

The book itself is fast-paced and an easy read, not all good books need esoteric prose or footnotes at the end of every sentence, and although the movie has definitely outlived the book, the book is where the idea came from in the first place; if not for Psycho the book, Psycho the movie would never exist. We also shouldn't forget that this novel was written by Robert Bloch, a master of the horror genre, respected and loved by the best writers in the field (if you don't believe me, check out Appreciations of the Master by Robert Bloch, edited by Richard Matheson and Ricia Meinhardt) For me, Psycho is good read that is worth re-reading at no great cost (it only took me a day to read the darn thing for goodness sake!)

Mummy's boy murderer.

If you ever suspect that you might be in a horror movie scenario, don't stop at a dodgy looking creepy motel, with a rather creepy guy giving off some bad vibes. If you are stuck in the sixties, I guess you have some more excuse at not being au fait with what not to do to avoid the slaughterer in this scenario. Anyway, definitely a good book.

This book leans more towards being a psychological read, rather than pure blood splattering horror.

Yes, Mary gets murdered and the same theme you have witnessed in the movie unfold here. She steals money, goes on the run, wrestles her inner demons and decides to go back home and face the music. The book shadows her life as she takes this path but takes an entirely different direction when she innocently meets Norman Bates - not knowing that her agonised self analysis and contemplations will be cut short as will her life.

Here you enter the mind of Norman Bates... the mental tortue... the feelings of inadequacies... the manifested fear... the sense of not belonging, but achingly, wanting to. Although Norman himself knows he does not belong to the 'normal' realm of society, he lacks courage and does nothing to change his life. Afterall, the comfort of what you have always known is a lesser evil to the comparative effort it would take to rebel - to have a family, friends, "be a man". And it also eliminates the harsh truth of society shunning you, deeming you unworthy.

The writing is very simple and easy to follow yet the simple thought processes of Norman are gripping. Overall, the atmosphere is one of subtle yet mounting sheer 'creepiness'. You cannot wait to turn a page, learn more of delusional Norman, what makes him do what he does and bring us right into what he has become. Which is, delightfully, one of the most complex psychopaths i have ever read about. A thoroughly thrilling psychological study with a well devised plot to keep the pages turning!

Everything was in order and I was glad that it came just a few days later. Thank you.

Titus is the play for our day of crumbling and self-destructing empire; this fable has much to teach us now. As the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. warned us: Either we learn to live together as brothers or we die apart as fools.

Here we find fool brother killing brother, citizen killing citizen, the extreme abuse of the most vulnerable and pure, the excessive cruelty of wealth and power, a fable for our age.

Here in the Third revision series from Arden (the first presentation nearly one hundred years old and thus this represents one of the most ancient, traditional and continual series of Shakespearean texts, unlike certain far more recent and much less reliable usurpers of the "traditional" crown) we may discover a nearly impeccable edition of this four hundred year old much maligned and frequently orphaned text, a fable for our present times.

The editor Jonathan Bate presents strong and nearly undeniable reasons for his selection of readings from Quarto, Folio and emended editions, including of course Theobald and Capell but also the most recent scholarship and productions. His use, for example of "Muly lives" rather than "Mulietus" is admirable, as is his conflation of false starts, later additions, and other lines always clearly indicated in other typeface and explained fully in the footnotes and introduction.

Nevertheless, I found some of his interpretation unfortunate. I believe this play not a comedy but an exposure of the absolute corruption to which power and wealth lead us. It is not comedy but an exposure of our depravity. It is not to laugh but to weep, and to repent, and to resolve to live in peace and communal cooperation and compassionate concern, to learn to live together as brothers, although not as these. It is thus a morality play, not a comedy; yet we now have no concept of such a thing, and thus laugh where we must repent, and revolt.

His continual praising and uncritical reference in the footnotes to the televised BBC and to the Warner productions also calls into question his judgment. I cannot imagine, for example, admiring bringing in the cannibal banquet table singing as did the Warner = "Heigh ho it's off to work we go!" as anything other than an inappropriate, anachronistic indulgence.

In short about half of the footnotes might easily and gratefully find blue pencil from a compassionate and wise editor of this edition who can distinguish personal interpretation and opinion from scholarly fact. As well, a basic rule for those who wish to define or explain words is never to make the definition more complex nor obscure than the word being defined, nor make the definition so general as to be useless. Thus we find the terms suffrages and tyrannies in Act Four defined completely as "key terms in the political lexicon" rather than explaining their significance in terms of Act One. This is neither helpful nor necessary.

