P Books

Book is well illustrated, with lots of good information on period furniture.

Excellent service and book as good as or better than originally thought to be. Would definitely order from them again.

This book is a classic and all the other reviews are right-on. If you're interested in woodworking--especially creating antique reproduction designs buy this book. It's cheap. Now if you're a woodworking novice, you'll likely be intimidated at the design detail saying "how can anyone ever carve that!" and you'll be tempted to throw it on the shelf and forget it. That's OK. If you keep doing woodworking, you'll find yourself coming back to look at Chippendale. You'll go to antique shows and museums and see the real thing and eventually gain the confidence to give it a try. The book is inspiring in its design. You should own it if you're interested in finewoodworking because over the years, your comfort with it will be a measure of your own woodworking maturity.

The ball and claw foot is perhaps the one thing most commonly associated with Chippendale, but it is omitted entirely since it had gone out of fashion by the time he wrote the book. Instead, he includes Rococo, Chinese, and Gothic designs. The Rococo designs are extremely heavily ornamented, and fashioned in the most outlandish curved shapes: if you ever thought Pablo Picasso and "modern art" was too far out, take a look at these! The ribbon back chairs struck me as a particularly interesting design. The Chinese designs are far more subdued, and most have a bit of a swastika motif built into them. The editor for the modern version has added an appendix with several photographs of original Chippendale era furniture (not necessarily built by Chippendale himself), including several chosen to show that it really was possible to build the more elaborate designs. This is perhaps the single most historically significant book on furniture design ever written, and no furniture library would be complete without it.

This large catalog style paper back book is an excellent reference for architecture, furniture and design. Black drawing on newsprint paper, this book was a catalog of Thomas Chippendale's furniture shop in England and gives detailed motifs for the antique dealer and cabinet maker alike.

Vincent P. O'Hara's "The German Fleet at War" is an impressively researched and highly informative look at a subject little known to American and British World War II buffs. Even serious students of the war believe that after the sinkings of the "Graf Spee" and "Bismarck," Germany's naval war switched almost exclusively to it U-boats. O'Hara demonstrates that not only is this untrue, but that German surface forces continued to battle the Allies until only weeks before the 1945 Nazi surrender. CounterclockwiseEvery Shape, Every Shadow: A Novel of Guadalcanalder.

Roger L. Conlee
Author of "Every Shape, Every Shadow" and "Counterclockwise"

As a fan of the little recorded small unit naval actions, it has been a frustrating experience watching book after book come out on Kriegsmarine captial ships (which spent most of the war at anchor) or endless, repetitive coverage on U-boats. The Destroyers, torpedo boats, minesweepers and escorts that actually fought regular surface actions have been little covered, and the reports written by the Allied sources often give a one-sided and often inaccurate account of many actions.

In this account Mr. O'Hara has produced a balanced, well researched record of specific surface actions from the battles involving the Bismarck to the sharp actions of German minesweepers off the Channel Islands and the encounters between US destroyers and German corvettes and destroyers in the Mediterranean. As an example of his research, Mr. O'Hara checked primary sources (both USN and German) to determine that the USS Gleaves and three destroyers of the 10th Torpedoboote Flottille actually traded shots one night late in 1944. The Gleaves' history describes an action with German merchant ships while the history of the German flotilla describes encountering a "large French destroyer." Neither side recorded the actual opponent correctly and recent publications still show these as two separate battles! His piecing together the puzzle here helps better define one of the rare encounters between German and US warships and is a tribute to his effort.

This book is well worth the price and is unlike any book I have read before of the Kriegsmarine.

Finally! Mr. O'Hara is to be lauded for the magnificent effort of showing that Kriegsmarine was not only the U-boats, the Bismarck, Tirpitz, and the Graf Spee, but a lot more, and that German sailors, just like their Allied counterparts, fought the numbing war of small skirmishes, ill defined night actions, endless watches, and fought with determination and courage. This is a well researched book, based on both Allied and OKM sources, filled with a plethora of convincingly presented facts which, for many readers, will provide astonishing insights. Those with more professional interest, will find the book simply a very good read, worth an evening or two, and also quite illuminating.

O'Hara has written a valuable reference for World War II enthusiasts. I've long had an interest in the Kriegsmarine and was pleased to add "The German Fleet at War" to my library. I look forward to future books from this author.

If you are interested in reading a well-researched, single-volume study of the German Navy in the Second World War, this is definitely the book for you. In addition to being a highly readable work, it is a fine piece of scholarship. My compliments to the author.

