Brian Books

This was a very professionally written account of the lives of 15 very diverse people who also happen to be professional lacrosse players. The book really makes you view these athletes as interested in their sport, valued members of their community, and very different from the multi-million dollar primma donnas who play other professional sports. I definitely recommend this book.

After the Duke Lacrosse scandal, it was refreshing to see an upbeat well-written book about lacrosse. These players truly honor their sport, and make the casual observer want to learn more. The stories were interesting, and it was a good overview of the NLL, and the players who make the league work. I really enjoyed it, and hope to see more books like it.

This book was interesting, insightful, and sometimes even funny when explaining the lives of 15 "ordinary" people who have jobs, wives, kids, and play professional lacrosse on the weekends. It makes you realize how different pro lacrosse is from other pro sports. (And I mean that in a good way.) The writing was clear and engaging, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

It was great to finally read a good book on professional lacrosse. The writing was interesting and insightful, and provided a good mix of lacrosse history combined with people who play the game. I would definitely recommend this book for the lacrosse fanatic, or even the casual observer. I enjoyed it!

This book is filled with stories of professional lacrosse players. The players are atypical from other professional sports players, who are often filled with self-admiration and greed. Yet, they are not exactly everyday people either. The players do have full time jobs and families, but many of them are in noble fields such as teaching, law enforcement, the armed forces, fire fighting... Of course, it takes a noble character to be devoted to such an underpaid and under-appreciated sport. The players sacrifice their bodies, time, and some family commitments for the love of their sport. The writing is clever, and the author gives good insight about the players' individuality, achievements, reminiscences, and dedication.

The Wet Engine is a book with heart about the heart. This book is not only homage to his son's surgeons, it is a wild and ponderous exploration of that which is miraculous in creation and in our very souls. Yes, we hear about the particulars of his terrifying and then triumphant experiences surrounding his son's heart condition, but we also have the heart exposed to us in all of its metaphorical, allegorical, and literal glory. Like Annie Dillard at Tinker Creek, Brian Doyle muses poetically about an amazing array of facts and figures about our hearts. And, like Brian Doyle, he plumbs those facts and figures and evokes awe and laughter and tears and he gives little nods and gestures to suggest that some amazing creator-genius may be lurking in those details. Are they the finger prints of God? Thank you Mr. Doyle. A great read.

This book could have been so good. There are moments where it becomes richly profound and genuinely moving - such as when Doyle considers the place of his son in his life, heart troubles and all - but then he slips back into what felt like simple hero-worship of the (admitedly talented) surgeon who saved his son's life.

I really wanted to love this book, but when I finished I felt more disappointed than truly moved.

No one writes quite like Brian Doyle. He is lyrical, literate, unpredictable, unafraid, kind, and damned funny. In this book, he is also incredibly moving, as he writes about his son's wounded heart and the doctors who save him. As he explores all the emotions and science leading outward into the world from his family's journey, we share in his curiosity and his reverence and his joy. A fine book.

This is definitely a beautiful tribute to his son AND his surgeons!
To those who may feel as though the author has resorted to "simple hero-worship", I must tell you that you will NEVER fully understand the author's position. He does, in fact, worship those surgeons. He puts them on a pedestal and will never be able to thank them enough.
I know this because those same surgeons, (Dr. McIrvin, Dr. Iguidbashian, Dr. Hagup) also performed surgery on my son who was born with the same heart defect of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. They are the epitome of pure genius.
I bought this book in part because it IS a tribute to those men. How would you feel about someone who gave your precious child the gift of life and hope?
Thank you, Mr. Doyle, for this moving story of hope, strength, inspiration, and admiration.

I saw this book listed on your suggested items several months ago. I had purchased several of Brian's previous books and always found them uplifting and thought provoking. It was only a few days after I purchased this book, The Wet Engine that my wife had a heart attack so it brought home to me the frail qualities of our most important engine. Doyle writes with a very sensitive but yet funny style that kept me turning the pages even though I needed sleep. As his books go, I would recommend this one as a leap forward in his style and insight.
My highschool writing teacher told me that you need to write about something you know or are close to. Evidently Doyle understands this as all his writing is deeply personal and close to home.

