Lawrence Books

THE HALF LIFE OF TEARS continues the saga of the Monti clan from 1942, where THE SECRET FAMILY ended, until 1947. Carlo Lampa, Leonora's son, works on the Manhatttan project at Los Alamos but falls in love with a young Communist girl at Barnard, which causes him problems during the post-WWII Red Scare. In the meanwhile, hias uncle Francesco Monti suffers the death of a parent, a casual adultery which turns into a serious romance, and the return of his nephew Victor as a crippled GI. Despite all these indignities, the novel essentially has a happy ending, if you accept the divine Oscar Wilde's definition of one: the good are rewarded and the evil are punished. Enjoy!

. . . and Lawrence Richette's The Half Life Of Tears is an excellent example of that. It's an engrossing read that documents the disintegration of one Italian-American family in Philadelphia in the 1940s. Set on the homefront during World War II, the novel vividly expresses the emotions of that era when it seemed that the whole world stood on the abyss. One character's work on the team that developed the atomic bomb provides a powerful focus as the novel shifts from the war to the anxiety and jubilation of the postwar era. Apparently, it's part of a series of books that documents the family's history through the 20th century, and I'm looking forward to reading more of their story by Richette.

This was the biography that filled-in the romantic perspective etched by the David Lean film,"Lawrence Of Arabia," on this then adolescent's imagination. The film was expansive, larger-than-life, suitably so for a man-of-letters, an artist, writer and military man. Properly balanced, properly distanced from this charismatic scholarly man, Jeremy Wilson provides an engrossing, archeological dig on the man himself, stopping with the contradictions of Lawrence's psyche. This is a good starting point for anyone interested in reading about genius among the mediocre, both military and political. When you read through his personal letters and read an earlier work of his middle east diggings, "Crusader Castles:...," you will discover that this literary, military strategist and inventor(much classified)projected himself into his future. I am so happy for other dreamers to discover this uncommon man in this 21st Century. If politicians could learn beyond schoolyears our problems in the Middle East would subside.

I am by no means an expert on T.E.Lawrence, this biography is really my introduction. Mr. Wilson seems to take all sources of information into account before making a statement regarding Lawrence. There have been many romantic and erroneous biographies of this man, but this book seems to treat Lawrence with the academic distance required to provide as impartial a view of the man as is possible. It is clear that Wilson views Lawrence with affection, but he trys to keep it in check most of the time. He gives a clear view and description of reasonable motivations for many of Lawrence's actions, based on corroborative evidence and basic common sense given Lawrence's age, surroundings, and the political environment he was emersed in. I feel confident that I have as impartial a view of Lawrence as I will ever get. At times the narrative of the current environment gets a bit long and I yearn to return to Lawrence, but I understand that a key to understanding Lawrence is to understand his world and the middle east of the day. I must admit, as an added bonus I learned much regarding the formation of much of the middle east to which I was ignorant of simply from this book. When I want romance I will rent "Lawrence of Arabia"!

could not put the book down. as a retired sailor that has served om 5 "tin cans" this book was outstanding. brought back some memories for me. even though I wasn't alive during ww2, this writer seemed to put his memory to good use. bravo zulu on a great book.

Great reading. I felt like I was a part of the crew. Generations and ships change; but it is remarkable to see how good CO's never change.

The Tao of Reiki is both a thoroughly enjoyable read, informative and believable! It includes detailed descriptions of initiations in the various Reiki styles and levels (including symbols) and a suprising story about how Dr. Usui's reiki manuscripts were recently discovered. This book reveals the buddhist origins of reiki. Fantastic exerpts from Dr. Usui's diary describing his adventures while developing usage of Reiki, you really get a feel of the kind of guy he was! Basically, the most intelligent, useful and believable book on Reiki that I have read.

This book is a must for all reiki practitioners. It gives an invaluable informations about origin of Reiki and true story of dr.Mikao Usui and his followers and how to use healing energies of Reiki. My recommendation is to read this book after you have had initiation to a 2nd degree because it is better to develop your own intuitive based relationship with Reiki and then extended it with other thoughts and technics.There is no boundaries so you have to be open-minded and listen to your intuition.

Great book about how to teach psychology or any subject to undergraduate and graduate level students. I am an assistant professor at a small university in Texas and this book has been a blessing for me and my students.

This is an absolutely invaluable resource for new and seasoned psychology teachers at all levels. It should be required reading for all new faculty members at the University level.

