Collins Books

This is a fascinating story and the author presents substantive research. There is some good prose in parts, such as the character development of Commodore Perry and descriptions of Okinawa, but on the whole it is not a smooth read. The 4 stars I'm giving it are for its importance as a contribution to our understanding of this period, the author's discussion on the impact of the attitude with which Perry's mission was accomplished, and the research that has been brought together.

Had there not been such good material and insight, the text was so choppy that I would have not finished the book. The dangling ideas, that is, concepts introduced but not previously explained or later followed up on, were frustrating. Then there are a lot of tortured sentences and then some grammar that had to be ignored to get the meaning.

One example of a dangling idea was the paragraph that ended by saying that Abe Mashihiro had won an important victory in the appointment of his recommended defense advisor followed by a paragraph saying that the appointee was "his (Abe's) the most vocal critic." What did I miss? By this time in the book, I no longer flipped back. The concept of a victory for Abe getting a critic an influential position isn't ever clear. It could be that the author meant it in the wider context that through this appointment there was no war, but that isn't clear either.

An example of the tortured prose, on p. 190 regarding Perry's son in law and grandson:

"New York's high society made him "King of Fifth Avenue". (New York Belmont Race Track and the Belmont Stakes are named after him, while in Newport, Rhode Island one of the sumptuous "cottages" was built by Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont, the son of "King" and Perry's daughter, together with Alva Vanderbilt previously married to William K. Vanderbilt)".

A grammar example (while you know it's Abe, there are two antecedents for him, not one) is on p. 243 "More than ever, Abe and the roju made the important decisions; with the senior counselors increasinly deferring to him about those concerning Perry..."

While the text was a real drawback (for me), there is a lot of food for thought in the analysis of what it Perry's actions meant for US-Japanese relations for the next 100 years, the unequal treaties, the symbolism of the USS Missouri receiving the Japanese surrender in Uraga Bay and the comparison of China's attitude and policies toward western trade and intervention.

For general readers interested in the seclusion period I recommend Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan and Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald Macdonald and the Opening of Japan.

This marvelous book is a model study of the unintended consequences of American self-righteousness and imperial arrogance -- with eerie echoes today in the Bush/Cheney invasion of Iraq. It is a work of superb scholarship, and in spots it requires keen concentration, but the total effect is most rewarding, and the concluding sections -- with their lessons for the present and,one hopes,for the future -- are brilliant.

Amidst the present disasters of our militarized foreign policy, Mr Feifer's observation (in Chapter 17) that American "fervor and ignorance, especially of other cultures, sometimes caused grave damage" rings with bitter irony today in Iraq. "The Japan that [Commodore Perry] left was boiling in despairing confusion ... bloody plots and counterplots ... full of episodes that seem not to belong to waking life, but have ... the unearthly logic of events in a dream."

And yet, even in his harsh conclusions, Mr Feifer is scholarly, moderate, nuanced, and scrupulous, never overstating his case as the ironies for today abound. This is an incisive and most admirable book.

This challenging and deeply researched book on Perry's "opening up" of Japan
has the most painful relevance possible to our current government's colossal
misadventure in allegedly trying to bring "Freedom and Democracy" to a land
of darker-skinned people about whose history we are -- not willfully mis-
informed, which would be bad enough, but wildly, tragically ignorant. And
what kind of reverberations can we expect, decades and even a century down
the road of history? What Pearl Harbors, what Okinawas, what Hiroshimas are
there to come?

If you think you knew and understood American history this brilliant book will make you think again.The author sets out to show that America arrogantly decided to force Japan to open its doors to foreigners and trade, a decision that turned out to be the first step along the path that was to lead to Pearl Harbor. He succeeds admirably. This is readable, controversial history with a lesson for what is going on in Iraq today. A must book for serious thinkers.

On one level this remarkable book will provide invaluable background for anyone interested in understanding why Japan's love-hate relationship with the United States continues to this day. It should also serve to underline the dangers of imposing one nation's views on another.
But the book will also appeal to readers simply interested in a rich historical tour of Japan at the dawn of its modern era. The skillful weaving of the descriptions of the personalities, prejudices and political backgrounds of Commodore Perry and his Japanese counterpart Lord Abe brings to life and keeps in focus a story that might otherwise have drifted into an academic dissertation.
Breaking Open Japan will now be added to my list of must-reads for friends and acquaintances interested in peeling away the layers of a society that remains the most complex and conflicted of the modern era.

Top Marks for this highly readable and clear intro to Voice over IP. The subject matter is dealt with in reasonable detail and the author achieves great clarity in explaining difficult technical concepts. He also delves a bit into the history and background which also helps to put the subject matter in context. He even adds a small example of how to go about dimensioning a VOIP network at the end of the book.