An excellent book only spoiled by numerous typographical errors in the text although you will find the source code on the companion CD to be largely correct. Although Windows 95 is nearing the end of its commercial lifespan this series of books is still valuable to anyone wanting to write backwardly compatible Windows 98 applications. Although the typographical errors in the source code in this book are fairly obvious, some errors in the 2nd Volume in this series (Windows 95:WIN32 Common Controls and Messages API Bible) are are extremely misleading. For instance on page 677 it states that the EN_MAXTEXT message contains the identifier of the edit control in the low 16 bits of the wParam variable when it is actually in the high word of wParam. Another place it falsely states that the callback function used by the EM_STREAMIN returns nonzero to continue transferring data. However this series of books is still invaluable for anyone still writing in WIN32.

Despite any errors in this book. It has the 1 thing that is lacking in almost all books DECENT examples. Combined with the MSDN library, and Programming Windows by petzold you can go very far. Today most people are so enamored with visual basic and wizards they never bother to learn HOW windows works. This book along with vol 2, can help you in get a better understanding of windows event based programming! It is not the end all be all of books LOTS of win32 calls are missing (after all its been a few years since 95!). But it has the core of them. This book is an great item for any win32 programmers tool belt.

I have bought the 3 books which form the API Bible series - all of them very worthwhile, especially the Common Controls and Messages book. It mentions every Windows Message you are likely to encounter, and also how to code the common Windows controls. The examples, although in C, are easy enough to translate. I program with PowerBASIC, and the Bible series is invaluable to my work.

This book is simply brilliant! It covers absolutely everything about basic Win32 GUI programming: from creating windows to thread syncronization.

I'm new to Win32 programming, but found this book readable, with good explainations and examples, and it continues to be a excellent detailed reference. The CD which complements the book is also very good, offering updates to the book and code which can be used in your own programs.

However, I do regret the lack of information about Common Controls, and a Message Reference, which are in the second book, 'The Windows Common Control and Messages API Bible', which explains why I only give four stars.

Despite this, I would recommend both these books (and possibly the third for those interested in ODBC or Telephoney) for any Win32 programmer, old or new. In one word, indespensible.

This book is invaluable. Though I am new to straight API programming,(I previously primarily used Delphi), this book was easy to understand yet, concise and powerful enough to get a decent application running suprisingly fast. However, as this is the is volume one of three, important topics such as control interaction are left to the later volumes. This book is worth every cent and likely a little more!

This exhaustively researched, well-documented and courageous book is incorrectly titled; it should have been "Buddhism At War" as that is its focus. Perhaps the editors/publishers were unwilling to draw the ire of the religious community or the existence of Damieville's "Buddhism And War" required another title; perhaps "Zen At War" was just more marketable.

As Victoria's book elegantly points out, however, every sect of Buddhism in Japan was part of "Imperial Way Buddhism". Buddhism morphed at every opportunity into what the Emperor and his bureaucracy wanted. Every accommodation was made if the Buddhists could use it to their political advantage, even if it contradicted their teachings or enabled the massacre of countless non-Japanese sentient beings.

A fundamental entanglement in this book is that "Zen", which translates as "meditation", is somehow dependent on Buddhism or that the two can only exist together. Meditation existed in the country of Buddha's birth (and in other countries) millenniums before he was born. All Buddhists do not meditate and all meditators are not Buddhists.

There is little doubt, and growing scientific evidence, that meditation develops concentration, detachment, heightened awareness, focus, clarity, etc. That is why so many cultures and countries embrace it for war and martial techniques, but also enhanced performance in commerce, athletics, artistic creativity, stress relief, flower arranging, calligraphy, etc.

A leading contemporary Zen teacher, Toni Packer, once far up the American Rinzai Zen Buddhist hierarchy, abandoned Buddhism entirely, forming an iconoclastic approach, a Zen completely stripped of any Buddhist doctrine, dogma, ritual, hierarchy, titles, robes, etc. Buddhism is not necessary for Zen or for enlightenment.

This leads to the second entanglement in this book, that enlightenment is uniquely Buddhist and therefore must align with Buddhist teachings. Enlightenment, as well as available documentation can attest, has occurred in every culture, climate, religious background, century, etc. To evaluate enlightenment by whether it abides by Buddhist doctrine is backwards at best.

