Cole Books

hated the book, hated the class i got the book for and hated the teacher even more. so i guess the book was the best thing out of the process.

I bought this book for an African Art class that i was taking. This book is overly informative and captivating. I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about African Art!

The item is in good condition. Arrival took a little longer than anticipated.

I simply wish that I had this book and/or Dr. Poynor's courses in West African and Central African Art prior to living in Central Africa. Now that I had these courses, I find that this book is less a formal text and more a comprehensive guide to understanding the art forms created in the various regions of Africa by the peoples and cultures. This book is a must for anyone who has a true interest in following this facinating subject. I especially recommend this book to anyone planning to visit or live anywhere in Africa, particularly the Sub-saharan regions.

It brings to all, the reality of such a facinating and prevously skimmed subject, without interjecting personal belief or opinion. All facts in the book are well researched and presented.

The good thing about this collection is that it includes art and architecture from not only all regions of the continent, but also of the African diaspora from the 16th Century onward.

The other good thing is that it includes architectural works, such as those of Great Zimbabwe, Lalibela, and Djenne.

The bad point of this book is that the selections are limited. For example, the art of the Nok (the oldest African art outside of the Nile Valley)includes only a few pieces.

The worst thing about this collection is that nearly all of the photos are in black and white. It's difficult to appreciate art of such a vibrant nature (with the exception of photography) without colour.

I got this book for a reasonable price at a quick shipping services it took about a week to arrive and shipping was free WOW I'M LUVN IT!!!!!!!!!!

I would recommend this book to anybody who is interested in the development of children. This book covers a wide spectrum of theories and real life examples from conception till late adolescence. What is more, it is very easy to read and every single chapter is incredibly knowledgeable and attention-grabbing to go through. It was one of the best psychology books I've read so far!!!

Overall it's a well written, illustrated and researched book that keeps with the most contemporary of scientific and specialist knowledge within this area and sustains throughout right from the chapters on conception and prenatal development through to the formative years outside the womb that the roles of environment, culture and the human organism itself, all in their different contexts, work together and in sync to create the overall eventual development of the human being. One such example in the book where these forces come into play focused around the fact that exclusively looking for genetic causes for intelligence and other psychological and physical attributes is flawed. Geneticists have found that many genetically related diseases and other diversities arise from genetic anomalies and mutations that are not inherited e.g. Down syndrome. This goes some way to questioning the validity of Eugenics programs that in part aim to `breed out' genetic code or traits from the human gene pool that is seen to be unhealthy.

Other information that was of interest;
1. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and some of the research done in this area and ways to help prevent it, there is a program called the "Back to Sleep Campaign" run in the USA by NICHD, The Back to Sleep campaign is suitably named for its recommendation to place healthy babies on their backs to sleep. Placing babies on their backs to sleep reduces the risk of SIDS.

2. The Utilization of what they call `Kangaroo Care' as a means to help premature babies thrive.

3. One thing I found intriguing was the suggestion that infants who are allowed to simply actively engage and explore their environment progress better psychologically, cognitively and socially.

4. The beginnings of a sex role identity start to occur around 3 years of age when children's strong attachments to their mothers weaken. During this period of early development, "wanting to be near" (their parent) that is the dominant force in infancy is taken over by "wanting to be like".

5. The in depth discussions to do with schooling and the different modes and forms that this takes on in modern times and also the types of influence that formal education exerts on both the social lives of children and also their academic faculties.

6. The beginning of the reasoning of moral issues and Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of the six stages of moral development.

My only complaint is this; given that I am colour blind it was quite a job to often try and distinguish one line from the next on the graphs and tables throughout, so that would be my only criticism but its relatively negligible. Obviously the views of both psychology and early childhood development do overlap so I would recommend that anyone interested in this area of study read Psychology 7th Edition (Myers) first, you don't have to by any means but it does make some of the concepts and text in this particular book seem easier to understand which makes the flow of reading the content much smoother, though having said that, the authors who as it turns out also have children of their own, have done an excellent job of explaining theories and ideas first then following up by giving a working and easy to understand example in laymen's terms of where those theories and ideas have been put to work, both under scientific conditions or in the real world. Furthermore the authors have somewhat followed the basic format of briefly talking about what they are going to discuss at the start of any particular section of the book, then discussing it and finally at the end of each chapter they review and summarize the content which helps to round out the discussion.

