Peter Books

I have a few books about Diana, but this one, A Tribute to the People's Princess, I found to be very excellent. It shows Diana in many pictures in her different roles in life:Princess of Wales, mother, wife and humanitarian. I recommend everyone who wants to learn more about Princess Diana, to read this book, you'll be glad you did.

I have many books on Diana and was pleased to see this one come out. It has nice colourful pictures of her and some different poses. Highly recommend it.

This is an awsome book on Lady Diana. It has TONS of pictures. I enjoyed it ALOT!!

This book has been in my collection since its publication and has been read many times. It's still difficult to believe that this beautiful, young princess is no longer on her earthly sojourn but has moved on to a much better place.

The forward is written by The Reverend Tony Lloyd who is The Executive Director of The Leprosy Mission. The following quote is taken from the foreward on page 11: "Leprosy may not be mentally and physically damaging, but it is often erroneously seen as a curse from the gods, and the 'victims' then become outcasts. Since Diana herself was the frequent victim of pain and anguish, she had a special empathy for those who suffered in the same way. It is not a coincidence that five of her six remaining charities are associated with stigma.

"She was charismatic, witty, and, above all, a womain of extraordinary compassion. This was demonstrated both in the limelight and, more often, when there were no cameras or reporters present." So many times, one tends not to read the preface or the forward of a book and, often, valuable information can be gleaned from these. I, for one, feel that the last sentence of the above quote is crucial since there are still may people who think that Diana did everything in full view of cameras.

If one collects books on Diana, this book is a must. There is not any new material, there are several pictures not seen before; however, as with all books, it is presented in a different format and style. One is taken through Diana's life as a toddler, as a small girl, as a teenager, as an adult, and lastly, through her funeral service and to her final resting place on the small oval island at Althrop - her ancestral home.

Following are three quotations of Diana's: "I shall get married when I am sure that I am in love, so that we will never be divorced," said by Diana as a small girl - page 15. On page 30, "I thought I was the luckiest girl in the world when I looked at Charles through my veil. I had tremendous hope in my heart." On page 72, "I think the biggest disease this world suffers from in this day and age is the disease of people feeling unloved, and I know that I can give love for a minute, for half an hour; for a day, for a month, but I can give. I'm very happy to do that and I want to do that."

This is a great, but sad tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales. This book contains many beautiful pictures in color and a few in black and white. This book is a must for anyone who collect books on Diana, Princess of Wales.

Just when you think that you've read all there is about the late POW, along comes this well-written volume. It wasn't just the same old text with a few changes of words to make you think it was all new. I really found this book refreshing in content. One of the best coverages of the funeral I've read to date! Also pictures that I had not seen previously--and I have an embarrassingly large collection of them! However, while you're waiting for this book at Amazon.com to be released, I purchased mine at Waldenbooks on the clearance table for $2.99. I was shocked to see such a great book at such a steal, it's definatly worth the asking price here!

Robert Macomber's book A Different Kind of Honor is historically accurate and the kind of book you just don't want to put down. With every chapter, Macomber kept impressing me with the rich and accurate details of this historical novel and with an entertaining, plot-twisting narrative that kept me wondering what would happen next. Three cheers for Robert Macomber and his books!

The last half of the 19th century seemed to me to be a very weak period for a history of the US Navy. Leave out John Paul Jones, the Barbary pirates and the Confederate Navy advances and I thought the US Navy slumbered for most of the 19th century. HOWEVER, Macomber has managed very well to bring the US Navy to the world stage. The series has advanced quite spritely with "A Different Kind of Honor" being the best of the series so far. Remembering the fights between the diesel admirals and the nuclear admirals, I can well identify with the fight of the sail admirals and the Congressional penury versus the diesel admirals for a modern navy. I look forward to the next in the series.

This latest in the adventurer series by Robert Macomber conntinues the saga of a post civil war naval officer as he represents the USA in the naval wars of western South America in the 1870s. Enough adventure for any of us while set in a valid historical setting.

Macomber has out done himself. This is the best of all the novels I could not put it down. The only problem with Robert Macomber novels are you have to wait for the next one to come out. Outstanding author holds your interest from beginning to end. Hurry up with the next adventure.

It is hard to believe that Macomber's books keep getting better, but they do! In this, the sixth novel of the series, Our LtCmdr Peter Wake has experienced the political pitfalls of Washington, the dangerous jungles of Panama, and a protracted war in the eastern Pacific, where he is officialy a neutral observer. His neutrality becomes almost impossible to maintain as the war between Chili, Bolivia, and Peru, loses its last chance for peace. Back in Washington his home life has also taken a turn for the worse. This book is impossible to put down.

Adler thought all human motivation was based on the will to power, manifesting itself in men's desires to get rich and to exercise dominion and women's desire to marry such men. Freud thought all human motivation was based on the will to sex, that is to say the will to procreate the manifestations of which we see in our sex obsessed society. Frankl shows that the misplacement of these desires in the center of human life causes all of the psychological turmoil under which our society suffers. He shows that by putting (dare I say) God, and the purpose for which He created each individual at the center of human existence (the will to meaning), love (misunderstood as the will to sex) and creativity (misunderstood as the will to power)are put into a proper perspective. Frankl's treatise makes the insights of Adler and Freud useful to the religious individual who consider either of these great psychologists secular humanist riff-raff. More over it renders the endless the tangled web weaved by psychoanalysis unnecessary as it shows how understanding oneself as a purposeful being one can alleviate all the binding ties of compulsion, addiction, and irrational fear. INCREDIBLE.

