Hill Books

Howard and Ali were pals...you can feel their love for each other in this book. We miss both of these players...

Where else but in American sports can an old, white, Jewish veteran befriend a young Black Muslim draft dodger? They may not have been friends who loved each other, but it was convenient for both of them. If you can't take advantage of a friend, then he's not. They had things in common. Both were driven. Both had over inflated egos. They were the greatest. If you don't believe it just ask them. Well, Howard Cosell is dead & Ali doesn't talk any more. Their early life & struggles are covered well so that you understand where they came from. Cosell was a World War II vet. He earned a law degree then decided he wanted to do sports on television. He was brash, obnoxious & smart. His relationship with Ali & Monday Night Football made him a nationally recognized sports journalist. Ali, originally Cassuius Clay had a fairly normal upbringing. Then he won Golden Gloves Championship & Olympic gold metal in 1960, that propelled him into his pro career. Before he was finished he had became & is the most recognizable man on earth. He was the world Heavyweight Champion, that most singular of all championships, three times.
Ali was despised for his faith, his refusal to serve in the military & of course his race. Eventually, he overcame all these obstacles. The U.S. government pursued him, denying his draft deferment status. As a result he was also denied the right to box for several of what would have been his most productive years. He lost millions of $$$ & was stripped of his championship. Eventually, he was aquitted. Cosell covered him all along his journey. The author, Dave Kindred spends quite a bit of time on Ali's three fights with Joe Fraizer & rightly so. Ali's life has become an inspiration to kids on all continents but especially the impoverished millions in Africa. He was persecuted by his own government & cheated by the leaders of the Black Muslim faith that managed him. He apparently is now a quiet soul bearing no malice to anyone. Cosell on the other hand became embittered after his MNF gig. He wanted to be taken seriously as more than a sports announcer. When he wasn't he didn't take it well. Poor health eventually claimed him. A good sports book for all us fans of a certain age that remember Cosell & Ali in their prime.

David Kindred has written what amounts to a duel biography of the controversial odd couple that is Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell. The author tells us that Ali elected to not join the military because the Muslim Nation told him not to. To cross them was to literary toy with his life. The assassination of Malcolm X being used as an example. While not necessarily agreeing with Ali's decision Cosell supported Ali stating that taking his heavyweight championship away from him without any semblance of due process was completely wrong. There appears to be evidence that Cosell may have already been experiencing dementia when he came out with his second book entitled I Never Played the Game. Aware of the criticism in his book of his cronies in the TV booth for Monday Night Football Cosell was asked before publication whether he wanted to include these strong opinions. Since he always prided himself on telling it "like it is" he felt it would be hypocrisy of him not to do so now. Cosell was a devoted family man while Ali ventured into nocturnal delights. It was hard for sports fans to be neutral in regard to either of these men, but boxing was the ingredient that brought these two men together first in mutural respect and then in friendship. Incidentally, page 247 has a hilarious anecdote of Howard using his colorful vocabulary in breaking up fisticuffs involving teens in Kansas City. Whether you are a fan of either man or the part they played in sports you will find this to be an extremely enjoyable book to read.

Dave Kindred has done lovers of sports and history a favor with Sound and Fury.

Using two cultural giants - Mohammad Ali and Howard Cosell - he has produced a fresh and readable social history of the latter half of the Twentieth Century. Let me be clear. I love Ali. Kindred refers to him as the most influential sports figure of the last century. In my mind, he understates the case; Ali is the most influential person of the last century.

Cosell, on the other hand, may have hesitated to tell you he was. He was not. Trained as a lawyer and gifted with the ability to articulate complexity, he brought a thinking man's view to radio and television sports journalism.

Individually, they were interesting. Together, they were hypnotizing. They produced controversy, drama and comedy almost every time they appeared together.

Dave Kindred tells the story of this alliance from a unique perspective. As a newspaper and magazine sports columnist with nearly 40 years experience, he covered Ali's early fight days as a reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal before moving on to the The Atlanta Journal- Courier and The Washington Post. He draws upon his experiences to re-create the Ali-Cosell story in ways I have never seen attempted.

