Burton Books

If you like Italian wines or are interested in learning more about wines of Italy, this is the book for you! Extremely informative, this book describes many of the varietal wines that are unique to Italy. Ever wondered what to look for on a label when choosing a good Chianti? How about the difference between a Chianti, Chianti Classico, and Chianti Classico Reserva? Explore the different regions of Italy and the many wines produced from them. Wines of Italy is great with a glass of Montalcino Brunello or your favorite Chianti!

I love Italian wines, so I grabbed this when I found it. It does have great information - a breakdown of wines by region, then for each region it gives the main types of wine and the vintages that are good for each type. A general star rating indicates how well this wine does in general. Next to each region is a list of the key producers of that wine, with a brief note about the producer.

I think, though, that this will be relatively difficult for a person new to wine to use. If you're looking at a Ruffino Chianti, you look up Ruffino. Its brief notes about Ruffino don't indicate if this is a good or bad winery. You then move to the Chianti section and find out what a Chianti is, but now you are given general notes about which years are good. The years are just listed - you can't tell which are better than others.

If the book had even a general rating for each winery, and more details about the vintages, I think this would be excellent. Maybe a future edition will include this information.

this is a cute show with cute music. the music is well written and arranged in a perfect way. the music is a little dated, it sounds a litle from the 70's but is very cute. i reccomened it.

this is a cute show with cute music. the music is well written and arranged in a perfect way. the music is a little dated, it sounds a litle from the 70's but is very cute. i reccomened it.

I received the book in a timely fashion and in good condition. There is some writing in pencil, which is easy to erase and what the seller disclosed. No pages are missing. I would purchase from this seller again.

It's always comforting to know when the status of the shipment. I always go back ordering from someone who provides order shipment tracking # and shipment date, especially, for school books that I always get and order from Amazon.com

This was a fascinating look at the Shaker community and the early Mormon church, as well as the tribulations and hardships of life in the early 1820's. The plot moves very quickly. Naomi is not a particularly endearing character. It is difficult to become attached to a character who is not attached to anyone around her. Throughout the novel, Naomi leaves, leaves, and leaves again. This is not a particularly realistic portrayal of a single woman during the early 1800's. Still, this was a worthwhile read.

Not enough is said about her baptism as a LDS member. Oh well, i really wasnt expecting much here anyways.

The previous reviewer makes a very strong case for this series. In fact, he is so impressed by this series that he sings the praises no less than twenty-eight of "The Opera Journeys Mini Guides" here in Amazon--and, as I write this, offers comment on nothing else, on no other publication ... nothing. He is so taken with these "Mini Guides" that each and every one of his twenty-eight five-star reviews begins, "The Opera Journeys Mini Guide Series is just wonderful; it's like a "Cliff Note" [sic] of the opera, and extremely informative and educational." And every one of his twenty-eight reviews ends with "My tip: acquire the entire collection because you will be in easy reach of superbly presented opera guides consisting of story analysis, principal characters in the opera, story narrative with music highlights, background, analysis, and commentary."

How fortunate the gentleman is to have found a subject on which he can lay such honest, heartfelt and unstinting praise. And so often, too.

As for myself, I am not quite so enthusiastic. This "Mini Guide" to Puccini's "Tosca," and others of the series that have fallen into my hands from time to time, delivers pretty much what it says it will do. If you are actually willing to be satisfied with sio small a thing as a CliffsNotes approach to opera, these "Mini Guides" will serve as well as any--although the asking price strikes me as a bit steep.

However, I wish to suggest alternatives. First, haul yourself away from your computer. Then, and go out to see the opera.

If you don't have an opera company nearby, call up your local college, university or conservatory and ask what the opera workshop is doing. (Here in Vancouver, the student productions at the University of British Columbia for the past few years have consistently been better sung and better produced than those of the Vancouver Opera--and available for a vastly lower ticket cost.)

If no live performances are available in your area, then go ahead and invest in a DVD or a CD. Older performances of operas which in many cases can only be described as superb can be found on CD right here at Amazon for about the price of this pamphlet. The DVDs will cost you about the same as a single ticket in the cheapest seats in a professional opera house.

Actual performances will give you pleasure and enrich your soul in a way that these or any other such arid distillations and simulations cannot.

The Opera Journeys Mini Guide Series is just wonderful; it's like a "Cliff Note" of the opera, and extremely informative and educational. I particularly like the size; these guides are not cumbersome and fit right into my shirt pocket. The ladies will find sufficient room in their pocketbooks.

