Richards Books

This is an engrossing book which actually has some good tips on how to rid your house of cockroaches. I'm planning to find some Siege or Maxforce, or at the very least dip stale white bread in old beer and put the "bait" into a jar with Vaseline spread in a line along the top inside. A few of the cockroach experts (warriors?) the author interviews are just as fascinating as their subjects. Something else in the book: a miniature flipbook of cockroaches mating (not as interesting as his written description, though).

I read this book while spending the summer in a run-down, cockroach-infested, seasonal fishing cabin in Canada. It was hilarous, informative, very, very well-written and almost (almost) made me like the nasty little things. I always read while eating lunch, but really, don't do that with this book! I highly recommend this to anybody who has an interest in nature, an interest in insects, a curious mind, or...a population of cockroaches in his house! (No, really; there was enough info in this book to help me understand The Enemy and largely eradicate them. I am now in the market for similar books on bats, mice, ants, and bears... .)

OK, I admit I used to be among the majority who reacted in revulsion to these creatures and whose first instinct was to squash it--quickly!

Reading Schweid's fascinating book changed all that. The highly adaptable cockroach will probably outlive humans. They're perfectly designed scavengers and extremely good at proliferating their species.

The book combines a mixture of fact, anecdotes and fictional excerpts that explore the nature & habits of the cockroach as well as its uneasy relationship with humanity.

One of a selective number of books I actually had to buy. And, as a footnote, on a recent trip to D.C., I went to the Smithsonian and held a giant Madgascar hissing cockroach. And I like it!

_The Cockroach Papers_ by Richard Schweid is a book one might not normally think of as enjoyable, one that that focuses on the biology and human history of the cockroach. I however found it very entertaining, even funny at times, and also extremely informative and boasting a wealth of illustrations. The author had an engaging writing style, weaving in stories of his personal life (some only marginally related to cockroaches, though all were quite engrossing).

There are a great variety of roach species in the world, though not all of them are pests. The most famous of course are the pest species, including the most common domestic cockroach in the U.S, the German cockroach, (_Blattella germanica_), and the second most common, the American cockroach (_Periplaneta americana_), both the main subjects of the book. Other pest species in North America include the oriental cockroach, brown-banded roach (noted for colonizing appliances), and the smokey-brown, though there are 64 other species on the continent far from the haunts of man. More than 5,000 species of cockroach are known in the order Blattaria (from the Greek word blattae, for roach). Only about a hundred species worldwide occur around humans at all; most live unseen, generally in hot humid jungles though they are found virtually everywhere on Earth.

Schweid went into a great deal of detail exploring roach anatomy, physiology, pheromones (including not only mating pheromones but interestingly aggregation and dispersal pheromones), daily habits, and mating behavior, much of it fascinating reading. One learns the early warning system for roaches is not their antennae; it is a pair of feelers called the cerci, located on the backside near the anus, covered in hundreds of remarkably fine and sensitive hairs, each only 0.5 millimeters long and 0.005 millimeters wide (this is what lets them scurry away so fast when the lights come on!).

Roaches have had a long history with humanity, traveling with humans to every spot on the globe. They were particularly fond of traveling by ship, and historical records have shown people such as the Sir Francis Drake, Captain Bligh, and others having contended with them. Interesting, the word cockroach itself is a relative newcomer; while they have long been known to humanity (the Romans for instance called them lucifuga, for their habit of avoiding light), the word did not appear until Europeans began traveling the world. "Cockroach" as a term first appeared in the 1500s to describe not long familiar pests but new ones noticed from sojourns in Africa and elsewhere (the first written use in the English language came from Captain John Smith of Pocahontas fame in 1624). The two most famous in the U.S. are not natives; the German cockroach is thought native to north Africa, spread by the Phoenicians to Europe and then from there throughout Russia and eventually the Americas, while the American cockroach (sometimes euphemistically called the "water bug") is thought to have come directly from Africa on slave ships.

Along the way Schweid chronicled the numerous ways the cockroach has entered various cultures, ranging from their role as the "Trickster" in Caribbean folktales to the famous song "La Cucaracha" (originating with Pancho Villa's soldiers, about a roach missing its two back legs, a song with many versions), to the writings of Franz Kafka, to the 1997 movie _Mimic_.

The association with roaches has not been a wanted one, as they have been known to be vectors of many diseases, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and even hookworms and tapeworms. They have been known to be more direct threats; people have gone to emergency rooms when roaches became lodged in their ear, and roaches have been known to partially consume human fingernails, toenails, and skin. Also, they sometimes feed on human corpses, causing such damage at times that forensics experts have mistaken damage caused by roaches as wounds sustained by the deceased while alive.