Frankl's logotherapy enables people to once again discover the quality of life. Frankl believes that the first two schools of Viennese psychotherapy (Freud and Adler), which he calls the depth psychology, must be complimented the logotherapy - the height psychology. His therapy explores man's future instead of his past. Summarizing the Freudian concept as the will to pleasure and the Adlerian concept as the will to power, Frankl points out that man's basic motivation in life is neither pleasure nor power. Each person lives to discover the meaning of life and thereby to fulfill it - the will to meaning. Life is too meaningful for man to comprehend: it is essentially incomprehensible because it lies on a higher realm than that of man's. During the World War 2, Frankl survived four concentration camps including Auschwitz. In the camps, most of the inmates despaired that if they did not survive the camp, there was no meaning in suffering. Frankl, on the other hand, believed that if there was no meaning in suffering, there was no point in surviving the camp. In other words, the meaning of life was either unconditional regardless of the situation one was facing, or it was none at all. In the camps, Frankl would console his inmates telling them, "Someone looks down on each of us in difficult hours ?a friend, a wife, somebody alive or dead ?and he would not expect us to disappoint him. He would hope to find us suffering proudly ?not miserably ?knowing how to die.? He would explain to them that it was not them asking the meaning of life. It was life asking them the meaning, and they had to answer to it. What Frankl witnessed in the camps contradicted Freud's theory that if people were left without food for few days, their wants would be reduced to the common desire for food. While some inmates behaved according to their instincts, as Freud predicted, there were also others who lived up to this challenge. Frankl witnessed people who gave away their last piece of bread and others who organized religious activities, which resulted in execution if they were caught. One of logotherapy's techniques to help people discover values is to have them imagine their lives from their deathbeds and look back on them. During such exercises people often find that their current definition of success differs significantly from that on their deathbeds. They realize that they do not wish they had made more money, had more sex. It is interesting to note that virtually everyone points to relationship as their most cherished value. They wish that they had spent more time with people they care about. Logotherapy bases its therapy on the fact that man is a self-transcendent being. Psychotherapy which views man as a self-contained being is bound to fail. Frankl's favourite analogy regarding this matter is the eye. The function of the eye is to transcend itself: healthy eye does not see itself. The more it self-transcends, the more it actualizes itself. Only when there is a problem, such as glaucoma, does it notice itself. Man actualizes himself in the same way. Self-actualization is possible only as a side-effect of self-transcendent. Man is most human when he is occupied with something other than himself - when he is serving others?needs. The best time to take a picture of man is when he is least conscious of himself. How unnatural the picture looks when he is told to say cheese, to notice himself. Man neither lives by himself nor for himself. Man who views himself as a self-contained being is bound to live in despair. If he were to weigh the suffering and joy in life, he will find that the suffering outweighs by far. Every approach to suicide prevention needs to be grounded on the irreducibility of the unique human phenomenons and the self-transcendent nature of man. Only then can he find the meaning in suffering and thereby meet the challenge. He then realizes that life expects something from him in every situation. This "mere?realization in itself may even put an end to suicidal thoughts. Painting green the leaves of a dying tree lasts only so long, while watering its roots naturally turns them green. Frankl warns us of the serious consequences of reductionism. And his logotherapy thoroughly deestablishes the reductionism in psychotherapy and reinstitutes the human realm in psychotherapy. Logotherapy has a significant contribution to make in our world where more and more people are seeking psychotherapy to address this human realm. Logotherapy, then, is a psychotherapy for the man in the street ?all of us.

This is a wonderful book that describes the existentialist process and
thoughts of a brilliant man. It is a very different school of thought
than more recent schools of thought such as cognitive-behavioral psychology. Dr. Frankl discusses meaning of life, suffering, and how one
choose one's attitude toward suffering to alleviate it. Of course, who
could be a more experienced speaker of this message than Dr. Frankl who endured being in a concentration camp during World War II and was able to survive
it through his choices of attitude towards his suffering. Dr. Frankl is
clearly an existentialist who sees choice and personal responsibility as
the center of the soul.

Existential frustration results in neurotic symptoms. Logotherapy is a specific therapy. Life is a task. Logotherapy is education toward responsibility. Psychoanalysis regards neurosis as limitation.

Individual psychology fits only a particular kind of human being. We postulate a psychotherapy to include the spiritual element. Logotherapy is intended to supplement psychotherapy. Responsibility implies a sense of obligation. An affirmative attitude toward life is crucial.

The pleasure principle is an artificual creation of psychology. Human volition has any of a number of human ends. Value is transcendent to the act that intends it. Existential analysis and logotherapy aim at bringing the patient to the highest point of concentration and dedication.

No man is justified in insisting on his own inadequacies. The meaning of individuality comes to fulfillment in the community. Man's reality is a potentiality. Freedom of the will is opposed to destiny.

Human existence underwent deformation in the concentration camps. First there is regression to primitiveness. Most people were tormented by a sense of inferiority. It was a provisional existence. Life was futureless and monotonous. Psychic degeneration might lead to total apathy. During the week between Christmas and New Year 1944 there was unprecedented mass mortality. The liberated prisoner was still in need of care.