A masterful guide to the Gettysburg battlefield. I took several books on my trip to Gettysburg earlier this year but this was the only one I carried on the battlefield. It is organized around the tour stops, but also contains several side trips to lesser known areas, and simply tells you all you need to know about the events in that area at the time of the battle. It contains several maps and the directions it provides to areas on the battlefield are concise and easy to follow. If you wish to seriously tour Gettysburg National Park, this book is essential.

I recently took a trip to Gettysburg (my 3rd) and carried this tour guide for the 1st time. It is far and away the best experience I've had seeing the battlefield. It follows the battle chronologically and offers several sites and insights not offered on the audio tours available at the local shops. Many of the stops are multifaceted. At several points the stops feature 7 to 10 asides which often involve only a minor shift in position to point out various phases of the battle. It includes a side trip to the cavalry field which I've never run into on the audio tours. The driving directions are easy to follow but do veer from the order of the Military Park brochure and the audio tours to give greater detail to the battle. The book says to allow for 6 hours-it's more like 10 hours to give time for exploring beyond some of the "stand here and turn left" instructions. 11 hours total if you include a break for lunch. We started at nine on one morning, toured until about 4 with a break for lunch and finished the following day. Sites included on the audio and Park tours tend to start getting crowded from 11 to 3, so this will add to the tour time depending on time of year and crowd. To sum it all up and paraphrase a popular commercial-when going on a tour of Gettysburg-"Don't leave home without it!"

I grew up near Gettysburg & have been there numerous times. I just spent 2 days there with this book on the battlefield--this book made the battle crystal clear! I ran out of time exploring the battlefield (it takes more than the 6 hours described in the book--my only criticism). This book brings the battle to life and explains the terrain like never before. I learned a lot about the battle that I never knew and many components of the battle came into focus in new and exciting ways. In particular, this book does a good job on overviews of each day and with it's clear directions, leads the reader through each stop--I really felt as if I had an expert by my side explaining all the facets of each aspect of the battle. Along the way, everything was just as the book described. The maps were excellent & it's nicely complimented with various portraits of leaders, common soldiers, etc. The guide brings the 3 days together as a cohesive whole. This is the book to get if you're going to visit Gettysburg; forget all the others.

I now live near Chickamauga and I plan on getting their book on that battle!

An excellent, well-written guidebook and the best I've seen on the subject. I carried this book on my first visit to Gettysburg in Spring 2001, and it greatly enhanced the experience. The directions are clear and up to date, and the text is precise and detailed enough to be compelling without trying to be an exhaustive treatment of every minute detail. If used as a companion to an actual visit, I would strongly recommend reading the book in advance of your visit, then bringing it with you for reference. There are only a few very minor faults I might find with this guidebook. On the maps, it would be helpful to have present-day landmarks indicated in some way to help with orientation. Also, the book suggests the full tour can be completed in six hours, but in my experience to make all the stops and fully enjoy it you'd need at least a full day, or preferably two. You'll want to leave some time for reflection at such places as McPherson's Ridge, Little Round Top, the High Water Mark, and others to think about the enormity of what occurred on that ground.

Read this book and you'll come away with a good working knowledge of the three-day battle. Highly recommended!

I've lived and/or worked in Gettysburg for almost twenty-five years, and I've been on the battlefield hundreds of times. But I can honestly say that I never really had a good appreciation for what happened there until I got my hands on Grimsley's and Simpson's guide. It's completely user-friendly.

For each of the places it highlights, the guide includes:

(1) Driving instructions to each site.

(2) An extremely useful orientation section telling you what's on your left, on your right, in front of you, etc. (For example, for Barlow's Knoll, the Orientation is this: "As you face west, the town of Gettysburg is due left of you; Oak Ridge and Oak Hill are straight ahead, as is Carlisle Road in the middle distance.") For those battlefield visitors who don't think to bring a compass with them, this kind of information is worth its weight in gold.

(3) An historical description of what actually happened during the battle at the site.

(4) A "Vignette," which provides one or two eyewitness accounts pertinent to the site.

(5) A tactical analysis of what happened at the site.

The maps are excellent, the layout of the text is convenient and easy to follow, and there's an informative appendix on "Organization, Weapons, and Tactics." Moreover, the East and South Cavalry Battles are included in the guidebook, and the description of Farnsworth's deadly charge in the latter is the best I've ever read.

Highly recommended for both the beginner and the seasoned Gburg afficionado.

By the way, for those who don't know it, co-author Mark Grimsley's The Hard Hand of War (1997) really is one of the best books on the Civil War written.

I highly recommend this book. The authors have done a terrific job of blending in the full spectrum of issues related to IPv6 in a very readable tone and format. The technical components of the book are excellent but the best parts are the ones that add perspective and address the economic implications of advanced networking and IPv6. This book should be required reading for all non-technical managers and decision makers.