Aimed specifically at designers of public telecommunications networks, this easy to read book provides practical and useful hands-on information. Where necessary, topics are covered in great detail. For example, 120 pages are dedicated to H.323. Softswitch architecture and programming are covered, and 55 pages are devoted to discussing Quality of Service issues.

We believe this book to be an essential read, and recommend it highly.

Great book on VoIP, still emerging technology. It did a great job in explaining concepts related to QoS such as RSVP, DiffServ and MPLS. Right from basics such as IP, UDP, TCP and various coding techniques you will find great explanation to each and every item. If you are interested in knowing about VoIP or you if u wanna work on VoIP this is the ONLY book you need. There is very detailed and neat explanation related to MGCP, MEGACO, SS7 and SIP too. The only thing that i felt lacking is testing of voice quality both subjective and objective and how they could be done. No doubt in giving 5 *s to it, great job!

This book does a very good job of giving an introduction to the VoIP world. As a professional in the telecom domain, I found this book very useful. Application of VoIP to telco domain as in the case of softswitch architecture for backhaul and the QoS issues that carriers have to deal with is also well covered at a good amount of detail. The book also provides detailed discussion on the protocols. However, I skipped passed these sections and unable to comment if such material was covered well.

Overall - a very good book. Highly recommend it.

I serious think that I should not write this review since I do not understand half of this book, but then again, I have read this and also Cisco Intergrated Voice Data and can in some way be a poor/insufficient abeit enthusastic tour guide. I have noticed other reviewers describing this book as great - but I do not think this book is comparable to monumental classic like Jeff Doyle or Kennedy Clarks books on Routing and Switching - where they display in-depth knowledge on the topic plus an ability to explain thing in the clearest possible way. I rate this book 5 stars for the sole reason that the author do appear to have an overwhelming knowledge of computer telephony - although I cannot quite judge whether they are technically accurate or error free - and has taken his valueable time off to write them down and share with us. While the author definitely has the kindest intention of making it "understanable" to even the not-so-technically-advance group of reader - as is evidenced in the way he start off this book by explaining why bother with IP telephony, and why TCP/IP is inherently unsuitable for IP telephony - I suspect that when it come to harder topics like H.323, SIP etc - there is simply no way or no time to find a more reader friendly way to present it. In the end it is a tough read - so tough that I will have to put it aside for a while as you need to be in the highest state or mental agility and strength to make hard yakka through the book. Nevertheless, this book is a useful reference - and for topics that this author decide not to include - check out Cisco's Integrated Voice and Data.

This book is so unique, I would recommend it for anyone who loves the history of the stage or just unique perspectives and biographies.
Not only is the story engaging, but each page is tasty eye candy.
You will not be disappointed with Century Girl!

Loved everything about this book: the subject, the era, the layout, the photographs, the ephemera. This was an enjoyable read and I've purchased copies to give as gifts to friends that I know have an interest in this time period. My only caution is that the text is "handwritten" and sprawls across the pages. I found it charming, but others may find it difficult to read. All in all, a delightful glimpse into a life led in the glory of days long gone.

Wow, this book is fantastic! Lauren Redniss put a lot of highly detailed work into this charming publication about the last Ziegfeld girl alive. Doris Eaton is a spunky little lady who, at the age of 104 has graciously opened the pages of her life during the days she was a Ziegfeld girl. The book is beautifully illustrated and colorful with lots of photographs and clippings follwing Doris' career as well as her siblings. Ms. Redniss did a marvelous job. I can't rave about it enough.

You must buy this sweet book if you adore the Ziegfeld Folies, fashion illustration, collage, lush photos of flappers, and want to know more about the last of the living burlesque dancers Doris Eaton Travis. This wonderful book makes a fab gift for collectors of nostalgia and vintage frocks. Features pages and pages of handpainted/tinted photos and whimsical creative collage spreads of 1920's photos.

Century Girl: 100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis, Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies is a new order of biography. Lauren Redniss uses hand-written text as an artistic element to guide the eye through the evocative images she has created using photo-collage and line drawings. The result is a visually stunning tour of the extraordinary life of Doris Eaton Travis

The book chronicles the life of Norman, Oklahoma, resident and University of Oklahoma graduate Doris Eaton Travis. The book follows Travis and her siblings, once known as the Eatons of Broadway, from their lives as child actors, to their success in theater and early films, and ultimately to their sad and often tragic fates.