Human life can be fulfilled in suffering. The patient as sufferer may be superior to the doctor. The chief symptom of unemployment neurosis is apathy. Where love is lacking, work becomes a substitute. Love is not only grace, it is enchantment. Human existence is fundamentally grounded in responsibility.

Logotherapy sets out to transform the neurotic's view of his neurosis. The obsessional neurotic has excessive consciousness and conscientiousness. The striving for security in anxiety neurosis and obsessional neurosis is deflected. The melancholic devalues himself and the whole world. The application of paradoxical intention has been useful in many cases of phobic neurosis.

Some of the most important principles in my life can be found in Dr. Viktor Frankl's The Doctor and the Soul. Without them, I along with my efforts to do good in the world would be lost in cynicism and depression. The book is an answer to Ecclesiastes' refrain, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." The book is an answer of hope.

I have pitied certain people to the point of questioning how they could endure life. I think of the boy whose alcoholic father had poured gasoline over him while he was sleeping. His face and over 90% of his body had been burned and melted. He no longer has ears, lips, or a nose. This nine year old boy has 50 or 60 more years to live among us.

In this depressing context, Dr. Frankl's mission in life was to help others realize meaning in their lives no matter their condition. The fundamental premise behind Frankl's life work is that "whoever has a reason for living endures almost any mode of life - Nietzche" (p.54). One scene from Frankl's autobiography, Man's Search for Meaning, encapsulates this thought well.

One night when his fellow prisoners of a concentration camp had received word that they would all be gassed the next day, the people looked to the Viennese psychiatrist for solace. He in turn was able to help each person discover personal reasons to endure which carried them through that dark night with hope and dignity. For example, Frankl helped one person overcome despair by reaffirming the man's fleeting hope that his suffering and death would somehow mean that his wife and family would be saved from such a fate. Instead of perceiving his situation as mere waste and tragedy, this man was enabled to convert his inescapable plight into a noble, heroic deed.

To be human, says Frankl, is to be conscious of one's responsibility no matter the situation. What makes human existence always meaningful, even in a concentration camp or in a severely wrecked body from an accident, is at every moment in a person's life he or she is being asked to fulfill a task. "It is life itself that asks questions of man. It is not up to man to question; rather, he should recognize that he is questioned, questioned by life." (p. 62)

Frankl emphasizes two primary and related guides for hearing the questions that life puts to us: conscience and regret. Frankl offers the leading maxim, "Live as you were living for the second time and had acted as wrongly the first time as you are about to act now" (p.64). Frankl goes on, "Once an individual really puts himself into this imagined situation, he will instantaneously become conscious of the full gravity of the responsibility that every man bears throughout every moment of his life: the responsibility for what he will make of the next hour, for how he will shape the next day." (p.64-5)

But isn't there some who simply cannot respond favorably to life's questions due to great catastrophe or suffering like the boy who was burned? This is where the implications of Frankl's thought reach their peak, and from such extreme heights we see that no one with far lesser struggles can have valid excuses. Even the inability to create something valuable or to experience beauty, the usual means of obtaining meaning in life, does not condemn a person to a tragically meaningless existence. One thing (the most important thing, according to Frankl) is always still left in tact, that is, the capacity to answer with attitudinal values. How one bears one's cross can give meaning to life. Frankl offers one particularly poignant example (the book is filled with dozens of real life cases to prove his points).

"A young man lay in the hospital, suffering from an inoperable spinal tumor. Paralysis had handicapped his ability to work. There was for him therefore no longer any chance to realize creative values. But even in this state the realm of experiential values remained open to him. He devoted himself to reading good books, and especially to listening to good music on the radio. One day, however, he could no longer bear the pressure of the earphones, and his hands had become so paralyzed that he could no longer hold a book. He was forced to make the further retreat to attitudinal values. He now set himself the role of adviser to his fellow sufferers, and in every way strove to be an exemplar to them. He bore his own suffering bravely. The day before his death - which he foresaw - he knew that the doctor on duty had been ordered to give him an injection of morphine at night. What did the sick man do? When the doctor came to see him on his afternoon round, the patient asked him to give him the injection in the evening - so that the doctor would not have to interrupt his night's rest just on his account." (p.46)
In the same vain, Dostoevsky said that he only feared one thing: that he might not be worthy of his torment (p.114). Goethe said, "There is no predicament that we cannot ennoble either by doing or enduring" (p. 112). Thus a person faced with great suffering must not ask in futility and despair, "Why me?" or "Why God?", but rather must understand that life itself, God Himself, has given him a task, has put the question to him, "Why you?". The sufferer is expected to discover the reason for his current plight. God cannot take the sufferer's test for him or her.

For one that may be to encourage other patients through one's own brave suffering. Frankl tells the case of an 18 year old girl who was shot in a robbery and can only accomplish tasks by use of a mouthstick. "She feels the purpose of her life is quite clear. She watches the newspapers and television for stories of people in trouble and writes to them (typing with her mouthstick) to give them words of comfort and encouragement" (p. 300). For another the task of dying naked on a tree may be to demonstrate God's love for sinners.

Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged that looking into the mouth of the abyss of possibilities in how to answer life's questions can by itself be paralyzing. Thus Frankl rejects the general question "What is the meaning of life?" as a meaningless question. "It reminds us of the question a reporter asked a grand master in chess. 'And now tell me, maestro - what is the best move in chess?' Neither question can be answered in a general fashion, but only in regard to a particular situation and person" (p.61). Otherwise we "would be tormented by eternal doubts and endless self-criticism, and would at best overstep the time limit and forfeit the game."

Thus what one decides is not as significant as that one decides to respond to a given situation. Indecision - to sulk in a wheelchair in the face of "no good choices" - is to overstep one's time limit and forfeit the game. At the other extreme, to commit suicide is to simply sweep the pieces off the chess board; it is forsaking the value of moving a piece regardless of how it may or may not affect the outcome of the game. For meaning derives from the opportunity and decision to make a move, and not from society's conception of winning.

There are so many practical, applicable at this very minute insights in Frankl's book. His chapter on the meaning of love by itself is worth the price of the book. His chapter on the meaning of work, how "our task is not our calling" (p. 124), equips one with a healthy perspective for the twists and turns in the real world. For example, Frankl relates:

"Several years ago a garbage collector received the order of merit from the German government. This man did his job to everyone's satisfaction, but the special effort that gained him the award was this: He looks in the garbage cans for discarded toys, spends his evening hours repairing them, and gives them to poor children as presents. He adds magnificent meaning to his clean-up job." (p.298)
Frankl's other chapters on dealing with anxiety and obsessive behavior are priceless. For instance, if you are afraid of public speaking, you can apply Frankl's ingenius method of paradoxical intention. That is, wish your fear. The moment you feel nervous and anxious, and your fear of sounding like a fool begins to rise, at that moment, think to yourself, "I'm going to try and make my voice quiver. I want to appear as the most nervous, incomprehensible person these people have ever heard." And as you're thinking this to yourself, actually try and intend to make this true. Instead of trying to suppress or resist your fears, wish, intend, make it your ambition to realize your worst fears the moment they begin to arise. And then, paradoxically, you'll discover great relief from your fears.

this collection is fantastico..supreme and sublime..powerful poetics in/of Jews in exile..makes modern poetry seem like drivel..rare high quality translation..excellent work/art...you dont read this, you soak in it..

The book includes a very informative and well annotated Introduction, covering the historical, social, and poetic context of Hebrew poetry in medieval Spain. Each selection of poems, besides, is preceded by the author's biography, with specific information and critical evaluation of his work.
The selection of poets, itself, deserves to be praised, because it encompasses a very large period of time in medieval Iberia, and includes poets that are not easy to find translated elsewhere in the bibliography.
Being the work of a poet himself, the translation of the poems makes them sound like poetry, and not like a mere paraphrasis of the content.

This book contains translations into English of the Hebrew Poetry written in Muslim and Christian Spain from 950 to 1492. It is the labor of love of one translator Peter Cole, who has also provided a rich and informative background introduction to the period and the poetry. There are also extensive notes on the poems in the back of the book. And there are brief biographical sketches of the poets. Along with the giants of medieval Spanish- Jewish poetry Yehuda Ha-Levi, Moshe ibn Ezra, Solomon ibn Gabriol, Shmuel ha- Nagid, Cole has included the work of over fifty poets who have never been translated into English before. Here Cole does the admirable work of bringing to a wider audience poets who have no previous place whatsoever in the consciousness of English - language readers.
Regretfully the Hebrew originals are not printed in this volume. Cole wanted them to be at the back but for reasons of economy Princeton University Press decided to make them available only on their website. This is a deprivation for those who would like to read through the volume comparing in as convenient way as possible, original and translation.
I lack the knowledge and skill to fairly assess the faithfulness of the translations to language and spirit of the originals. What I can say is that the poems can be read with real pleasure. They flow and are understandable, their language moving and clear. They reflect a wide range of life, and especially religious, experience.

Here are three brief examples:
First, a short lyric of longing of the great Shlomo ibn - Gavriol.

I LOOK FOR YOU

I look for you early,
my rock and my refuge,
offering you worship
morning and night:
before your vastness
I come confused
and afraid, for you to see
the thoughts of my heart.

What could the heart
and tongue compose,
or spirit's strength
within me to suit you?
But song soothes you
and so I'll give praise
to your being as long
as your breath-in-me moves.

And here one of the most famous of these medieval lyrics by the great poet of longing for Zion , Yehuda Ha- Levi.

My heart is in the East-
and I am at the edge of the West.
How can I possibly taste what I eat?
How could it please me?
How can I keep my promise
and ever fulfill my vow,
when Zion is held by Edom
and I am bound by Arabia's chains?
I'd gladly leave behind me
all the pleasures of Spain-
if only I might see
the dust and ruins of your Shrine.

And here is Cole's translation of what he says is the sole poem by a woman " in the entire medieval canon." The wife of Dunash Ben Labrat leaves us this single poem. This work Cole says was "reconstructed from torn Geniza fragments by scholar,Ezra Fleischer."

WILL HER LOVE REMEMBER

Will her love remember his graceful doe,
her only son in her arms as he parted?
On her left hand he placed a ring from his right.
on his wrist he placed her bracelet.
As a keepsake she took his mantle from him,
and he in turn took hers from her,
Would he settle, now, in the land of Spain,
if its prince gave him half his kingdom?

peter cole in this book achieves the near-impossible: recuperating a lost and scattered corpus of material and re-presenting it to our eyes with such stringency, music and force that the word "translation" does the act an injustice. it is more a transfiguration, and the book, which presents the hebrew poetry of muslim al-andaluz against a brilliantly detailed and contextualized backdrop, is one of the most important additions to world literature i've read in years.

