Bloom Books

to long and not enough actio

To Kill A Mockingbird is a novel which shows the injustice to blacks in the South in the 1930's. It depicts a time when men were forced to be slaves, maids, and servants for other men, and not everyone was created equal.

A wonderful classic story of compassion, hatred, courage, and racial prejudice.
Harper Lee who is the young narrator Scout, tells the story of Jem and Dill struggling to grow up in Maycomb; "a tired old town where rainy weather turns streets to red slop, and days seem longer and drawn out." In this quiet little town, and unexpected event occurs which forces two different races together. Atticus who is the father of Jem and Scout, must defend Tom Robinson, a hard working young Negro man for a crime he is accused of during a difficult time of racial prejudice. Tolerance is an important theme throughout the story in the characters Jem, Atticus, and Calpurnia woven across race and age lines.
Filled with love,wisdom,and life,this book immediately draws you in by showing you the adventures and education of life through the eyes of a seven year old.

my review is short...It is now my most favorite book. It is a book I couldn't put down. I've read it twice in the past year. It also made me cry. It was given to me by someone very special who also treasured this classic. Although it was written many years ago, there are things I still see very real in the south that were in the book. I have now passed it on to my nephew(a recent law school graduate)for him to read. It is a must read.

To Kill A Mockingbird is absolutely one of the best books I've ever read. Lee writes very simply and truthfully about racial prejudice in 1930's Maycomb, AL. The story begins as Atticus Finch is defending a black man on the charge of raping a white woman. Lee describes in great detail how Scout and Jem, Atticus' children, come of age as they learn about the trial and how a jury of twelve white men refuse to look past the color of a man's skin and convict him of a crime he did not commit. Lee's writing is effective because she brings a simple truth to light: when the children ask Atticus to explain injustice, he tells them that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. A friend explains to them, "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

Lee never preaches to the reader, but her subtle comparison and contrast of the innocence of the children in the face of so much corruption is one of the most compelling aspects of this novel. The innocent are persecuted while the guilty go unpunished. I highly recommend this book.

I think that this story was very well-written and extremely interesting. The tension between Mr. Darcy and Ms. Bennett give the book enough suspense to hold the reader's attention while the other characters unfold the plot around them. Very entertaining and involving for the reader.

I think this book is great. I just read it to do a book report on it (i'm in junior hi) and didn't expect to like it. I thought the way it was written would be more like anna karenina or something. I read it and totally loved it. I have seen both the A&E movie version and the BBC one. I thought both were great. I loved Darcy and Elizabeth. The ending leaves so many possibilities to be thought of. If you didn't like this book, guy from NY, why bother to write a page on it?

Even though I usually shy away from anything labeled 'romantic'. What a great novel! I am on my second copy due to an unfortunate bathing accident. Jane is witty, smart and her writing never gets tiresome. Wherever you are Jane, thank you!

A masterpiece. I consider this to be the authors finest piece. The only fault I found were the lenghty descriptions and at times the story lagged as is true to the time period. Elizabeth Bennet proved to be a worthy charature as well as Mr. Darcy. They were both very interesting charactures and in the end I felt as to kow them. I was much surprised to find out about Mr. Wickhams charature, he was not what I had thought him to be.

i read pride and prejudice last summer. I can't stand the book! Its a chick flick for the ages. I will never read it again!

Sheridan's 1777 farcical treatment of upper class snobbery and reputation ruination sparkles even two centuries later--whether on the boards or on the pages. Delightfully irreverent this five-act play entertains despite its period setting, for costumes, accessories and expressions can not detract from the basic functioning and foibles of human nature. The Dover Thrift edition includes A PORTRAIT (flattering poem addressed to a possible patroness), a PROLOGUE written by Garrick, an acclaimed actor-manger, and an EPILOGUE written by Mr. Colman. Yet the actual dialogue stands alone, in never-ending waves of wit and satire.

Offering an extensive cast these 75 pages reveal the worst of Sheridan's 18th century Society; the last names alone indicate shamelessly
the predominant character flaws among the self-centered cheats, flatterers and hypocrites: Mrs. Sneerwell, the Surface brothers, Lady Teazle, and Mrs. Candour among others. Literary gimmicks include
mistaken identities, overhead conversations and outrageous distortion of the facts which precipitates shocking rumors. No one's reputation is safe, while some characters delight in spouting Sentiments--moralizing platitudes.

The machinations of this cast of zanies who take themselves most seriously--whether motivated by love or money--provide amusing fodder
for those who appreciate Comedy raised to the heights of an art form. Audiences and readers alike will experience the entire gamut of humor in this slender volume, for bon mots are interspersed among the devious plottings and dastardly scheming of the various characters--often at direct odds with each other. Lessons of Life and morality can be learned (possibly by lack of proper example) if one enrolls in this entertaining School for Scandal.