Travis alone was able to leave show business behind. She had the strength to adapt herself when circumstances demanded; from dancer, to entrepreneur, to book-keeper on a horse ranch, to college graduate at 88 years old. She returned to the Broadway stage at the age of 94 and recieved an honorary doctorate at 100. Her's is a story of reinvention and ultimately of success.

Lauren Redniss teaches at the Parson's School in New York City. Her work is often seen on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times, which nominated her for the Pulitzer Prize. She is currently writing a biography of Marie Curie, due out in the fall.

This book is a work of art from cover to cover. Redniss knows her subject well and the story is told largely in Travis' own words. It is the author's unique, artistic approach that brings this fascinating story to life so vibrantly and with such immediacey.

In one section of the book, for example, Redniss discusses Travis' sister Mary Eaton's beauty, and the eagerness with which men gave her expensive gifts. The text takes the reader to photographs of Eaton in a seductive pose layered over images of Eaton's name in lights on the marquis of the New Amsterdam Theater. These images flow into a still photo from Eaton's starring role in Glorifying the American Girl. As we read of Eaton's beauty, we see coming off the page a Broadway star at the height of her fame and a woman who epitomizes beauty in the early twentieth century....and we understand why men were so easily parted from their money.

The artistic elements flow together seamlessly and carry the reader through this lovingly crafted biography. Redniss' incredible images allow the reader to experience the lives of Travis and her family in ways that text alone simply doesn't allow.

This book would appeal to anyone interested in dance or theater history. It has appeal to the general reader as well. Doris Eaton Travis is an extraordinary human being. Her ability to overcome tragedy, to reinvent herself, and to constantly strive to learn is an inspiration to all. Lauren Redniss' extaordinary book is the perfect vehicle to bring her inspiring story to life.

The relief of debt for poorer countries is an issue which many support but few really understand. Noreena Hertz is someone who knows what she is talking about. She formerly worked at the World Bank and in now Professor of Economics at Cambridge. She is also a tireless campaigner for debt relief.

What I most appreciated was her ability to explain the economics in a way that was both understandable and convincing. She tells us how the debts came about - often during the cold war in an attempt by the West to gain and maintain areas of influence in the developing world. She also reminds us that many of these loans went to corrupt leaders of countries whose citizens now have to pay the price. As a result basic human needs - food, housing, and healthcare are sacrificed to service the debt payments.

We are left in no doubt that we carry a significant responsibility for this situation. This is why we should lobby our leaders to write of these debts. It is easy to say that fault lies on both sides. That may be so but if poor children have to pay then we who are in a position to do something should do all that we can.

She writes all of this in a very readable style. This book did far more than big events such as Live 8 to convince me of the need to do something. I would urge all readers to get hold of a copy and read it!

Insightful, interesting and accessable. I read this book as part of my disseration research for a critical assessment of World Bank/IMF policy with regards to third world development. Prof. Hertzs' arguements are persuasive and compelling. They demand the attention of the policy-makers, finanical workers and the international community at large. Debt hangs from the neck of the developing world preventing it from standing upright. Prof. Hertz explains that this need not be the case.

Debt cancellation for developing countries is a subject that has attracted much attention and little real action, despite in 2005 G8 countries and few others have taken some clear-cut commitment. This readable book provides:

a) a quick and simple description as to how developing countries got trapped into unsustainable debt levels. But among developing countries it fails to distinguish between middle-income emerging market economies and low-income economies. Therefore, the author jumps to the conclusion that Argentina (or Turkey) and Somalia (or Botswana) should be treated the same.

b) a simple theory, which suggests that developed countries often offered loans to corrupt governments (or full-fledged dictatorship) of developing countries and therefore, the peoples of those countries cannot bear the burden of servicing that debt, for which they did not benefit at all. Thus understood the problem, the full debt cancellation is a moral (and maybe legal) obligation. The author does not develop further that theory, but in practice she says that those countries that have violated human rights, or more specifically, at the time of borrowing were violating civil and political liberties, and/or economic, social and cultural rights should be provided full debt cancellation. Who and how the violation would be assessed is not clear, but this idea merits to be developed further and into operational detail.

I would recommend it for the general reader and those interested in development issues without prior knowledge.

Noreena Hertz's basic principle is that the rights of creditors do not stand above fundamental human rights.
Debt repayments should not be imposed on governments when they could put in danger a minimum level of food, health care, clothing, water, education and housing for the entire population.

But as US president Calvin Coolidge said to the English delegation after WWI: 'We lent you money. Didn't we?'
The fact is that a lot of money was lent to corrupt and despotic regimes (Suharto, Marcos, Abacha, Ceaucescu, Mengistu, the South-African apartheid regime ...). More, after the end of the cold war, the US asked immediate debt repayment from States which were no longer strategically important.