This book advances the current IPv6 debate beyond the various pitfalls and complexities of IPv6 integration and shine light on the economic impact of advanced networking. It would be terrific if the authors could initiate the IPv6 wake-up call that is desperately needed in North America.

Excellent read....

IPv6 adoption doesn't really mean much to most people or organizations today, even though we've all heard at some point that IPv4 IP addresses are being depleted rapidly, the problem is not yet that evident.

In all honesty, we had our doubts about this Cisco Press title, but the first 30 (out of a total of 400) pages put things into perspective. The title helps you clearly understand what IPv6 is all about. Its approach is brilliant - with the handful of real statistics and examples it provides, you will realize that IPv6 is not about a new breakthrough or trend but a solution to an uprising problem.

The fact is that the global network, aka `Internet', relies on a 30 year old protocol originally developed for a much smaller network. The growth of the Internet was unforeseeable, as were the problems to be encountered. The experts agree that the IPv4 addressing space will be completely depleted by the year 2015.

Global IPv6 Strategies kicks off with an analysis of this depletion, providing accurate information and a unique methodology, suddenly you are aware of the impact and significance of this problem. It then tackles the myths and realities of IPv4 and IPv6. Does IPv6 really offer enhanced security compared to IPv4? What about Quality of Service (QoS) and improved routing abilities of the new protocol? These questions are all demystified, along with many more, making clear that which IPv6 can and cannot offer.

Analysis of the IPv6 adoption strategies of governments and businesses all over the world is also covered, showing the actions governments have taken to research the necessity and adoption methodology of IPv6.

A brief chapter is devoted to the new services that will emerge from the IPv6 evolution in many sectors such as the educational, entertainment, business and many more.

The rest of the book is an eye opener - Real example case studies of IPv6 adoption. These case studies show IPv6 planning in the context of the business, operational and technical realities of actual organizations.

The structure the book uses for the case studies are intended to help the readers identify similarities between their environments & IT goals and those of the organizations covered in the case studies.





The structure followed in each case study is as follows:

- Company profile. Overview of the company profile and scope of its business network and IT profile, overview of the IT environment and the way it supports the business goals of the organization.

- IP infrastructure characteristics. Overview of the IP aspects of the environment, listing any challenges experienced or envisaged.

- Perspective on IPv6. Presents the organization's perspective on IPv6 as a technology, and the IPv6 adoption trends within its market space.

- The case for IPv6. Combines the perspective on IPv6 covered earlier in the book, with the early or late adoption position considered by the organization.

- IPv6 planning and implementation. The case made for IPv6 adoption shapes the adoption strategy and its implementation. Determining factors that must be considered.

Global IPv6 Strategies is not a highly technical title. It won't analyse technical perspectives of the IPv6 protocol, but it will give you the necessary knowledge to help you see the importance of the protocol, which will also help you make unavoidable important business decisions in the near future.

Are you an IT professional or department manager. If you are, then this book is for you! Authors Patrick Grossetete Ciprian P. Popoviciu and Fred Wettling, have done an outstanding job of writing a book that provides a global overview of the strategies that developed around the IPv6 adoption and perspectives taken on it within various markets.

Grossetete, Popoviciu and Wettling, begin by introducing you to the importance of the Internet in today's economy. Then, the authors discuss the original case for developing IPv6 as presented by the IETF. The authors also take a closer look at the constraints presented by an IPv6 infrastructure to national economies and individual businesses. They continue by mapping some of the adoption drivers to IPv6 adoption strategies that emerged at the beginning of the 21st century. Then, the authors show you how to apply practical information in the development of IPv6 adoption strategies. Finally, they cover key aspects related to IPv6 planning.

This most excellent book provides practical guidelines based on the extensive IPv6 planning and deployment experience of the authors. Perhaps more importantly, this great book bridges the gap between the technology and the business dimensions of IPv6 to shed some light on a technological evolution with potentially revolutionary business outcomes.

I love that these three guys took the time to write this book. Collectively, they have the technical and business skills, combined with the necessary experience to make business sense of the transition to IPv6. They did a good job of looking at each of the key areas, with both the technical (where Patrick is widely respected) and business (where Fred actually led the Fortune 500's first global transition) focus.

This is the first v6 book that I would recommend to the general business population. Prior attempts have been good at the technical issues, but were written mostly for the v6-immersed set. This book will reward the non-v6 reader with practical benefits in business case, network optimization, security and more.

Good job authors-- and thanks for taking the time.

One thing to keep in mind is that this is not a "cookbook". It is less tactical, and more strategic.