In short, about half of the footnotes may be eliminated to the benefit of this great book, as they cast doubt upon the reliability of the edition itself, and this edition seems nearly impeccable.

this is a very violent play, but there are actually a lot of crude humor (think of it as a Quintin taratino film, except it's a book). it takes on ancient dicotomy between civilization and wilderness. the movie is good as well

I'm a shakespeare fan and I love the story that this one tells.
Sure, gore, blood, and a great deal of depression around the middle, but what story now-a-days isn't?
Great story, love it!

This is perhaps The Bard's least well known work, but a classic nonetheless. If H. G. Lewis had been a playwrite living in Old England, this is no doubt the kind of drama he might have produced. It has more blood & violence than the most exploitive exploitation film. Heads severed off, murdered children baked into a stew & served to their father, rape, vengeance, mayhem, insanity... all served up in the guise of classic literature. PERFECT!

This is a fantastic book for all Christians interested in a biblical perspective of UFOs. As a Christian, I already knew the source of UFOs, however this book made me realize how much of a demonic agenda the UFO craze really is. And it's going to get worse. Highly recommended.

At times this book is a little dry and a bit academic, but over all this book does an EXCELLENT job of disecting the UFO phenomena. The first part of the book is on evolution, and the problems with the theory of evolution, and how our beliefs about the origins of life affect how we view numerous aspects of the world in which we live in. Then Gary moves on to show how most UFO's sightings are explainable. Then Gary delves in and deals with that small percentage of UFO/alien encounters that aren't explainable by any other means but the supernatural. He then exposes what the UFO naughts really are, an ancient enemy of man. Very worth the read.

I've been saying this for years: Aliens are actually demonic beings, under command by Satan himself to deceive the world and turn people away from Jesus Christ.

I know, UFO believers and non-Christians alike will look at the above statement and laugh. I can understand this. It really does sound ridiculous from the alien-believer's/non-Christian's point of view. But if it really is so ridiculous, why aren't you reading this book? Shouldn't you know ALL skeptical points of view that oppose yours so that you can properly defend your position? It obviously can't hurt, right? If anything, you'll get a good laugh, and it will prove your point even more.

But I don't believe you'll be laughing after reading this book, nor do I believe it will prove your point. I believe Gary Bates' point of view will prove to be much more valid. It is a fresh, and much more believable take on the UFO/Alien phenomenon. If you're open-minded to ANY possibility of what these creatures are and what the UFO phenomenon is, I think you'll find that Gary Bates presents the most compelling logic and research that backs up his point. This guy knows his stuff.

Pick up this book, no matter how ridiculous you think its premise is. I think you'll be presently surprised, and it might just change your mind on some things.

Bates quotes UFO researcher Dr. J. Allen Hynek in the book:

"The attitude we are taking in the Center for UFO Studies is that since we are going
to have scientists involved, we will push the physical approach as hard and far as
we can; instrumentation, physical evidence, photographs, radar records. If we are finally
forced by the evidence itself to go into the paranormal, then we will."

This is Bates' approach in this book and he does a superb job of exploring the subject:

- First, he traces the development of science-fiction.
- He explores "science-fact", demonstrating that intergalactic communication and travel is scientifically impossible.
- He examines the `evolution connection' to UFOs. To wit, IF, 1) life evolved here by chance; and 2) there are likely innumerable planet systems in the universe; THEN 3) it follows that life has doubtless evolved elsewhere. Interestingly, `aliens' often affirm the theory of evolution in their messages.
- Bates then offers a sound rebuttal of evolutionary theory. Further, he delineates the delicate balance of `finely-tuned' factors necessary for life to exist and how unlikely it is that such an environment exists outside of Earth.
- Bates' also examines the `religious connection'. This connection appears both in the messages of the `aliens' and in the lives of the contactees. The `alien' messages always reflect New Age beliefs, usually denying that Jesus is the Son of God. Also, those involved in the New Age or the Occult are far more likely than others to have such encounters. Many others become obsessed with these after encountering `aliens'.
- The author then examines what the Bible has to say about demons and their activities and the practices of those who worshipped them.
- Next, he surveys ancient and other historical accounts of people who claimed to have had encounters with demons, fairies and other fantasy creatures. It is stunning how the accounts of those who claim to have ecounterd 'aliens' align precisely with these ancient narratives.
- In detail, Bates' surveys the research, experience and conclusions of prominent UFO researchers; demonstrating that though most of the accounts have been debunked, many remain unexplained. He comes to the conclusion that UFOs are a spiritual phenomenon, demonic in nature. This is not a unique conclusion. Other researchers involved with the subject for many years, secular and Christian, have come to similar and identical conclusions for solid and rational reasons.

