Bryan Books

This 656 p. compendium is the most comprehensive English-language chronology I have found in an intensive search over the past several years. Focused on science and technology, it has more than twice as many scientific events than the Grun "Timetables of History" compilation (which deals with many more fields). It divides its subject by General, anthropology/archaeology, astronomy, biology, chemistry, math, medicien, physics, and technology, each presented in separate columns, using the same style as the Grun chronology. Unfortunately, the last publication was around 1991, and we badly need an update. Though the expansion of science may complicate things, the tremendous advance in electronic communications means that editors could upgrade this volume in a fraction of the time required for the existing editors - at least from an operational point of view. So come on, publishers, take up this attractive challenge. One should mention that there is another formidable challenger in the field - the massive German Chronik der Technik. But it too is out of print.

I would really recommend this for classroom use, or perhaps to add to your school library. It begins with a few pages, organized in a separate row for each division of (first) a few hundreds of thousands of years, in the Stone Age; then every few hundred years, during the age of Sumer and Egypt; every few years, as you leaf through the days of Greece, Rome, the Dark Ages, the Renaissance, and eventually it works up to having multiple entries in each category for every single year that goes by. I should note that this not nearly as eurocentric as my last few sentences might suggest -- there's plenty of material about developments in China, the empires of Songhay, Mali, etc. in Africa, the Islamic world, the Incas and Aztecs, and so on.

The headings include Anthropology/Archaeology, Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Mathematics, Medicine, Physics, and Technology. The book is subdivided into several sections --

1.) Science before there were scientists: 2,400,000-599 B.C.

2.) Greek and Hellenistic science: 600 B.C. -- 529 A.D.

3.) Science in many lands and medieval science: 530 -- 1452

4.) The Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution: 1453 -- 1659

5.) The Newtonian Epoch: 1660 -- 1734

6.) The Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution: 1735 -- 1819

7.) Nineteenth century science: 1820 -- 1984

8.) Science in the twentieth century through World War II: 1895 -- 1945

9.) Science after World War II: 1946 -- 1988

10.) The coming era: 1989 -- 2000 (Yes, 1988 is the last year that this book covers. I don't know why they haven't updated it. This is a flaw, of course, but I stand by my five star ranking, because anything that recent can be looked up on the internet, etc.)

Each section is prefaced by a helpful essay, to place matters in context. Also, there are many small "boxes" interspersed throughout the text, to give more complete information on particular figures.

I don't think this book has quite as much material as Bernard Grun's "Timetables of History", but it's layout is better, and more helpful. I think this book is worth having.

What you see is what you get with this book,and that's plenty. It's a great aid to teaching science,because it helps students more easily and quickly visualize when and where and to a small degree, how various scientific discoveries were made.What I like most about it is that the book doesn't make the assumption that science existed only in the West. Discoveries in the East,Middle East and even the Americas are mapped in "Timetables". To be honest I wouldn't have bought this one for private use but it's invaluable in a classroom setting.

This was an excellent book which captivated my attention the whole time. You won't be disappointed, it was very interesting.

A good book at debunking some of the unfounded nonsense that has grown up around certain events in NM history, like the myth that Billy the Kid was not killed by Pat Garrett, who murdered the Fountains and who shot Pat Garrett.

This book is easy to read, and fascinating. The author backs up the old timers stories with facts and adds to the history where appropriate. I found this book to be extremely interesting.

Neat book to introduce Harlem to younger students but will need to teach some of the landmarks used.

I spent my early childhood in Harlem, and this book felt like home. It's beautiful! It made me laugh and get misty eyed all at once. I think that with all the negative publicity Harlem gets it's important (especially for children who live there) to see their home portrayed with kindness and affection. To see a celebration of who and what's there now, with due respect to (but not focus on) what was there when their great-grandparents were kids. A celebration that doesn't include hate, gunfire and/or gangsters.

When was the last time *your* child saw something about a black neighborhood that didn't preach, didn't assume you wished you lived in Africa and wasn't about gangs, rappers or drug violence?