The reference sections at the back of the book containing the definitions of the different terms used throughout the text were a nice and helpful addition to the hardback. This was my second book purchase from the `Worth' Publishing press and the style of their books, in particular the pedagogical features seem to be uniform throughout their range, also in addition to this is the accompanying website that is full of didactic features and a great way to learn interactively about this subject. Overall this book is a fascinating insight into the development of children and certainly worth reading if you're planning on starting or already have a young family as the knowledge will help give you an idea of what to expect as a parent, but it would be equally suitable to others that may be simply interested in academia or just have an interest in this general area and want to add to your knowledge about the human condition.

As a final word I'll say that although the book was mainly meant for academic study which usually makes these class of texts somewhat cold, prosaic and uninspiring, all of which I might add this books suffers none of, you can't help but come to the conclusion that the underlying message in my view is that the more children are nurtured, shaped and prepared both psychologically and socially in a positive and interesting way, then the chances of a superior eventual outcome for the child in question and society at large are improved enormously. To the casual reader of this review that previous sentence may seem blatantly obvious, but to arrive at a greater and much deeper understanding of the what, when's, where's, why's, and who's of childhood development and advancement, then one would be wise to invest some time and money into this book because it is surely worth it. Conversely, this is not a `how to' manual, rather it may be best viewed as an intense analytical overview of the different theories, conclusions, studies and the people who have influenced this area of scientific enquiry over the last 100 years or so.

Edward Gibbon wrote the "Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire" and Mike Cole and his colleagues have written a work of equal stature on the making of human beings. This is an encyclopedia of human development from single cell to adolesence. Though a leader of the cultural psychology school of development, this work includes every theory and subtheory of development around, each bringing its particular insights at the appropriate point in the story - part eclectically, part critically, but always comprehensively. Frequent break-outs take up issues of controversy, the photographs and illustrations are magnificent. Each chapter is constructed with study questions, summaries etc, making it suitable for systematic study, written by a consummate educator. This book will do you for life; use it from your first lecture in your "Early Childhood studies" course, or for that matter, libguistics, anthropology, neuroscience, till your first research project, keep it while your kids grow up, use it when composing your journalistic articles about social issues, and re-read it for sheer enlightenment. I can't say that this book is the last word on the topic, because I know that the Coles will put out a sixth edition before long and the story will go on!

Cole & Cole's work is by far one of my favorite textbooks. The reason? The authors methodically lay out child development from a biopsychosocial perspective, which is no small feat.

They write with a thoroughness and efficiency that you will rarely find in a textbook. Their treatment of child development is evenhanded, not privilaging either the bio, psycho, or social perspectives.

Blake Morgan is a DEA agent. He is involved in two major arrest operations, one involving drug running in Mexico, and the other involving drug and people smuggling in Seattle. Both are solid arrests, the kind where convictions are practically guaranteed. That is, until both suspects are released, and granted immunity from prosecution by someone very high in the CIA. Supposedly, they are also good sources of information for the Agency. Blake knows that something very strange is happening.

Blake was born in a Japanese concentration camp in World War II Hong Kong. His parents, a Welsh father and a Hispanic mother, did not survive the war. Blake was adopted by Wang Chan, a rising member of the Hong Kong business community. Soon before the arrests mentioned above, Wang Chan is found murdered. Like most Hong Kong businessmen, there are rumors that he was involved in illegal activities. Unsatisfied with the pace of the official investigation, Chan's son, Raymond, goes to the Hong Kong triads (gangsters) and asks for their help in avenging his father's death.