I am not saying these are bad things, in fact when coupled with "Deploying IPv6 Networks" (also from Cisco Press, and some of the same authors!) you have a very holistic view of what IPv6 is, how to implement it, why you should be ready for it, the concerns that lie therein, etc.

/TJ

My favorite part about this book is the fact that it goes so in depth with every piece they take a look at. I've never even heard of some of these comics, and I consider myself a decent conisseur. I suppose the only thing that might improve it is a look at some more non-English graphic novels, but we can't have everything, apparently.
I did appreciate that they kept further away from comic books and really concentrated on a graphically told story with the same amount of depth as a novel, rather than the corny and awful dialogue and storytelling coming out of some of today's comics.

This is a great primer on how and why to read graphic literature (traditionally known as "comic books") as well as an excellent catalog of the best works of sequential art (for an enlightening exploration of just what sequential art is and how it works, read Scott McCloud's seminal Understanding Comics). This attractively designed book contains detailed two-page entries on 30 works considered classics by the author (with whom I concur--at least on the ones I've read), and slightly less detailed half page entries on 120 others (see images at the top of item description), all of which provide sample pages and analysis of the storytelling technique employed by the creator(s). (Unfortunately, the text on the half page reproductions is sometimes too small to read without the aid of a magnifying glass.) The book is divided into chapters arranged by subject matter, which begin with a background essay on the history of each genre and contain a sidebar with a brief list of additional recommendations (totaling another 100 in all). The genres covered are Childhood Stories, Life Stories, War, Superheroes (of course), Fantasy/Science Fiction, Horror, Mystery/Crime, Humor/Satire, Historical (fiction and non), and Erotica.

While I highly recommend this book for people trying to familiarize themselves with the realm of graphic novels, the subtitle, "Everything You Need to Know," is not entirely accurate. The focus here is on English language comics. For a sampling of graphic literature from around the globe, check out The Essential Guide to World Comics by Tim Pilcher and Brad Brooks.

However, my only real disappointment was with the lack of attention given to some creators, and the total absence of others. The most glaring of these is the cursory mention of Grant Morrison, one of the greatest comic book writers of the past 20 years. Although Animal Man and The Invisibles are mentioned in two of the book's auxiliary sidebar lists, neither these nor any of Morrison's other works--which include Arkham Asylum, Doom Patrol, JLA: Earth 2, and The Mystery Play--are featured in the more in-depth two page or half page formats. (I can excuse the absence of what I think is possibly Morrison's greatest work, WE3, because it came out in graphic novel form after Gravett's book went to press.)

Several of the overlooked Morrison works listed above would have been much deserving additions to what I consider the weakest chapter in the book, "The Superhuman Condition." While I understand the author's desire to direct readers' attention to the wealth of non superhero graphic novels out there, this chapter--one of the shortest in the book--failed to mention several of the best examples of superheroic fiction. These would include tales featuring well-established characters, such as JSA: The Golden Age, by James Robinson and Paul Smith, as well as less traditional works like The Authority, a series created by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch about an antiestablishment group of superhumans (although in my opinion, it was later writer Mark Millar who more fully developed the revolutionary elements of this series). In general, I think this chapter suffered from a too narrow definition of what defines a superhero story, depriving readers of the full potential of this genre. The addition of Paul Chadwick's Concrete, while not obviously a superhero series, would have shown how superhuman trappings can be used to tell very human stories that address real-world injustices. Similarly, I would have placed in this chapter graphic novels Gravett chose to include elsewhere in his book. Morrison's The Invisibles is mentioned under the heading of science fiction/fantasy; V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, is extensively covered in the chapter on mystery/crime, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, by Moore and and Kevin O'Neill, appears under horror. Chronicling the stories of 1) a counterculture cell of secret agents battling extradimensional forces of conformity (The Invisibles); 2) a masked superhuman freedom-fighter seeking to overthrow the fascist government of an Orwellian future (V); and 3) a band of characters from Victorian literature serving on Her Majesty's Secret Service in an alternative version of 19th Century Britain (The League); I believe these works should more fittingly be viewed as innovative takes--postmodern, dystopian, and revisionist, respectively--on the superhero genre.

Despite these shortcomings, I still think this book offers an attractive, well-organized, and exciting introduction to the world of graphic literature that is sure to hold many unexpected treasures for long time fans and newcomers alike.

[Note: Some of the best recent superhero stories were not included in this book because they were released in graphic novel form while it was already at press. DC: The New Frontier, by Darwyn Cooke, takes a new look at the Silver Age of comics (the 1950s and 60s) that is as retro as it is modern, and the critically-acclaimed Ex Machina, by Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris, is about a superhero who hangs up his costume after 9/11 to become the mayor of New York City.]

