George Books

My brother served in the 1st Marines in World War II and was killed in the 2nd day of the invasion of Peleliu. My impression (from 55 years away from the event) is that very few historians or people understand the horrific battle that occurred on that island. I have read the book several times, and it gives a view from the front line Marine that has seldom been published in other battle descriptions. There is a video of Peleliu that I have in my possession that is a vivid and sad account of this campaign.

My brother in law, recently deceased, enlisted in the Corps on December 8, 1941, and after basic at Parris Island was attached to the 1st Batt., 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. In short, he was one of The Old Breed First Marines in every respect. We talked many times about Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Peleliu where he got the "million dollar wound" that rotated him home for the duration. Once a marine, always a marine (this was my dad's view, as well as my brother-in-laws). My father was also a gyrene who just missed WWII because of age, and because he was engaged in serious war industry work during the entirety of the conflict, but because he was an ex-marine (to the extent there are ex-marines), we were dedicated followers of the Pacific campaign from beginning to end. Be that as it may, The Old Breed is a riveting account documenting the hell those campaigns must have been. My Brother in law suffered from the effects of malaria for years, and whenever his bones ached, he blamed it on dengue fever that was also rampant on Guadalcanal. He recalled Bloody Ridge vividly, along with Washing Machine Charlie and the Tokyo Express dumping naval ordinance on their heads nearly every night, but as bad as Guadalcanal was, he always thought Peleliu was worse. He said, and I'm sure it's true, that it was sheer hell - trying to scrape a shallow foxhole out of coral, and fighting a dug-in enemy in terrain that looked like the back side of the moon. I think my dad was seriously disapppointed when I didn't join the Corps, but during the Korean war I was just a squid who was never truly placed in harms way. But I have always had a fondness for the Corps, and I'm sure there were none better than The Old Breed. One thing is certain - they did their time in hell, and are now guarding the streets of heaven.

THIS IS A MUST READ FOR ALL SONS WHO HAD A FATHER THAT WAS IN THE FIRST MARINE DIVISION THAT SAW ACTION. IT TELLS YOU EXACTLY WHAT YOUR FATHER OR GRANDFATHER EXPERIENCED IN BATTLE. THESE MEN WENT THROUGH SOME OF THE TOUGHEST ENVIROMENTS YOU GOOD IMAGINE,ESPECIALLY AT GUADALCANAL,NEW GUINEA, NEW BRITIAN AND PELELIU. IT REALLY TOUCH MY HEART AFTER READING THIS BOOK,ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU CAN'T GET MANY MARINES THAT WENT THROUGH THIS TO TALK ABOUT IT. THESE MARINES DESERVE A WWII MEMORIAL WALL.

My brother in law, recently deceased, enlisted in the Corps on December 8, 1941, and after basic at Parris Island was attached to the 1st Batt., 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. In short, he was one of The Old Breed First Marines in every respect. We talked many times about Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Peleliu where he got the "million dollar wound" that rotated him home for the duration. Once a marine, always a marine (this was my dad's view, as well as my brother-in-laws). My father was also a gyrene who just missed WWII because of age, and because he was engaged in serious war industry work during the entirety of the conflict, but because he was an ex-marine (to the extent there are ex-marines), we were dedicated followers of the Pacific campaign from beginning to end. Be that as it may, The Old Breed is a riveting account documenting the hell those campaigns must have been. My Brother in law suffered from the effects of malaria for years, and whenever his bones ached, he blamed it on dengue fever that was also rampant on Guadalcanal. He recalled Bloody Ridge vividly, along with Washing Machine Charlie and the Tokyo Express dumping naval ordinance on their heads nearly every night, but as bad as Guadalcanal was, he always thought Peleliu was worse. He said, and I'm sure it's true, that it was sheer hell - trying to scrape a shallow foxhole out of coral, and fighting a dug-in enemy in terrain that looked like the back side of the moon. I think my dad was seriously disapppointed when I didn't join the Corps, but during the Korean war I was just a squid who was never truly placed in harms way. But I have always had a fondness for the Corps, and I'm sure there were none better than The Old Breed. One thing is certain - they did their time in hell, and are now guarding the streets of heaven.

If you were ever addicted to the adventures of Tom Sawyer, Old Tim's Estate will give you a similarly insightful, often humorous, sometimes cruel picture of the life and adventures of a nine-year old boy trying to make it in Small Town USA. In this case, the small town is in Minnesota and it's the very beginning of the Depression, but the humanity is the same. This is the most entertaining view of life from a kid's perspective since The Sandlot.