One investigative group that came to the above conclusion was CE4, founded by Joe Jordan and Wes Clark. Bates observes, "CE4 discovered, by means of practical research and not pre-existing belief in Christianity, that the Bible provided answers to the nature of this spiritual battle. It has been written of these researchers, `Jordan and Clark did not start out as Bible-pounders with a point. In fact, quite the opposite; they were just looking for truth like everyone else. It was the research they did and the data they found that made believers out of them." Indeed, Clark was not religous at all and Jordan was a crystal-waving New Ager - yet both became believers in Christ through their research.

What Jordan & Clark found was a `dual' theme in their research. First, committed Christians were rarely found among the encounter/abduction victims. Second, those that were found (including `half-hearted' or `backslidden' Christians) among the victims were able to stop the experience by invoking the name of Christ. Jordan contacted many of the leading abduction researchers in the U.S. and every single one of them confirmed these very same patterns in their own research. They stay silent about these facts because they don't know what to make of them and do not want to be ridiculed and ostracized by their colleagues.


Many will scoff at this, but such protests are usually rooted in a dogmatic materialism; refusing to acknowledge any reality beyond what can be seen, measured, tested, etc. People like this remind me of another quote in the book by UFO researcher Jacques Vallee:

"I could expect no cooperation from most of the UFO believers who were willing to help me only to the extent that my conclusions would support their preconceived idea that UFOs are extraterrestrial visitors to the earth."

Like the true-believers dismissed above by Vallee, fundamentalist atheists will disregard any conclusions that do not conform to their stanch, predetermined rejection of anything beyond the material universe.

That Carl Sagan's book, 'The Demon- Haunted World', is suggested as a rational alternative is laughable. Sagan was a dogmatic atheist who famously asserted that, 'The Cosmos is all there is, ever was, or ever will be'. That is a bald statement of faith, not a scientific conclusion. It is IRRATIONAL to assume that nothing lies beyond the grasp of science. The genuinely rational approach is that of Hynek, quoted above.

Many will disagree with Bates' conclusions and that is fine. But it would be a mistake to dismiss them as fundamentalist nonsense. He does have a 'prior faith commitment' to Christianity, as Sagan did with atheism; but his work is honest, thorough and very persuasive.

I knew there were two aliens/UFO camps: those who believe we're being visited by aliens, and those who don't believe we are. I hadn't realised there was a third camp: those who believe these "aliens" are demons. For those willing to swallow the existence of demons in the first place, I guess this is great news for them.

For a rational treatment of the alien abduction phenomenon in modern society, read "Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens" by Susan A. Clancy, and of course Carl Sagan's "The Demon-Haunted World".

Linden Dungy is a third grader that questions what his 'it' is. Old brother, Tony, is great at basketball, everyone's found their niche but him.

'You Can Do It' is an inspirational read to be shared with children to encourage them to strive to always do their best. It was a gracious read, no real excitement, just an example of some of the trials that youngsters go through.

I liked that this book has a very positive message. The main character is disheartened because he doesn't know what he wants to be in life. Everyone around him seems to know and he feels left out. His family is encouraging and helps him to consider his interests and what appeals to him. He's a young child. Before the book concludes he has found what he wants to be in life, career-wise. I think it's a nice story but find it somewhat annoying that like most childrens' books the answer is clear and easy to find. I think it might have been better if the family helped him remain positive and make it clear that one day he will know. This book, and so many like it really offer pat answers to children in a world where they are usually hard to come by. I think it is more helpful to teach them that answers don't always come quickly or easily. I do like that the author points to God as the one who creates our drive and desires but doesn't try to over-spiritualize the childs' pursuits. He offers practical suggestions in a child-sensitive way. This really isn't appropriate for toddlers and young children. There is a lot of writing on each page which makes little readers eager to move forward through the book. Still, it's a nice read.