I was looking for something to give me a firm history of this "new" genre of fiction and this proved very useful. The author seems to have a firm understanding of how the reader's eye moves about (especially comic book readers) and keeps his format as true to his subject matter as possible. He allows the reader to skip ahead, and around; dig deep in the subject matter, or theme; run rampant around the page. I couldn't recommend this book more for those who are unfamiliar with graphic novels, aspire to write one, or just plain enjoy the history. I loved the way that the author stuck to mature subject matter/ writers as well.

Fantastic!

This book is a marvelous and very thorough reference book for graphic novels published in the US market. I am grateful since I needed a "taxonomy" of sorts for the newly available works, and the differently-themed chapters seem to group the various works into categories.

While the tradition of the graphic novel has been strong in europe in the sixties and seventies, many of those works have never been translated into english, and thus references to them are not included in this book.

I was pleased to see Hugo Pratt's "The ballad of the salted sea", a revered classic among european readers. I must conclude that the only reason it got included in this book is because it is now available in english.

I noticed Persepolis got included as well. That work as been "cinematized" recently, and shown at this year's Cannes Film Festival. [btw, the english set is half the price of the french set if you were to buy it in france, proof that the english-based publishing world dominates the world...]

Great book. Great resource. Great reference.

Following his success of Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics with another affirmative and considered guide to comics, Gravett now focuses on the phoenix-like return of the "Graphic Novel" that failed to live up to expectations in the early '90s. However, time has moved on and this book reveals how the medium has evolved dramatically over the past ten years. Gravett's masterstroke is to reproduce at least two full pages of sequential artwork, giving readers a real flavour of each title examined. Annotated notes alongside the artwork explain the material in a manner reminiscent of fine art books. Not only that but the excellent, if initially hard to follow, thematic cross indexing means there are endless ways of making connections between disparate titles such as Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Dystopias) leads to Enkil Bilal's Nikopol Trilogy. Follow another link (Nature) and you get Jiro Taniguchi's The Walking Man. It's a close as the Internet on the page as you'll ever get. This book is perfect for librarians and educationalists looking to broaden their, and their students', knowledge and while many comics aficionados will be familiar with the titles, there are still a few surprises and the chapter openers contain many anecdotal nuggets. A perfect present to convert that literary die-hard who'd have to admit that comics haven't just grown up, but are now entering a self-assured and confident middle-age.

This is THE best book on child grief...I have them all (out of necessity) and cannot recommend this book more highly. I was given this by the director of our Cove group and felt as if I'd been thrown a lifeline...it's been just over five years for us and I give copies of appropriate sections to my children's teachers at the start of every school year. In addition, it continues to be helpful after this many years because of the emphasis on the fact that children "regrieve" as they mature and hit different developmental milestones. It allows me, as my children get older, to anticipate the next phase and prepare...invaluable as a single mother. The Emswilers haven't been wrong yet.

...when I lost my wife. I looked for two hours in the bookstore before I found this, and I found a lot of books that sandwiched children's grief reactions to death with grief reactions to divorce, moving, etc. I was looking for something specific, not being sure how to help my daughter when I felt I was being crushed under my own grief. I read the first few pages, where Jim Emswiler describes the death of his first wife, and I knew I had found what I was looking for. This book never did disappoint.

If you need it, this is, in my opinion, THE book for families with grieving children.

This is an excellent book for parents of children dealing with all phases of loss. They explain how children of different ages perceive death in different ways.

The authors go beyond the basics. They give specific advice on how to talk to children about different types of death including cancer, suicide and murder. They discuss different ways to rebuild after the loss. I particularly liked the section on stepparenting the grieving child.

The Emswilers balance illuminating vignettes with theory and advice. The chapters are organized so that one can pick and choose, based on one's particular needs.

I just finished this book and I am reading it again - a thoughtful, well written book that would be helpful to any family member, friend, or future family member of a grieving child. A wonderful book for a difficult time.

this book is terrific,I bought it so that i could help my 4 children deal with the death of my husband and their grandmother within 3 months of each other plus 2 young friends at the same time .Not only has it helped me help them ,but it has helped me the mother even more. I thought I was losing my mine for a while,4 special needs children who we had adopted already had great grief.I had ordered many books looking for help but this one is so great I can't put it down and now I am going to order it for some other people who share the same difficult days.I highly recommened this book to any one who has lost a love one,child or adult,you will not be sorry.

I have read books that profess to give insight on the male physique. This book is the first to really do it and do it with humor. I like being able to laugh at myself and in the same breath feel like someone has finally "said it." Way to go GuyRules!