Peter Cole has provided the literary world with an astonishing service;he has managed to recuperate an entire poetic tradition and securely place it within the crown of the greatest achievements of the Western canon prior to Shakespeare. It is humbling to read these poems, many of which were almost lost forever, some of which were not discovered until the 20th century. They are arguably the finest poems written in Hebrew since the Bible and, unlike medieval and Renaissance poetry in English, Cole's remarkable translations allow them to be read fluently with a diction and tone that is uncannily modern. References to religious and cultural borrowings, from the Arabic tradition, from the Torah and from the Psalms, as well as the manner of choosing a particular word, are clearly explained in more than 200 pages of Notes, and do not in any way impede the pleasure of the general reader. Many of the poems feel strictly contemporaneous. Here is "The Apple", an ekphrastic poem by Shmu'el Hanagid (993-1056):

I
I, when you notice,
am cast in gold:
the bite of the ignorant
frightens me.

II
An apple filled with spices:
silver coated with gold.
And others that grow in the orchard
beside it, bright as rubies.

I asked it: Why aren't you like those?
Soft, with your skin exposed?
And it answered in silence: Because
boors and fools have jaws.

Cole's careful attention to half-rhymes and his skill in metrical pacing are evident throughout. Secular poems on many subjects, from the joys of wine and sangria to sexual passion and romantic ambivalence are given the same loving attention as those that are more obviously devotional and pietistic. Cole's general introduction to the volume is exemplary in laying out the method of translation and his rationale for it. In addition to generous selections from the four giants of the period (Hanagid, Shelomo Ibn Gabirol, Moshe Ibn Ezra, and Yehuda HaLevi), many poets here receive their first exposure in English. Among the many felicities of this volume are the brief and touching biographies devoted to each poet as the heading to his selection of work. This is one of the finest examples of the art of poetic translation in modern times; an abridged bilingual edition of just the major poems would be a further gift.

The Economist's Tale is a slightly-fictionalized account of Griffiths' short-term consulting gig in Sierra Leone. The events in the story take place in 1986, so the information here isn't directly applicable to the present situation, but it will be of interest to (and accessible to) both economists and laymen all the same.

This is not a book about economic theory. Nor is it about the World Bank, per se. Rather, it's about the way people respond to incentives, and how the unintended consequences of their actions can combine to create a disaster.

The story reads almost like a mystery, told as it is through diary entries that reveal the puzzle as Griffiths himself pieced it together. It's a bit self-congratulatory and defensive, but in a way that I found easy to forgive as I got caught up in the adventure. I'd recommend it to anyone.

The Economist's Tale is a clunkily-written but still gripping story of corruption, dogmatism and a barely-averted famine in Sierra Leone in 1986. The author, working on food policy for the World Bank and seconded to the Sierra Leonian government, discovers that:

- The country lives mainly on rice (the backup crop, cassava, has all been eaten over the last two years).
- Nobody knows whether or not enough rice is being grown to feed the country (there are two different scientific studies of production that differ by 80%). Some rice is imported, but anything from 20-100% of it is smuggled out of the country again, and nobody knows how much.
- The currency, the leone, was held at an overvalued rate to the dollar. Imported rice was half the price of home-grown rice and the monopoly exporter was so inefficient that cocoa and coffee growers saw about 20% of the price they might have seen on the open market. So no-one's growing anything.
- Now the leone's been floated at the World Bank's insistence, it's collapsed in value by a factor of 10. But production is too low for native producers to take advantage: imports will go up in price long before the exchange comes into the country to buy them.

Then he works out by interviews and legwork that, in fact, the country depends on the imported rice to avoid a famine. And then the government signs a deal with the World Bank, his employer, to get an emergency loan of $5 million, in return for which they will stop all rice subsidies and slash their rice imports by almost 90%. And the private importers who might import enough rice to make up the difference won't, because they can't afford to sell it below the market rate and, being all Lebanese, they'd rather not get involved than risk starting a race riot by being seen as price-gouging. As the only person who knows all the facts, he has to persuade the government to break its deal with the World Bank without starting a turf war, making the decision take so long that a famine happens anyway, or destroying his own future career.

It's an excellent book. The lessons:
- Economics is all about incentives. No matter how ideal a market solution might be in theory, if the incentives aren't lined up right the market won't work.
- A currency whose liquidity is so small that its value is changed by importing a single expensive car probably shouldn't be floating.
- Corruption is everywhere, and corruption kills. The state electricity company is unreliable, so everyone uses personal, much more inefficient generators, so there isn't enough oil.
- Dogmatism also kills. You can't un-distort a market overnight. There's a lovely moment when a British Conservative starts explaining to the Americans how privatisation isn't really that great an idea.

Recommended to anyone who's interested in development economics, africa, politics, food, globalization, the World Bank, racism, colonialism, and any of the other ways that people end up treating people the way they do. And it has a happy ending!

This is an absolutely riveting book. I heard of it through a brief mention at Brad DeLong's website, and ordered it because of the comments by the previous reviewers. I can only agree with their comments -- this book should be required reading for anyone interested in globalization, poverty, and the real world constraints that often prevent idealistic anti-poverty efforts from succeeding. I can't recommend it highly enough.