Imagine this: In an inner city classroom, students examining a haiku debate over denotation and connotation of words (one boy looks up a word, then cross-references all words in the definition), mood and atmosphere, use and significance of rhyme, syntax and word placement, purpose of and meaning from punctuation marks, imagery, shape and symbol. How does this happen? With activities from Baron Wormser and David Cappella's book Teaching the Art of Poetry: The Moves. No magic or experience required.

Based on the premise that poetry contains all the essentials for understanding language and how we use it, Teaching the Art of Poetry explains how teachers can create "poetry-based classrooms" to raise language learning to higher levels of critical thinking and analysis. Compact and easy to use, each chapter begins with an essay on an element of language/poetry from grammar, punctuation and capitalization to details, metaphor, image and sound as well as techniques specific to poetry such as stanzas and form. Wormser and Cappella, however, understand the plight of overburdened teachers; those who have little time for reading may skim the essay and skip to each chapter's classroom exercises, lesson plans and bibliography. The application exercises are clear, simple and easy to implement without the use of extra planning or materials, yet they guarantee to change the way students think and learn about language, which influences everything else they do in an English class. The potential is exponential.

After carefully perusing almost every book for middle and secondary English found at the National Council of Teachers of English, November 2000, Teaching the Art of Poetry clearly wins as the most useful book exhibited. Rarely does one find such an invaluable gem in educational literature, containing sound pedagogy, brave technique, and practical applications to transform the language classroom. Teaching the Art of Poetry is a must for all teachers of English!

I have taught poetry-writing for years and have found little on the market of any use until The Moves. Before using this text, I relied on a gut sense of what exercises might work with high school kids and on reading them lots of examples of poetry I thought they would enjoy. What is exceptional about this book is, first of all, its eloquence: teaching aside, I'd recommend this text to anyone who simply loves rich, sensual language; clearly, honest-to-God poets wrote it. (How often has anyone been inspired by a textbook?) The exercises ask the student to examine professional poetry in fresh ways, and each chapter deals with a specific writing skill; for example, narrating, organization, endings. The chapter called "Architecture" is especially well done. Highly recommended for high school English teachers and for any student of poetry.

Im 17 years old and hardly pick up a book , but I couldnt seem to put this one down , I find myself reading this book 3 hours a day. These are all articles of Ted Williams life that go in order from when he was a young kid to a old man. Its not just about his baseball side , but also about his love of fishing and who he really is behind the baseball image. It doesnt just tell you that he did something but how he did it ( dislike fans , visited kids in hospital , hate writers , sent money to his father even know he hadnt seen him in over 10 years , and why he was so generous to others ). Ive read alot about Ted Williams but I learned alot more about him in this book. I highly reccomend this book to anyone whos interested in " The Kid "

Compiled and edited by lifelong Boston Red Sox fan Lawrence Baldassaro (who is also Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Reflections On A Splendid Life: Ted Williams is a remarkable tribute to the talented baseball player who won six batting titles and two Triple Crowns, and in 1941, was the last player to hit over .400. In addition to his legend on the baseball field, he served as a fighter pilot in World War II and worked on behalf of the Jimmy Fund to fight against cancer in children. Reflections On A Splendid Life collects writings and photographs of Williams, from his rookie year in 1939 to his death in July 2002. Articles by sportswriters, best-selling authors, and those who knew and respected the remarkable Ted Williams fill the pages of this one-of-a-kind compilation. This is a "must read" for all Ted Williams fans!

Television: Critical Methods and Applications encourages readers to think critically about TV.

Videography, editing, acting, set design, lighting and sound are analyzed and explained in terms of how they are used to tell stories, present news, and sell products to TV viewers.

This student-friendly text provides critical and historical contexts, discussing how critical methods have been applied to the medium and highlighting the evolution of television style through the decades.

Television is illustrated with hundreds of frame grabs from TV programs. Its companion Website presents color versions of these black-and-white figures and augments them with video clips, sample student papers, syllabi, and other material.

Reviews of the first edition:

"This is, quite simply, the best book out there for teaching introductory TV courses. The text is well-conceived and engaging, and Butler does a superb job of illustrating the formal and aesthetic structures of television in a clear and readable manner."

--Tara McPherson (USC School of Cinema-TV)

"An ideal text for courses introducing television to undergraduates."
--David Bordwell (U Wisconsin; Author, Film Art)

"The best textbook on television available today."
--Ellen Seiter (UCSD)

I was required to buy "Television: Critical Methods and Applications" for my Film and Television class, and it is by far the most interesting text book i've read so far in my college career. It addresses advanced concepts in language that is easy to follow and understand.