I have just gotten my own copy of this book and would recommend that you do to. I read this before it was published and thought it was great. This book truly sums up all those unsaid rules with guys. A must for a guy that doesn't have a clue.

This is an excellent book. And it ws written by a great guy, Gar Green. Mr. Green is my teacher. Ihave read the book (even before it was published) and I think it is a great book for guy's. The bok is so true...it tells things about us guys that we don't even relize without thinking about it. Well anyways I really recomend thiss book UY RULES!

The great accomplish here is that this is a book of humor that makes you think about yourself and recognize things you may never have thought of before. Very funny and very enlightening. Although I'm a LOT older than the authors, it rings true for my generation as well. I bought it at the suggestion of a friend. Now let me be your friend and give it my highest recommendation for your pleasure.

And you thought girls were complex! This is the manual that explains (tongue in cheek) why we act like we do as told from a "guys" point of view. Warning: This book is for entertainment puposes only! A "must have" for any coffee table.

H.I.S.S. of the A.S.P. is an interactive read that suits our "multi-tasky" computer functions whirl world...definitely a new take on what a lot of people already "know!" so says the Letter Writing Soccer Moms.

I SO related to the case-study individuals in The HISS of the ASP! What a releif to know that there is somebody who not only understands, but is making an effort to communicate this information to the "ASPs" themselves, as well as to proffessionals. The subject matter is both deep and complex,so it is not an "easy read" ( i.e. a "beach book"),but the ideas presented are so valuable as to warrent one's undivided attention. I highly recommend that anyone who considers themselves "sensitive" read this book from cover to cover. You'll be glad you did!

Ritchey's book left me in thought that life as I think I know it is not as solid as the ground I walk on. What is of even more interest is that there is now data being developed in support of this, and David Ritchey is but one of the instigators for this ground breaking research.

Finally -- a book has arrived that scientifically demystifies the "sensitive"! For years, the general public has looked askance at individuals with anomalous sensitivities, often labeling them "crazy," since normal people don't see ghosts or spirits, talk to trees, recall past lives, or claim to influence the world with psychokinesis. Psychologists examining such sensitives using traditional diagnostic guidebooks, such as the DSM, have often been confused when they've found these individuals are often diagnosable with eight or more simultaneous valid psychological and medical conditions! Clearly there is something more going on than traditional psychology has understood.

David Ritchey's THE HISS OF THE ASP covers ten years of scientific research and fifteen years of clinical psychological insights, as it describes how many of the sensitivities of the Anomalously Sensitive Person (ASP) can be objectively measured on a Holistic Inventory of Stimulus Sensitivities (HISS). The HISS test can be administered to determine what kind of sensitivity a person has, and is included along with detailed analyses of the variables being studied. While THE HISS OF THE ASP is packed with details about interpreting test scores, it keeps the reader awake with amusing anecdotes and entertaining cartoons and quotes throughout.

THE HISS OF THE ASP will clearly be required reading for all serious students of psychology, as it clarifies centuries of confusion on the subject of how best to understand and support anomalously sensitive individuals.

-- Cynthia Sue Larson
author of AURA ADVANTAGE: How the Colors in Your Aura Can Help You Attain What You Desire and Attract Success

David Ritchey's work and cooperation with our project as he was preparing his book, and especially the questionnaire, have been invaluable to our research here at the New Being Project where we're researching the possibility of an imminent human evolutionary jump. Are ASPs "the budding limbs and organs of our future nature"? (Michael Murphy) The situation may be even more extreme than Bob Girard from Arcturus Books states in his review when he says that Ritchey's book may be "suggesting that there is a vast underdeveloped resource of genius in the 5 million ASPs in America alone." Oh yes. . .and maybe much more than just "genius".

As other reviewers have stated, the book is enormous in scope and superior in execution. If you want strong intimations not only of what's in our species' current tool kit, but of who we are quite likely *becoming*, this book will get you wide-eyed in many places.

I also want to second the apt counsel of another reviewer: "I highly recommend that anyone who considers themselves a "sensitive" read this book from cover to cover. You'll be glad you did!"

No one does medieval mysteries better than P.C. Doherty! In HANGMAN'S TALE, part of his "Canterbury Tales" series, Doherty relates the hair-raising tale told by Simon Cotterill, the 'Carpenter' character from Chaucer's classic, to his fellow pilgrims enroute to Canterbury. It's one great read!

Though a big fan of Doherty's work, I was blissfully unaware of the Canterbury Tales series, which began in 1995, until I purchased a remaindered copy of HANGMAN'S TALE from Edmund Hamilton. My loss!