The real blame here is on a religion, Buddhism, which was exploited by a militarist imperialist society in manipulating and disempowering millions and enabling the most heinous crimes. Rather than criticizing just Buddhism, however, perhaps the time has come for us to reevaluate the concept of religion. The real truth is so simple; it is just to be in one's natural state. Why are these religions necessary?

This book gives an excellent perspective on the role of Zen in modern Japanese political philosophy. It has always played a critical role in Japanese military theory and the martial arts. In modern times it became an integral part of the political theories that set Japan on a course for military expansion in Asia. The book is well-researched and documents how top Zen leaders actively supported Japan's dreams of empire.

This book is critical reading for anyone seriously interested in Zen. Having committed his life as a Buddhist monk only to make these shocking discoveries must have been heartbreaking for Victoria, and it is remarkable that his tone remains as objective as it does.

Victoria is a refreshing and desperately needed antidote to Kapleau, Suzuki and all the rest the phony gurus peddling sundry brands of spiritual snake oil to vulnerable people desperately seeking some measure of assurance and comfort in this harsh world. His book reminds us that, however we may seek our own individual peace and spiritual security, we can never find it through lies, self-delusion, gurus and preachers.

A enlightening history of role of Zen Buddhism in the Pacific War. Victoria analyzes how Zen and the Japanese military affected each other. He takes the writings of the leading Buddhists of the time to tell the story. A classical study on how religion and society influence each other., even a supposedly peace loving religion can be twisted into an instrument of the state. Sheds some light on one of the forefathers of American Zen, D.T. Suzuki

What I found most disturbing about this book was not so much what Victoria had to reveal about the Zen culture of Imperial Japan, (don't get me wrong, that was pretty darn disturbing too)but rather the reaction that came from many, if not most, of North America's Zen masters. Almost to a one, they refused to even admit the core issue that the book arises: "If an _enlightened_ person can support an evil empire, what does it say about being enlightened?" No one doubts that Catholic Popes can committ evil acts (Dante fills Hell with them), but then the Catholic faith makes far lessor claims about the spiritual powers and insight of its clerics.

In contrast, Zen Buddhism makes the extraordinary claim that each and every Zen master is part of an intact person-to-person chain of direct mind contact to Bodhidarma, through to Guatama Buddha himself. Moreover, they maintain that this direct contact through the Zen transmission is essential to enlightenment, which cannot be learned "on ones own" or "through books". Moreover, Buddhist make the claim that Masters, and people they acknowledge as "awakened", have achieved some sort of real "awakening".

The cheesy responses that I have read and received from the Zen Masters I have read on the subject all invariably come up with the same sort of defence: cultural relativism. I was horrified to see this because it strikes me that not only were they willing to so "scale back" what "enlightenment" means that a deeply enlightened Zen master (ie: in Imperial Japan) would lack the discernment to see through government propaganda, it means that the individual modern master (ie: the one writing in "Tricycle" or communicating to me over the internet) lacks the discernment to see the profound implications of Victoria's book.

The process of reading Victoria's book and investigating the reaction of the North American Zen "establishment" made me totallly re-examen my understanding of Zen and Buddhism as part of the "community of world religions". It gave me an increased sense of my own worth as a Master of Western Philosophy and a student of world religions in the face of the significant claims exerted by Buddhists about their own implied superiority over these alternative spiritual systems.

I do not want to denigrate the significant and obvious merits of Buddhism and Zen, but _Zen at War_ has shown that there are no "priviledged" ways to wisdom. All are equally valid, and all are equally flawed.

As an aerospace engineer I consider this book an absolute must have. This book is usable as a reference work but also as a academic course textbook. It is extremely complete: From vector and quaternion kinematics to rigid body dynamics to static stability analysis. From basic aerodynamics to the derivation of aircraft force and moment coefficients. From state space models to robust output feedback design. Summarizing: Aircraft Control and Simulation covers the complete track from basic dynamics to a fully functional flight simulator. When you need a graduate level text on simulation and control theory that can also serve as a reference work you should look no further!

As an engineering student, I like the design of this book, 1st. And the contents are also pretty nice, so far. The complete review, however, should be done after reading the last page, I think.

Used this book as a reference book for a UAV Guidance and Control class. Worked well, but there is a revised and updated version.