Playwright, poet, and politician Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816) did not produce many works--some sources note that he was frequently afflicted with writer's block--but among them were two titles that have remained constants of world theatre: THE RIVALS (1775) and THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL (1777.)

In may respects THE SCHOOL SCANDAL anticipates the slightly later novel LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES (1782) by de Laclos, for both works present portraits of a hypocritical social world that amuses itself--and fiercely manipulates others--through rumor, scandal, and extra-marital affairs. But where LIAISONS is essentially a portrait of evil machinations that succeed against virtue, SCANDAL is a witty portrait of evil machinations that fail when confronted by personal integrity. Sparkling with wickedly amusing malice, it is a gossamer farce that draws heavily upon the earlier Restoration styles of Wycherly and Congreve but molds them into a less uncompromising turn of mind.

The central plot turns upon two brothers, Joseph and Charles Surface, both of whom are wards of the wealthy but long absent Sir Oliver. Joseph appears to be an upstanding member of society; Charles appears to be a wild spendthrift--but appearances are deceiving, for in truth Joseph is miserly and vicious where as Charles is generous and open-hearted. The Lady Sneerwell has determined to have Charles for a lover; as such she works with Joseph to break Charles' attachment to Maria, who is the ward of Sir Peter Teazle.

Although the plot arises from Lady Sneerwell's determination to capture Charles Surface, the actual focus of the play falls on Sir Peter and Lady Teazle. Sir Peter sought and married a significantly younger and socially unstudied country girl--but once she set foot in London she unexpectedly transformed into a lady of fashion. Indeed, Lady Teazle has fallen in with Lady Sneerwell and her malicious circle, where talk consists almost exclusively of maliciously witty gossip that greatly damages its subjects. Thinking herself above suspicion, Lady Teazle determines to have an affair with Charles Surface... and becomes a victim of "the school for scandal" herself.

As it unravels the plot includes mistaken identities, impersonations, and farcical situations--the "screen scene" is particularly famous--but then as now the great thing about THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL is its dialogue. The play is in theory a moral lesson on the immorality of gossip and its attendant dangers, but most of its humor actually arises from the wildly funny nature of the malacious gossip that colors every scene. The lines are like rapiers, and whether on the page or in the hands of experienced players they ring with hilarity. It is a gossamer flyweight, true--but no less artful or influential for that. Strongly recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

The School for Scandal was a pleasant surprise. We meet devious and unscrupulous characters, not the ragtag pickpockets found in later stories by Dickens, but self-centered members of the leisure class in London. The cast includes the appropriately named Lady Sneerwell, Mr. Snake, Mr. Crabtree, Sir Benjamin Backbite, Mrs. Candour, and the superficial Mr. Surface - individuals all too capable of undermining the most refined and honest reputations with innuendoes and ingenious fabrications.

Unlike the literature and poetry of the preceding centuries, footnotes are not needed for this late eighteenth century play. I read the entire play in a single session, and clearly this is a comedy to be relished, one whose enjoyment comes as naturally today as when it was first staged at Drury Lane theater in London in 1777.

Why does Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play still resonate with today's audience? Sheridan offers a deliciously humorous look at that fascinating and seemingly unchanging human characteristic, the propensity to gossip, to tell tales about others with only limited concern for the truth. Like Mrs. Candour, we all claim to abhor gossip, and would not ourselves consider creating fictitious tales, but are we immune from conveying stories about others, even stories which are suspect?

Lady Sneerwell rationalizes: Wounded myself in the early part of my life by the envenomed tongue of slander, I have since known no pleasure equal to the reducing others to the level of my own injured reputation.

Mr. Snake, another memorable villain, explains: I beg your ladyship ten thousand pardons: you paid me extremely liberally for the lie in question, but I unfortunately have been offered double to speak the truth.

The School for Scandal is a classic example of an English comedy of manners. The dialogue is witty and entertaining. The plot is elaborate and contrived, but always maintains interest and momentum as Sheridan brings his intertwined subplots to an entertaining and satisfactory conclusion. Along the way we encounter devious plots and counterplots, disguised identities, and outrageous behavior. It is great fun.

Sheridan's phrase "school for scandal" is a grand metaphor for the gossipy London society of the late 1770's, and the longevity of the play that bears it as its title attests to its relevance in any place and time. Sheridan captures the inherent drama and humor in the truism that people are always talking about other people behind their backs and uses it as a foundation on which to devise a plot of intrigue.

The school's "principals" are Lady Sneerwell and a man named Snake, who like to collect gossip about their neighbors and others in London society; one of their cohorts is the brilliantly ironic character Mrs. Candour, who openly reprehends idle gossip but blithely participates in it anyway. One of their favorite subjects of gossip is the Surface brothers, Joseph and Charles. The popular perception is that Joseph is responsible and respectable, while Charles is a wastrel and a miscreant.