Democratic governments should not be responsible for irresponsible lending by States or International Organizations.
She remarks that 60-70 % of all World bank projects under Mc Namara were failures and that only 10 % were ecologically and socially sound investments.

For her, debt should be forgiven if it was lent to undemocratic regimes, if the investments were against the interests of the majority of the population and when those who gave the money knew for what it was disbursed.
Ultimately, debt forgiveness will ot only favour the poor but also the rich countries, for it should not force nations to implement unsound policies and should improve security in the world.

By the way, she rightly lambastes massive arms investments (4 stealth bombers represent 1 schoolyear for 155 million children) and agricultural subsidies in the US and Europe (every cow receives 2,20 $ per day, or more that 1 billion human beings on our planet).

This book is a must read about a crucial problem for a massive part of the world population.

Just as her other great book , The Silent Takeover, this one is an honest effort, well documented and basically well intended.I think Ms. Hertz is brilliant and brave in her exposure of the facts. But...and there is always a but. I think that, her final proposals tend to be naive. Do not misunderstand me. Her proposals would be very good...if and only if, the people with the power to move ahead with the kind of actions that are needed were really interested in the fate of poor countries and in the people of their own countries ( as she very well explains). What they are interested in , I mean the elites everywhere,is in PROFITS and power..that is the reason and the blood of limitless capitalism. All other issues, including the welfare of the people or the environment are simply not considered.
Another point is that the role of the corrupt political elite in third world countries is in some way minimized. These guys are gangsters and must be treated as such. But instead they are very well treated by the political and corporative elites in the developed nations...and when they no longer represent PROFITS or geopolitical advantages they are simply discarded..Just remember Noriega or Saddam...The sad point is that the people of these countries can not discard these gangsters by their own means..Why?? Because of the support the corrupt Govts' receive from the rich countries..And they preach about moral and ethics....!!! Very good read....Worth your time.

My fiance and I (the Engaged Groom) are planning our wedding, and have less time than you'd normally have to make all our arrangements. We are also trying to be budget concious and not go overboard. So far there is nothing a-typical about our wedding. The Engaged Groom has been so very helpful of providing a good overview of what needs to be done, when, and how. I thought I had all the answers until I read this book. I feel better prepared now and have a much better grasp on where we can cut corners, and the do's and don'ts of the wedding world....but primarily the message is, make sure you have the wedding YOU want, and not the wedding everyone TELLS YOU you need.....thanks Doug Gordon, your book is a life-saver.

This book has a lot of good practical advice, like when to get a marriage license. For someone getting married out of state, this was very helpful. I also thought some of the money-saving tips were unique and not your standard fare. There was a part on dealing with problem guests that has been very helpful since we've had to deal with a lot of these types of people and as the groom I usually have to smoothe over a few egos and play peacemaker. To top it off, there's a great section about bachelor parties goes beyond other books and talks about how people really feel about strip clubs, both men and women.

To keep it interesting Gordon puts in a lot of funny stuff, like lists of songs that are inappropriate to play at a wedding and an answer to the question of whether or not throwing rice at a wedding is harmul to birds. (It's not, but his explanation is really amusing and well written.)

I got this as a gift and thought it was really helpful, one source for all of my questions. Four months to go before my wedding and there's still a lot I learned.

All of the other books for grooms are condescending, treat the groom like he's an idiot, or warn him about his "bridezilla". This one's the antithesis of all of that, and actually provides good information for the groom with a question about any part of the wedding. It doesn't need to be read cover-to-cover, and provides a positive spin on handling tough situations.

I gave this to my future son-in-law so he wouldn't feel so left out, but more importantly, so his mother would realize it's my daughter's wedding not hers. Worked both ways. I haven't read it, but so far, so good.

My bride gave me this even though I didn't think I'd help out too much. But I had a few questions and this really helped. It was funny, which helped, since any book that takes things too seriously wouldn't work for me. I had questions about the budget, since I was paying for somethings and trying to figure out who would pay for the rest, and I also had questions about invitations, who to invite, etc. This worked for me. I will pass it on to friends when they get married.

The title of the book describes the status of classified information on UFOs:"Exempt from Disclosure." The record is unambiguous, powerful, and almost unarguable that there are many aspects of UFO or flying saucer reports that have been classified over the years, and this is the first book that provides enough detail to convince many that we have had a deeply covert intelligence involvement with the UFO topic from the beginning.

EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE

Exempt from Disclosure is one blockbuster of a UFO book, this book is not for the Novice, or occasional ufo reader, now with that said, here is what the knowledgeable
Reader will find,
How the US Policy of UFO's began, starting with President Truman's Executive order, and the EO classifying this subject, and the turning it over
to the CIA,
Helms,, Angelton, Colby, the various Generals and military people. Who shaped this policy.
The Adam and Eve classified orders, LANL, Wright Patterson FTD, Groom, Nevada test site. And the DIA. The roles played by Oppenheimer,Von Neumen, Dr Bush. And the
Highly classified Z division at LANL.

The true story of the AVAIRY with the added bonus of both authors being members,
MJ-12 the beginning how the group came into being, starting with the classified order
Signed by President Truman which classified this subject higher then Nuclear Weapons,
Which was the highest classified subject in the US gov.
MJ-12 team photos, a reunion photo from LANLfrom 2003. Recent members listed.
The real reason SDI was created. Dr Eric Wang at FTD.
The Vaults at Wright Patterson AFB, the answer to the Hanger 18 riddle,
The OROCA committee, TA-49 ( the DULCE complex, the SCIF underground at LANL. The RED, Book YELLOW book, and the commutation device given to us
By the EBE'S The Manzano complex ,plant 3. where the device is kept.
The backward Engineered Alien energy device, used on the space station.
The Mysterious Raven, An Alien Ambassador, this book has layers, and layers,
The Authors take you deeper, and deeper, all the while remember that they are
Insiders themselves, as are all the people who talk to them,Collins and Doty
Let you peek into the Looking Glass of UFO Intelligence, there is Truth, layered
With a touch of disinfo, all wrapped into one incredible book!

Then if all this is not enough, comes the blockbuster Interview with an Alien on
March 5th 1983 at LANL by none other then one of the authors, Rick Doty!
Gives a detailed review of this in a SCIF somewhere in LANL!
Then more on LANL, The vaults, time capsule, how LANL was involved since
The first crash retrieval, and the names of many of the Scientist who were involved!
(And I am leaving so much out, ) From LANL on to Wright Patterson FTD and the
Real Hanger 18 story, and the location of the Vaults at Wright Pat From there,
The Authors take you to Groom lake and the Nevada test site, where recovered, and
Backwarded engineered craft are kept, and test flown!
Collins, and Doty, have written a truly incredible book, for the serious researcher!
The Best UFO book I have ever read!
Frank Colacarro
I have studied this subject for over 30yrs

Robert Collins' new book goes places where few UFO books have gone before. The book is not the most useful for beginners, for they may find themselves overwhelmed within minutes (the subject is labyrinthine, and this book delves into the farthest reaches) - but Collins fully acknowledges this in his introduction. Rather, it's primarily written for those devotees and enthusiasts who already have a fairly sophisticated understanding of the phenomenon and its complex history.

This assumption made about the background knowledge of the reader, the book then launches into a fascinating smorgasbord of inside information, supported by extensive documentation and "deep" sources.

The book documents the famous "Aviary" - a group of insiders known by code names such as Falcon, Condor, Raven, and so on - and explores the history of various efforts to release the mass of top secret information which has never yet been made available to the public. All such efforts have so far met with failure, for a number of reasons. Political climate is one, and at the same time there have been differing opinions within the intelligence community about how to deal with this monstrous problem. Disinformation - the deliberate obfuscation of facts with fanciful additives - is rife, this being a favored (and effective) ploy of intelligence agencies: the waters become so muddied that reports are inconsistent and no-one knows any more what to think or believe.

There is an extensive section written by Richard Doty (the Aviary's "Falcon"), who in this first addition is listed by Collins as being a co-author. This provides - besides much else - fascinating information about the three extraterrestrial "guests" of the US government over a period of four decades, known as EBE-1, EBE-2, and EBE-3. Doty chronicles an interview with EBE-2 at which he was present, at Los Alamos National Laboratories on 5 March 1983.

There is also much detail about the location of secret installations within Air Force bases - supported by an extensive collection of maps and diagrams - and an intriguing section about the notorious "Men in Black". Yet another section features a message exchange with an anonymous Los Alamos scientist who explains, referring to the physics of the flying disks, that "You are assuming that ET crafts are made with our technology... Many years ago, we made that same mistake and it took us several years to correct the mistake and start fresh from the drawing board. "Their" technology is nothing similar to ours. We do not utilize our physics or chemistry in a comparison analysis. We started from scratch and learned their principles of dynamics, physics, etc... The ET craft was manufactured using ET technology. This craft was built many years before we developed flight. They used a different physics principle, that we still don't fully understand. We cannot duplicate the craft's material. We have nothing similar to that material on Earth..."