This book is not meant to cover Flight Mechanics neither to discussing Aircraft Equations of Motion.
This book is really focused in aircraft flight simulation (not aircraft systems simulation) and aircraft flight controls.
This is really the most complete reference concerning flight control laws for all flight phases. The authors make extensive use of Modern Control in State Space formulation. Very few topics use Classical Control.
The text is undoubtedly a very good starting point for any engineer involved in flight controls and flight control laws design for new aircraft concepts, although, some more dedicated discussions are missing on some topics related to the newest technologies such as Fly-By-Wire, Power-By-Wire, Side stick use versus Flight Handling Qualities, Robust Control and Predictive Controls.
This book is a MUST for any flight controls engineer in introductory level. However, attention, you will need to take classes to go through this book. The authors do not delay the text flow to discuss minor details or lengthy mathematical derivations; they simply jump to the right point. Thus, this is very difficult to go through the whole content without help of an experienced Professor.

The chief virtue is its clarity. I've worked directly in this field since 1986, and wish I'd picked up the 1st edition in 1992 rather than finding the 2nd edition in 2006. Most of the material I've picked up through coursework and on-the-job training, but this book presents a thorough, practical and understandable development of each aspect of aircraft control and simulation. In addition, the 1st chapter provides the basis for incorporating oblate, rotating Earth equations into gravitational and kinematics modeling, which is the reason I bought the book.

Roughly, the book covers:
* Kinematics and Dynamics
* Quaternions
* Properties of Aircraft
* Simulation, Trim, Linearization
* Linear Analysis
-- State Space Models
-- Transfer Functions
-- Frequency Response
* Handling Qualities
* Stability Augmentation
* Autopilots
* Linear Quadratic Regulator
* Model Following Design
* Multivariable Frequency Domain Analysis
* Observers and the Kalman Filter
* Discrete (Digital) Control

NOTE: The 1st chapter of the 2nd Edition is substantially enhanced vs. the 1st chapter of the 1st Edition. Several practical needs are now covered in better detail. Quaternion math is added. An algorithm for converting from Earth-centered Inertial coordinates to Geodetic Latitude and Altitude for an oblate Earth model is now provided. If a flat Earth model is ok to use, the 1st Edition is a very good aircraft controls book. If a rotating oblate Earth model is also required, only the 2nd Edition will do.

this is a great novel that I would highly suggest to read. They say you can't judge a book by its cover??? This is movie material from cover to cover.

American Odyssey has to be one of the best written novels I have read in a long time. The realistic storyline takes you from a small factory town In New England to the wide open ranges of South Dakota. The book is written in such a way that you find yourself looking over the swaying grasses of the open range, or standing with Hunter at the train tracks crying and hugging his brother Eric about the loss of so many people in such a short time. Gelinas has the gift of immersing the reader in the pages and taking the reader into the book with the characters. American Odyssey is suitable for adults and teens. The book can be used as an instrument to reach out to troubled teens of today, breaking down the barriers of communication between parents and their teenage children. It is a good read. I highly recommend it and look forward to his next novel.

Who wouldn't want to hop a train, meet their soulmate and end up in a faraway place that seems like heaven? Mr. Gelinas has the ability to take his readers along for the ride -- joining four teen runaways -- from a small Massachusetts town to the Black Hills of South Dakota. The dialogue is incredible, the description is amazing, and you'll always be wondering what's around the next corner. Join Hunter, Wade, Billy and Blue for an adventure that you won't ever want to end.

This is a definite "can't put down" book. I'm very impressed with the range of emotions captured through the story. I laughed, I cried, I felt joy, I felt sadness.. I remembered what it was like to be a teenager. This book will help parents understand what their children are going through because it will bring back memories of that very difficult age.
This book also provides an excellent concept of lifetime friendship. It teaches one to look at the true qualities of someone, not just the outside appearance. It teaches one not to judge to quickly.
I would highly recommend this book.
I can't wait for Brian M Gelinas to publish another book!

AMERICAN ODYSSEY, the first novel by newspaper journalist Brian M. Gelinas, is a "road" novel as the title suggests, a gritty tale of teen fugitives.

Hunter and Wade, both seventeen, run away to avoid a looming court date while Billy comes along partly out of hero worship and partly out of boredom. The trio plans to rob and steal their way across America, their final destination being South Dakota. The stifling confines of a small New England town, where one's future is either a dead-end job or a life of crime, spur the boys to jump a train, arming themselves with a pistol and several knives.