While all this is going on, Blake gets word of a proposed alliance between one of the triads and a Mexican drug cartel, assisted by whomever in the CIA is in the habit of releasing drug dealers from prison. Profits are down, so it is proposed that they get together and market an ancient, and quite powerful, Mayan drug called jfuri. Just to make things more interesting, Blake has fallen in love with DEA Special Prosecutor Angela Townsend. It is up to Blake to fight his way through the conspiracies, corruption and general lying to get to the bottom of this, once and for all.

This is an excellent novel. Thriller readers will love it. The reader will be involved from start to finish, it feels very plausible, and the author knows what he is talking about, having actually been born in a World War II concentration camp in Hong Kong. This gets two thumbs up.

Dragon Tamer takes you on a fast-paced journey into the dark and deadly world of international drug deals and one man's struggle to fight back. Intricate details of Hong Kong triad initiation rites,Taoist funeral rituals, Mayan ruins, money laundering and the CIA make a fascinating read on their own and bring the plot to life. Well worth reading !

Dragon Tamer is an excellent read! A very exciting story of mystery and intrigue -- you never know what will happen next. The plot is full of twists and turns, but it's quick-moving too. You can really identify with the characters too -- they're interesting and realistically flawed. I'd recommend this book.

When I friend of mine recommended this book, I thought,
no, I don't read that kind of book, but when I started
reading the first page, I couldn't stop. I had to write this review before I even finished the book, GO BUY IT NOW, it's the best book I've read in a long time.

Dragon Tamer is a must-read ! So exciting you can't put it down. Not only do you get to travel to Hong Kong, Mexico, and the Pacific West Coast, but the author also takes you on a journey through the dark world of drugs and the CIA. The main character, Blake Morgan, fights corruption while struggling with his own personal demons borne out of his childhood in a Prisoner of War camp. The characters are so special, I hope to meet them again in a sequel.

Absouloutly the greatest three novels of a fantasic series. I could go on and on but why? If you havent read these books, read the first series then come back and prepare to be transported back to an amazing place.

Absouloutly the greatest three novels of a fantasic series. I could go on and on but why? If you havent read these books, read the first series then come back and prepare to be transported back to an amazing place.

Margaret Weis, and Tracy Hickman are at it again with another trilogy following the chronicles. Legends is full with adventure and fun, with some humor in it. Once you read the first chapter you are hooked! I guarantee it

Where do I start on how awesome the books where? Not only where they bueatifully written(better than Astinius himself; please don't let him read this!:-) ), they where totally packed full of action adventure and that lovavable kender Tasselhoff! ( For those totally dragonlance illiterate; let me update you on all characters, Raist is the dark mage whose soul was forged during a test of power for becoming a mage, Astinius is the scribe of the gods, some believe him to be the god of the book, gilean himself, and tasselhoff is a kender who actually has a concious!!(thats amazing, seeing as how all kender think they do not have to go by the laws other people do!))

Anyways, Goldmoon's supposed death in the gully dawrfs' lands was a bitter event that changed the rag-tag team of heroes forever. The one good thing about this happening was that she became a true cleric of Mishkal, goodess of healing.(okay,okay, your going to have to read to find out what I mean if you don't alredy know.)

The teaching of Tika and how to use a sword was totally hillarious, especially when she managed to save herself from goblins or something by accident(snicker, snicker) (Could you imagine the look on old sturms face?!! ;-) ) Well I could go on and on (as a said before, like tasselhoff) but you probably have a life(and what computer lover wouldn't?) so I'll shut up now before Flint's ghost comes after me with a hammer or something(IEEEEK!!;Scary thought!)

So as in the famous words of raist "we shall meet again."

This book is a wonderful gift for young gardeners or gardeners-to-be! The illustrations are gorgeous and detailed and an inspiration to all to get out in the garden and have a great time. Along with "Too Many Zucchini for Zachary Beany," I'd place it among my favorites for teaching love of gardening.