The book's pace is true-to-life midwestern saunter, so give it a chance. You may find you need to get well into Chapter Two before you realize you're hooked. By the end of Ch 3 I suddenly realized I was not going to be stopping reading. Also, I had to backtrack a couple of times to make sure I got the cast of characters straight, but it was well worth the teeny bit of effort. Read this book!

T.R. St. George paints a vivid and charmingly familiar portrait of a wild-eyed boy growing up during the Great Depression. Whether you grew up in Stiles, Minnesota, the setting for Old Tim`s Estate, or any other American small town, you can identify and thoroughly enjoy each of the characters in this book . But St. George's distinctive talent is his ability to capture and illustrate the curiosity, wonder, angst, and innocent enthusiasm that pervade the DNA of a pre-adolescent boy. If courage is the ability to keep one's wits while others are losing theirs, then little Eddie Devlin is a true hero in this delightful tale of perseverance in the face of life-changing adversity. It was a true pleasure to read this first installment of the "Eddie Devlin Compendium," and I look forward to reading each of the rest.

Imagine one of those "quirky as you wanna be" small town novels that have been all the rage of late. Now, strip it of all the sticky sweetness and precocious children; all the atmosphere drenched old houses and carefully quilted anecdotes. In short, move it to Eddie Devlin's Depression-era Minnesota. "Old Tim's Estate" is funny, heartbreaking, insightful, and cleanly written. The characters are wonderfully drawn (and yes, a few are even quirky). Eddie's family (and how they adapt when their world is upset) is the larger picture; against this is Eddie's own story and his encounters with family, friends, smoking, girls, airplanes... I loved the style of "Old Tim's Estate" (spare wihtout being dry, exciting without being melodramatic), and I loved the strange little cartoons scattered throughout (more would have been good!). It was a chance find, but I'm glad I found it!

This book is a small jewel ... the rhythm of the writing drew me into the world of young Eddie Devlin and his family. Don't read this expecting a grand climax, ...it is the story of a small boy in a small world during the Depression. As a midwesterner, it made me smile ...as a resident of a small New England town, it made me smile again. No pretty pictures (but some good cartooning) this is no romantic look back but one writer's view of how things were then, for him, I suspect. I find myself trying to describe it and coming-up with phrases that say what this book IS NOT ... it is not your usual memoir, it is not all gussied-up in misty nostalgia for the "good old days", it is not a romance, it is not an adventure (any more than any life is) it is simply what it is, a look through a lit window as you walk down a quiet little street. The last line is "to be continued", and that seems to sum it all up ... (It is continued, in Wildcat Strike, by the same author.)

This book is fascinating to read if you are interested in the subject. It is probably one of the most important books available if you want to learn about the men who served on the boats. Descriptions of Captains, Clerks, and Engineers, are comprehensive, as well as the activities of other members of the boat crews. I cannot think of many subjects regarding steamboating that the author did not touch upon.

There are a number of parallels between the lives of Samuel Clemens (i.e., Mark Twain) and George Merrick. Both grew up in towns along the Mississippi River, both first worked as typesetters, and both became river pilots. And Merrick's writing is nothing to sneeze at, either.

Twain's "Life On the Mississippi" gives us a pretty full picture of steamboating from St. Louis to New Orleans. Merrick's "Old Times on the Upper Mississippi" does the same from St. Louis to the head of navigation at St. Paul, and it does so in a readable and personable style that keeps the reader interested. And there are none of the long, tangential stories like those Twain stuck into his book in order to bring it to the number of pages promised by the book agents who sold it door to door before it was published.

Long out of print (I searched for a decade for my first edition copy), "Old Times on the Upper Mississippi" is once again available. It belongs in the library of any serious student of river history.

A mine of information about the "Golden Era" of Steamboats on the Upper Mississippi River. One of those rare books that does not leave the reader with more unanswered questions than when one started reading. With no wasted words one gets a real feeling of how it was living between 1840 and 1870 as a "Riverman". Along with Charles Edward Russell's "A-Rafting on the Mississip" I would recommend it as a base for anyone doing research on the subject. For true adventure lovers it is exciting reading in it's own right...