When you live in New York City, you start viewing picture books that take place there with an especially critical eye. Sometimes this can be a good thing, like when a book draws a subway stop incorrectly or fails to acknowledge the correct placement of the Central Park Mall. Other times, it's a handicap. The New York Public Library's 2004 list of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know included Bryan Collier's 2000 ode to Harlem, "Uptown". Upon reading through it, I wondered why anyone would concentrate a picture book on such a specific area. What interest could this possibly hold for kids living in, oh say, Iowa or Nebraska? How could the author be so vain as to think that by zeroing in on a neighborhood, others would understand why it's important? Then I took a step back. I remembered that there are hundreds of books that do what "Uptown" has done. They define a neighborhood, a block, a city, or even a nation so that the children reading the book will be transported to entirely new geographical locations. If I lived anywhere else BUT New York I would have instantly recognized the charms of "Uptown" upon first setting eyes on it. Fortunately, I've mended my ways and can tell you truly that for a spot on description of a unique cultural place and time, Bryan Collier has Harlem's number.

Our narrator is a young boy who knows Uptown like the back of his hand. In his words we hear all the different things that he identifies with his home. Uptown is everything from chicken with waffles to barbershops filled with men in hats. There's jazz and weekend shopping on 125th street. There's girls wearing identical outfits on their way to church and "the orange sunset over the Hudson River". Finally, when all is said and done, there's just one thing the boy can truly say about this world. "Uptown is Harlem... Harlem world, my world. Uptown is home".

Using a hodge podge of mixed media in the form of watercolors and collages, Collier makes an array of complicated and highly detailed images out of fabrics and photographs. The brownstones that line the streets (described, deliciously, in a sentence that compares them to chocolate) are complex combinations of images that blend seamlessly with the rest of the book. Our hero has a very cool attitude about him too. Sometimes he's sitting on a chair eyeing photographs of his grandparents' wedding day. Sometimes he's shooting hoops. Sometimes he's just sitting listening to the Harlem Boy's Choir. Whatever the case, as long as you're in his presence you know he has a handle on every situation. This narrator is, ultimately, a reliable one. Surrounded by an organized muddle of straight and crazy images, you know he's at home in this raucous wonderful city.

Kids will like this book. Whether you're a Midwestern suburban homeowner, a Texan working the fields, or an L.A. sun worshipper, this book will still speak to you. It doesn't matter if you've never even set foot in New York City. It doesn't matter if you've, until this moment, avoided reading books about cities to your kids because you think they'll be confused by them. Regardless of your situation in life, "Uptown" will still speak to you and touch you in some way. This is a book about belonging to a culture of like-minded individuals. It's ultimately a celebration of a home. And whether you're comfortable with that or not, it's well worth the struggle. I think you'll find it a delight.

Burrough's fabulous research is rarely matched, the marvelous style is consistent with his previous work on 'Barbarians at The Gate'. Few business authors will thrill you as much as Burroughs or James B. Stewart.

The story of how the custodian (Jim Robinson) of one the worlds most recognized names, American Express launched a defamation campaign against a Swiss banker (Edmond Safra). Their efforts would've succeeded if they didn't rely upon an eccentric master of PR (Harry Freeman), a neurotic conspiracy theorist (Susan Cantor) and what could only be described as weasel of a man (Tony Greco)to execute it all.

The portrayal of Safra as an innocent is a bit misleading. Admittedly he took advantage of his post holocaust Jewish peers by purchasing their gold for obscenely below market prices to resell at market prices. In addition, Safra isn't without blame in American Express's paranoia that he would exercise unscrupolous tactics himself.

Read the book to find out why.

What happens when business people start to act like 5 year olds at the playground - I'm taking my ball and going home. This is a great story about the desire of American Express to move into the world of private banking and the bank they tried to by - Republic Bank run by Mr. Saffra. Not only does the book provide us this weird story but also it gives the reader a great back ground on these two companies - the American Express information was very interesting. The story of the two companies coming together and then having a lovers spat is just darn interesting and a little tabloid TV. The book keeps your interest and is a nice little find if you pick it up.

I am a fan of the authors writing in general. If you're a person who enjoys reading stories in the Wall Street Journal etc then this book may very well be for you (the author works at WSJ).

This is a fascinating story of international intrigue and business. The author provides historical background for both AmEx and Mr Saffra and then proceeds into the meat of the story.

What's interesting here is that the Vendetta alluded to in the title raises some serious ethical questions on the part of some folks. All I'll say is as you read it do a name search on the web and see where some of them are today, it's not the poor house and it's not jail either.

The book exposes high finance, high power, bare knuckled business street fighting taken to an internation stage.

This book is wonderful in expressing the spiritual seasons of your life. This book is for those people who like to think and be challenged by what they read. An awesome start for a very talented young man.