You Can Do It! YES, You Can! Tony helps guide his little brother, Linden, to determine his dream. Tony follows the example of his parents by putting faith, self-reflection, along with the love and support of family to the test. Even though Linden acts up at school (sometimes) the positive reinforcement from his devoted family helps him see God's plan for his life. As Linden discovered his dream and when he did the support of positive community leaders and his family made all the difference.

This Christian based book was written for children ages 4-8. However, this inspirational story can be enjoyed by young old alike. The remarkable illustrations will provide hours of enjoyment for the kids in any household - especially young African American boys. There are several points in the book that should have everyday occurrences in households across America - committed families, prayer at dinner, active in sports, and striving daily towards a dream. Share this fantastic story with kids and help them achieve their dreams - whatever they may be.

Deltareviewer

A true to life and feel good book you want your children to read. A great family book. Parris Martin

I debated whether to write a review or not - as a Patriot's and Sox's fan.
Well, I think the book is pretty good. It is a simple life story that could have happened to many kids, and maybe many adults too - not knowing their purpose in life.
As the book tells us:
Be free to dream,
Have faith, and
God will answer in HIS most magical way.

I received a quality product in a timely fashion. I couldn't ask for anything better.

The book presents a very detailed introduction to orbital mechanics. However, it does not deal with spacecraft rotations, which are an important part of spacecraft motion. Therefore, the book is advisable if you are planning to study only orbital mechanics. I would recommend that you refer to another text book if you want a more complete introduction to astrodynamics.

The book is a classic in the field of astrodynamics, but that is exactly what it is: outdated. The book is designed with engineering students in mind, who do not have a deep understanding of physics and especially mathematics (calculus isn't the summit of mathematics!). The book ends where it starts to get interesting (real-life situations). Yes, many books only deal with ideal situations, which can be solved explicitly, but a book on astrodynamics naturally means that you are dealing with the physical reality of imperfection, so deal with it.

However, if you don't know anything of astrodynamics and you are interested in an introduction this is a good (and cheap, thanks to Dover publications' reprints) place to start. Don't be fooled, however, it's not a book on orbital mechanics, since there is a lot more mathematics to orbital mechanics than is shown in this book (e.g. numerical methods, perturbations and averaging methods). A very comprehensive book on astrodynamics is by Vallado, for those who want a complete overview and lots of pseudocode computer programmes (although even that book is not state-of-the-art).

This is an excellent text for students and professionals working in aerospace engineering, physics and astronomy. Good luck finding an astrodynamics book more clearly written and illustrated.

The math is accessible to any serious undergraduate student in the physical sciences. Admittedly, the mathematical treatment is a bit dated, geared toward a 1970's engineer with a slide rule. However, a good Matlab programmer can just take the formulas and go from there using modern methods on a desktop computer.

This is a practical book that focuses on helping the reader master the basic physics, coordinate transforms and methods for dealing with a body's translational motion in a central-force gravity field. It does not cover more advanced topics such as rotational dynamics, gravity models, or navigation & control systems. The historical anecdotes are great - fascinating and pertinent as well. This may not be the end-all book on astrodynamics, but it's a reference I always keep close at hand.

An excellent introduction that is VERY readable. Chapter 4 has a nice section on using Universal Formulation for time of flight. Intro books costing over $100.00 are not of this quality. This book is a rare case where you get more than you pay for.

This book is a breeze to read, the author made it as much as a no brainer as possible. Unlike books written on the same subject by Wrox, which is extremely dry. The beginner's topic on STL and the usage of STL libraries is a great starter for those who are not familiar with template programming. Fundamental topics like string handling, data type manipulation however should warrant a topic in itself, rather than being grouped together as a sub section. Eg. Safe Arrays, Variant Type, OLE/BSTRs strings and its many conversions. However it is still easy enough to pick up from the tons of examples that's available. The author also made sure that concepts like Smart Pointers and the different ways to initialize a COM object is clarified early to the reader.

Sadly, the topic on NT services was short, as the author has made it clear that they didn't want to cover it much. However should the author come up with a whole book dedicated to NT Services, MMC Snap-In development I would be the first to get it!

The topis covered on OLE-DB and the ADO object are adequate and a whole lot better compared to the many books out there that hardly even talk about it - why develop in COM if you're not going to use the database?. There's also a smattering of information such as NT's handling of security and persisting data from COM.

This book is well worth your time and money. Can't wait to get the .NET version! (Hopefully, ATL is still around by then)

I found numerous errors in the sample source, and not all the referenced projects were included on the CD. To top it off, in the one chapter I really needed, only the most basic project was included, and I couldn't glean everything else I needed from the text. Only buy this book if your dining room table needs a 2" shim.