Thank goodness someone has had the good sense to reprint this classic book about steamboating on the upper Mississippi! George Merrick relates his personal experiences as a steamboat pilot during the heyday of steamboating with stories about the boats, towns, and people of the stretch of river between St. Louis and St. Paul. I grew up in that area, and found his recollections fascinating. I learned a lot about the history of the towns along the river, and about the rich tradition of steamboating. Imagine piloting a 500 ton boat down a winding, wild river in the dead of night with no headlight, moonlight, or navigation aids!! Captain Merrick tells how he did it! A must for anyone who is interested in steamboating or the history of industrial expansion to the West.

This is the wonderful result of one person's five-year dedication to the life of this fascinating bird. Not only is the photography superb, the text is heartfelt and poetic. The organization by region provides a coherent structure for traveling with cranes through their various habitats. A generous gift to all of us who otherwise would not be able to make this journey.

A geo-photographic tribute to America's elusive but elegant cranes, along with their widely diverse habitats. Part journal and part photography book, the author takes the reader on journeys to Alaska (including a breathtaking view of cranes flying past Mt. McKinley) to Florida, from the Central Valley of California to the agricultural plains of Wisconsin. Between, readers are treated to wildlife vistas in the Teton and Yellowstone National Park region, Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in the desert of New Mexico, and the Platte River, which flows through the High Plains of Central Nebraska. Not just a travel documentary, this is the first book of a remarkable young artist, who will dazzle and delight readers with a poetry of cranes as observed through the lens of his camera.

At once a coffee table photo celebration and a natural history, any avid birder should consider photographer Michael Forsberg's On Ancient Wings: The Sandhill Cranes Of North America to be essential reading. The photos alone - full-page color spreads which are gorgeous in their all-season crane portraits - are worth repeated looks, covering cranes in environments from Alaska to Cuba. Then, there's the discourse surveying the natural history and lives of cranes, revealing their interactions with people and their attempts to adapt to a changing natural world. A fine tribute marries natural history and visual display, inviting audiences from natural history students to casual readers to partake.

Michael Forsberg has put together an amazing collection of photos and is a good writer as well. On Ancient Wings shows that it doesn't matter if you've been a pro photographer for 35 years or ten, all that matters is the emotional impact of the photography. There's certain well-known wildlife photographers out there who talk talk talk about how good they think they are and then there's photographers who just are. Forsberg falls in the latter category.

These stories about the three feisty women must have been the precursor to the TV show "The Golden Girls." Who wouldn't love a woman like Mrs. Rasmussen taking charge of your kitchen and "making something out of nothing?" Miss Tinkham supplies the joie de vivre with her piano playing and high-brow poetic quotes. Mrs. Feeley is the anchor of the threesome who is the rough-talker and inspires others to "get it done."
"One On The House" is the third book in the six book series. This book revolves around the gals leaving their junkyard in San Diego and going to visit Mrs. Feeley's nephew in New York (takes place approximately five years after the ending of "High Times"). Obstacles present themselves and the ladies manage to overcome adversity with cunning and perseverance. Their new friends always come to the rescue. One of the admirable traits of this tenacious threesome is their ability to make friends wherever they land.
I enjoy reading these books because they show the positive side of humankind and affirm female camaraderie. Enjoy, enjoy.

These stories about the three feisty women must have been the precursor to the TV show "The Golden Girls." Who wouldn't love a woman like Mrs. Rasmussen taking charge of your kitchen and "making something out of nothing?" Miss Tinkham supplies the joie de vivre with her piano playing and high-brow poetic quotes. Mrs. Feeley is the anchor of the threesome who is the rough-talker and inspires others to "get it done."
"One On The House" is the third book in the six book series. This book revolves around the gals leaving their junkyard in San Diego and going to visit Mrs. Feeley's nephew in New York (takes place approximately five years after the ending of "High Times"). Obstacles present themselves and the ladies manage to overcome adversity with cunning and perseverance. Their new friends always come to the rescue. One of the admirable traits of this tenacious threesome is their ability to make friends wherever they land.
I enjoy reading these books because they show the positive side of humankind and affirm female camaraderie. Enjoy, enjoy.

The three graces (Mrs Rasmussen, Mrs Feeley and Miss Tinkham visit Mrs Feeley's nephew and family in New York, lose all their money at the races and end up dead broke in New Jersey where they find a WWII veteran lying near death from a ruptured appendix, behind the bar. They rescue the vet and run his bar, providing sustenance for the soul and a few good meals besides. Good fun and a lesson in making do when your're down, but not out.