The Surface brothers' uncle, Sir Oliver Surface, returns to London after spending many years in India, hears the rumors about his nephews, and decides to verify them for the purpose of choosing an heir between the two. Since he has been gone so long that his nephews would not recognize him, he visits them incognito. Posing as a moneylender to Charles, and as a poor relative to Joseph, he discovers that his nephews are not quite of the natures he has been led to believe.

Sheridan employs some typical comedic devices like love triangles and hiding characters, but for the most part this is an inventive play that picks its targets well and hits the bullseye every time. Considering it was written at such a turbulent time in England's history, it's interesting that social satire still managed to break through greater national concerns and be successful and appreciated.

This book made it fun and delightful to follow how rumors and scandals are started. Anyone who wants a ligth hearted read in the style of a Shakespearean comedy, "School for Scandal" by Richard Sheridan is for you. It has the most entertaining characters, who anyone could recognize as being people they know and are friends with, and it pokes fun at soap-opera-like dramas that have forbidden loves and misleading coincidences. The situations that arise seem so unthinkable and impossible, and then you realize that you or someone you know has been there right down to the last detail. "School for Scandal" is a entertaining read for anyone who has ever passed on a rumor.

When "comprehension" becomes "understand" we are going backwards. As an instructional designer and professor of cognitive psychology, I am horrified. Comprehension is measurable. Understanding is not.

This book is a great addition to the original Blooms Taxonomy. I found it very informative and the explanations were very clear and helpful.

Until the 1950's the educational system within the United States had no consensus or continuity in its approach to learning. "Knowledge" by interpretation meant different things to different people and professional educators had no basis by which to tie together the cornucopia of theories. By definition, taxonomy is in its widest sense, the classification of any group of likened things to include principles and ideas. Benjamin Bloom designed a hierarchical taxonomy of cognitive skills for the educator who is designing curriculum and formatting educational standards and objectives. This cognitive domain is laid out in six areas now quite familiar to teachers: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
Knowledge is memorization, the ability of the student to recall information. The concept can be found in lesson plans that require the student to define, recall, or label. Examples of knowledge as a cognitive skill include learning the alphabet or memorizing important dates in history. Once the ability to gather information at the knowledge stage is mastered the student proceeds to comprehension. At this stage the student begins to see word clues such as "estimate", "explain", and "summarize". The student is not generating anything new but is putting learned knowledge into his / her own words. At the application stage the student learns to use the knowledge. Key words appear such as "apply", "compute", or "demonstrate". At the analysis stage the student begins to generalize information to new or different situations. The student has yet to create anything wholly new, however, the cognitive process has sequenced from basic recognition and memory skills to those tools needed for abstract thought and creation. In the next stage, synthesis, the student begins to see key words such as "compose", "create", and "modify". The pre-schooler has gone from recognizing a Lego toy to using the toys to create something new. In the final cognitive stage, evaluation, the student gains the ability to judge or critique. He / she can now compare the creations of others and validly support, explain, or defend the work.
The educator could now function in agreement with his / her fellows in designing curriculum in an environment of consensus. Why then did Drs. Anderson and Krathlwohl feel the need to revise Blooms work? The authors answered this question in the book's Preface by stating that there were two primary reasons: first, to refocus the attention of educators on the original Bloom's Taxonomy as a document not only historical in nature but valid in context of today's standards, and, secondly, to incorporate new knowledge and thought into Bloom's framework. Though it is not so stated in the Preface, much of this new knowledge and thought is in dealing with an ever-growing populace of divergent learners and likewise with an eye toward the population of children in low socio economic situations.
The revised Bloom's Taxonomy incorporates a framework that is no longer simply linear but a grid. In Anderson & Krathwohl's revision the original six components are renamed so that they still relate directly to the original taxonomy but in terms that are both more relevant to today and simplified. "Knowledge" becomes "remember", "comprehension" becomes "understand", "application" is simplified to "apply", "analysis" to "analyze", and "synthesis" becomes somewhat confusingly "evaluate" as "evaluation" changes to the more descriptive "create". This revision allows for the discrimination of higher order thinking even within the lower cognitive levels of Bloom's. For the teacher of special needs or struggling learners, this is especially useful. Simply put, you can go more places on a grid than you can on a straight line.
Anderson and Krathwohl subdivide the x-axis consisting of the renamed Bloom cognitive dimensions into a y-axis of four knowledge dimensions. These four dimensions are, like the cognitive dimensions, hierarchical. At the base is found factual knowledge; knowledge of terms, details, symbols, etc. Conceptual knowledge; classification, categorization, structures, etc follow this. From there the hierarchy advances to application with the dimension of procedural knowledge. At this level the student applies the facts and concepts. Here, for example, the student learns not only to recognize math symbols but also to apply them to an equation. The peak of this hierarchy is meta-cognitive knowledge. At this level the student applies strategies and self-awareness of his or her skills to the lesson.
This revision ranges then from remembering factual knowledge as the lowest cognitive function to creating something new with the application of meta-cognition to truly understand what has been created. The teacher can put this taxonomy to its fullest advantage by dissecting his / her exams and lesson plans to fully realize the potential of the student. It is the opinion of this reviewer that the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy is of particular use when dealing with the two extremes of the learning spectrum, the mentally disabled or struggling student and the student who excels academically. In the case of the student with cognitive deficits, the instructor who recognizes that his / her students may never pass beyond the lower processes of "remember" and "understand" in Bloom may still challenge and properly assess those students in both academic and adaptive areas by progressing from the factual knowledge dimension to procedural and meta-cognitive knowledge. With the latter, the student who is excelling and most likely placed in the school's gifted and talented program, the instructor may use Anderson and Krathwohl's revised taxonomy to insure that the student is not evaluating and creating based on memorization of facts and concepts but on using appropriate procedures and meta-cognitive skills to create something that is unique to that student's abilities.
This text is complete with examples of the taxonomy in practical application with the standards and objectives the teacher is familiar with. I am confident that once the basics of this revision are understood by the educational professional, the book will become a well-used tool in the real world of teaching today's students.