The story narrative with the music examples is excellent. I prefer it to a libretto; indeed, it's a much easier way to follow the essence of the story. The essay is magnificent; very well written, not pedantic, and extremely insightful and comprehensible. I congratulate Burton Fisher for a job very well done and Amazon for making these handy, information-laden booklets available. The Opera Journeys Mini Guide Series is a wonderful contribution to opera education and opera appreciation.

My tip: acquire the entire collection because you will be in easy reach of superbly presented opera guides consisting of story analysis, principal characters in the opera, story narrative with music highlights, background, analysis, and commentary.

Heinz Dinter, Ph.D.

I thought it was a great book, I have his autograp

This is an authoritative, summarized accounting with illustrations and maps of U.S. naval operations during the First World War. The reprint version was published by the Naval Institute Press (1984), with David F. Trask providing an introduction. Original publisher was Doubleday, Page & Company, Garden City, NY (1920). During the early 1920s, there had been no official U.S. Navy history of that world conflict released by the U.S. Government Printing Office. Therefore, this book is the first of its kind. I consider it a "must" for any civilian/naval historian, research scholar, coalition naval/military tactician, including those naval learning centers involved with independent and objective evaluations of operational effectiveness and/or suitability of naval weapons systems in littoral waters. Also, it will do well to have several copies available within every Army/ Navy/ Air Force/ Coast Guard ROTC library, including each military service academy.

"The Victory at Sea" was written by the U.S. naval commander of all U.S. forces in European waters, who was stationed in London to command all U.S. naval operations. Canadian-born William Sowden Sims (1858 - 1936), following this World War, with the rank of Rear Admiral, wrote this book between 1919 - 1920, during his assignment as President, Naval War College (1919 - 1922). In 1921, Admiral Sims won the "Pulitzer Prize for History of United States" for his work on "The Victory at Sea", in collaboration with Burton J. Hendrick. It should be noted that Burton would later win his "Pulitzer Prize for Biography" in his own work on "The Life and Letters of Walter H. Page" (1923).

For years known as an "insurgent" by Democratic leaders in Washington, Admiral Sims has been reprimanded by naval secretaries and U.S. Presidents. He has even been referred to as "the best British admiral in the American navy". During this same period in which Sims won the Pulitzer Prize, even the aide of the Army Air Service (Brigadier General William Mitchell) was being asked to resign by Major General Menoher, Chief of the Army Air Service. Controversies over weapons, tactics and operations were not restricted to any one service. This book presents a naval commander's personal viewpoints supported by factual and historical data.

Admiral Sims retired from his assignment at the Naval War College in 1922 with rank of Rear Admiral. This was a naval officer who refused the "Distinguished Service Medal" from Secretary of the Navy Daniels because he objected to the Navy's policy of awarding medals to undeserving officers for services during the First World War. Recognized for improving ship design, fleet tactics, and naval gunnery, Sims was also given to speaking his mind at meetings and ceremonies. For example, on 3 December 1910, as C.O. of USS Minnesota (BB-22) during a Portsmouth, England, port visit, then CDR Sims pledged to a British audience that included the Right Honorable The Lord Mayor of London Sir Thomas V. Strong, in "Guild Hall", London, "If the time ever comes when the British empire is seriously menaced by an external enemy, it is my opinion that you may count upon every man, every dollar, every drop of blood of your kindred across the sea". President Taft and Secretary of the Navy Meyer reprimanded CDR Sims for his "drop of blood & dollar" speech.

The Admiral explains the significance of submarine warfare in the World War, and the tactics used to defeat Germany such as the destroyer flotillas, convoy system and the armed "mystery" ships. Sims did everything in his power, supported by a great wartime staff headquartered at Grosvenor Square, London (i.e., LTCOL Dunlap, USMC; CAPT Knox, USN; CAPT Twining, USN; CAPT Schofield, USN; CDR Stark, USN), advocating to complete the construction of the great mine barrage in the North Sea. Inferences were made by Sims of the criticism he had of Navy Secretary Daniels and he blamed the democratic administration for having caused serious delays in navy operations, and for causing derelictions in directing naval warfare. Following release of his book, congressional majority leaders proposed an appointment of a professional commission of naval officers to study and apply to the American navy lessons of the World War, and for a presidential commission including civilians to study and recommend reforms throughout the naval organization. Admiral Sims' principal charge was that administrative delays were estimated to have cost 500,000 lives and $15 billion unnecessarily.

The political feelings during 1917 within the naval wardroom aboard U.S. ships was that the Navy Department was in a state of inefficiency; not prepared to take on the German High Seas Fleet. This is the focus upon which naval historians should approach this book. For it sets straight our actual capabilities in preparing to defeat such a fleet. It took from April 1917 to the summer of 1918 to get prepared. By then, our mine barrage was taking shape in the North Sea to bottle-up the German fleet in its homeports.