A good book, known by few, written by an even less well known author, to which I am grateful. As (probably) most of the other readers, I learned about this book from a (very positive) book review published on the "Economist".

This book tells a first person account of how bad economics, corruption, or "simple" incompetence almost caused a famine of immane proportion in Sierra Leone, in the 80s, with the important "contribution" of the World Bank. The author (at the time a consultant for the World Bank) tells us how he managed to avert the crisis, a deed that many did not appreciate, and that caused him professional troubles later on.

It is a mistery how this book can be so little known. It is well written, and above all quite deep. Mr Griffith clearly shows to be a skilled and informed economist. I found particularly compelling the pages that discuss how economic "data" should be often taken with a grain of salt, or two. Especially in poor countries, "data" are sometimes nothing else that guesses (sometimes educated, sometimes not), and this may lead to enormous policy mistakes. Unfortunately, people's lives may put at stake by such mistakes. One point that Mr Griffith powerfully makes is that economic policy is not simply boring material to be debated by politicians and discussed in the ivory towers of academia, but it is something REAL that has sometimes the potential of deciding about the fate of millions of people. Unfortunately, policy is the hands of men, and this book amply shows once more how little trust we should have in men.

Overall, this is quite a compelling reading, much more than the insipid "Globalization and its discontent" by Stiglitz, a world-class economist that has produced a little polemic book that could have been memorable, and instead has disappointed everyone, except uncritical anti-globalization protesters. If you are looking for a deeper account of the potential evil of economic policy and the World Bank, this book is highly recommended.

P.S. By the way, contrary to what some extremist may believe, the World Bank is not only made by evil individuals who only care about their career. The World Bank is a very complex institution, and I can assure you that committed, serious, and conscientious individuals abound in there. Whether they have a major role in how the World Bank actually works in Developing Countries is something I still have to find out...

An excellent, excellent book in several ways. Anybody who cares - about society - conservative, moderate, or liberal should read this. All economists, political scientists, politicians, and students of these fields should read this book carefully. The Economist's Tale is a true morality play. It looks at the way economics plays out in real-life using the framework of food policy in Sierra Leone. The author is not against market forces - but as economic theory has recognized in the last few decades - markets work (or don't work) with many attendant frictions and imperfections. Unfortunately, in the tale told within this book, people die because of these frictions.

The Economist's Tale is also quite interesting and riveting as a read. It is also a quick read. One learns much about Sierra Leone among other non-economic subjects. It appears nobody else has rated this book yet - which tends to indicate that few people have read it - a sad state of affairs.

I found this book to be right on the money. It's as if they have met my (13yo) son and analyzed him. (And myself). I think I finally understand and am myself empowered. One of the first things to have an almost immediate effect was the use of "withholds" and a close runner up was "the dispassionate approach". I'm reading it all the way through for the second time. Please, if you need help with underachieving behavior, read this book!

If your child is smart, but consistently fails to perform in school...
If your child is capable but consistently fails to complete tasks without you getting involved...
If your child is good at heart but consistently tries to shirk responsibility...
This book can help!
Dr Spevak details what is really going on (bad attitude due to emotional immaturity) and how to get your kid unstuck. The usual methods (rewards, punishment, getting involved etc) all dissapoint because they are external to the child and do not motivate him to change. So what will? Empowering him! When the child realizes he has choices, the capability to choose well, and the opportunity to succeed, he begins to make better choices instead of "disengaging" and relying on defense mechanisms.
I have found the techniques to be very helpful on a practical level - especially "processing comments" (making comments to get your child thinking about his true underlying emotions) and "with-holds" (instead of punishments, deliberately deny the child something he asks for, and link it to a specific act of misbehavior). But just as important is understanding the underacheiver's behavior on the emotional level, the theory behind the techniques - and Dr Spevak explains this very well.

I read (and reread)"Empowering Underachievers.". My son is a great kid, smart, nice...but he just doesn't "do." Now I realize he's an underachiever. It was like the authors were living in my house (such accurate descriptions). The best thing about this book (and I've read many about motivating kids)is that it gives thought-provoking, do-able suggestions to get the kid to motivate him self. I've been frustrated, gotten tired and gotten angry at how nothing I seem to do motivates him. Now I understand that I need to get him to motivate himself. The neat thing is that it is working. There are several books on this subject and I think I've read them all. This one has been useful. Common sense combined with real experience in getting these kids to change themselves: empowering them. I really liked the idea of the "motivational circle" that explained how people motivate themselves. As an added bonus, the authors have a website with further, new information. What a find! Thanks to the authors. I'd recommend this book to parents who are worrried about their unmotivated kid.

I read, reread and reread this book. The description was uncanny...did the authors know my teenage son? The book is a great read. There is lots of down-to-earth discussion without much of the usual psychological jargon found in psychology books. My son was driving us nuts! His attitude essentially was "So what." I feel that I now know why my son is underachieving and why HE has to be "empowered" to take charge of his life. Beyond the "why," the book (about half of it) gives practical suggestions that will assist the underachiever towards maturity and attitude change. One of the authors is a former US Marine who from personal experience has great empathy for underachievers...he used to be one! Read the excerpts...buy the book. Also, the authors have a web site that has additional articles and resources. This book presents a philosophy that teaches you a whole new way to help your underachiever change that attitude that is going to hurt their life and is adding worry to your life. Did you notice that I liked the book?