I found it is very easy to understand the two dimensions of revised taxonomy. Basically, this book is a pratical reference while conducting research and seeting instrutional objectives.

Anderson and Kratwohl (eds.) describe a taxonomy of learning and therefore teaching and assessing. Based on the original work of Bloom (1956) they develop further his ideas. Whereas Bloom described a taxonomy of the cognitive process, the new book introduces a 2nd dimension, and classifies the knowledge as such. The concepts are well described, in correct terms. Anyone teaching may easily follow the argumentation. It is shown why and how the two-dimensional taxonomy will be useful in planning, preparing and assessing curricula and lectures or "teaching events". Practical examples illustrate the well presented theory. The clear structure allows one to read the book as a whole as well as to pick out issues of special interest. It was useful for me as a Prof. at a University of Applied Sciences as a framework in order to better and quicker plan and organize a new curriculum. The book is recommended for both, new teachers at any level, as well as for experienced profs revising their lectures.

I wanted to make fondant candies and there are NO recipes in this book. There's also no recipe for penuche. The truffle recipes look easy and good, and there's some good information on working with chocolate, but I was disappointed by it.

This book made a great Christmas gift for my daughter. Thanks

This is a great book that shows you how to make fabulous candies at home easily.The author gives a wealth of information about chocolate and other ingredients, minimal equipment needed, and great recipes. My favorites are Caramel Chocolate Truffles, Orange-Hazelnut-Chocolate Clusters, Chocolate Nut Bark, and Mocha-Spice Fudge. Everyone on my list will be receiving homemade candy this holiday season.I enjoyed this book [...].My personal favorites are the truffles, especially the Green Tea Truffles

I made the classic truffles recipe from this book and it turned out great, my fiance ate the truffle middles before I got a chance to dip them.

Carole Bloom says that this book is "all about pleasure" on page 1. This 200-page book includes recipes and techniques for making a wide variety of candy and chocolates right in your own home.

The book is organized topically into chapters: Introduction, Ingredients, Equipment and Tools, Techniques, Truffles, More Chocolate Candies, Caramel Candies, Nut Brittles and Marzipan, Fudge Nougat and Divinity, Fruit Candies and an Appendix of Sugar Stages/Temperatures/Weights and Measurement Equivalents.

Using the chapters on techniques and ingredients, even the beginner will be able to create luscious truffles at home. While there are only 11 photographs in the book, the equipment chapter has several drawings that will enable you to locate the right tool.

Each recipe includes a brief introduction, an expected yield, a list of ingredients, paragraph-style instructions on how to prepare the recipe, and variations. Recipes include Tropical Clusters, Swiss Chocolate Truffles, and Florentines.

From the basic to the exotic, you are sure to find the candy recipe you need in this little book.

Before purchasing this book, I was hoping to find a biography on Ariel Sharon that gave a fair and objective presentation, as opposed to one that systematically glorified or vilified the former Prime Minister and Defense Minister of Israel. After all, Ariel Sharon is one of those figures that can easily be depicted as either hero or villain. Nonetheless, I decided to go with this book and got exactly what I was looking for: an unbiased account on the life of Ariel Sharon. No spin, no contortions. Just a fascinating story of a man who stirred so much controversy both inside and outside of Israel: both as a military and political leader.

In my opinion, this is the sort of book that both admirers and critics of Ariel Sharon can appreciate. This book recounts all of Sharon's major successes and failures, including the many controversies that surrounded him; the Jewish settlements, the Six-Day War, the invasion of Lebanon, the Sabra and Shatila massacre by Lebanon's Phalange group, the two Intifadas, the Greek Island Affair, and the disengagement of Jewish settlements, just to name a few. Besides Sharon's professional career, the authors also touch base on his personal life, which gives us a much clearer picture of Ariel Sharon outside the military and political spectrum.