A would-be carpenter, Cotterill's life changes dramatically after he joins the band of Gloucestermen responsible for public hangings. When the crew hangs three witches who are part of a vicious coven preying on Gloucester residents, things go really, REALLY wrong and the hangmen find themselves facing the wrath of three not-so-dead witches. It then becomes a race against time as Cotterill & Co. struggle to break the coven and unmask its leader before they perish at the hands of that unholy group. The end result is a scary, spooky, page-turner of a tale. Great stuff!

If HANGMAN'S TALE is representative of the series, I need to read the other volumes asap! And so do you!

Paul Doherty was born in Middlesbrough and is the consummate professional when it comes to writing historical mystery novels. I for one do not know how he can be so prolific with his offering of books and yet make sure that each of them is well researched. Whether they be 13th, 14th, or fifteenth century they are always true to the period. He also writes about Ancient Egypt and Alexander the Great.

A group of pilgrims have joined together, both for company and also for protection, as the roads and forests are littered with thieves and rogues, only too willing to relieve a traveller of their purse and most probably their lives as well. What adds even more spice to the journey is that several of the pilgrims know their fellow travellers but are not letting the fact become public knowledge.

The pilgrims have agreed that at the end of each day's journey when they stop at an inn or other resting place one of them will entertain the others with a tale. Whether the story is true or not only the storyteller will know.

During their journey to Canterbury the Pilgrims stumble upon an execution. Hangings are a common occurrence in these times, but this one affects the carpenter very badly and leaves him in a dead faint.
That evening, he narrates the tale of a Gloucester hangman whose involvement in the secretive punishment of three witches unleashes a vicious spate of revenge killings. Is this just a tale drawn from the carpenter's fertile mind or is the tale true and he was in some way involved in the punishment of the so called witches?

Paul Doherty's Canterbury Tales series continues marching on to its path of medieval mystery success! In his latest episode, "The Hangman's Hymn," Doherty singles out the Carpenter to be the teller of these "tall tales"! In fact, so far in this series, this one, the fifth, seems to be the best written, although perhaps not the most suspenseful.

The merry group of pilgrims, numbering 29 in all if we recall our English lit days and according to Geoffrey Chaucer, are on their way to Canterbury to pay homage to their beloved Saint Thomas a Becket. These pilgrims have accepted the challenge by the host of the Tabard Inn, one Harry Bailey, to help pass the time by telling four stories each, two on the way and the others in return. All of this is to be narrated by Chaucer himself.

Doherty steps in to help "the father of English literature," some seven centuries later, by relating more of these tales and in so doing deserves much praise, not only for his abilities to capture the "spirit" of Chaucerian England but in presenting a modern version that easily holds the readers' attention.

The carpenter's tale is a tale of gruesome, frightening murders, of hangings, of poisons, of evil incarnate, of witchcraft, and even a little romance! On their way to Canterbury the group comes upon a legal hanging, which causes a quick reaction of Simon Cotterill, the carpenter.

As the pilgrims pause for the night, the carpenter begins to tell his story. This is no tale told by an idiot, but it is full of sound and fury, of deceit, of bravery-indeed, it's a story not easily put aside. In the story, three witches are hanged and, before their hanging, vow to extract vengeance on all who were involved in their execution. Murder and mayhem, as they say, follow. Doherty's story, of course, is a mystery and with his usual cleverness he's able to bring the culprits-the real ones-to justice.

The other pilgrims are uneasy over this story and even begin to wonder if it's true, adding to the mystique of this series! Doherty seems to work simultaneously with a number of historical mystery series, from Alexander the Great to Chaucer, and each is well worth the read!

I don't usually like period mysteries, because they often seem to have a certain self-consciousness about them in how they work to include period details, speech patterns, etc. Plus, I always wonder if the manners and habits of thought of whatever the era is would have allowed the characters to act as they do - it seems that often these book feature characters with quite modern ways of thinking that can seem out of place. So I'm glad I overlooked my prejudice and read this book. I find that the time period adds color and meaning to the tale, but it's the human interest that seems timeless, and caught my interest. The author's knowledge of the period allows him to integrate the characters' different habits and customs into the story in a way that reveals medieval thinking and ideas while pointing out the fact that human nature doesn't change. The mystery itself is fascinating - I couldn't put the book down - and I learned quite a bit about the society of the time without even noticing it! Very enjoyable, and it prompted me to look for the earlier titles in the series, all which are well worth reading.