All this, and more. I've only touched on the parts of the book that interested me. If you already know a lot about the subject, buy this book, and you'll know a lot more. Furthermore, at Collins' website [...] - or here at Amazon - you can buy a CD which contains a wealth of information beyond what is supplied in this book. This reader has nothing to gain by promoting this! Just wanting to help make this extraordinary and well documented information available to all.

THE BEST BOOK FOR INSIGHT INTO THE UFO PROBLEMS. WHAT SCARES ME ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT'S HOLDING BACK INFORMATION OF THIS KIND FROM THE PUBLIC IS THAT WITH ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY OF THE KIND THE ETS OBVIOUSLY HAVE WOULD GIVE EARTH'S GOVERNMENTS THE POWER AND MONEY TO ESTABLISH A WORLD GOVERNMENT. WE HAVE JUST HAD THE EXPERIENCE OF AN ATTEMPT AT WORLD GOVERNMENT FROM ADOLPH HITLER AND I HAVE HOPES OF USING THAT HORROR AS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE. THE OTHER ASPECT OF THIS THAT WORRIES ME IS THAT A HOSTILE EXTRATERRISTERIAL SPECIES VERY FORWARD IN EVOLUTION COULD TREAT US AS WE TREATED THE INDIANS WHEN WE COLONIZED AMERICA.
AN AUTHOR OF THE COURAGE AND INTEGRITY THAT IS MR. COLLINS SHOULD BE READ AND CAREFULLY. I AM ALREADY READING IT AGAIN. AUVELINE ROBINSON, MANSFIELD, TX. AUGUST 13, 2006

Many books have been written on the subject of a suppression of smoking-gun evidence regarding UFOs and extraterrestrial visitation to Earth. Exempt from Disclosure, written by two retired United States Air Force officers, Robert Collins and Richard Doty, offers a new perspective in that senior American government officials alleged to be involved in managing the cover-up or having full awareness of recovered alien artefacts are named.

Collins and Doty have also taken the bold step of including what appear to be highly classified Top Secret documents which corroborate, at least in part, the statements regarding an extraterrestrial energy device attributed to ex CIA Director Richard Helms. The possibility that the American government has indeed recovered crashed UFOs and has been secretly attempting to duplicate the craft and its propulsion system is given some credence by these documents although the author's do not appear to be able to fully endorse their authenticity.

If we accept Collin's and Doty's contention that UFOs have been the subject of secret ongoing study for the last 58 years, then they make an understated case that the intense secrecy surrounding UFOS has in fact become counterproductive. The evidence supplied by the authors leaves the reader in no doubt that vast sums of tax-payer dollars have been used in what appears to be a largely futile attempt to recreate the craft.

The case for abandoning secrecy in this area and throwing open the doors to any and all scientists who wish to attempt to crack the mystery should now be encouraged. Six decades is more than enough time to produce at least elementary conclusions but this does not seem to have happened. The people who are managing these contentious areas of research would do well to reconsider their bizarre policy of denial and secrecy and begin the long-overdue process of informing the world that we are not alone and that help is needed from all countries in order to understand these materials and energy sources.

I cook from this book several times a week and I've yet to find something that I wouldn't cook again or that I wouldn't serve to guests. I'm not the best or most patient cook, so I really appreciate the quick and easy aspect. A couple of things to consider - one of the ways they reduce calories is by using veggies such as peppers and zucchini to stretch normally high calorie meals. Also, many of the recipes are very flavorful, not necessarily spicy, but lots of strong sauces and spicing. If you don't like those things, this might not be the book for you....luckily we do.

I got this book from the library and tried several receipes before I decided to order several copies for my family and friends. I hate to count (or even think about) calories, and this book does it for you. You do not have to be on a diet to use this book. The receipes have lots of flavor and variety.

I am the very definition of a foodie. I'm also health conscious.

WOW! I've had this book for a few months, and I got it used figuring if I didn't like it, no big deal. This week so far I've made the chicken pot pie, sugar cookies, and pumpkin spice muffins. They all have come out wonderfully and you cannot tell they are low-cal!! Tonight I'm making the mustard dill pork chops with pumpnickel stuffing and tomorrow onion & pepper braciole! I bet you didn't think you could eat that stuff and have it come in at under 400 calories!!!

I'm not even a reader of family circle, but this book is probably one of my most used cookbooks :)

I have never enjoyed diet books and have always felt that diets really only promote unhealthy eating. But this book is different. The recipes were delicious. (I have a difficult time believing that each serving falls within the calorie requirement...they're that good.) It also emphasizes portion control with food variety which actually gave me a more balanced and healthy way of eating. I don't alternate between starving and overstuffed. I even do better at restaurants. I don't know if I've lost weight yet but I feel better and that was my goal in the first place.