Although despised by the Arab world, where Sharon was commonly referred to as "The Bulldozer" or "The Butcher," in a 2003 speech, Sharon made an interesting statement worthy of mentioning: "Israel wants to give the Palestinians what no else ever has: the opportunity to establish a state of their own. No one - not the Turks, nor the English, nor the Egyptians, nor the Jordanians - has ever given them this chance before." This sounds rather strange coming from a man who was once one of Israel's foremost supporters for the establishment of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories.

If you're looking for an informative, impartial, and well-written biography on Ariel Sharon - whether you love him or hate him - you can't go wrong with this book. I highly recommend it.

His brilliance as a commander of warriors is well documented and it's obvious he'll join the other great Israeli commanders in the mythology of Israel's saviors.

The incidents that caused some serious historians to level charges of war crimes against him (such as the massacres of civilians in Beirut when he was Defense Minister) is given little notice. The dismissive 'Some mistakes may have been made' and 'Stuff happens in war' excuses gloss over this tragedy and others early in his army career involving civilian deaths. Israel did investigate this massacre thoroughly and were very critical of his role in this so there is much information available.

There is very little analysis of the wisdom of Israel invading Lebanon when he was Defense Minister and if the government really gave him the orders to do so.

The fascinating story of how he acquired a large fortune including the largest private farm in Israel is largely ignored.

If your already a fan of Ariel Sharon, you'll find this book a good read and lots of new reasons to admire him.

With an unequivocal love and pride in my heritage, and an unwavering love and concern for the State Of Israel, I am always trying to improve my knowledge, of what "has been", "what is", and "what will be", relating to Israel. Not only for myself, but also for the responsibility, I was born with, to educate my son. We have watched DVD's on the history of Israel, and read many books, and one of the historical leaders, warriors, and character's, who shines through, among the most important, is Ariel Sharon. When I found this book, with no prior fanfare, or buildup, I briefly leafed through it. And one paragraph, caught my eye, that basically said: "An Israeli government vehicle with civilian plates, boarded an Egyptian ferry... the workers on board, easily recognized the rotund man, with the flowing white hair, in the back of the sedan. They knew him, as the most notorious, of all Israeli generals, Ariel Sharon... the man who six years earlier had crossed the same canal, at the head of a column of tanks, winning the pivotal battle in the Sinai campaign of the Yom Kippur War. He was now in Egypt on official, if covert, business, as Israel's minister of agriculture." With that passage, I purchased the 500-page book. Let me advise you, this is not an exciting, entertaining read. You're reading, not only the history of a remarkable man, but also the history of a country. Another reason, I believe the wording, isn't, continually jumping off the page, is the fact that it was translated. But, it was information, I was looking for on Sharon, and this book (Which is more like an encyclopedia!) delivered. This tome does not pull punches. Sharon, has made mistakes, and upset many people. I was raised to believe, that if you're not making somebody mad, you're doing something wrong. I learned, that there is way more infighting in Israeli politics then meets the eye. (At least mine.) But I'm sure someone from another country, seeking to learn more about America, like I want to learn more about Israel, would have the same impression. Until Sharon's recent stroke, there was not one war, in Israel's entire history, that he wasn't involved in. As a military leader, his troops loved to fight for him. He possessed "unusual, almost inhuman, courage." "Soldiers and officers who served with him in battle, all testify, that enemy fire, left Sharon unaffected." "He walked upright, impervious, his calm spreading through the ranks." Regardless of what rank he held, what command he lead, no matter what position he held, "his guiding light was always security. His creed, in its barest form" MAXIMUM SECURITY FOR JEWS." It is hard for me, to give the kind of singular rating, in 1 thru 5 stars, as listed above. But I had to. So I put 4 for the following reasons: As far as "encyclopedic" information, which is what I was searching for, this is a 5. But if you're looking for a smooth flowing, a "day at the beach" reading, this would be a 3. I hope I have provided both types of potential readers, the information you need. And I hope you will rate my review as such.

Like him or not, one thing that will become clear when you read this book is that Ariel Sharon will long be regarded as a military genius. Over and over you see a military man that defies the odds to produce remarkable victories against huge odds.

Sharon the man is more complex. Actually, it is very hard to know what to make of him, even after reading this incredibly well written and well researched book. I'm fairly certain that I admire the man Sharon, but there are some aspects of his personality that are troubling.

Overall this is a very nice book and well worth the read.