Jack's Garden by Henry Cole is a wonderful book about a young boy's flower garden and how it grows throughout the year. I read it each spring to my story hour children, and then we all plant sunflower seeds. As the seeds begin to grow into plants, we re-read the book and talk about what's happening. This book's beautiful illustrations do the best job I've ever seen of showing how the garden and its flowers develop through each stage from bare earth and tiny seeds to seedlings, young plants, buds, and finally blooming flowers. Extra drawings and labels in the margins identify garden tools, parts of a plant, types of seeds, insects, birds & bird eggs, and other wonderful tidbits. The cumulative text (think of "The House that Jack Built") builds up the idea of the garden developing and growing one stage at a time. I consider this one of Henry Cole's finest picture books, and that's saying a lot!

Whoever coined the proverb, "a picture is worth a thousand words" could have been talking about Jack's Garden by Henry Cole.
This book is an excellent illustration of how, step by step, a garden is planted and what the seeds and living creatures do from that point on. We get to see above and below the soil as the garden progresses throughout the season. There are all the names of the plants and creatures labelled neatly next to each, on the main page and in the margins. Best of all, the classic children's poem about the house that Jack built is modified into a catchy text for each picture that makes understanding the magic of a little garden ecosystem effortless for kids as young as three years.

Top notch illustrations and a unique format set this picture book apart and earned it a permanent place in my collection. I only wish I had it in hardback!

I wish this book had been available for me when I was a young child. I'm delighted to be able to give it to my son, age 3. This book shows so many things to be found in a garden - from the first scene where Jack stands shovel in hand in an empty garden through the final page where Jack is surrounded by the beautiful outcome of his work to grow a beautiful garden. Along the way we learn the names of so many creatures and gardening items and see how a garden grows. Buy this book. It's a jewel.

This book is outstanding! Far from being for just the pre-school/younger elementary set, it has a wealth of information which even older kids can benefit from. In addition to the text based on the House That Jack Built, it has labeled drawings of garden tools, insects in the soil, seeds, clouds,parts of plants, plants, butterflies, birds, and other insects. We (my kids ages 4 thru 10 and I) had fun pointing out the things we know and learning the ones we didn't. The illustrations are excellent- colorful and detailed. This book is a wonderful addition to homeschool unit studies on plants.

My kids enjoy all the Magic School Bus books, especially the original ones by Joanna Cole. This one is great too.

This is a great educational series. The kids don't even know they are learning.

I liked this book because it is a good way of showing what a hurricane looks like, how they work, what i can/can not do. It talls you how they are formed and where you can go to be safe from a hurricane.

Written in 1995, Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen's latest story begins where it ends - in Ms. Frizzle's classroom. And that's it. Nothing else happened. The Friz and her students simply went on a nice, leisurely field trip. They didn't end up miles beneath the earth's surface digging for rocks; nor did they travel to outer space to hitch a ride with a runaway comet; heck, they didn't even bother to travel backwards in time millions of years to observe ancient animal life.

End of review. Yes, that's correct. Ms. Frizzle has finally learned her lesson. The field trips she takes with her classroom of students are simply too wild, too wacky, too weird. How much did the children she instructs ever learn, anyhow?

But, of course, this reviewer is stretching the truth a little bit. True, the Friz's most recent field trip did begin and end inside her classroom. And, true, she didn't send her kids splashing through the local waterworks, or give them a guided tour inside the human body, or plunge them to the bottom of the ocean. So what did she do, you ask? All Ms. Frizzle accomplished was to drive through the eye of a hurricane, only to nearly get sent to the Land of Oz via a tornado. Oh, and one of her students - the ever-so-cautious Arnold - simply went on a high-seas adventure, battling wind, waves and surf with his trusted sidekick and faithful ally . . . a radio. And all of this happened before lunchtime in the school cafeteria!

Cole and Degen's seventh collaboration, "The Magic School Bus: Inside a Hurricane," is certainly eventful, if not downright ambitious. And it starts innocently enough.

"It's a perfect day for our field trip to the weather station!" the Friz exclaims. "We'll meet a team of weather forecasters. We'll learn all about our atmosphere!"