The war against cockroaches has gone on for millennia. Over the centuries there have been numerous ways used to combat them. An Egyptian papyrus was found with a prayer to the ram-headed god Khnum for protection from roaches, and the Greek scholar Diophanes recommended ways to rid homes of roach infestations. Sailors were once given rewards, either bottles of brandy or shore leave, for turning in specified numbers of roach bodies and sometimes kept on board monkeys or lemurs to hunt and eat roaches.

Today fighting roaches is big business; there are estimates that as much as $240 million a year is spent in the U.S. on control of roaches, with the city of New York alone spending half a million dollars a year on insecticides. Schweid chronicled much of the research into controlling them and the debates over whether to use sprays or baits. The war has taken a special significance as studies have shown a very strong linkage between asthma and allergies to cockroaches. As asthma appears to be on the rise - a 60% increase in the last decade, particularly among poor African-American males - this is very important.

Roaches are of course famous survivors and Schweid provided numerous examples of this. The American cockroach for instance can survive 90 days without food, and 40 days without food or water. They eat a tremendous variety of items, with the pest species known to consume glue, hair, paper, leather, banana skins, and feces. There are 14 breaking points on the legs, cerci, and antennae of the German cockroach, which, if grabbed by a predator, they can pull away and leave the enemy with just an appendage, one replaced at the next molt.

As much a pest as some species of roach have been, they have actually served mankind. The American cockroach has long been a favorite laboratory animal thanks to its substantial size, abundance, ease of care, and exemption from any laws governing the use of lab animals. Work on roaches gave birth to the field of neuroendocrinology and was important in early studies of circadian rhythms.

There are fascinating random factoids on nearly every page. My coworkers and most friends don't care to hear all my new knowledge, unfortunately. Not exactly cocktail party chitchat. But extremely interesting to learn about. Mating habits, nervous systems, favorite foods, pheromones,molting, it's all here!

Very fast delivery, and arrived in excellent condition. I was very pleased with how it was packaged.

by don dallas, ddallas10@yahoo.com


"Parents, your job is not over yet, " declared a flier given me at an orientation session for parents of freshmen. The flier warned me that the first eight weeks on campus will be "stressful". It also urged me to talk to my son about alcohol abuse on campus. Until then that college and all others presented themselves as blissful environments of intellectual and human growth. This was the first time it was suggested that college was stressful.

The stress, it turns out, often is longer and deeper. The most authoritative source on campus stress, College of the Overwhelmed, The Mental Health Crisis on Campus and What to Do About it, was published in October, 2004, by Richard Kadison, M. D., a psychiatrist who is chief of Mental Health Services at Harvard University, and Theresa Foy DeGeronimo, a writer specializing in parenting and education. Contrary to the impression many parents have had that it is time to leave the kids on their own, the book urges parents to be aware, informed, and watchful. Parents are the "best hope" , Dr. Kadison and Ms. DeGeronimo say. They must engage their college sons and daughters in open, adult-adult (yet non-intrusive) communications not just for eight weeks, but for all four or more of the college years. The book even advises parents to have a "crisis plan" ready in case their college-based children need emergency help. "It's ironic that just when you feel you are setting your children free they often need your support and attention more than ever before." One out of every two students becomes so depressed they cannot function at some point during their college career, it says. One out of two become binge drinkers. Student mental health challenges too often go uncared for: students suffer silently as their already-besieged emotional health erodes further. Almost 10 percent of college students consider suicide. "Parents should also help their children choose a college that is not woefully deficient in the area of ...campus mental health. How can parents tell? The book offers checklists of symptoms to look for and questions for parents to ask campus staff and administrators. The book aims to "open a dialogue, get us talking, and suggest ways we all can face these facts and do something..." It is a seminal work, a goldmine of research, insights and advice. "Listen, Listen, Listen," the authors shout to parents. The mental health crisis on campus is the "elephant in the room nobody is talking about."

I am a psychologist who works in a college counseling center, and I wish that I could make this book required reading for the parents of every new student entering college. Main author Richard Kadison--Chief of the Mental Health Service at Harvard University Health Services--does an excellent job of outlining the many issues which college students face and the ways in which these issues are potentially hazardous to every student's mental health. He also provides extremely useful suggestions for what parents can do to help their college student as well as practical tips for the college students themselves. The only sections of the book which I found to be less effective were the chapter and appendix which focused on what colleges should be doing to address the mental health crisis on campus; this information seemed out of place in a book largely intended for parents. However, the remaining two appendices were more relevant, providing a summary of data from the 2002 American College Health Association Survey results as well as an overview of common medications used to treat psychological conditions. Overall, this a well-done, tremendously valuable book; highly recommended.