The result is a fascinating portrait of two outsized figures - their heroics and their demons. Drawing on personal observations, fresh reporting and interviews, Kindred writes a page-turning treatment of two lives that together changed sports, television and I would argue, the world, forever.

Sound and Fury (14 hours, 11 cds, unabridged, Blackstone Audio) is a duel biography of Howard Cosell and Mohammed Ali.

Sport writer Dave Kindred knew both men, he has written a bio that transcends his knowledge of both men. His text is an honest, no hold barred , warts and all biography. When a third person (like Kindred) writes a biography, he tends to put his personal touches with his own bias, this book is NOT that.The book showed an unlikely partnership created by media hype.

In the audio narrative hands of Dick Hill, this audio project seems more like a docudrama in its scope. Hill's narrative voice takes on verbal personas of Cosell and Ali, without mocking them. His talent has grown from the days at Brilliance Audio.

Sound and Fury is an amazing production . . . you won't forget it audio, long after you heard it

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

If you need a book that will give you a good, quick review of Spanish grammar, this is the one you need. Everything is explained, from the present tense to the Spanish subjunctive.

What separates this book from others is that it doesn't drill a bunch of rules into your head. Instead, it gives several examples. Many people learn better from examples because it is the context that tells you what you need.

Brandon Simpson

This is an excellent book on Spanish grammar.

It is composed of many short chapters each dealing with a specific topic.

The explanations are clear and to the point. They are well organized. The chapters on the subjuntivo (subjunctive) are exemplary in this respect.

There are no exercises--the book is thin--but many examples illustrating the salient points.

The book is lightweight, unlike almost any other grammar book I've seen and bought, so I took it into work many days, using it during lunch or on the commute. Often I would bring along a sheet or two of exercise or homework that I had scanned or copied.

The advantage of this book is its conciseness, clarity, excellent organization, and its portability. The disadvantage is the complete lack of exercises.

Supplement it with The Ultimate Spanish Review and Practice, the best overall in my opinion, for the exercises and additional coverage and you'll be pretty much set for grammar. At least, these two did it for me. They were totally superior to the pathetic required--and hugely expensive even when used--textbooks.

Because of its low cost and since there's always room for improvement no matter how excellent a product is, I plan on also purchasing the new 2nd edition.

Buy this book. This book provides a comprehensive guide to verb use and grammar. Other topics include idioms, pronunciation, practical rules, time, suffixes, numerals, letters and extensive vocabulary. The book is easy to read and examples are abundant. The topics are easy to find because the book is brief and well organized.

This is just the handiest Spanish grammar to have at hand. I'm using the Teach Yourself... series of books (I have the Latin American Spanish, Spanish Verbs, Spanish Vocabulary, and Spanish Grammar) and the Oxford Take Off in Latin American Spanish, along with the Pimsleur Audio-only CDs.

Whenever I have a question about a grammatical item, this is the book in which I can find the clearest and most concise explanation. For instance...it takes ages for them to talk about the imperative in the Teach Yourself series. In this grammar, I just had to look in the imperative section, and it quickly summarized how to make all of the forms of the imperative and what other verb forms each one is related to. That's all I really needed, a quick look-up, not a long winded explanation which tries too hard to be "non-technical." Granted, this grammar does assume that you know grammatical terminology--if you do, you'll probably be quite pleased with the speed with which you can find answers to your questions with this book.

I remember enjoying the French edition in this series when I was in high school years ago...and I'm sure I'll continue to enjoy this Spanish version as I continue my self-study.

As the editor of the Learning Spanish Products Reviews (LearningSpanishProductsReviews) site, one of my responsibilities is to review learning Spanish book that are listed on Amazon. I am also a native Spanish speaker and a professional private Spanish instructor, and the author of two learning-Spanish products offered here at Amazon:


1. Anna Rivera's 1000 Plus Most Powerful Spanish Words

2. Anna Rivera's 800 Plus Most Powerful Spanish Phrases

This a rather compact book that covers both Spanish Verbs and the fundamentals to Spanish grammar. In 33 short units, the author Ina W. Ramboz covers the major verbal and grammatical concepts of Spanish. The books is arranged so that each unit is dedicated to covering one particular concept. This enables the user to quickly and easily find specific information.