This is one of the first in a stream of new biographies of Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel from 2000 to 2005. He was many things. Firstly a son of rebellious Moshavniks who didn't like the reform of Kibbutz life. He fought in Israel's 1948 war of Independence and was wounded at the battle of Latrun. He led the paratroopers in revenge raids in the 1950s, famously in charge of unit 101. In 1956 he led the paratroopers at Mitle pass in the Sinai and suffered heavy losses. In 1967 he fought a set piece battle at Abu Agheila, defeating the Egyptian army, again in Sinai. In 1973 he famously crossed the canal into Egypt and helped surround the Egyptian third army, but was almost relieved for command for going to far. He helped found the Likud party, combining his own party, ShlomTzion, with Begin's Herut. He was in the agriculture ministry and also in charge of settlements at various times after 1977 and in the 1980s. He was famously discredited as Defense minister for his role in leading the 1982 war in Lebanon and the slaughter at Sabra and Shatilla. In 2000 he returned, Nixon like, from his ranch in the Negev and came to power as the country turned to him, a tough man, to wage war on the Palestinian terrorists then taking dozens of lives weekly. In 2005 he famously led the disengagement from the Gaza strip, reversing years of settlement in the territories. He fell into a coma in the late fall of that year after founding his new Kadima political party.

At one and the same time a hawk, a revolutionary, a pioneer, a warrior and a peacemaker, he was called a Nazi and a fascist by his detractors, the 'butcher of Beirut' and compared with Adolf Hitler by European leftists and Palestinian Islamists alike. But he was also purely Israeli in his long and diverse life.

This book is a good read, but it does not go deep enough into the many momentous parts of his life. His role in the Green Patrols and his ideas about the settlements as well as his role in restraint in 2001 before Operation Defense Shield are not discussed in detail, neither are his theories about demographics or the security fence. There is simply little analysis, the book seems partly pieced together from many breaking news articles, rather than an introspective history of his life, this is partly due to the events' recentness, but it harms the ability to get underneath the current events reports.

Seth J. Frantzman

... It is such a fun and entertaining book. It's not a deep, thought-provoking book by any means, but if you're five months pregnant like me ~~ you wouldn't care! It's written with passion and it keeps you turning the pages.

Catherine Elliot comes from a moneyed family; her parents threw her out on the streets when she refused to attend college. Down on her luck, she stumbles into a flowershop and found her destiny there. After several years of working there, she eventually buys the shop and renames it Bloom. And it becomes this huge success in New York City. Much more than she ever dreamed of.

It's not all work for Catherine. She manages to fall in love twice ~~ once with Kit, a Bostonian lawyer whose family would never accept Catherine. He leaves her to marry someone else. Then there's Piet Vanderveld, a dark-eyed Dutch who works with her first along the first flower shop then became her partner in Blooms.

Catherine's family also plays strong roles in this novel as well and it was interesting to see how they all perceive Catherine in the end. It doesn't matter that she has worked hard to provide for them ~~ they still expected more of her.

It was an interesting novel ~~ I finished it in a day. I was amazed when a friend of mine told me that this book was out of print ~~ I think it should be back in print! It's such a good read ~~ fun, saucy, sexy and entertaining! If you can get a hold of a copy of this book, I'd urge you to read it. It's perfect for those long lazy days at the beach or at the poolside.

...

This book is one of Nancy Thayer's earlier novels. I enjoyed reading it, although the main character seemed rather superficial at times. She also seems to fall into bed rather easily with some of the men in the novel with no consequences. The flower shops setting and her drive to succeed in spite of obstacles in her path are the best parts. She suffers from the coldness of her parents early in the story, but good luck and a good friend almost immediately prevent her from being too miserable. As long as you aren't looking for the depth of character in her later books, you'll be content.

This reminds me of Danielle Steele's books. Catherine achieves in business (flower shop), and in love (somewhat delayed). The wealthy family that disowned her eventually becomes dependent on her in a reversal of fortunes.
Catherine is not very likable as a rebellious teen, but grows on the reader as she develops and takes initiative. Throughout the book she remains jealous of her family and unable to let go of old baggage despite her successes.
The author pens some nice descriptions and builds a credible story.

Catherine grew up in a family who seemed to have it all. She was from "old money" and was sent to the best public schools, had the best clothes, a beautiful home and more. Unfortunately, Catherine lacked love and affection from her parents and siblings and when she turned 18 and decided not to go on to college - her parents told her she was on her own. This began a completely different style of life for Catherine. She had to work to support herself and she did so by working in a flower shop. Catherine's love for flowers propelled her to buy her own flower shop and thus a true success story was formed. Catherine seemed to have it all again, but like before she was still alone. The man she truly loved was married to another and the man she shared passion with couldn't give her his heart. Was she destined to live her life alone?

When I picked up Everlasting, I was under the wrong impression that it was a romance novel. Even though Catherine does find love in the end, that isn't what Everlasting is about. It's about growing up and learning to love yourself and find your own selfworth - that it isn't based on how others feel for you. Nancy Thayer did a great job of making Catherine seem real - she had feelings like we all do and not all of them are nice. Everlasting was a great story that I would highly recommend.