Great Book, Finally someone explained why all the other motivational approaches didn't work. I tried rewards, punishment, tutoring, homework sheets and organizing systems. I even gave my son a number of books to read. Nothing worked. Now I know why. I was focusing on the wrong concerns. Empowering Underachievers gave me new insights and tools. I strongly recommend this book.

As a frequent reader of previous Baseball Encyclopedias, this ESPN version does a great job providing historical statistics and higher level strategyies and implications.

ESPN again delivers as their 2008 MLB Encyclopedia is a baseball statistics lover's dream come true! Chock full of player information and stats, I've been utilizing my copy for a few months already!

We rely heavily on our ESPN's Baseball Encyclopedia when we have a question about baseball. We keep it readily available. This current edition is our second one. I recommend it to baseball fans.

This is a wonderful and reasonably priced book for referencing the statistical record of the greatest game ever invented.

If you are a baseball fan and need an historical, reference book your library, The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia, Fifth Edition (Espn Baseball Encyclopedia) is the book. Every season, every player are at your fingertips. There are even sections on the Negro Leagues, Umpires, Coaches and Managers. The only area that is missing is the rosters for each team for each season. The volume does provide the regular players and most important reserves. The price is quite low for the most immense comprehensive single volume on the Nation's Pastime.

Definitely would buy again from seller. Book was Brand new and price was unbeatable! Book came right on time.

This text arrived in great condition and is a comprehensive look at all aspects of managed health care over the course of managed care history.

Excellent, comprehensive primer on the intricacies of managed care. Covers all the major topics, including delivery systems, public and private sector forms of managed care, regulatory and legal issues, medical management, information systems, and operational issues. Thoughtfully done by Dr. Peter R. Kongstvedt and contributors.

The author created an invaluable tool to help begineers understand the rather complicated topic of managed care using a straightforward linear approach to the topic. All topics are covered early with references to indepth coverage found later in the volume.

Getting the book is just a tool though, you really gotta want to learn the material because as practiced as the author is at putting the pen to paper, it's a very difficult topic and therefore, read.

The book was easy to understand and was written from the perspective of someone who is unfamiliar with the managed care topic. I recommend it highly

I have obtained a new Acer PC with CD & DVD capabilities and basically no little about computers and the intetrnet. Through Amazon I was able to obtainn Internet for Dummies book at a reasonable price and find the book quite helpful. I highly recommend "Dummies" and dealing with Amazon. Good service and prices.
Sy R

I've first checked this book out from the Chicago Public Library three times and once kept it two months after the book check out expired. The I purchased the book myself. I can not offer enough praise for this well researched and written book on the Internet. This is definitely the "Book" for pros and "dummies" alike.

I have been working in technology for eighteen years with the U.S. Navy and using the Internet for nine years now and admittedly I only possessed about less 10% of the available resources that was presented in this book. Just visiting and bookmarking all those interesting link to various useful Web sites was good enough for me (100+ useful bookmarks from this book alone).

My college textbooks and other "big computer books" weren't as valuable as this one. With this new gained knowledge, I've referred this book to my instructor for the "Basic Internet Class" that I took at the one of the City Colleges of Chicago (Truman College) and my fellow classmates agreed that this book "The Everyday Internet All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies" was more informative than our classroom resources and textbook. Buy this book if you want to REALLY learn something about this subject.

One final thought, read Mr. Peter Weverka's "The Internet Giga Book for Dummies". You won't be disappointed in my recommendation on this wonderful read. Peace out and take care.

You'll learn more practical information about "everything internet" within the pages of this book than 7 years of online meandering. Seriously, just buy this sucker cause it provides clear answers to questions you don't even know you have yet, or should have. Excellent book. Truly a horizon broadener.

Pardon me for being immodest and giving this book a 5-star rating, since I'm the author, but I believe this is the best book going about the latest incarnation of the Internet.

These are exciting times for the Internet. Peer-to-peer file sharing, news aggregators, and other advances in technology have inspired a new generation of Web sites and services. Never before has the Internet offered so many ways to conduct research, entertain yourself, or learn new things.

The motive behind this book is to present everything on the Internet that's worth doing because it's useful, it's a lot of fun, or it's innovative and therefore worth checking out. Close to a thousand different Web sites are described in this book, but this book isn't a directory of Web sites. The focus is on doing things -- researching, online banking, communicating, making new friends, playing games, talking over the Internet telephone, online shopping, online selling, and blogging.

In the course of describing these and other activities -- everyday activities that can be part of your Internet repertoire -- I introduce you to the best and brightest of the Internet.

For those who are interested, this book looks at the technical aspects of the Internet. It tells you how to select an ISP and gives you instructions for connecting your computer to the Internet. The book explains how to protect your privacy and security, and keep viruses and spyware at bay, as well as how to use the different plug-ins (Flash, Acrobat Reader, and others). You will find advice for making the Internet a safe and rewarding experience for children, many Web sites for children and parents, and instructions for using America Online.

Find out how to use a Web browser and how to be an Internet researcher, or better yet, an Internet detective from this book. It explains search techniques for reaching into all corners of the Internet to quickly find the information you need. You discover how to get the latest news and how to stay on top of late-breaking news with aggregators, as well as how to use different e-mail programs (some free and some not). You get definitive instructions in this book for preventing your inbox from being inundated with spam.