"We hadn't finished our experiments about air," writes one of the students in Ms. Frizzle's class, "but with Frizzie at the wheel, we were going - ready or not!"

Anyone who's familiar with Cole and Degen's work understands, recognizes and appreciates the delectable havoc that ensues. Because a field trip isn't just a field trip when it comes to the Friz. To "learn about our atmosphere," it is most preferable to head straight for the source!

The kids in Ms. Frizzle's class - especially hapless Arnold (and his trusted sidekick, faithful ally . . . a radio) - discover all kinds of interesting facts about our planet's weather patterns. For example, most of our weather takes place in the troposphere, the layer of air that is closest to the surface of the earth. The children learn that air has weight. Did you ever wonder why the air in your attic is always so stuffy, yet the air in your basement is usually so cool? Can you tell the difference between cirrus, stratus and cumulus clouds? Just how many droplets does it take to form one single raindrop? And that's just scratching the surface of what this well-researched, well-written, well-illustrated book has to offer. All this, and the Friz hasn't even tackled that hurricane yet!

One would think that after six acclaimed adventures, Cole and Degen would begin to run out of steam. But with "Inside a Hurricane," that is clearly not the case. The writing and illustrations are every bit as inspired as those in previous efforts. Once again, Cole and Degen manage to explain facets of meteorology that are, at once, both funny and easily understandable. Every page is brimming with facts about weather, along with a dollop of humorous sidekicks to boot.

There is something in this book for everyone. One random fact I wasn't aware of explained the connection between thunder, lightning and - get this - opening up a soft drink can! And did you know that faraway places such as Australia and India are susceptible to hurricanes? Most people only associate these hazardous storms with places like the tropics, Florida or the East Coast.

As is the custom with all tales about the Magic School Bus, the final pages distinguish what was fact in the book and what was made up for story purposes. And, always the clever duo, Cole and Degen hint at what is to come in Ms. Frizzle's newest expedition. The buzz surrounding the Friz's eighth escapade into parts unknown is already beginning. In fact, you could say it's un-bee-lievable!

As Ms. Frizzle herself would say, "Keep together, class!"

For those familiar with the "Magic Schoolbus" series, Mrs. Frizzle's adventures with her class all have a similar plotline. Mrs. Frizzle explains some scientific topic, whether it's the solar system, the dinosaurs, etc. and then lures her children onto her special schoolbus for an adventure. During the adventure the only child that is regularly singled out as the perpetual schlamatzel is Arnold, a boy who doesn't care much for adventures, thank you. In the end, the class is safe and has learned quite a lot, despite themselves. Even Arnold. Then there is a "letters" section in the back where readers wishing to complain about scientific inaccuracies (in this case, how dangerous it would be to be caught in a hurricane) are one-upped by already existing letters. The particular plotline in this hurricane obsessed book was not too dissimilar from the others, and was a lot of fun. I used to read these books to kids that I babysat back in my high school years, and certain types of children love them. The pages are always busy with text, speech bubbles, experiments that kids can do at home, and various factoids sprinkled hither and yon. I do wonder how long these series will last before it is regarded as hopelessly dated by the young. Please note that the review previous to my own was last written in 1997. Currently the show is doing well as a tv series, voiced by Lily Tomlin. Just the same, it would be very difficult to read this book to a group of kids. The books are relatively small and crammed with so much extra text that children will want to handle them one on one, rather than with a large group. Each book would pair well with a companion non-fiction book on the same topic.

MY daughter loves bugs/nature and this is a great book to help her learn a little more about them.

These are a great addition to any home library. Just having them available is a great Science curriculum. The kids don't even know they are learning.

My 5 year old son loves the Magic School Bus. We were not disappointed with this book about the Coral Reefs. The Magic School makes learning about the environment and the ocean fun for all ages.