After losing their train fare home to CA at a NY racetrack Mrs. Feeley, Miss Tinkham and Mrs. Rasmusson get off the train in New Jersey and enter a neighborhood bar. They find the owner near death, and after shipping him off to the hospital, proceed to take over - and live in - the bar. They are lovable, friendly women "of a certain age" and do love their beer, and Mrs. Rasmusson's inventive cooking.

This book is third of a series, and the best of them all.

Belacqua Jones, the drug addled persona in the drivers seat of this endeavor makes more sense than anyone could ever imagine.

These letters will have you cringing, crying, gasping, screaming, stomping your feet and laughing out loud!

The book holds no punches. Belacqua, with a bi-partisan tongue and gale force satirical wit is a must have for any serious political junkie.

Belacqua (Case) says what the best critics of GWBushCo say -
but he does it SUCCINCTLY - DAILY and with HUMOR. It simply does not getany better!!!

Belacqua is one of very few people who can immediately see the whole story, the bigger picture, the future ramifications, the subtleties obscured by BS. I think he's possibly reached a level of intuitive evolution never before realized.

Letters to W will make you look at the world in a whole new way and you'll wonder, how could you have been so blind before?

Reviewed by Joanne Benham for Reader Views (6/06)

This book is a tongue-in-cheek satire of government and big business, told through a series of letters to President Bush from a fictional character called Belacqua Jones, described by the author as a meth-addicted psychopath, half a bubble off plumb.

Belacqua Jones is an ardent admirer of George W. Bush and possesses keen insight into the political machine. That insight is clearly evident in this book as Jones comments on every aspect of Bush's presidency and offers invaluable advice to further his political career. Some of Jones' suggestions: Enhance the value of death. If someone has an illness such as cancer, offer painkillers rather than medicine to fight the disease. Morphine is much cheaper than chemotherapy. Keep the rest of the world impoverished so that the US can maintain its standard of living. Shore up Social Security by making cigarette smoking mandatory for children. If he wishes to eliminate Social Security, he can just abolish retirement. Problem solved. The big corporations can take back all the money they put into the 401 (k)s and give enormous bonuses to the top executives as they so richly deserve.

Jones is also looking out for George's interests, such as warning him about the Ashlee Simpson debacle. It takes an astute player to recognize the potential harm Simpson could do the political machine.

At times Jones shows astonishing vision, such as urging the canonization of Judas Iscariot by the Vatican. How could anyone, except a meth-addicted psychopath, half a bubble off plumb, realize that Judas was a victim, actually a sacrifice to the greater good?

Although I don't agree with everything Case Wagenvoord writes, I found that I was in agreement with much more of what he has written than I anticipated. A brilliant, satirical book, I would urge everyone to sit down and browse through this work. Since the book is a series of letters, in no particular order, you can jump around, picking the chapter headings that intrigue you. Some of my favorites...The Iron Colon, Tree-Huggers, The Benefits of Torture, God Bless the Democrats, Stoning and Human Sacrifice.

The book, Ordeal by Hunger, by George Stewart, is truly a great classic. This story explores the hard times and limits people were pushed to when they traveled west to the supposed paradise of California. Their hopes of reaching it before winter disappear as they travel in circles and their food slowly diminishes. They have to result to cannibalism and eat anything they can find in order to survive. Some push on towards California while others wait out the hard winter and build a cabin near a lake. The snow becomes up to 15 feet deep and fighting to stay alive becomes quite a challenge. Many hallucinate and perish. This book is somewhat depressing but gives a true account of history. I recommend this book to readers who are interested in a book that pushes people to their absolute limits. This book is full of vocabulary and is long in length, but in my opinion well worth reading.

This book told the historic story of the Donner party and had excerpts from the diaries of the members (Patrick Breen, and letters from Virginia Reed. VERY GOOD BOOK!

An exhaustively researched, even-handed account of the Great American Disaster. You know the general story, so the narrative builds with the crescendo drumbeats of inevitable tragedy. But Stewart's done the research better than anybody else and fills in the details. There are heroes and villians, but Stewart is always ready to give the benefit of the doubt, and believe the best in the characters until proven otherwise. What's haunting to me is that the Donner Party families were striking for the American Dream just like everybody else. But the men steered their families (thanks to ignorance, chicanery, and bad luck) into a hell.