In addition to providing explanations to help the student understand the key concepts of Spanish verbs and grammar, the author also gives the student numerous examples to guarantee that the student grasps a full understanding of the material and is well on her way to mastery of Spanish verbs and grammar. Unlike some books that use impractical situations and uncommon vocabulary to demonstrate usage, this book uses contemporary vocabulary that reflects real-life situations that one is likely to come across while living in or traveling to Latin America.

Unlike many of the books on the market that cover both Spanish verbs and grammar, this book is small enough to be conveniently carried with you almost anywhere, but also thorough enough to be considered a true guide to mastering Spanish verbs and grammar. If you need to quickly develop a thorough understanding of Spanish verbs and grammar, but you lack the time or patience to read books such as Spanish Verbs and Tenses, the Ultimate Spanish Review and Practice, etc., then this may be the book for you.

I found this book very detailed, especially on Ch3 which will basically take you by the hand and explain slowly how subnetting and subnet masks work. In addition, The author will summarize after all the facts that were presented and use a real-life experience to help you understand. Very good book.

While this book alone will not help you pass the TCP/IP exam, I still recommend it whole-heartedly for understanding the material on the exam. This book provides a truly rich, no-nonsense, brief, but detailed explanation of the subject. I suggest supplementing this book with a practice exam (Transcenders, or Measureup.com). That should be all that you need. One thing for sure is that you WILL understand subnetting by the time you read through this book. It sure beats reading those 700 page door stomps, in my humble opinion.

Study Guide? -I'm not so sure; The book doesn't ha ve a Glossary, or questions at the end of each chapter. For anyone wanting to understand subnetting, the author has devoted no less than 70 pages toward this subject(Chap. 3). The author has a clear and concise writng style, for easy transition from "page to brain". But I will still give it 5 stars!

The title of this book is misleading, you cannot and WILL not pass Exam 70-059 by studing this book alone. That's the bad part...

What you'll get though, is an astonishing detailed, accurate, and REAL world examples of how TCP/IP and Subnetting/Mask truly work. How many books have you read but only to be disappointed by lack of Subnet/Mask explaination?

I personally have read through more than a dozens of them but NONE can really explain TCP/IP, They CLAIM they know -- BUT where are the explaination and notes? Two pages? Get real! None comes EVEN CLOSE to this book. Some of the books just explain the "concepts" rather than any real world knowledge how it actually works.

For the first time in my life, I TRULY understand how TCP/IP, Subnetting, Subnet Masks, and Router all work together, Dave Kinnaman deserves the highest recoginition for his work. You've earned my respect for life. Please keep up the excellent work.

Even though the TCP/IP exam is being retired, this book is a classic that should be republished. (Maybe with a new name --"Everything You Need to Know about TCP/IP".) I used this book while setting up a network with two subnets. It has real-world advice, not just exam-cram factoids. My copy is dog-eared, highlighted, and well-used.

Subnetting is not easy to learn. Read and re-read Chapter 4, "Subnets and Subnetting." It is the heart of this book, and an excellent tutorial. If you're having trouble getting a handle on subnetting, this book is for you.

My friend gave me this book and I kept pushing it off and never read it. Finally, I got sick of my situation enough to give it a shot.

It is very motivating and has been a wake up call to me. I have read about 2 books in the past few years. Since reading this book a month ago, I have read 6. I am as hungry as ever so I have been trying to educate myself on wealth, strategy, and real estate as much as I can and it started with this book.

Very encouraging and uplifting book. Helps you believe in yourself and see that even imperfect people ,making big mistakes, can overcome and succeed greatly! David W.

Although most of the wealth-creating principles are not new, this book is well written and can still serve as a great resource for aspiring millionaires. Mike and Roger's style is very entertaining. I recommend it without hesitation.

Enjoyable book. good practical advice. One of many you should have on your bookshelf if you are trying to learn how to invest.