My five year old son and three year old daughter have been enjoying this book for over a year. The older child finds the story exciting and gains satisfaction from better understanding the world around him. The younger child enjoys how the characters she's come to know so well morf into creatures she's familiar with from visits to the aquarium and the fishmonger.

The story opens with Mrs. Frizzle showing the children a map from her pirate ancestor. The possibility of finding pirate treasure and the threats facing the kids during their search for it motivates them to work together in the manner of coral reef creatures. The kids find the treasure chest in an area of the reef that looks sickly and learn that the metal fittings on the chest have been poisoning the coral.

Magic School Bus Takes a Dive is a worthwhile purchase. The kids also enjoy a related title, Magic School Bus Gets Eaten, which has the class in the ocean again learning about food chains.

Ms. Frizzle takes her class on a field trip to the depths of the ocean to observe the coral reefs up close and learn life that found in reefs. The book, like all the other Magic School Bus books, teaches a lot, and has a moral. In this story the reader can learn a lot about the coral reefs of the sea, and what kind of creatures live there. The moral of this story is to work together to achieve your goals. Children between the ages of 4 and 6 would probably enjoy this book.

This book is is easy to read and does an excellent job of introducing the new features and tools in T-SQL 2005. The book covers all the new features of SQL 2005 very well and I was especially impressed with the section on encryption.

Pro T SQL Programmers Guide is an excellent resource to jump start your SQL Server 2005 development efforts. Michael Coles presents clear, concise examples that will guide the reader from T-SQL fundamentals to the use of the new xml data type,http endpoints, sqlclr programming, encryption and more. A clear read with great practical examples.



I would highly recommend this book as a reference and guide book for t-sql developers, dba's and development professionals

This book is well written with clear examples and excellent coverage of T-SQL. Great to read cover to cover but also very useful as a reference source. I highly recommend it.

I really enjoyed this book. It presents the essential new features of SQL 2005 in a well written easy to read manner. If you are a SQL Developer and want to get up to speed quickly on SQL Server 2005 this is the book for you.

The chapter on encryption is excellent and worth the price of the book by itself.

Short Summary:
Pro T-SQL 2005 Programmer's Guide book examines SQL Server 2005 T-SQL from a developer's perspective. It covers a wide range of developer-specific topics in SQL Server 2005. This book covers many newly introduced topics in depth. This book is written as a practical and useful guide to help database developers who mainly deals with T-SQL. This book is really hit the spot with appropriate .NET code at few places where needed. This book assumes a basic knowledge of SQL but it is really easy for new beginners developers to understand and advanced developers to enjoy further reading.

Detailed Summary:
One thing I really liked about this book is that it can be either read cover to cover, or it can be used as a reference guide for one particular topic. Index of this book is extremely well organized and aids to find the right topic very quickly. Books is structure is many chapters and each chapter justifies the chapters with good details and proper amount of examples.

Each chapter has excellent advice and knowledge and filled with sample code (available online). The book is targeted specifically at SQL Server 2005 and the innovative ways to code T-SQL, new functions and commands. If is very easy to get started with this book and it immerses in comprehensive reading in no time. This book addresses many details and comparisons with T-SQL in very organized way. The examples are in very accurate and useful as well sufficient to targeted topics. This book addresses many of the real world issues with examples, discussions and solutions.

This book start with providing a brief history of T-SQL and the ANSI SQL standards. SQLCMD and SQL Server Management Studio are new tools to explore SQL Server 2005 and are covered in depth in beginning of the book. Chapters which covers Common Table Expressions (CTEs), new datatypes, operators, keywords, functions, and control of flows are really interesting and with necessary explanation. Readers of my blog are very well aware of my interests in Error handling and debugging. Interesting enough for me there is one whole chapter dedicated to that. The regular T-SQL concepts which I write a lot about Stored Procedure, Triggers and Dynamic SQL each have their own chapter. One thing many T-SQL book does not cover in depth is XML, XQuery and XPath which are properly discussed and their importance is explained properly. Last three chapter of the book which covers SQLCLR, .NET Client Programming and HTTP Endpoints requires the Microsoft .NET FrameWork 2.0, as it contains some code which are written in VB and C#.