I got this book as I'm always on a lookout for great tasting healthy recipes. I have made a few dishes from the book and all of them turned out well (blueberry cottage cheese pancakes were especially good). So I have no complaint about the quality of the meals. However, our family consists of two people and I usually cook for two nights - read 4 servings. The MAJORITY of the recipes are for 6 servings. It is highly inconvenient as 6 doesn't adjust easily to 4, and I don't like freezing leftovers.
Because of this issue, I rarely look in the book when I'm searching for a recipe.
If you have a big family or don't mind freezing leftovers then I would reccomend the book, as the recipes are good. But if you're single or have two people in your household, you might want to look elsewhere for your everyday cookbook.

For all of us that enjoy the "hunt", this is a fun and interesting book. The pictures are enjoyable and the information is helpful. There is good information on yearly sales, along with how to locate, etc.

Littlefield hit the nail on the head for me. He gets the same joy, excitement and invigoration out of saling that I do. It's about the people, the atmosphere, the search for treasure, the negotiating, the win (or loss). These adventures are all wrapped up in wonderful little 5 to 20 minute nibbles of life. Almost 100% of my experiences are positive and I can recall many of them years later when I look at a vase, a painting or some other treasure I have acquired..

Bottom line, for Christmas I made a list of those who share my passion, those who wonder about my passion and those few who think I am off my rocker. I went on line and bought a bunch. Christmas shopping over.

Buying retail in this case was done with joy.

All who have received the book from me have given it a great review too.

If you feel you've exhausted every garage sale in your area and you realize you've visited the same sales four years in a row, then you might want to expand your usual boundaries and consider branching out to other states. If so, you can't do much better than this book, which includes a calendar of some of the more noteworthy sales across the country, as well as other major garage sales. You might consider bringing a U-haul along with you if you have a tendency to go overboard and buy everything in sight.
If you like this one, you might also consider:

Garage Sale & Flea Market Annual (Garage Sale and Flea Market Annual)

In Hawaii, HANA HOU is an expression you will hear often....it means, once more, do it again, encore, repeat, one more time...... and so it is with items found in garage sales, yard sales, church bazaars, tag sales, estate sales.....any kind of hana hou sale..... Just because someone is finished with that rocker, it doesn't mean that its life has to end right then.... There can still be one more round left to that old rocking chair!

What your neighbor down the street considers trash can definitely be your treasure....and that is the message that Bruce Littlefield conveys in his newly published book, "Garage Sale America".

From tips scattered throughout the book on how to plan your strategies for your hunt to how to use the treasures after you get them home, and ending with a useful (and amusing) Garage Sale Glossary, this little book can serve as a handy and entertaining manual on how to unashamedly romp through the detritus of other people's lives and score while you're at it!

The perfect gift for those who love to hunt for treasures, whether they are the type who grab the newspaper every single weekend and mark all the sales down, planning their trips by neighborhood....or the occasional shopper who stops on a whim every time they see a "Yard Sale" sign along the road....or the ones such as myself who mark the annual church bazaars down on my calendar....for all of us to whom the thrill is as much in the hunt as in finding that special deal!

There is no stigma attached to finding a bargain in someone else's discards....in fact, the feeling of satisfaction, the ... elation, if you will, when you find just the right item or that last piece of china that will complete the set you started years ago, is hard to describe.

After spending one evening reading this fun and enjoyable book, I started looking around my own home to see what around me could be considered 'found treasures'....and have to admit that a bit less than half was either bought at yard, garage, church bazaar sales or, the best yet, items found through our local Freecycle network or even at the "transfer station" - the PC name for our local dump, ......completely free!

If you love to go yard saling,....if you love to find a bargain,.... if you're looking for the thrill of the deal... you will definitely enjoy reading Bruce's book.

A couple of personal notes: I loved the idea of the seller who invites his best customers (read: bigger spenders), to breakfast before his sales every year for, as Bruce puts it "cranking up the adrenalin while you wait for the unveiling".....and don't miss meeting Wini. I won't tell you where to find her. You will have to hunt through the book yourself!

I have a chronic case of disposophobia, or at least that's how Bruce Littlefield would diagnose it. I can't bear to part with old photographs, worn-out running shoes, and a frog collection I've had since college. My favorite store is Finders Keepers, or was, that is, until the local antique shop closed and I bought out half the inventory.

So when my copy of Littlefield's Garage Sale America arrived in the mail, you can imagine where I put it--on top of a great big stack of books I have yet to read, some old, some new.