"How Ordinary People Can Achieve Extraordinary Success" is just a small clue of the VERY BIG lessons I found in this book. It won't just make you a better investor but can help you be a better person no matter what you do. There is so much inspiration and information crammed in every page of this book. For every investor, this can be the one source to go to as the foundation for your entire business. I know investors who started out using Mike's methods and following the formulas in this book and have become very successful and continue to grow and I could prove it on paper. The results are amazing. I never get tired of talking about it and recommending it to other people.

First of all, I echo all the positive comments already made by other reviewers.

This book is dangerous, in the best sense!

I am a bookworm and consider this one of my favorite books. (It is also incredibly cheap for the quality, and this is true for the hardcover version as well.) It is nourishing to the soul, a delight to any seashell collector, and has surprised, touched and impressed all the non-collectors I have shown it to. I started collecting seashells a year ago and bought this book back then. It has made me immediately aware of the surprising level of beauty that can be found in well-selected specimens, even among very affordable species. It has done this at least as much as the finer photographs on seashell websites online (e.g. femorale, gastropods, topseashells).

Rarely have I seen a photographer demonstrate their deep love for their subject this directly and this well. I find that a lot of seashells photographs in other publications simply do not come close to the passion, beauty, communication, feeling, inventiveness and art found in each photograph here. (I am a passionate photographer - have been since a young age - and have been trying my hand at taking beautiful close-ups of seashells for the last year. These attempts have only deepened my appreciation of the photographs in this book.)

This book contains an average of about 2 colour photographs for each page, and close to 2000 specimens and at least 500 species/forms (I counted once when sick in bed :-). Many photographs show several specimens and/or species combined fruitfully. Others concentrate on a single shell, sometimes taking up the entire page. All have very well chosen and crafted backgrounds - either lush, saturated colors or various more recognizable themes, none but a few volutes shown with the animal have the usual black background. You will enjoy a selection of the finest examples of the - cheap, affordable and expensive - species and forms the authors, all long-time collectors, deemed among the most beautiful. They bring you super-selected gem specimens from their personal collections and from a number of other personal collections they borrowed from. All this combines to draw you into looking at the shell more carefully, longer and with your aesthetic eye opened up - not something easily done by any means.

The texts contain all kinds of interesting information, some apparently not necessarily known even to very seasoned collectors, as mentioned in other reviews. It is true that there is no detailed index by species, but in this case it doesn't matter too much: if you own a copy you will be looking at it often and will soon start remembering which specimens are included and where. The sections are organized by families.

My only wish, my only suggestion for improvement, honestly, is for James Carmichael to publish a sequel of the same size even now that Leonard Hill, alas, has passed away at a young age. Perhaps not likely but we can dream, no?

So do not hesitate and buy yourself a copy. It would be hard to imagine that you will be dissapointed. Even if you are not a seashell lover or collector but enjoy beauty and enthusiasm.

Do get the hardcover version as this book is tall and wide and heavy. The covers of a softcover copy will certainly start bending and cracking very soon. The difference in price is small and in this case not worth saving on.

Expect to dive into this book often. With, dare I say?, love... And expect to become even more mad about seashells.

The two authors have done an excellent job, not only of selecting truly beautiful shells from all over the world and doing an outstanding job with the photographs, they have also written very informative text for those who are new to shell collecting. The types of shells are representative and nicely organized.

While this may not be the first book you need to identify your beach shell collection if you are a new comer to shell collection you discover shortly to compare your own sheels to these and realize that in fact your own may compare well.

I especially enjoyed the collages of limpets turned on both sides with the wonderful greens and blue greens of quite ordinary Barbados Limpets.

I would recommend it as say a fifth purchase after some good idenfication compendia and shorter books on just starting the hobby, if you are a beginner.

My wife purchased this book for our beach house and we decided to keep a copy for ourselves at home. It has every shell that you could ever dream of. Our kids love the book because they can look up shells that they have found in the book and see what they are called and what use to live inside of them.

It is great for anyone that has a room or bathroom using seashells or an ocean decoration theme.

Very good book!

This book is pure eye candy for shell lovers. The photographs are beautiful and the close ups allow you to see the fine detail of many shells. This book can also be used as a shell identification reference as the photos are clearly annotated with the names of the shells.