One thing which I always liked in any database book is, use of sample database AdventureWorks. I strongly believe that all the example should be independent from previous examples and should use default database. If you have not installed default database AdventureWorks, you can get its latest location by searching in my blog SQLAuthority.com. All the script of examples are available to download online. No book is free from the errors and website for this book have errata list, which is surprisingly very small.

I will list few tips from book which interested me. This will give brief idea how good this book is.

"TABLESAMPLE always returns an approximate number of rows because of the way it samples data. The required percentage is the number of data pages SQL Server retreves in full to fulfill your TABLESAMPLE request. The number of rows returned by TABLESAMPLE will often be slightly less, or greater, than the specified amount."

"Anytime you use dynamic SQL, make sure that you take precautions against SQL injection, that is, malicious SQL Code being inserted into your SQL statements. In this instance we're using the QUOTENAME function to quote the column names being dynamically generated to help avoid SQL injection problems."

Following one example really caught my eyes while reading the book. It seems Author accurately described the situation and put his suggestion regarding syntax.
"The ANSI SQL:2003 standard includes a MERGE statement that performs the same function as the upsert type of SP. The prerelease versions of SQL Server 2005 included the MERGE statement. Though it was well-publicized during the prerelease period, the MERGE statement was unceremoniously dropped from the production version. We can only hope that Microsoft brings it back sometime in the near future."
Good news is Microsoft have included the Authors request in future version of SQL Server. SQL Server 2008 CTP 4 has included MERGE Keyword.

Rating: 4 and 1/2 stars

In Summary, A book for every developer who want to take full advantage of the power of T-SQL on SQL Server 2005.

Pinal Dave
Principal Database Administrator
(blog.sqlauthority.com)

I was born in San Francisco and know the beauty of this city. I recently visited my cousin who lives in Italy. She was teasing me that she wanted to come home with me to San Francisco so I did the next best thing and purchased this book for her. I understand from her emails that she treasures it and hopes to come here one day

San Francisco is one of the most stunning cities in the world and if you look inside this book it's not hard to see why. Morton Beebe brings it to life in this beautifully presented colourful book. Not only are there beautiful photos and pictures, but essays and interesting reading material and information about this gorgeous Northern Californian city.
If you have been fortunate enough to travel to San Fran and enjoyed it, then you'll love this book, - and if you haven't yet been, then this might be just the inspiration you are looking for to convince you to travel there. This book is well worth it's price and makes either a great gift or a nice treat for yourself. I really loved reading through this book.

Absolutely gorgeous pictures, great for San Francisco lovers. New edition has several new pictures and essays. It serves as a great gift if you are visiting someone and want to show off the city you live in

Bring together an elegant top-quality publishing company, a gifted photographer, superb essayists and you have all the makings for a good book. Let the subject be San Francisco, though, and you have a great book.

This is the 3rd edition of this best seller with 218 full color images by Morton Beebe as well as essays by Herb Caen, Tom Cole, Barnaby Conrad, Herbert Gold, John Hart, Allen Pastron, Miguel Pendás, and Kevin Starr. Together, they provide an intimate portrayal of the City by the Bay. This stunning collection of photographs captures the contrasts, the energy, and the vitality of San Francisco. As do the essays.

Tom Cole takes us back to the beginning and provides an historical review of the raucous town that suddenly grew up overnight in its feverish bid for gold. Barnaby Conrad leads us into the night with anecdotes witty, clever, and sensuous from an eclectic mix including, to name just a few, Graham Green, Frank Sinatra, and Eva Gabor.

"Bahnaby tells me you haf a vooden leg, vitch vun iz it?"
"Eva, I never thought I'd have to tell a Gabor what a man's leg feels like."
"Vell, dahling, ve vass never in zee lumber business!"