It wasn't long before its cover cried out to me with its retro colors, Bakelite radio, and funky leopard hat.

I scoured the photo-filled paperback for advice on everything from enamel-top tables to fishing lures and reeled in a lot more information than I bargained for, like tips on decorating, where to find some really hot wheels, and how to run a successful sale. I'm even learning to deal with my affliction, described in the book's glossary as "Disposophobia: the fear of getting rid of stuff, no matter how worthless or how valuable."

Some books may come and go, but Garage Sale America is definitely a keeper.

A great guide to taking apart old electronic noisemakers and turning them into something new. Also includes simple DIY electronic circuits with all the steps. The projects are compelling and workable. Give this to a young person and change their whole outlook on DIY.

This is a really fun book, with lots of projects for budding electronic musicians. But it goes beyond that: It's a solid intro to electronics and CMOS components. I went into this book thinking it might be too basic, yet I walked away with a lot of ideas, and some interesting new techniquess.

I wish that more electronics writers would cover the material with this author's style and accuracy. Also, kudos for providing parts sources and for using easy to find and inexpensive components. (I've seen many people, myself included, become frustrated by hard-to-find parts lists or the use of discontinued items. These projects suffer from neither of those problems.)

In the end, you'll be left wanting to know more about the components and techniques you've picked up. (You'll probably want to add Don Lancaster's classic CMOS Cookbook to your shopping cart. It will give you the details about many of these components.) Highly recommended. I'm looking forward to other books by this author.

Ah ! this book is one of the best i bought.
I just love it !!

Ever since products such as GarageBand took over the low-level tasks of producing electronic music and turned us all into application users, much has been forgotten about making music with low-level electronic components. In the case of younger electronic musicians, this may be an art form they never even knew in the first place. Although there is an advantage is computer musicians speaking a common language through a common application, something fascinating in the realm of experimentation has been largely lost. This book returns to the days of yesteryear with some projects in making your own electronic music with basic devices.

The book starts with some brief information on the tools you'll need plus the author's seven rules for experimentation. Part two is dedicated to listening. He shows you how to use radios and coils to find hidden electronic music, how to use the speaker as a microphone and vice versa, and how to use piezo disks to pick up tiny sounds, among other topics. Part three, on touching, shows you how to transform a portable radio into a synthesizer, change the clock circuit in toys to produce new sounds, and use photocells and pressure pads to "play" the modified toy. Part four, Building, shows the reader how to breadboard up some oscillators along with some controlling circuitry and produce gating, ducking, tremolo and panning effects. Part five, Looking, concerns translating video to audio using commonly found devices. The final section goes into depth on mixing circuits, how to build a good but cheap amplifier, connecting sensors to computers via game controllers, and a section on power supplies.

The book is written such that you should proceed from beginning to end, since the devices in earlier sections are used to assemble the devices in later chapters. By the time you finish you should have entire experimental musical instruments that you have assembled yourself.

This is a great book if you are a electroacoustic composer, you can make cheap sensors and rare instruments... ready - if you want - to plug to Max/MSP or Ethersense...or Teabox... Thanks to Gregory Taylor from Cyclin'74.

This book is fabulous! I am a wedding planner and was amazed at how well organized the information is. So many planning books are full of fluff and little substance. This book has all the tools you need to plan your big day without wasting a minute. I still wouldn't advise doing it all in 6 weekends. However, if it can be done, you'll need this book.

I am a local Boston Wedding Planner, (well between Boston and Providence)and I cannot believe all the information this book covers!It's great for wedding planners as well as do it your selfers! It leaves nothing uncovered with lots of great ideas! I have read many books on wedding planning and this one "takes the cake"--Bravo!!

I am a local Boston Wedding Planner, (well between Boston and Providence)and I cannot believe all the information this book covers!It's great for wedding planners as well as do it your selfers! It leaves nothing uncovered with lots of great ideas! I have read many books on wedding planning and this one "takes the cake"--Bravo!!

This wedding book is the only book you will need when planning your wedding. I received 3 wedding planning books for my engagement and this was the one I kept. It was the only one that did not overwhelm me with a must have or must do concept. It explained all the elements I needed to make my wedding complete and it did it in words I could relate to and understand. This book helped me plan my wedding without feeling like I was ready to elope!

I am a local Boston Wedding Planner, (well between Boston and Providence)and I cannot believe all the information this book covers!It's great for wedding planners as well as do it your selfers! It leaves nothing uncovered with lots of great ideas! I have read many books on wedding planning and this one "takes the cake"--Bravo!!