This book is not by any means scientific.
This book is not an identification guide.
The species list is obviously very incomplete.
but...
Truly marvelous, large-format photography of only the best of the best GEM specimens. Each with a short description, which is VERY interesting to read - these are some real facts about the shells and not the description of what you can see on the photo. I consider myself an advanced collector, and this book is a real relief after reading some of the more advanced publications on shell collecting. An excellent source for some real-life knowledge. Highly recommended - both for collectors, or just anyone.

I needed to read this book. I am in the process of pursuing a private pilots license and this was so beneficial to me to be able to read a book that answered those questions I would have never thought to ask.

I must agree with every positive thing said about this work. It has really inspired and carried me through into actually taking action. Like having a friend by your side, giving advice.

Very well written introduction for anyone considering becoming a pilot. This book provides a short, but thorough, analysis of just about all that being a pilot involves - from initial training to life as a General Aviation pilot. Finally - a book well worth the money!

Your Pilot's License provides a simple, concise guide to getting your license to fly. Eichenberger describes both how to actually fly a plane as well as the process by which one learns how and is licensed to do so. Eichenberger's experience as a flight instructor (CFI) clearly shows, as much of the book reads like a flight lesson.

The book is a must-read for anyone thinking about taking up flying or who has just started taking lessons. Not only does is summarize what to expect, it also provides a wealth of knowledge that should help make your lessons more effective. Eichenberger explains complicated concepts in simple English. Particularly helpful to the beginning pilot will be his explanations of how lift works and how to "fly the box" taking wind into account.

For those who have been flying for a period of time, the book offers very little (other than perhaps nostalgia about those first flights). If you don't already know what is covered in this book (and in some areas, significantly more than is covered) you really shouldn't be flying a plane.

For those looking to get their flight instructor certificate, this book holds particular value as it will help you learn how to teach your students! It is also very helpful in remaining us how if felt "from the other side."

I am a CFI (Certificated Flight Instructor) and have read several popular 'Private Pilot Training' manuals. Many of them are expensive, and very thick. I don't use them though...I use THIS book. It covers 90% of what I want covered in ground school, and I augment it with other materials as I see fit. It is quite inexpensive, and it is very well-written. I highly recommend this book to prospective pilots, to student pilots, and to certificated pilots as a handy 'quick refresher'. If you have ever considered becoming a pilot (trust me, it is worth every penny), this this book gives you a great overview of what flying is about.

I bought this book early in the year to prepare for my AP Psychology course. It was a TREMENDOUSLY HELPFUL supplement with my Psychology textbook (Myers).

One of the reasons why I enjoyed this book was it has a "student planner" to carefully allocate your time in order to maximize your score on the AP test. If I had to estimate the time per week I used to read this book to fill in the holes I missed in the textbook, it would be at least 1 1/2 hours a week.

I followed exactly what the book recommended me to study, and when I finally took the AP Exam: I couldn't believe how easy it was.

Buy the book. It's your ticket to a 5.

With the easy-to-read text and study plans for the A student and the procrastinator, it is the best AP study guide I've seen for Psych. It is also more detailed than the Barron's and goes into depth about everything covered.

I used only this book to help prepare for the AP test, and I didn't take the class. If you are good at studying and memorizing, and at least somewhat interested in the subject, you can definetly pass the test with this book. I liked that there was a quiz after each chapter, it helped me focus on what I needed to review again from the precious chapter. Also, the text is not small so it's easy to read, and it's written in way that doesn't put you to sleep.

I was taking the AP Psychology on-line course. Half of the stuff in the on-line class was not on the test. And the class is only one semester so I was only half-way through the course when I decided to screw it and just read this book. I highly recommend it. It was the only thing I used. And I only studied this for about a week. I got a 4, but I only read about 2/3 of it. If you were to read the whole thing, I would say you would probably get a 5. I only spent a week, only read 2/3, but I spent many hours on it and focused. I tried the Barron's one too, but it didn't work for me. It had a lot of good information, but it was dull. This book had everything I needed, I only wish I would have read the whole thing.