This book is a very easy read. It is spiritual, but Poetry. The thing I look for in a book is that I see thru the authors mind while reading, and this book does that. I think you will find yourself reading it more than once. I found it as relaxing as YOGA

This book provides inspiring and motivational messages that promote awakening of spiritual insight within me. It illustrates the importance of living life to its fullest. It's practical and able to be understood by most.

If you hate Nazi's and love monsters. This ones for you. The story is a little confusing but the artwork and the action more than make up for it. I loved this comic.

It's 1945, Hitler is dead and the Nazi army is all but decimated. After a brutal campaign of street-by-street guerilla fighting, the Red army is poised to take control of Berlin. Germany's only hope lies in a secret occult cabal who plans to free Hitler's soul from Hell and use the might and power of the Frankenstein Monster, a werewolf, and Count Dracula to turn the tide of battle.

This 80 page "undead" horrors of war tale is brought to you by Bryan Johnson and Walter Flanagan and will surely be embraced by comic book enthusiasts who have enjoyed Dick Briefer's The Monster of Frankenstein and Zombie Factory.

Fans of the old Universal classic horror films will no doubt remember those great old "monster mash" films which teamed up all the monsters such as "House of Frankenstein" and "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man." IDW has taken that concept...added the mummy and a slew of crazed Nazi scientists, and presented horror fans with the truly, over-the-top monster romp called "War of the Undead". This trade paperback collects the mini-series from IDW publishing.

It is near the end of World War II and the writing is on the wall for Hitler and the German army. The Allied forces are closing in on Hitler and he and his mistress take their own lives rather than being captured. But the Nazi's are not giving up yet. Lead by a group of crazed Nazi scientists who would make Josef Mengele look like a pre-school teacher (Just Google it, ok...) these psychos have put together a diabolical plot to resurrect Hitler. Their insane plan called for the use of the Frankenstein Monster, Dracula, and the Wolf man. The Wolf Man's blood was to be used as an offering to Satan, Dracula would be dispatched to Hell to deliver the offering, and the monster used to house Hitler's soul. It's funny but in real life Hitler may have had crazier ideas!

The Mummy is along for the ride as muscle controlled by the Nazi Jabbs who uses an ancient Egyptian amulet to control the mummy as well as legions of undead zombies. Most of the action takes place in a secret, underground laboratory. The Wolf Man, an American, is clearly patterned after Larry Talbot, the role Lon Chaney Jr. played in his appearances as the tormented beast. Heck, even Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde make a cameo as another unfortunate test subject of the Nazis.

The book is really all-good fun and filled with blood and carnage from cover-to-cover. As a classic monster fan myself, I thought Johnson treated the characters with due reverence and who doesn't love to see Nazi's get their comeuppance! Walter Flanagan's art is well-suited towards the story. In fact his art reminds me of the style of art that you saw in those old Eerie Pblications horror mags like Horror Tales and Witches Tales. I had a lot of fun with this one and IDW continues to show why they lead the way when it comes to horror comics.

REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON

I COULD NOT FIND THIS GUIDE ANYWHERE ELSE AND I NEEDED IT FOR GRANDSON 8TH BIRTHDAY RECIEVED IT IN TIME FOR THE PARTY GREAT FUN WAS HAD BY ALL. GUIDE WAS GREAT AS ONE CHILD READ ANOTHER PLAYED

THANKS SO MUCH TO AMAZON.
GRATEFUL GRANNY

This book is the best way to beat Wario World. It gives a complete walkthrough and game secrets! Complete with detailed maps and locations for each of Warios treasures!!! I beat the game in 2 days flat!!! I recommend this book to anyone who likes challenging games.

Wario World is a great new platform game from GameCube, I have played the game throughly, and without this colorful strategy guide, I don't think there would be a chance in the world that I wouldn't be able to get through this game. Though, it's fairly simply this guide gives you helpful tips that you may not even now about. This is a must for all GameCube fans if you are having trouble finding those hard to find treasures and or just having no luck whatsoever trying to get past through the trapdoor stages to get to the crystals an order to defeat the bosses at the end of the stages. Don't bother looking up the internet for codes, cheats or whatnot, look no further: Wario World: Prima's Official Strategy Guide is here to save the day! It also gives you an outline of Wario's Worlds that you must have to go through. Getting toward the end of the game, you are beat. And thanks, Wario World: Prima's Official Strategy Guide, I made it through. And beat that Evil Black Jewel, which was fairly easy if you knew the strategy to beat 'em. It also includes the trial version of the Game Boy Advance game: Wario Ware, Inc.: Mega Microgames. It gives you tips on how to defeat the mini games from the GBA game. Wario World is a fun game, and can't wait for the sequal.