But Hunter is preoccupied by his past; the long road trip allows him time to think and write in his journal. Wade turns out to be a criminal without a conscience, just as Hunter was warned before they left. And Billy's arrested development leaves him unable to cope with the disappointments and dangerous twists during their illicit journey. Blue, a girl runaway who sees something innocent and trustworthy in Hunter and Billy, never warms to Wade, which creates a schism between her male companions. The four of them continue their trek westward until they finally reach the Indian reservations.

Secrets pose a recurring motif in the novel, their power to compel one to act and their power to unravel the best-laid plans. Hunter's cousin holds a secret that could have prevented Hunter from hating his hometown rival, a hatred that leads to his trouble with the police. Billy's secret goodbye note to his grandmother makes the boys known fugitives before they get far on their journey. And Wade's secret regarding their first robbery leads to the downfall of the runaways. But even an innocuous secret, like Hunter and Blue's affair, has devastating repercussions in this fast-paced thriller.

AMERICAN ODYSSEY is a cautionary tale with a dire warning about avoiding problems or keeping secrets. Pain in life is unavoidable. It can be delayed but not permanently avoided. Secrets may prevent immediate confrontations or hard feelings -- but secrets resurface. Problems avoided come full circle, often in more unmanageable shapes and forms. While the narrator asks for compassion for troubled youth at the novel's end, it is the unstated message of this story that is the most powerful: avoiding consequences and responsibility can be more damaging in the long run than the immediate pain of facing up to bad choices.

This is a powerful story, extremely well-written, with a plot that has no holes or implausibility. It provides a sense of place recognizable from other New England writers, such as Stephen King and Robert Cormier, albeit with lighter overtones. There is redemption in AMERICAN ODYSSEY, but it is costly, requiring the reader to experience Hunter's growth pains as he faces issues he sought to avoid by running away in the first place.

A must-read. Five stars!

Reviewed by: Mark Frye, author and reviewer

I rate it 4.5 stars only because this book is way too big to carry to class--it's like putting a baby in your backpack. On top of the syllabi you have to lug around, the weight is ridiculous. In terms of the actual content, it's an excellent desktop resource. All drugs are organized by disease state. Literally, the drug Bible (tissue paper pages and all). I recommend it for at home/pharmacy use only, otherwise you might need a forklift.

Applied Therapeutics is a very detailed, thorough, and informative compilation of assorted health care matters.

The text is easy to read and the numerous sample cases studies in each chapter ensures that the reader fully understands and is able to apply the information presented. It is also an excellent method to reinforce the enormous amount of information health care providers are presented with in daily practice.

The free CD-ROM (which you must request on their website with a coupon code attached in the back of the book) is a very portable version of this hefty textbook.

A word of caution: This is defintely not an "introductory" book. A little working knowledge of biology, pharmacology, and disease states is a must.

Overall, awesome textbook for interning students.

Very Nicely Done!!! There are some Typos, but overall it is an awesome book. A must for any pharmacist/pharmacy student!!!

The best book anywhere on the subject of applied therapeutics. The format is easy to follow, a series of logical questions and answer leading to intelligent therapeutic conclusions. Each section is written by a leading expert in their field.

Not just a drug reference, this is a clinical book.... teaches critical thinking and application of drugs, recommended by many PharmD's. You'll use it for ever.

What can I say? Cagle is unquestionably the best. I read his website every day religiously. So what's not to like about his year-in-review books? They're spectacular.

Br. Randall Horton

I grew up in the sixties with in an interesting family. My father was a typical sixties Republican and my mother a typical sixties Democrat. I think I was reading political cartoons before I was even reading the comics in the paper, and that developed into a life long love affair with political/editorial cartoons.

I found this collection to be good, but there were a few that could have been left out. Also, the author did tend to put a lot of his cartoons into the book. It is, however, a collection that will make you laugh, cry and most importantly, think.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to think with a broad mind and who can see humor, however dark, in most situations.

Well organized with clear discussions and each group of political cartoons were very interesting and entertaining. They were well chosen and described a variety of world incidents with great insights and a variety of opinions. The book did have a definite point of view.