On 22 May 1919, Rear Admiral William S. Sims, President of the Naval War College, stated in his Graduation Address that the primary mission of the War College was "the development of principles, and training in the application of these principles to practical situations...It has been the object of the college not only to develop and define the principles of naval warfare, but to indicate the methods by which these principles may be applied with maximum success." Much of his war experience brought out in his book helped define naval warfare principles and training during the 1920s. At the Naval War College subjects in "command, strategy, tactics, policy, logistics" were incorporated into naval operations (reinforcing the requirements of destroyers and cruisers playing a supporting role for the main battleship divisions), and emphasizing, once again, the importance of the "Sound Military Decision" document (aka "Green Hornet" due to cover color). This was an era of the "Gun Club" in which the aircraft carrier was treated as a "scouting platform".

Upon his arrival in London, England (Friday, 13 April 1917), Admiral Sims, shortly after, reported to the Chief of Naval Operations Admiral William S. Benson that the German U-boats were winning the war; that Allied anti-submarine warfare was wholly inadequate (about 18 April). His report focused on the "submarine problem" and was strongly endorsed by the U.S. Ambassador to England Honorable Walter Hines Page and by the British First Sea Lord John Jellicoe who admitted that England could not go on unless the submarine was conquered "first". The report initiated the formation of a "special problems committee" (our nation's first documented joint U.S. Navy/ civilian engineers "Integrated Product Team" that included Thomas Edison) and acceptance of a U.S. naval policy for overcoming this submarine menace.

Admiral Sims provided in his book that even with the combined navies of the Allies (approximately one million men), they were still unable to offset the Grand Fleet's thirty submarines and 1,500 German submariners who came dangerously near achieving victory by simply cutting off England's food supplies. Also, Admiral Sims referred to the disasters that could have befallen the British Navy. He stated, "The world was preserved from all these calamities because the destroyer and the convoy solved the problem of the submarines, and because back of these agencies of victory lay Admiral Beatty's squadrons...The British Grand Fleet is the foundation stone of the cause of the whole of the Allies". Sims established naval strategy and breathed its theories into the Naval War College in which the might of U.S. and British naval forces would combine to safeguard democracy and the freedom of the seas. It would be the same strategy that would win over axis forces during the Second World War.

Additionally, Admiral Sims provided an extensive discussion about U.S. submarine operations. He also wrote of the conditions and hardships experienced by our U.S. crewmembers aboard these American-manufactured submarines. Lessons of the World War in which German submarines operated freely in the North Sea have not been lost. Today, we still face such threats as coalition naval leaders consider littoral water operations off the Asian mainland and in the Persian Gulf where third-world countries can afford to operate stealth-like diesel submarines in areas where huge, billion dollar coalition forces steam close-by. This is one of the reasons why naval architects such as Admiral Sims are often referred to in thesis, dissertations, and congressional studies.

Those who are interns to naval history should be aware that this book was presented during a period when opposing camps formed disagreements- something that is always expected following any police action or conflict. From this book it becomes inevitable that camp experts will speak out on subjects such as guns, armament, mines, submarines, and plans for new construction, or general naval policy. It was very unfortunate for Admiral Sims, as it was for Brigadier General William Mitchell of the Army Air Service, that through controversy carried on so aggressively they had little support among officers of similar high rank during the early 1920s. After all, it was a common practice for Army and Navy officers testifying before the Senate investigating committees (early 1920s) to give personal opinions. Such was the case of Admiral Sims and this book.

It is my opinion that the main issue presented throughout this book pertained to the "efficiency" of the U.S. Navy during the World War. I would like to point out that as a proof of it's efficiency the U.S. Navy eventually convoyed nearly 2 million American doughboys to Europe without suffering major loses to German U-boats. In that fact alone the American taxpayer has reason to remember Navy service during the First World War with pride- whatever mistakes of detail may have been made.

I bought this book for a class on critical thinking. It is not a how to book. It is a how NOT to book. I found that a little confusing but I eventually got used to it. I felt the authors try to make it interesting reading, but it is still very dry at times. Over all as text books go, not bad.

This book is straight-forward, easy to read and full of fun excercises as well as tons of quotes from notable historical personages and essays by leaders of the advertising field. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in learning about critcal thinking or anyone who is adept at critical thinking but wishes to improve their skills. The excercises provide endless practice and food for thought.

Why isn't this required reading at High Schools??

Buy it to improve yourself and society as a whole!