There are many guidelines for designing instruction. Most provide sound guidance but are based primarily on the experience of the authors or perhaps common practice in the field. Ten Steps is based on van Merrienboer's previous work on his 4C-ID model. This model is based on careful research on the instructional process. In a previous review of this model I suggested that his previous book is a classic in the field of instructional design. This new presentation of this model makes it more accessible to practitioners by providing step-by-step guidance to the application of the model. Following this approach will result in instruction that is effective, efficient and engaging. This approach encompasses the best of problem-centered learning with direct instruction. It is wonderful combination of the best that is known of our craft without being doctrinaire. I highly recommend this work to every instructional designer.

There are many books available today that give advice about how to design training. Most of them are based on approaches that were developed in the mid 1970's and a majority of them are adequate for training that emphasizes relatively simple skills. This book is based on our most current knowledge about how to support complex learning and the transfer of knowledge beyond training to work. The authors, Jeroen vanMerrienboer and Paul Kirschner are both internationally recognized university faculty who have extensive experience in business and government training. They define complex learning as involving "the integration of knowledge, skills and attitudes, the coordination of qualitatively different constituent skills and the transfer of what is learned in school or training to daily life and work settings". The ten step approach they describe is currently being used to train people who perform highly complex jobs in both North America and Europe. It has also been used by people who are developing courses for schools and universities. The training that results from their design system can be presented by instructors in classroom settings or by the latest multi-media technology. Each of the ten steps they describe is supported both by applications in a variety of settings and solid research on learning and transfer. The book focuses on describing when each of the ten steps is necessary or useful and how to implement steps. Text boxes on pages describe the research support for key aspects of each step.

In my view, this book presents a very comprehensive approach that is based on both "best practice" and "solid research". It represents the most current "state of the art and science" of learning, training and transfer and it is well worth the investment for anyone involved in instruction, corporate training or the management of training systems.

Richard Clark, Director, Center for Cognitive Technology, University of Southern California

In the spirit of full disclosure, I'll acknowledge that I knew Admiral Lawrence and always had great admiration for him. This book captures exactly who he was. It conveys his sense of patriotism and dedication to mission. It truly communicates what the career of a highly successful naval officer is like. He takes it step by step from his days as a midshipman through his service as a flag officer after returing from Vietnam, where he was a POW for a number of years. The book is matter of fact and to the point. I truly had the sense that we were sitting together and he was telling me the story of his life. In addition to his achievements as a Naval Aviator and his experience as a POW, Admiral Lawrence held positions of responsibility in the Pentagon, as Superintendant (president) of the Naval Academy, and as a fleet commander. The chapters in which he discussed his youth in Tennessee are also moving, as are his discussions about his family. Anyone who has an interest in what a life of naval service truly entails should be delighted by this excellent autobiography.

As one who served with Admiral Lawrence in the Fourth Allied POW Wing in Hanoi, NVN and later at USNA, Annapolis MD, I can verify that this is a quality look at an ethical officer, gentleman, husband and father - a man for all seasons.

The macho posturing of some fighter pilots, the political posturing of some in the Flag Mess, the rewriting of some in respect to POW history and the tendency of most to make ourselves look good are missing. If you want this bloviating, go someplace else.

You can catch the excitement of flight training, the exhilaration of carrier flight operations, the challenge of test piloting, the disappointment of being literally a heartbeat away from the space program, the mundane plodding of being a "horse holder" (Admiral's Aide), the loneliness of Officer of the Deck underway, the delicate balance of civilian control by political appointees (the "Christmas help") & loyalty to one's service and shipmates, the solitary isolation of command and the agony of betrayal - all this in one book - this book.

There is no attempt to justify one's life in this work. There is no effort to burnish one's image in the book. There are no craven attacks to get even for real or imagined wrongs. There are not tales told out of school or sly innuendoes directed at those currently in power. If you want this, go read the tabloids - the Washington Post or the NY Times.

This is the sometimes exciting, sometimes mundane but always interesting story of a decent human being who tried to make the most of his God given gifts in the service of his country. His only wish was to do what is right. I never heard him ask anything for himself.

If your want a refreshing account of the adventures of a true American hero, ethical to the core and loyal to a fault, then you want to obtain this book for your library. It is in mine.