In a final essay, Allen Pastron walks us through much of the city beneath our feet. Here, we discover the world's finest anchorage being dug up and, therein, its archaeological heritage. Penned a "worm's-eye-view," the essay provides some wonderful insights into what was once the bawdy Barbary Coast - particularly, the story of the discovery of the buried ship General Harrison.

Rudyard Kipling opined San Francisco was "a mad city inhabited by perfectly insane people." So it lives on! Multi-faceted lifestyles unfold with each page, the images capturing the curious joie de vivre that reigns over The City. Other pictures highlight the unmistakable landmarks: the skyline with its Pyramid Building, the Golden Gate, and my favorite, the Palace of Fine Arts in the gentle light of dusk below a full moon glowing. The photos speak volumes in this book. Each offers a glimpse as to why the city Herbert Gold called "America's last great metropolitan village" has won the most coveted travel destination award in the world - now ten years in a row - the Condé Nast Traveler's annual Readers' Choice Awards.

San Francisco, City by the Bay, was first published in 1985. This edition features ninety new images and three new essays. The publisher, Abrams, boasts that Beebe's book is their longest running best seller. Not surprisingly. It is said that San Francisco is a city full of people that want to be here. Morton Beebe, a 3rd generation San Franciscan, reminds us of why this is so.

Beebe's images have truly captured the many diverse flavors and charms that make San Francisco the unique city that it is. Combined with the entertaining and informative essays, the beatifully printed images in this book bring a reader as close as one can come to walking through the streets of San Francisco itself. I throughly enjoyed this book.

The book traces the origins of the Vedas, the various hindu mythologies and its relationships to the various veda shastras (Astrology being one of them) . The author proceeds to talk in detail about vedic astrology right from the basis foundational principles of astronomy, signs, planets and their relationships to the complex details on chart reading and interpretation. The author manages to cover a significant portion of the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (BPHS), the astrology encyclopedia of the great sage Parashara in a very easy to understand conversationalist style. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the basics and a bit more of vedic astrology.

When a new student asks me, "If I'm only going to buy one Vedic Astrology book right now, which one should I buy", I recommend Freedom Coles book as it contains almost everything you need to know. Much of the info in the book came directly from his guru, Sanjay Rath, who is a modern guru of Vedic Astrology( and also an astrology savant).
After aScience of Light: An Introduction to Vedic Astrologybsorbing the info in 'Science of Light 'you will be prepared for the advanced published works of Sanjay Rath.
THe author has done extensive reading and research and contributed some nice artwork to make this a real gem of knowledge for anybody interested in Vedic Astrology.I highly recommend it.

Brilliant. Ingenious. Freedom Tobias Cole is the reincarnation of thee Vedic Master. His comprehensive interpretation and here and now translation of the Vedas takes you to the place of knowing effortlessly. And this is only the beginning.

The book has been written a simple,conversational style that relates to the day to day realities, the symbolisms and the meanings are well explained in a language that anyone can understand. It has a mix of contents. Some parts are very well for the most basic learners. Others, like some techniques, need a bit of pre exposure to vedic astrology.On the whole though, it is a great book to be to used as a reference for different levels of learners. The book does an amazing job of translating the concepts and terminology written in ancient India for today's world. It will be therefore very useful for people who have grown up in the west or even those easterners who are cosmopolitan and have been exposed to only western/tropical astrology earlier.

Although perhaps the rush of bringing the book out on a tight deadline has resulted in some typos here and there, its easy to relate style, coupled with psychological insights as they relate to astrological archetypes makes it a great book for anyone with an open mind and willingness to explore the astro world. In many ways it is the best sidereal-vedic answer to Liz Greene brand of psychological western astrology that I have seen so far. It goes even deeper in some ways. But one tastes a little of that and hungers for more. But for that to happen, another book will be needed. Hope the author brings out more such material in the times to come ( hopefully soon!).

This is such a wonderful book, even for those of us who are just beginning to grasp jyotish. Mr. Cole's writing is so clear! It has really helped me to understand so much more. He writes in a really precise and relatable way, rich with insight. A Fantastic Discovery!