This book is some 1600 pages detailing almost everything you can think of for sewage. The book lacks on expanding from this but how big can you make a single book. This is an Consulting Civil Engineers Bible as such. If you are designing anything to do with reusing sewage, treating it anything this has good information for you. The multiple picture also help braking up all the text in the book.

With communities around the world facing a depletion of their water sources, it is being realised that using water just once is not merely a luxury but a design flaw. Water reuse could help to: 1) substitute reclaimed water for applications that do not require potable-quality water; 2) augment water sources and provide an alternative source of supply; 3) protect aquatic ecosystems by reducing the diversion of freshwater; 4) reduce the contaminants and nutrients entering waterways; 5) reduce the need to build dams and reservoirs and 6) comply with environmental regulations. In other words, water reuse could form the most important component of sustainable development.

Water Reuse - Issues, Technologies and Applications published by McGraw Hill brings a wealth of knowledge to readers on a subject which is occupying the attention of planners from California to Queensland. Authored by some of the well-acclaimed experts in the field of water reuse such as Takashi Asano, Franklin Burton, Harold Leverenz, Ryujiro Tsuchihashi and George Tchobanoglous, the textbook runs into more than 1,500 pages.

Backed by well-known environmental engineering firm Metcalf & Eddy, which has developed many textbooks in the past, this is the first textbook to comprehensively discuss issues related to water reuse, policy, latest treatment technologies and real-life examples of water reuse applications. Dr Takashi Asano, the lead author is Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of California at Davis. He was a recipient of Stockholm Water Prize in 2001 for his outstanding work in water reuse.

Water Reuse - Issues, Technologies and Applications has been organised into five parts. The first part gives an introduction to water reuse which can be easily comprehended even by laypersons. Past and current practices are discussed along with a discussion of milestone water reuse projects in California and Florida.

The second part of the book looks at health and environmental concerns in water reuse. The characteristics of municipal wastewater have been examined as also water reuse regulations and guidelines. Since the health risks of water reuse are significant, a chapter has been devoted to risk analysis, which includes chemical risk and microbial risk assessment.

The third part of the textbook is devoted to the technologies and systems used for water reclamation and reuse. Detailed design has not been focussed upon although the performance of the technologies has been discussed extensively and the concerns related to dissolved contaminants and pathogenic microorganisms have been highlighted. Even satellite treatment systems, onsite and decentralised systems and dual plumbing systems have been explored in various chapters. It has been suggested that for learning more about detailed designs of the processes, the companion textbook Wastewater Engineering: Treatment and Reuse by Tchobanoglous, Burton and Stensel could be used.

Various water reuse applications such as agricultural irrigation, industrial uses, indirect and direct potable reuse have been taken up in Part Four along with several notable projects. Among the important case studies taken up are: San Diego Water Repurification Project, Singapore's NEWater project, Windhoek project in Namibia and the demonstration project in Denver, Colorado.

Before every chapter, the working terminology has been explained which makes it simpler to use the book (as compared to a glossary of terms inserted inconveniently at the back). A large number of data and information tables are dispersed throughout the book along with illustrations and worked examples which are enormously useful.

The final part of the book deals with implementation of water reuse. Issues such as responding to community concerns, development of support through educational programmes and the use of financial instruments have been discussed.

The increasing importance of water reclamation and reuse has led to the need for specialised instruction in the subject for the benefit of engineering and science students, practising engineers, scientists, project managers and government officials. Water Reuse - Issues, Technologies and Applications fills a vacuum which has been felt for long. All the information scattered in conference papers, journal articles and discussion notes have been meticulously pieced together to present what must be the most complete treatise available on water reuse today.

If you're thinking of adding on to your house, and plan to do some or most of the work yourself, there is no one book that will tell you everything you need to know. You'll want several, because one author will do a better job of explaining framing, and another will do a better job with trim, and another with plumbing, etc. You should consider this as one of the books you use. This isn't really a renovation book per se, but is specifically targeted at putting an addition onto your house.

This book walks you through each of the steps you'll be taking, from design and project management, to foundation, framing, roofing, plumbing, wiring, HVAC, insulating, drywalling, and finishing. To help make the process more clear, they cover an actual addition to a house ("the project"), and provide plenty of drawings and photos as they work on the job. Their addition contains most everything you might be considering for yours, but they give extra detail on some things like dormers that they didn't use in their design.

Some things here could be better, but I've seen lots worse. The project addition is a real plus, because you can follow everything from the groundbreaking to the final coat of paint, and see everything that happens inside and out along the way. If you're finishing a basement or attic this won't help you as much as you'd like, but if you're building an addition, you should pick up a copy.

Full of poetry for children to memorize when learning about our country's heritage. Would be perfect for the classical home educator or the Principle Approach home educator.