This isn't the most famous nor the most recommended of ATL books (compared to ATL Internals and Richard Grimes's books), but I recommend it highly. I don't plan to become an ATL or COM expert any time soon, and I quickly found information here that wasn't available (or wasn't as well explained) in other sources.

This book helped me a lot in creating an Automation-compatible enumeration interface that VB can use with its "for each" construct, and testing this interface from C++ (which can be complicated).

It's not a classic (only classics deserve 5 stars), but it's been of sound practical use to me, and that's high praise indeed.

I agree to one of other reviewers: The auther got a good balance among explanatory text, diagrams, screen snapshots, and example code.

When I read this book, I keep asking myself how this guy knows so many details!

I have had this book for close to 3 years now. When I bought it I was just getting into c++ so it was kind of difficult but as I got more comfortable with the language I started to appreciate this book for what it is. This is a good buy for anyone who wants to go into ATL programming. I was especially happy with the coverage of connection points structured storage and enumerators/collections.

The coverage of these topics was a great help when I was developing a DOM and SAX implemantation for an XML parser I am writing.

However considering the .NET move in today's world this book may become a dinosaur soon but for anybody who needs to write ATL code, this is a great buy.

"ATL internals" is propably the best ATL book though.

I recommend these books (Your ONE Year Old, Your TWO Year Old, Your THREE Year Old, Your FOUR Year Old, Your FIVE Year Old, Your SIX Year Old, Your SEVEN Year Old, Your EIGHT Year Old, Your NINE Year Old, Your TEN-to-FOURTEEN Year Old. These books were writtten by Louise Bates Ames, PhD, Fances L. Ilg, MD and Sidney M. Baker MD of the Gesell Institute of Human Development. They are NOT a "how to" book for parents -- but rather provide a perspective of life from the child's various ages. I found the books to be of such value that I purchase the entire series for new parents. Somehow I forgot to purchase these books for my niece when she started her family. She expressed some concerns about her seven year old son's behavior (that I knew from experience to be that typical of seven year olds). I purchased the books from the series that will help my niece from here on. She LOVES them! I have a feeling she will use them and pass them along to other parents. My original set are part of my permanent library. I highly recommend these books for your permanent library as well!

There is something gratifying about having your parenting instincts justified by official child experts. Most of parenting is a gut-based exercise but this sort of books gives parents a few tools and tactics to help deal with the age of two. The more we know about the mindset and developmental nuances of our children, the better we can be to them. This little book is full of interesting points about the psychology of a blossoming 2 year old. Concise and insightful. I totally recommend it!

I love this entire series, but they are SOOO dated (first published in the 70s!) Great advice is sprinkled in with references to mom staying at home while dad works, the MOTHER's responsibility to get the baby on schedule, etc. If they would only update this series with an eye towards two-career families or families in which the father takes a more active role, I think more readers would be able to digest this very good information without gritting their teeth at the outdated (and now sexist) references to parental roles.

This is not one of those "do X to solve your child's Y problem." It basically just lets you know what is going on with your 2 and 2.5 year old. The researchers observed 1000's of two year olds over several years and this book is the culmination of their research - in an easy to read format, as well. They do offer general advice - take it with a grain of salt because some of it is REALLY outdated. But the insights on what is going on, what to expect, what's "normal", and the list of toys and books appropriate for two year olds is invaluable. AND, at under 150 pages it is a quick read (since most parents of three year olds don't have much time to do so).

The editors really need to revise this book to reflect modern times. It assumes every mom is a stay at home mom and every family has 2 heterosexual parents. The kicker was when it suggested that some moms get together with their kids and develop playgroups, and how they were starting to see it as a trend. Oh, I almost forgot about the suggestion about how moms should try putting their children in part time child care for the day to give themselves breaks. Again, this assumes every mom is a stay at home and "Father" is the primary breadwinner.

The book was a waste of money. I strongly suggest you stay away from this - at least until it gets edited for the 21st century.

Good Job MEC


A very good book that gives valuable information on black powder pistols and their history. The author does a superb job on keeping it straight giving the latest and greatest. Along with the past of shooting pistols and percussion revolvers.