This book is published once a year and gives the best editorial cartoons. There is only one negative point.. the lay-out is a bit unpleasant because sometimes there are to many cartoons on one page.. also some are published too small for no reason. Another thing .. mr Daryl Cagle puts his cartoons up front too much.. His are not always the best mind you.. But it is a very nice contribution to my editorial cartoons collection for sure..

The best book to stay up-to-date with the world's madness. Since we can't avoid it, better to learn about it: and laugh at it!

One year flows too quickly: this collection of cartoons stills the time and make events understandable by giving us a chance to slow our breath for a while. Also, the short explanation about each news event displayed in the book is very useful to recollect what it was all about.

This is an invaluable tool for all those who leave outside the U.S. but love America, deal with America and/or simply want to stay attuned: what happened in D.C. last year is most likely to come on show in Bern the year next. So, it's a magic ball.

Lamb is just great at this kind of compilation. A great take-along or for kids who show an interest in American history.

What we have here are 79 condensations of one-hour interviews of eminent historians previously conducted by Lamb, founding CEO and host of the the C-SPAN "Booknotes" television series. ("My interview questions are omitted so that readers can focus on the author's words.") It is important to keep in mind that these are, literally, "stories from American history" rather than traditional academic briefs. That is to say, they are not dull and dry. On the contrary, their format, tone, and style are casual but at no time careless. Credit Lamb and his associates for a first-rate job of editing the material. Those interviewed are erudite raconteurs. Lamb organizes the essays within nine parts: Revolution and Founding (1776-1815), The Young Nation (1815-1850), Slavery and the Civil War (1850-1865), Rebuilding America and the Guided Age ((1865-1901), Progressive Era and Reaction (1901-1929), Depression and War (1929-1945), Early Cold War (1945-1957), Social Transformation (1957-1975), and The Culture Wars (1975-2000). I am especially grateful to Lamb for his headnotes for each chapter. Here is how he introduces Joyce Appleby and her comments on "The First Generation of Americans":

"The census of 1800 reported 1.1 million people living in the United States -- more than twice the number in the colonies at the beginning of the American Revolution. There were four cities with a population greater than 10,000 -- Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. Half of the population was under sixteen years of age. On June 18, 2000, Joyce Appleby, a U.C.L.A. professor and author of Inheriting the Revolution: The First Generation of Americans, published in 2000 by Belnap Press, appeared on Booknotes to tell us about this era and how this `first generation' helped shape the young nation."

Headnotes such as these serve as appropriate introductions, of course, but also suggest additional sources which readers may wish to explore. It is also helpful to have the "Complete List of C-SPAN Booknotes (1989-2001)," then totaling 619. This is one of three books published thus far, based on 79 of those interviews. The other two, also edited by Lamb, are Booknotes: Life Stories, Notable Biographers on the People Who Shaped America and Booknotes: America's Finest Authors on Reading, Writing, and the Power of Ideas. If you have an especially strong appetite for American history, Lamb and his associates offer a "feast."

Bon Appetit!

If you've ever read any of the BOOKNOTES series by C-SPAN host, Brain Lamb, you already know their value. I personally find this volume, STORIES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY, to be the best of them all. As with all of Lamb's books, the list of contributing writers reads like a Hall of Fame roster.

This volume is divided into nine different time periods. Each one covers not just historic and political events, but also offers pieces on social events, biographic profiles and more. For example, in the chapter on the Gilded Age, you will find an essay on the building of Central Park, the first Transcontinental Railroad, the political career of Grover Cleveland, historian H. W. Brands on the events of the 1890's, a look at William Randolph Hearst and the rise of "yellow journalism" (so named for Hearst's introduction of one of the first colorized print cartoons, "The Yellow Kid"), and concludes with an essay on J.P. Morgan and the banking industry.

This is a wonderful addition to your library and critical for home-schoolers. The writing is superb and unbiased, allowing the reader to form their own conclusions to events of American History. This volume concludes with 23 pages of a complete list of C-SPAN Booknotes, where you are sure to find more to add to your reading list.

Monty Rainey
www.juntosociety.com

Overall this is a great book -- engaging, insightful. The chapters are brief, easy to read, and the reader gets a wide range of viewpoints from the various authors feautred. The only criticism I have is that the last section, The Culture Wars, is deficient. It covers well the conservative end of things with chapters on neo-conservatives, Reagan & Bush. However, the book ignores Carter & Clinton. And except for race, the book ignores civil rights issues that have been so divisive in the "culture wars," such as feminism and gay rights.