I wanted a book that would help me check out the capabilities of my ISP and to determine if we were in the vanguard or lagging behind. The book gave me the information I was seeking and I highly recommend it.

Bought the book...readit...liked it...recommend it

Christopher Bryan's modest, probing reflection on how to read Scripture was a fun read -- that sounds flippant, but I found his prose style entirely accessible and his witness welcome. The book doesn't go into a lot of depth; it's aimed at a general Christian reader. But his words lend assurance to those of us who search Scripture for truth and for a guide to our faith journey -- a journey that tries to navigate between the contortions of literal readings and the iconoclasm of liberal theology. He is especially cogent when he proposes how the Lambeth Conference should have approached searching for meaning in Scripture -- a love-inspired, serious approach other denominations grappling with issues of the day could learn from. I look forward to reading more of his work.

And God Spoke: The Authority Of The Bible For The Church Today by Christopher Bryan (C. K. Benedict Professor of New Testament at the School of Theology, University of the South) is a serious, yet highly accessible study of how the Bible is to be interpreted in today's modern world. Viewing the Bible as revelation, canon, authoritative and the Word of God, and applying its studied wisdom to making tough choices, And God Spoke is a profound and highly recommended theological wake-up call vividly summoning the reader's attention to the textual core of Christian holy belief.

One of the irritating things about what he is most remembered for-his gardening books-really quite distorts and sadly misrepresents the man, Beverley Nichols. This book goes some way to redressing the balance and this sharp witted, keen observer of the human condition has been fairly dealt with in this biography. The after effect, one hopes is that all three in the 'Allways/Glatton' trilogy will finally be available one day and thus the pinacle of his writing prowess will be there for all to see. Too long he was treated as a lightweight. Yes, he wrote for the lighter end of the market. But he was always coming up with surprises. 'A Village in a Valley' and 'A Thatched Roof', part of the Glatton era, are simply marvellous classics of English country life. The well perceived eccentricities, the sadness of spinsters' lonely lives and the wit of his characters are unequalled. There are times when he can really make you cry at a turn of phrase. His one-liners are smilingly memorable. This biography does go a long way to explaining this complex, talented man. We are left feeling sad that he is no longer amongst us, that no more gems of prose shall flow from him, yet happy that he lived and left behind a rich pallete of writing. My advice to anyone would be search around and get hold of these writings-many available on Amazon.com. The diversity, depth and pathos, not forgetting the humour, will impress you.

This was a great read, and gave true insight into one of the worlds most celebrated Garden essayists of the 20th century.

Connors brings to life the Beverley many fans never got to see, as many of his readers only read his Gardening books. Nichols holds to his credit several autobiographies, no less than five mysteries, several political novels, and multiple weekly columns in various American and British newspapers and magazines. Beverley was also a noted composer, and even appeared in film. His good looks and charm allowed him a very versatile carreer.

The novel unravlels fact from fiction, as many readers assumed his novels were all unadulterated fact. The truth is he mixed fiction with many of his books, lending a skewed vision of the author-and one that Connor does a brilliant job straightening out.

Mr. Nichols worked with Connor on this book, and had help from Beverley's life long companion/friend Cyril Butcher. The book outlines his upbringing in a whirlwind society of notable people and places to his fascinating life filled with so many that sometimes the biography reads more like a "Who's Who" of the 20's through the 70's. Beverley was friends or friendly with some of the most noteworthy people of the day, including Beaton, Coward, and Maughm. It is not a scandal biography, rather a warm portrait of an amazingly entertaining man.

The photographs in the book are wonderfully clear, and allow the reader a glimpse of his childhood, adolesence, and later years. Again, he is shown with many celebrities of his time.

There are bits that reveal a sad, depressed Beverley who struggeled with finance-and chapters about the socialite Beverley who never gave up an opportunity to hob nob and make new social alliances. Other parts reveal the very full romantic life of Nichols. All together, a charming portrait of one of Britains most notable men. This book is a must for all Nichols fans!