Nancy Thayer's book, Everlasting, was inspirational to me, just as her other books have been. Thayer is a wonderful, passionate womanist who subtly embraces feminity and the marvelous, complicated aspects of our yin energy. She writes about strong women who recognize that we find joy and fulfillment in areas other than romance and passionate love affairs. In this novel, she reminds us to be true to our nature: strong, expressive and goal oriented; and by being our true selves (and not the submissive, dansel in distress we appear to be in many romance novels) and honoring every aspect of our Self, by focusing on the other important aspects of our lives, instead of only on our need for male companionship, we can attract true love, a man who truly champions us. REW

A friend recommended this book. This is absolutely the best garden book I have obtained to date. It is very explanatory, easy to read, and just overall informative. I'd recommend it to everyone!!

I love Pam Duthie's books! She really does a wonderful job in presenting the various plants. The back of the book also has great plant info to help design unique gardens with tons of useful plant info. Great design category for color, wet, dry conditions....it's really the best book I've ever seen.
Tanya

When Continuous Bloom was released a couple of years ago, my gardening friends and I thought we'd died and gone to heaven. It was the first book ever to speak to the Midwestern perennial garndener, and to do so with such beautiful pictures and in a way we could understand, and actually take to the garden store and into our gardens with us. I never thought Pam Duthie would top Bloom,until I read her newest book, Continuous Color. It's the perfect complement to her first book, with pictures as beautiful building on the great design ideas laid out in "Color". Like "Bloom", "Color" gives the gardner many practical ideas for implementing beautiful shrubs into any landscape. I believe this book is a must have for any gardener, new or experienced.

I was very disappointed with this book. It is primarily a list of the author's favorite shrubs organized by month of best color. The quality of the pictures is uneven: some are good but others are too shadowed, or the plant blends into the background, or the shrub described is so hidden by other plants its features can't be seen. The plant descriptions and growing information are both pretty basic, the details easily gleaned from catalogs. The "Insider's Tips" are sometimes informative but way, way too short - if the author is an expert with these shrubs she should share more of that expertise here. The listing of 2 or 3 plants in each of the "Combines With" sections is valuable however, but overall this book is overpriced and uninformative.

I must be honest and tell you that I'm the editor of this book, so my rating is potentially biased. But I did want to let everyone know that the spiral edition of Continuous Color has laminated pages and cover, making it incredibly water and dirt resistant. It's ideal for taking out to the garden. Sure, it costs a little more than the hardcover edition (which is not laminated), but it's very practical for the hands-on gardener, and is very popular with attendees of the author's seminars.

Heersink's distillation of the "essence" of Rousseau's Emile is so bazaar, tendentious and misleading that I am left to wonder whether he has read a single page of the book that he finds so tedious and banal. Nature, for Rousseau, is not the vast open spaces of the great outdoors; it is rather, the totality of created beings such as they exist prior to their being worked over by human artifice, and, in particular, the inner, inborn nature of human beings before it has been deflected, distorted, and perverted through their reciprocal, social interaction. In Emile, Rousseau sets out to show how, even in the midst of the corrupting forces of society, it might still be possible to raise a healthy, fully-actualized, harmonious individual; a human being whose inner nature is developed and realized in its potentialities. Such an education is not possible under the instruction of trees, bears and geysers, but only through the most exquisite attentiveness of the tutor, who, through constant vigilance, tries to develop the mind and sentiments of his pupil without giving a foothold to the social passions that make children vain, greedy, manipulative, and deceitful. This requires, above all, that at every moment, the child should learn to judge its actions by their natural effects, and feel its own will limited by the resistance of the nature without it, rather than by the will of other human beings. For whereas the child will submit easily to the force of nature, it will do everything to overcome the force that oppose it once it regards them as expressions of a human will.
I disagree with Rousseau about many things, even about the most fundamental issues. Most of all, I do not think that what it means to be human should be thought limited by a pre-existing, and pristine human nature. Yet I also believe that, now more than ever, we must take Rousseau seriously, and read him rigorously - not merely as an antiquarian piece, but as a profound challenge to our conceits and myopias. There can be no true democracy without citizens who are free not only in the eyes of the law, but in their own eyes; yet we cannot recognize others as free, unless we have eyes for our own freedom. This demands nothing less than a liberal education. In place of this, we have entrusted our children to those whose seek only their own gain and who profit by tapping into human desires, dissociating them from the whole, and crystalizing them into a form in which it seems as though they could be satisfied through some given commodity. As a result, we have become, in the words of my friend, the social critic Dan A. Leythorn, "a nation of slaves - to our desires, to our whims, to money, to power, to each other"

A deceptively simple text. Rousseau has distanced himself from the Social Contract and the concept of the noble savage here, and has decided to illustrate the principles of an education that will bring about `natural man.' Emile is his guinea pig, whom he allows to grow on his own accord. His governor and nurse impose nothing on him, and he is allowed to build and explore without any external authority, eventually choosing a vocation and place in society.

For Rousseau, the most important property of modern society that is inimical to man is the exertion of authority and power over the subject. Emile is allowed to grow and flourish without the arbitrary directives of parent/authority figures. And as always, Rousseau's prose is light and wonderful. He falls short in the section on Emile's counter-part Sophie, who embodies practically all of the sexist facets of enlightenment prejudice, but this remains a very great work of political theory in spite of its shortcomings and frequent meanderings.