This book presents an account of the Donner Party, a wagon train of about eighty-seven people who in July 1846 started off for California via a new, untried route through the Sierras. Unfortunately, this particular wagon train of pioneers would go down in history due to the horror and tragedy that it was to meet along its way. Stranded in the Sierras amidst its harshest winter in years, with unparalleled snowfall and frigid temperatures, only little more than half, mostly women and children, were to survive their unbelievable deprivation and suffering.

This wagon train was a loose confederation of strangers who originally were part of another wagon train, but who collectively branched off by consensus to try a new, though untried and unproven, overland route through the Sierras that was alleged to be shorter. Their decision to take this new route was one that would haunt them for the rest of their journey, as it was not what it was purported to be. The inexperience of these travelers, the poor decisions that were sometimes made, and their seeming inability to truly unify as one entity contributed to their ultimate debacle. They were, after all, representative of humanity at large. Some of them were good, brave, and unselfish. Some were people with whom one would not wish to shake hands.

Beleaguered by thirst as they trekked across a desert, marauded by Indians along the way, plagued by the loss of necessary oxen and cattle, beset by accidents and personal squabbles that would sometimes turn deadly, they would finally reach the Sierras and begin their perilous crossing, only to find themselves snowbound at the summit while within sight of the pass that they needed to cross to be home free. Trapped by the weather in early November, they would set up a make-shift camp, never thinking about just how long their encampment would last. With minimal food supplies at their disposal, these intrepid, westward-ho emigrants would find themselves trapped for months, facing incredible hardships that would tax them beyond human endurance. Some would resort to cannibalism in order to survive.

This is a riveting story about survival of the fittest, about personal sacrifice, and human foibles. It is a story not only of those ill-fated pioneers but also of those who would attempt to rescue them, often at great personal cost. It is a story that reflects the human spirit, both good and bad, in time of crisis. It is a story of often selfless heroism. It is also a story of greed and craven opportunism. While some of the book is politically incorrect, it is reflective of the times in which these pioneers lived, as well as that of when this book was first written.

It is, however, remiss that the maps included in this book do little to illustrate the deadly journey undertaken by these pioneers. Still, the lack of comprehensive maps does not unduly detract from the powerful impact that this story has on the reader. Moreover, although the book was published in 1936, the author, a trained historian, added a supplement in 1960, which is included in this edition of his book. This supplement serves to correct errors, as well as incorporate additional relevant material not available at the time of original publication.

Those who enjoy tales of survival will, undoubtedly, find this gripping tale well worth reading.

Cooper has written a book that currently must be judged to be superior to any other book written on the Subprime mortgage backed bond catastrope that has led the American Treasury Secretary Paulson to advocate the government purchase of about 1 trillion dollars of bank and investment bank assets about which no one has the slightest idea of what their true worth is.
Cooper simply and easily dismantles the Efficient Market Hypothesis(EMH)that is the foundation of modern finance theory.This hypothesis is also the foundation of ALL modern macroeconomic theory.The EMH goes under the name rational expectations,real business cycles,New Classical Economics,and New Keynesian Economics in macroeconomics.Underlying both is the Subjective Expected Utility(SEU)decision theory,a hybrid of the Frank Ramsey,Bruno De Finetti,and Leonard J. Savage subjectivist theory of probability that is combined with the Von Neumann and Morgenstern expected utility theory.This theory assumes that the weight of the evidence available to decision makers is complete.This means that all decision makers know and can apply a unique probability distribution's mean and standard deviation, or act " as if " they did,before they make any decision.This case is a very special case of Keynes's weight of the evidence variable,w, where w=1.w is defined on the unit interval between 0 and 1 (Ellsberg's rho variable gives the same results as Keynes's w because rho is also defined on the unit interval.A rho =1 means that the decision maker has complete confidence in his information set and can specify a unique probability distribution).