Paul Doherty's Canterbury Tales of Mystery and Murder series is probably my favourite historical mystery series. I look forward to each and every installment and am usually very disappointed that, because he is a very prolific writer with so many different mystery series in the works, new installments in this particular series take a while to be published. For those readers who are not familiar with the series, I will attempt to paint in some background details about the series. The series is based on Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales;" the pilgrims are all bound for Canterbury and in order to make the journey more agreeable, everyone has agreed to take turns at telling two kinds of tales each day -- a merry tale or fable during the day, and an eerie tale of darkness at night. Doherty's series revolves around the mysterious tales of murder and evil that are told each night. Another gimmick involved that makes this series all the more interesting and intriguing is that the pilgrims are connected to each other in some way or the other. So far, there have been four books in the series. Each has been a truly absorbing and chilling read, and a real page turner. And "The Hangman's Hymn" (the fifth intallment) was no exception to this rule!

The pilgrims are now deep in the Kent country, when they stumble across the chief tipstaff to the lords of assize about to dispense justice by having a few felons hanged at the place of their crime. The law of the times demand that because the pilgrims have chanced across this, they stand witness to the deed. One of the pilgrims however, the cheerful dark haired carpenter is so affected by the sight, that he faints from the horror. That night, as the pilgrims take their rest at St. Bardolph's Priory, the others quiz the carpenter about his faint-heartedness; he in turn tells a hair raising tale of horror and pure evil -- about a poor carpenter, Simon Cotterill who comes to Glouchester for love's sake, who ends up joining the local hangman's crew, and who becomes involved in hunting down and killing a coven of murderous witches who are terrorizing the Glouchester country side. A tale of such darkness and evil, that the pilgrims are held completely spellbound, even as they wonder to themselves if the tale is a true one and if the carpenter is the unfortunate Simon Cotterill...

From the very first page, I was hooked. Yes, some of the plot twists were fairly obvious; but the charm of this series (and much of Doherty's writing style) is the manner in which he tells the tale. Paul Doherty has a fairly compelling and engaging prose style, one that keeps your interest and makes you read on in order to see how things pan out and what will happen next. I really love this series. Each and every installment has chilled; and I've looked forward to discovering which pilgrim is tied to the other and how. I have yet to be disappointed by this series, and cannot recommend it highly enough. (And if you have not had the good fortune to read any of the previous installments, the paperbacks can be easily purchased through amazon.co.uk. Unfortunately they are hard to come by in the US). My advice is to wait until it's dark, and then settle down to enjoy this creepy and superbly entertaining mystery novel, hopefullt without too many distractions!

Everyone wants to be happy and see pleasure around. But how many have really achieved it? Here is the code to enter into the world of joy and delight. It is all about simple ways towards happiness. This book will give you positive ways to look at life. Short and sweet stories, simple language and excellent thoughts will immediately make you a fan of the book. Everyone can enjoy it, as the Author has made a successful effort in making a book which will address to one and all. This book is really great asset, that you can treasure forever.

Happiness is a state of mind. It is something that is felt from within one's heart. The author has perfectly captured the nuances of this beautiful state of mind. Through his personal experiences, he has tried to illustrate the path of achieving happiness. The language used by the author is simple but riveting. Since the book is sub-divided into short chapters, it makes it real easy to go through the chapters quickly. This is a book for people of all generations. Its language, its content and its smooth flow of ideas makes it a must buy book. I strongly recommend this book to all people. Overall, I will rate it as 10/10.

As the name implies, this book is all about happiness and the path to achieve it. The author has accessed his vast experience in life and come up with a jewel of a reading, only for the sake of helping other people achieve happiness. This act very well reflects the authors own happiness. This book teaches you how to stay happy even while enduring testing times. In here, you will find the true meaning of happiness. You will learn how to stay content without giving up your ambitions. You will learn to be rich, by staying modest. It has been pointed out in the most succint of words that there is a happy person within each and everyone of us. It's only a matter of getting that person out. For the subject, the author has chosen the right amount of content. It's not too long to tire you, and not too short to miss out important details. The chapters are short and precise. The content is rich. There are several famous anecdotes, short stories and wise sayings quoted to explain the point. This is not a one time reading book. You should read the book again and again, at your own pleasure and at your own pace. It will keep reminding you not to stray away from the goal of happiness. In short this book is your code to unlock the safe of happiness within you.

This is a very well structured book, in small chapters that are easy to digest. The author has done a good job incorporating his experiences in giving the take home message.
An absolute page turner, you cannot wait to see what comes next.

Overall A winner!!

A truly thought provoking book which could change the way you evaluate your life.

I would recommend this book to anyone who's looking for a easy primer on how to stop worrying about the trivialities in life and start thinking about what really matters.

I also found it a thoughtful gift to give close friends and family. It's an easy read and explains what can be a difficult topic to most people in simple and easy language.

The author brings his analytical mind and Engineering background to focus on a non-technical conundrum and in my view does an admirable job.