Because my school is in the Boondocks, I did an independent study of AP Psychology. This book was what I used as my textbook. Most AP books have a content review section that resembles a bullet list. This book, however, provides very well written and complete chapters covering every aspect of the test. I took the two practice tests in the book before I took the exam and got a 5 on both. The practice tests were practically identical to the real thing. I highly recommend this for both the type of person that studies well in advance or the type that reads the entire review book in the weekend before the test and prays that he still got a 5 (I'm neither confirming or denying that I did this).

I really enjoyed this book. It was straight forward, to the point and provided some great best practices as solutions to some common security problems. A major problem with security is management. Too often the people making the important decisions do not understand the information that they are given.

As the authors point out, Managers and technical staff speak different languages and that is the key problem here. Managers that read this book will gain a clear understanding of the problems that the IT staff faces, and IT people that read this book will understand the management side and will know how to speak to non-technical staff.

This book is a perfect introduction to security and related business concerns.

This is a really good introduction to security for non-technical and IT personnel. It covers a lot of subject matter including disaster planning, and writing a security policy. This book is an excellent resource for managers who need a clue. It is written better, more organized and more helpful than "Secrets and Lies" and other similar books. I recommend this book for anyone that needs a good overview of security. You may not be a CISSP after you finish it but you will understand what a CISSP is saying.

This book is a great overview of security and policy development. This is not a technical book, it does not teach you the specifics of any particular OS, or how to configure software. It does ask key questions, and gets you thinking about security programs and business practices. The policy template is an added bonus. I gave this book to my manager to help convince her that we needed to look at security differently and budget for it.

This book is a great starter book on information security! I was wading though my copy grumbling "I know this, this, this...", when it occurred to me that I am not the intended audience.

For some time, one of my friends was asking me for a good book on security for somebody who knows absolutely nothing about it. I gave him "Access Denied" - and now he is hooked. Several weeks has passed by and he is already asking for "Hacking Exposed"...

"Access Denied" covers a wide range of security-related topics. The book is well written, logically organized and have everything to appeal to the beginners in the security field, those curious about modern (if not cutting edge) security topics and those migrating to security from other IT fields.

Anton Chuvakin, Ph.D., GCIA, GCIH is a Senior Security Analyst with a major information security company. His areas of infosec expertise include intrusion detection, UNIX security, forensics, honeypots, etc. In his spare time, he maintains his security portal info-secure.org

This book is a great introduction to security concepts and procedures. I've used it as a resource for college papers and I have used the templates to start a security policy. I recommend it to anyone that needs a well written primer on security.

I don't know Paul before I got this book. This is the best business book I have read all year.

It's been responsible for helping me double my business in the last two months!

Most of the principles inside will apply to corporate businesses but I took just two of the principles in it, took action on them, and saw radical results. It's not the specific strategies that helped me see these results, it was the change in perspective on doing things that this book certainly provided me.

I recommend it to anyone who wants to grow their business fast.

Fabian Tan

I just finished reading Be Unreasonable. I read it on the treadmill, exercise bike and other stationary machines designed to get the job done. I cannot begin to tell you how much I love it.

I read a lot of these books. I'm a host, author, speaker and coach, so you can see by the nature of my work that I am passionate about helping people focus on the desired outcome and ultimately achieve it.

I am going to do something with this book I rarely do. I'm going to the gym tomorrow, and I'm going to read Be Unreasonable again. There are so many important points, I want to make sure I can take the concepts and put them into play with my organization and those I serve. Bravo, it is a masterful body of work.

One of the better self help books. I passed it along to my 2 sons and both have benefited from the power of the advice.

Entrepreneurism is at an all-time high. The days of thousands competing for a single job have been replaced by hundreds of businesses competing for the same customer.

How will you stand out?

This book gives you the courage to get out and be a little unreasonable, a little unconventional, a little unusual and go for the unknown, so you can have unstoppable business success.

I am a fast reader, and I can zip through the average business book on a plane trip. You know . . .yadda, yadda, yadda, think outside the box . . .yadda, yadda, yadda, be proactive . . .

"Be Unreasonable" is NOT your average business book. I found myself stopping every few pages to absorb the powerful concepts presented, think about what they mean to me, and generate ideas that will transform my business. This is real-world information, and Paul Lemberg shows us how real businesses have used being unreasonable to overcome obstacles and achieve remarkable success.