Look to this book to refine instant messenger programs, create a blog, and find mailing lists and message boards where you can exercise your obsessions. You find out how to conduct research in newsgroups and subscribe to newsgroups, as well as how to join or create your own Yahoo! group and chat on the IRC.

For budding Web site developers, this book demonstrates how to create a Web site on the cheap and how to submit a Web site to search engines so the site gets more hits. You also explore the social networking phenomenon and learn about Web sites and services where you can make new friends and reunite with old ones. The book has detailed instructions for setting up your computer so you can make free long-distance telephone calls over the Internet.

I devote part of the book to online finances -- how to research investments and get the latest financial news, maintain an online investment portfolio, and do your banking chores online.

You will find many shopping search engines and Web sites that specialize in comparison-shopping, as well as online catalogs, stores for bargain hunters, consumer-report Web sites, and an "online shopping bazaar" with hundreds of off-beat online shops worth visiting. I take you to a number of online auction houses, including eBay, and you discover how to search for, bid on, and buy items at bargain prices, as well as how to pay for items with the excellent PayPal service.

You find out how to be the first on your block to be an online seller and how you can make money by selling or conducting a business over the Internet.

Finally, the book looks into different Internet pastimes and pursuits. I'm warning you: Some of these activities are addictive. You discover the many excellent genealogical research Web sites and how to conduct genealogical research for free over the Internet. The book also looks at games sites, including novel games such as Geocaching. For travelers and armchair-adventurers, I direct you to Web sites where you can get travel advice, plan vacations, purchase tickets, and book hotel rooms and rental cars. You discover how to turn your lowly computer into an entertainment console by purchasing music online or sharing music files.

I am intrigued by the idea that a Web site is a creative endeavor in and of itself -- that a Web site is a clickable piece of artwork. For this book, I chose not only Web sites that are useful for finding information or buying things but also Web sites that I consider intriguing, wonderful, astonishing, bizarre, or entertaining.

Some people are calling this latest incarnation of the Internet "the Web 2.0." This book is your guide to the next incarnation of the Internet. It was written to show you how to make the Internet fun and useful again.

I turn to this book all the time for information on how to build and maintain my blog (phatmike.motime.com). The best, most informative book that I've ever read on the subject.

Thanks, Mister Weverka!!!

JimBob Joe
Master Blogger

Intermediate level of study from an evangelical position. Don't think that the NIV Application series is fluff...this is a great title to continue your study through the book of Exodus.

loved the application portion. Exodus is now one of my favorite books of the Bible.

Peter Enns has contributed a wonderful addition to the literature on the book of Exodus with this latest commentary. His book is a fine blend of theology, scholarship, and practicality. Some very helpful insights are brought up throughout the text. Add to that a very readable style of writing and you have an excellent reference work for pastors and teachers!

Up until recently, there haven't been a lot of evangelical commentaries on Exodus. Most of us have either used the 30 year old commentary by Brevard Childs, or we have used Walter Kaiser's commentary (which is not bad by any stretch, but not as detailed as one might wish).

I am pleased to report that the new commentary by Peter Enns fills an important gap. It follows the familiar three part format of the NIV Application series (Original Meaning, Bridging the Horizons, Contemporary Significance).

But where this commentary excels is in the insights into the text and its relation of the book of Exodus to the rest of the biblical canon. I like how Enns relates the deliverance of the baby Moses from the water to his leading the Israelites throught the water of the Red Sea. In both instances, God saves his people through the water. He also compares this with the Noah's ark story.

Enns also does a good job at relating the stories in Exodus to some of the events in the life of Jesus (their special birth narratives, their both being used of God to deliver their people).

In his discussion of the Ten Commandments, Enns brings out truth and meaning that may not have been apparent to the casual reader. He notes that these commandments were given because being a part of God's chosen people has ramifications for our relationship to God as well as our relationships with one another. He also stresses that when we preach these commandments, that we keep in mind that they are a message for people who are already saved, not a message for those who need to be saved.

I also appreciate how Enns discusses the Pauline usage of material in Exodus, namely Exodus 34:29-34.

This commentary deserves to be used side by side with Doug Stuart's recent offering on Exodus. These two books should satisfy the expositor of Exodus for years to come.

Rev. Marc Axelrod

As with all of the other fine commentaries in this series it breaks each section of Scripture into 3 sections: 1)an "original meaning" section which gives a thoughful interpretation of the passage. 2) a "bridging contents" section which draws forth timeless theological principles that are applicable for God's people in any place, time, and era and 3) The "contemporary significance" section which is intended to give the modern reader a "bonifide" (not moralistic i.e., "do this...don't do that...be like him...don't be like them..) application based on what it meant to the original readers. Although the author doesn't deal with interpretive issues in-depth (because this isn't the aim of the series), he does do a fine job of getting to the "interpretive" heart of the matter (although, at times, I felt he overdid the "re-creation" motiff). Along the way He shows how the book of Exodus written so long ago is of vital significance to God's people today.

This work fills a great gap in evangelical literature on the book of Exodus and gives relevent application for readers of all theological persuations. In all, this book and the series of which it is a part, is a tremendous resource for the Pastor/teacher/layman!