The efficient market hypothesis assumes that w and rho =1,just as the rational expectations hypothesis does.Cooper,unfortunately,overlooks the fact that Minsky's financial fragility hypothesis,which shows how waves of speculation ,magnified and amplified by bank loans to speculators ,will morph into Ponzi finance schemes that lead to the collapse of the bubble and a crash , is directly built on Keynes's Chapter 21 analysis in his General Theory(1936;GT) which integrated Keynes's weight of the evidence analysis concerning w from chapters 6 and 26(sections 7 and 8) of the A Treatise on Probability(1921;TP)into his elasticity analysis on pp.304-306 of the GT.The crucial result is that a complete information set requires that the macroelasticity e = 1(or ed subscript =1).A e=1(this means the same thing as w=1 or rho =1)means that there is a complete information set that allows decison makers to calculate the riskiness of different alternative portfolios.The Efficient Market Hypothesis and Rational Expectations hypothesis will both hold.There will be no uncertainty or ambiguity(Ellsberg's term),only risk.However,Keynes points out that the general case is where e < 1(so both w <1 and rho <1).Uncertainty exists and results in a speculative demand for money.The greater the speculative demand for money is the greater the amount of involuntary unemployment and economic instability that will result.I have deducted 1/2 of a star because Cooper overlooks the fact that Keynes had already demonstrated theoretically that a Minsky crisis can occur whenever w or rho or e is less than 1.Minsky himself had absolutely no understading of the technical results derived by Keynes in chapter 21 of the GT.
Cooper redeems himself by showing how Mandelbrot's analysis of his general 4-parameter model, built around the Cauchy distribution's dangerous wild risk ,that, practically, goes out as far as 25 standard deviations ,demonstrates the special case nature of both modern finance theory and modern macroeconomic theory.Both theories are built on the Normal distribution's plus or minus 3 standard deviations covering 99.7 % of all outcomes.The Normal distribution is a special case of the Cauchy distribution.Heavy government regulation of the financial and banking system,aimed at stopping banker finance speculation ,can, as argued by Adam Smith(The Wealth of Nations,1776,Modern Library(Cannan)edition,pp.260-340) over 230 years ago in his 80 page discussion of why a central bank was needed,prevent the boom-bust turbulence of the Cauchy distribution from arising.A heavily regulated financial and macroscopic system can artificially create normally distributed outcomes with no more than plus or minus 3 standard deviations ,thus preventing the wild risk of the Cauchy from destroying the financial system.Deregulation and privatization automatically unleach the destructive potential of the Cauchy.Cooper covers this satisfactorily,but somewhat unevenly,in chapters 2,4,7,and 8 of his book.

This book is not meant for the general reader.The potential buyer needs to be familiar with both modern finance theory(EMH) and macroeconomic theory(REH) ,as well as Mandelbrot's work,to understand why the world's financial markets can be destroyed in a deregulated environment of the type that has been constructed between 1978 and 2008 in the United States and the World

I completely agree with the positive recommendations of The Economist Magazine and the reviewers. George Cooper has combined a strong technical and practical investment background to produce a modern thoughtful study of how to best manage our complex economy. However, I disagree with Brady on its readability, I feel Cooper opens this subject up to any thoughtful investor {regardless their background) by writing in down-to-earth English. He uses everyday examples, like a baker making and selling bread. His clear understanding of the material and deep sympathy for the reader motivate him to use such everyday examples to completely dispense with mathematical equations. He still maintains the needed precision.
I was persuaded that economic crises are inevitable, and enjoyed his ideas on how we might deal with them. I want to encourage every investor and student who is curous about how we can improve our economy to read Cooper's clear, cogent presentation.

Superb read and we all somehow always knew that our growth models cannot work forever. Just loved it - as hard as it was not to put it away in between and run to sell some stock.

FYI--this book receives a good review in "Credit and blame: a must-read on the origins of the crisis," The Economist 388(8597), 13 September 2008:79.
"The [credit] crunch has lasted long enough to spawn its own publishing mini-boom, as authors have raced to give their diagnoses in print. George Cooper, a strategist at JPMorgan, an investment bank, has produced by far the best so far, skewering both academic orthodoxy and central bank policy in the process...Mr Cooper's book is by far the most cogent and reasoned of the modern-day 'credit excess' school."

This is not really a book for scholars, though they could certainly benefit. It's a book for the rest of us who wondered where science comes from and what science has to do with the fight to change society. This is a very readable and lively book, both focused and far-ranging, with insights into everything from English literature to physics and union politics. Novack points out that materialism is totally linked to science, including the science of changing society. The Marxist method is the necessary update for the scientific approach that was begun by the Greeks. This book is written to provide the nonphilosophy student with some very necessary tools. While amazon may sometimes list this book as not available from time to time, it is always available from booksfrompathfinder. Click on the "new and used" line above and then scroll down.