I am pleased with the book with one major exception. The book's promotional material here on Amazon shows large color pictures. Copy these for your viewing pleasure because that is all you are going to see. The book in a smaller format and everything is printed in black & white. The diagrams of the pistols parts, text in the pictures, etc are too small to see and be useful. The textural information however is VERY good. This is the only book I have found on the subject but it's presentation could be improved upon.

Well-written, lots of information about caplocks during their brief but important period of use. I was not disappointed in the reason for purchase which was the honest reviews of modern replicas. The only reason for 4 instead of 5 stars are the pictures and awful Old English font used. A 19th century one would have been better. Maybe in the 2nd edition they will make some changes.

This is a fun little book, obviously a labor of love by the authors. The coverage of performance is not all-inclusive, but the historical information is interesting and you can infer the authors' preferences for certain brands of reproductions. They missed the Rogers & Spencer revolver, though there aren't many of them around. I like the R&S grip and it's a solid design, so too bad they didn't cover it. The book does cover the Colts and the Remington New Army pretty thoroughly, along with a few others that were of less interest to me. It steered me away from the Walker and Dragoon Colts and convinced me I had to have an 1851 Navy Colt, though I bought a .44-cal version that's compatible with my other cap-and-ball revolvers. The authors didn't test the .44-cal, only the more-common .36-cal.

What this book needs more than anything else is copy editing. There are many consistent misspellings, which detract from the pleasure of reading it. That's why I gave it only 4 stars. Perhaps the authors can find a friendly local English teacher to clean up the manuscript before the next edition.

Nice little book, full of information about various types of handguns. I liked the opinion bits about various gun makers, the load charts for each gun, nice amount of information (including history)- even for a novice to the sport. I like the range test details and comparisons to modern weapons too.
At least one reviewer mentioned the poor photographs, I don't remember the technical term but they're printed newspaper style (too hard to look at) and would be helped if they were larger. The old English script(why use that?)on these pictures is very hard to read at this scale, in one instance it's impossible. Fortunately the real information is in each chapter instead of the pictures.
My biggest complaint is that while various gunmakers/ dealers/ parts suppliers are mentioned you don't get an address or website for any of them. Many of the readers of this book will already have these bits but they should be provided for the novice as well.

This seller was refreshingly terrific to do business with. The order came so quickly and even though it was considered used when purchased, it is in perfect condition. Buying with this seller restored my faith in my amazon purchases. Highly recommended seller.

Some aspects of this book are helpful. For example, the information about what to expect developmentally from the six year old. But some aspects are dated. Also, the authors suggest to ignore a bit more than I am comfortable with in terms of bad behavior.

This book is helpful, in that it assisted my husband in better understanding that all of the crazy things our daughter does are perfectly normal for a child her age. It is also a cute book because I believe it was written in the 1960's or 1970's, so there are very dated wordings. Overall, a good, light-hearted book that celebrates children in all of their unique ways!

This book and the others in the series are a must have for any parent. The author provides realistic, helpful insights into who children are at each stage and what they need to be successful. Understanding why children behave the ways they do make it much easier to face any negative behaviors with a smile and a hug.

"It's just a phase," characterizes most of childhood, but some phases are harder than others. And that's where I found myself with my six-year-old. Overnight she became whiny, clingy, and defiant one minute and her normal good-natured self the next.

Reading this book gave me great insight into her behavior and reassured me that this phase too will pass.

This is an indispensable reference for professional geologists as well as amateurs. Some terms that have fallen out of use are defined with obsolete concepts, but those do turn up every now and then in both amateur and professional contexts. No doubt it needs to be revised soon. However, most of us have a copy and many of us need it.

This is a great book... it has not let me down yet! It is an absolute essential for anyone interested in rocks, minerals, gemstones, and the earth in general.

To all working geologists!
You should all have this on your desks! I used it to study for the ASBOG exam and have since found it invaluable in my working life. It has all the odd and obscure geological terms that we all have heard in college but have since forgotten.
Its a great reference!

There is no way I could have survived 4 years of college level geology without this text. This is a must have book for the student of the geological sciences.

As scientific dictionaries go, this one is fairly complete. Good coverage is afforded esoteric terms. Somehow, I have the feeling, though, that the book is more attuned to rockhounds than it is to professional geologists. The book lacks diagrams or photos. In a good many instances, this would afford a newcomer a bettle handle on the term being defined.

For all of this, it is a handy guide when looking at particular rocks or strata, but its real virtue lies in being at the student's hand when attempting to unwind a treatise confounded by excessive verbiage.