I was watching the Don Imus Radio Program "Imus In the Morning" when he recommended to his listeners this book edited by Brian Lamb, the founder and current executive of C-SPAN. After hearing numerous recommendations from other viewers and notables on the Imus program, I decided to purchase the book myself and see if it was as good as others said it was. I was not disappointed in the least.

The book is in overview exerpts of interviews of notable historians and other personalities who have written a book about a historical figure or event and was on the C-SPAN show "Booknotes" to talk about the book they have written. Such authors as James McPherson, the excellent Civil War Historian to NBC News Anchorman Tom Brokaw who talked about the World War II generation. The book starts with the American Revolution and ends with the year 2000. Each chapter is a brief overview of what the historians/authors on C-SPAN said during the show that they appeared and it is interesting and to the point.

The chapters are short 5 to 8 pages at the most, but they keep the reader's interest throughout. There is an introduction at the beginning of each chapter that tells the date that the historian/author appeared on Booknotes and what the name of the book was that they have written.

Each chapter is interesting and dare I say "fun" to read. From the founding of America, to the Civil War, to current day is fascinating reading. Such notable figures as U.S. Grant, J.P. Morgan, John F. Kennedy and so many others are discussed as well. From historical acts to controversy, this book has them all. It provides a "taste" of the individual book that is presented by the authors and also some tell the motivation to why they wanted to write about an event or historical figure.

This is easy to read and does not get bogged down in detail. If you want detail, then buy the actual book that the various authors have written about.

This is the kind of book that would be excellent for a upper level high school U.S. History Class or for College U.S. History Classes as well to use as a companion to the required textbooks assigned for the classes. This is also the perfect book for the "armchair" historian who enjoys a good read about interesting people and events, but dosent want to know the minute details involved in a huge biography or book on a historical event.

Highly Recommended!

Finally, a book that addresses stress and depression in the business world! Whether you are an advisor on Wall Street or selling real estate in California, this book provides you with the insight, skills and resources to deal with the everyday stresses of your job in this volatile economy. To be able to understand the different personality types and your own mindset and those of the people around you is something powerful to walk away with after reading this book. The book gives you the knowledge each of us can use to make clear steps in being able to deal with stressful situations and become more successful in our relationships at work, as well as at home! A must read.

Kudos to the authors! It's about time that someone with a profound knowledge of the advisory space stepped up to the plate to provide counsel on how advisors can effectively address the crucial issues we face on a daily basis: volatile markets, angry clients, demanding branch managers, anxiety, depression, burnout! As Sun Tsu's The Art of War remains perhaps the most prestigious and influential treatise on military strategies, Bullish Thinking should become financial advisors' "strategy manual", as it provides unquestionably successful tactics to excel in our business, regardless of the market environment.

It's about time someone addressed the serious problems we are facing everyday - the volatile markets, angry clients, branch managers who push us to the limit, etc. The authors clearly define the problems and obstacles that arise in this fast-paced, high stress business environment and then give you solutions that can easily be incorporated into your daily routine. The book has made me take a step back and examine how my reactions to different situations may be sabatoging my success. This book is a must read for anyone in the financial industry.

Legal dan
I am not a broker or trader. In fact I don't work on Wall Street at all. Regardless, my job is extremely stressful and my work hours, extremely long. I am a corporate litigator and was emailed a blurb about this book from one of my buddies on Wall Street. I was having a tough time managing my anger at work when unpredictable things happened during one of my hearings or throughout the course of a case. I would fly off the handle at my colleagues and my wife. The Channeled Rage section of this book helped me gain control over the powerful emotion of anger. Now I no longer feel lethal with my anger. The Bullish Thinking section is also good for helping me focus on the crazy thoughts that often precede my anger and frustration. I guess there is hope for me after all. My message is that Law is just as stressful as Wall Street and anyone working in this job should read this. If you have ever seen the inside of a court room you would see that there are many angry lawyers out there!

This book is a thoughtful and helpful guide for anyone plagued by negative thoughts and a stressful work environment. It teaches effective techniques for dealing with others, as well as ones' self, to have a more succuessful and happy life. Highly recommended.