Rousseau has a reputation as a hypocrite and a left wing nut job. He certainly didn't practice what he preached but his writings cannot be reduced to serve mere partisan purposes. Everyone can learn something from this book. Allan Bloom does a great job of turning this book into good English. The translation is intended to be quite literal, but nonethess reads very smoothly. Highly recommended.

A natural education is one that "consists not in teaching the child many things, but never letting anything but accurate and clear ideas enter his brain."

Rousseau, in his longing to return to the state of nature, ventures to raise a natural man. Emile (or On Education) is the Corner Stone to Rousseau's "Discourse on the Sciences and Arts" & "Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality." Rousseau's imaginary pupil, Emile, will "get his lessons from nature and not from men." Rousseau is not concerned with teaching Emile numerous facts, but with instructing the child to be able to think for himself.

Emile will have one mentor, Robinson Crusoe. Crusoe is Rousseau's modern natural man. Crusoe is "on his island, alone, deprived of the assistance of all the arts, providing nevertheless for his subsistence." Rousseau goes to extremes to create a childhood that is free from habit, and one that provides Emile with the greatest adaptability to his surroundings, whatever they may be, for the rest of his life.

Rousseau's ideas are profound. Though he is far less well known than Marx, Nietzsche, and or Weber, to name a few, his ideas are the basis for the philosophies' of these men, who have in return influenced society. Along with Rousseau's Two Discourses, Emile is a must read. (I recommend reading the Discourses before Emile.) However, do not expect Rousseau to tell you everything because he does not spend an extensive time explaining all of the minute details, especially those regarding the first few years of Emile's life. Rather, he says, "if you have to be told everything, do not read me."

If you are interested in the foundation of thought for many of the most influential philosophers of modern Europe, then read Emile. (I recommend the Allan Bloom translation.)

Three works mark Rousseau: Confessions, Social Contract, and Inequality. "Emile" is a tedious tome that espouses at great, if not banal, length the issues he has more adequately and eloquently addressed in his major works. The premise is simple: Let nature be the educator. Imagine a kid dropped in the middle of Yosemite National Park, revisit him at age 20, and the kid will know everything he needs to know. Now, you know the substance of the book. If you think nature alone without a preceptor or teacher other than nature alone is sufficient, you'll be bored with the redudancies and polemics against "this" and "that" institution that has developed over the centuries. The core of the book is a vain effort to show that these institutions have corrupted the student, and ergo, society. If only nature could be allowed to "speak," so to speak, then men everywhere would be better off. Right!

I am happy with the service I received from Amazon. My book came a week or two after I ordered it and it was in great condition.

I ordered this textbook for an MSW course, and it's wonderful. I love all the examples and the software that comes with it.

This new edition of the text once again proves that these authors are the masters of single subject research. I have used this text for five years in my graduate methods course and am completely satisfied with their coverage of the material of single subject research design. Just when a researcher thought it could not get any better, this new edition comes along with updates to the software.

Get this book.

Bloom, Fischer and Orme continue to make an unique contribution to improving practice in the human services by providing a road map by which practitioners can evaluate their effectiveness. I've been using their text book for over 15 years in teaching practice evaluation and in has been an invaluable help. The new edition has a CD Rom with SingWin, CAAP,and CAAS which I was able to install in Windows XP Home edition. You must install CAAS before CAAP for it to work. The sofware computerizes record keeping, score computation, and graph construction. I strongly reccommend this textbook for human services faculty.

I was pleased to hear that this text had been assigned in a graduate research course at my graduate school of social work. I'm seriously disappointed. I would not recommend this text's continued use. It is excessively repetitive, constantly restating previous material (commonly referred to as 'rehashing'), and, as a sidebar, i can't help but mention an irritating habit of unnecessary references to material yet to come ('we'll talk about that more in chapter 14.'). The writing style is terribly wordy, and in a weighted, clunky pseudo-conversational style that rarely is effective in a textbook. The actual technical information is obscured in a constant river of verbiage, usually in page after page of solid block text, the least helpful format when learning technical information (or when subsequently searching for specific information or techniques). The result? It serves as a strong sedative. Finally, the authors repeatedly express apologies, in what eventually (by page 350) feels like an obsequious and cloying manner, for putting forward an empirical and accountable approach to clinical practice. The worst, though, is the repetition of material, as if the reader were an idiot. The sheer relentlessness of it is what is so galling, and at $100 bucks, neither affordable nor worth the investment. There are other texts out there with clearer, cleaner, more articulate prose, that are more respectful of the reader, and at half the price, such as the classic and affordable: Single-Case Research Designs: Methods for Clinical and Applied Settings by Alan E. Kazdin. Ignore the pollyanna reviews above and below, and avoid this text, or if on the syllabus, protest and suggest an alternative.