It is hard to pick one part of the book that is "best," but if I had to choose one chapter it would be the one on Unreasonable Thinking. Every page had me thinking of new ideas and changing the way I look at things.

Stop reading this review right now, and order your copy of "Be Unreasonable." And do not put it on the shelf with all those other books that you haven't gotten around to reading yet. Set aside some time every day to read a part of the book, then reflect on what being unreasonable can do for you. It will change your business, and your life.

And the next time someone tells you that you are being unreasonable, simply say, "Thank you!"

Cathy Stucker, IdeaLady.com

I've purchased and read (well partially) several books written about robotics. The reason I mentioned partially is they all disappoint me to near disgust. They all re-hash silly things such as resistor color codes, number systems, and skim over discrete electronic component operational theory - often erroneously. The authors even copy and paste microcontroller instruction tables into the book! (This information can be found free on the web.) Anything to stuff the pages. All this is available in other books on the subject of basic electronics. I'll step off the soap box long enough to say thanks to these authors: Brad Graham, Kathy McGowan, and Brad Graham. This book descibes great ideas for home built machines for guys with real tools. Although it still lacks in some areas, it should provide the really mechanically oriented with inspriation to build some utilitarian machines. You won't find any ideas for toys made from hose clamps and duct tape with a 9 volt battery for a base in this book. So, if all you have access to is a soldering iron and a hobby shop this isn't the book for you. But, if you're looking to get real with some machines to entertain and/or do some work then this book is a must read.

A great book for beginner's and intermediate robot builders. The book gives a great overview from structural to electrical construction and gives good advice on what to buy and where. It provides an brief explanation of each device and how to make it work best without getting into the complicated workings of each device (unlike David Cook, author of Robot Building for Beginner and its sequel ) I used it extensively when i first started out and still use it for reference. It is a fairly new book so none of the information is really outdated.

If you want to build radio controlled robots then this is the book to get. Good price and a long-lasting buy. Easy to read and understand (except in some of the radio sections, they take a little bit of thinking).

Cons: I wish he would have included more advice on where to find some of the parts. He does list some websites in the back but i had better luck searching what i needed in google. He doesn't talk to much about "aftermarket" antennas for both the video/audio reviver or R/C unit.

Really the only other draw back was then he talked about speed controllers. It is probably the most confusing section and boring. He didn't talk about how to hook everything up either. As far as speed controllers go he didn't discuss dual over single motor controls per unit and amperage considerations. I didn't see anything about fuses or breakers in there either which are important in protecting what will be an investment.

Finally he didn't talk about where to get motors if you don't want to or can't get old used wheelchairs.

Overall it is a good book and deserves a look from any builder.

Easy to read, but not an exact blueprint of how to build the two robots he presents. The author does explain the robot design in layman's terms, and with a sense of humor. He does go over the entire building process in general terms, without much techninal detail. He recounts a few of his mistakes, like his 400-pound monster robot going haywire and wreaking havoc. It was really fun to read.

He presents a lot of sources of information and components, which I have found very useful. He has done an excellent job of using affordable and available components.

The robots he built are very impressive in size and scale (150lbs and up!), yet are not excessively complex. The robots are radio-controlled, however - very little information is given on software/AI development. He does an excellent job with explaining the mechanical frame, drivetrain, and housing construction. There is some useful information on electrical/electronics components as well.

If you want to build an impressive robot for a reasonable cost, but are somewhat lacking in mechanical design (describes me exactly), than this book is for you. You'll need to be able to do some basic welding - but it's not hard. As of this writing, i'm 30% finished on my robot.

In summary, I highly recommend this book for some educational and humorous reading

I liked the "Humanoid Robot" book a little better, but this book helped avoid some of the pitfalls from building a creature, without spoiling any of the fun.

I read this book, I loved all the way through!!!!
Full of instructions, and helpful pictures, this book is awesome!
My friend is reading it, on my recomendation, he loves it! Anyone who's read it that I know really liked it. It's very easy to understand. The author, Brad Graham, did a great job!
An out-of-this-world read!!