What does reality consist of and where did it come from? These are questions that have vexed human beings ever since they began to think. They are also questions most people figure they don't really need to spend time thinking about. But George Novack, who was a serious student of philosophy and a leader of the Socialist Workers Party for many years, does a great job of explaining just how relevant these basic questions are to ordinary people who want to change the world. What makes this book so helpful is that it does not assume the reader is an academic philosopher. The book looks at the evolution in ancient Greece and Rome of a materialistic outlook, which began to understand that human beings could make sense of the world without relying on ideas of god and the supernatural. He shows how and why the Greeks in particular made incredible advances in thinking which were shunted aside, only to be rediscovered more than a thousand years later by later materialistic thinkers in Europe during the Renaissance. You will understand more about these ideas in reading this book than by reading twenty academic tomes on philosophy. Save your money and buy this one.

I read everything by George Novack that I can get my hands on-- all his works on politics, history and philosophy. He has a way of presenting ideas precisely and clearly, and of explaining the historical setting and importance of each one. And while he meets high academic standards, he writes directly for working people who want to understand the world and figure out how to act to change it. He helps you see why questions of materialism vs. idealism, dialectics vs. formal logic, history and change are important and helps you grapple with them seriously.

Here Novack gives a sweeping overview of the rapidly changing Greek society over five centuries BC. He explains not only what happened in the great development of human ideas, philosophy, logic, reason and scientific inquiry, but also why it was possible and likely that they would occur when they did.

I strongly recommend some of Novack's other works as well, including: America's Revolutionary Heritage, Democracy and Revolution, The Logic of Marxism, and Polemics in Marxist Philosophy.

Does reality exist independent of human (or superhuman) consciousness? What is the relationship between mind and matter? Is there any spirit that creates or changes the world at will? These questions are as old as human society itself. George Novack traces the evolution of materialist thought, and its opposite, idealism through ancient Greek and Roman society. He explains why the rise of the Roman slave empire, and the later establishment of Christian orthodoxy, crippled the development of both materialism and scientific discovery in Europe for some 1,200 years. He contrasts the earliest forms of materialism with the rationalism of the Enlightenment and the dialectical materialism codified by Marx and Engels.

I am the system administator at my company. Out of frustration at many problems we have been having with the MRP module of our integrated system, I looked for a good source of knowledge about how MRP *should* work. In Orlicky's MRP I found that source. Orlicky's MRP is probably one of the best written books on the subject that I've seen. I had no trouble at all understanding the complex concepts that were presented, despite my lack of MRP knowledge and experience. Indeed, during the time that I read the book, I discovered that there were several things we were doing wrong because we didn't have a good understanding about the way MRP should work. For example, for a long time we had been laboring under the fallacy that a released work order should increase allocations not only for the primary components of a parent but also for the components of those components! Orlicky's MRP set me straight, stating that mistaking the Planning phase of MRP for the Execution phase (or vice-versa) was a common problem. I will never have that problem again thanks to this book. Another thing I learned from this book was how the bill of material, MRP, and backflushing were interrelated. This book is an excellent manual for those who wish to learn more about MRP, and it's a good source to refer to when looking for answers about why your MRP system isn't performing well.

Without question this is the classic MRP text. Originally written in 1975, this 1994 updated version covers the basic logic and setup of MRP. Though most production and inventory management books cover MRP, they tend to cover it so quickly that if you didn't already understand MRP, you probably still won't after reading them. Orlicky's Material Requirements Planning moves more slowly and provides much more detail. It's also written in an easy to understand style that makes it great for beginners.

The book is not perfect, however. I would have liked to see more details on some topics such as planning bills and phantom bills. Also the structured approach that would lead you to believe you must have a formal Master Production Schedule (MPS) to run MRP is misleading (this is a common problem with virtually all MRP books). MRP can run fine being fed directly by the forecast in certain environments.

Probably the most important reason to read this book is the simple fact that it is likely the people that designed your MRP software used this book as a roadmap.

Everybody interested in MRP has seen Orlicky's book as a reference work. This book compliles it's work plus all the developments of this technique since its issue in the fifties. The beauty of this work is that it gathers all the pitfalls, successes and fails encountered by the "MRP crusades". It also contends about the realationship between MRP and JIT and it's possible combination.

I want to study "The detail logic of material requirements planning".