With my fourth college freshman ensconced in college, I am sorry that I didn't have this book for reference with my other three children. Each student is different with different needs, stress indicators, and mechanisims for coping with college. This book clearly illustrates the number of ways kids react to college...both positive and negative. No one goes to college today without some form of stress either academically, socially, or emotionally. With the help of this book, college students and their parents have a chance at predicting the challenges and setting out a plan that is specific to preventing serious mental health issues from being so overwhelming. This is a great guide for coping and surviving these stressful years and perhaps leading to happiness and success.

This book is very timely, and is of importance. There is a crisis out there, and parents and students need to recognize the problems of being depressed, and that there is something that can and should be done to cope with these disorders. The book is very well written, and easy to read. I feel this book should be read by every parent and every student so they can recognize the signs of depression, and get the help they need. It is a wake-up call, and a real contribtion to mental health. Dr.ERK

If you are rated over 1800 then "Forcing Chess Moves" is a better choice. The first 100 puzzles in The Complete Chess Workout are for players rated 1200-1400, mostly one move deflection tactics, the remaining 1100 puzzles become progressively more difficult. I enjoy reading chess books and would rather lay on my back in bed and read a chess book than start a family and pop out three kids and send them to college and go into debt and pay off a mortgage and a car loan and credit cards and work like a slave or indentured servant in order to fulfill someone else's idea of the American dream, the American dream being to become enslaved to debt and work all your life and die a pauper with no savings. Yes, chess has saved my life!

Yes, there are other books on chess tactics. But I like this one. The problems are not too difficult, and they feel like the sorts of positions that one might not only come across in a game, but ones in which one would actually be looking for the kinds of combinations that work here. I like the fact that the reader is not warned what the theme is of the various combinations.

I recommend this book. Those who want to try other (and somewhat tougher) books as well might want to look at "Test Your Chess IQ" by Livshitz or "Perfect Your Chess" by Volokitin and Grabinsky.

As the other reviewers have noted this is a huge collection of tactical chess problems designed to help you strengthen your chess muscles. But just like joining a "24 Hour Fitness" center, that's just the BEGINNING! You have to use the book, work the problems, understand the ones you didn't get, go back and try them again, and then when you've done all that: DO IT SOME MORE! Find more tactical situations, analyze your games, your friend's games, get more books, buy a tactics disc and so on. Chess Fitness is just like physical fitness: It's not a mountain to scale and then you're done, it's a "health habit" you build into your life-style. The pay off comes when you play a game of chess you can be proud of. THAT is what all your hard work was aiming at. And this book is the ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER of tactical problem collections.

A skilled and prolific chess writer, Richard Palliser is also an International Master with numerous tournament successes and in 2006 became the Join British Rapidplay Champion. Clearly, he brings his many years of experience and expertise to bear in writing "The Complete Chess Workout", a comprehensive training manual for chess tactics that will prove invaluable for aspiring chess players from the novice to the expert. Special note should be made that all of the featured 1200 chess puzzles designed to built chess playing skills have been checked by computer engines. Thoroughly 'player friendly', "The Complete Chess Workout is nicely organized into eight distinct chapters: Warming Up!; Attack!; Opening Tricks and Traps; Skill in the Endgame; Loose Pieces and Overloading; Fiendish Calculation; Test Yourself; and Solutions. A comprehensive course of chess instruction under one cover, "The Complete Chess Workout" truly lives up to its title and will prove to be a welcome addition to personal, academic, and community library chess instruction reference collections.

Two things make this book a bit unusual among books of this sort. 1) Most of the positions are from very recent tournaments and 2) Most of the players are not household names. Both of these features make it harder for me to just remember the games.
I don't think there's anything more instructive or entertaining in chess than working through books like this one.

I enjoyed reading the book but in some parts I had difficulties to understand the context. Somehow, Clogg jumps from one subject to the other. Also, there were very difficult historical words which are especially difficult for readers whose mother tongue is not English. Admittedly, the book has not been written for foreign readers but I think that even an English native speaker has a problem to understand words like "irredentism" and "shibboleth" if he didn't study history. Another problem is the title of some chapters. He calls one chapter "The legacy of the Civil war 1950 - 1974" although the civil war in Greece was between 1944 and 1949 or so. How can he call this capter in the abovementioned way if he writes about military rule and the Cyprus conflict? He admitted in a way that Britain and the USA have contributed to the beginning of the Cyprus conflict but he doesn't write much about it. I read the book but sometimes I did not understand it, in particular the context. I wished he would have written also more about the Ottoman rule in Greece or even the beginning of the history of Greece. The book would have been thicker, indeed, but it would have given more information. Also, he should have given the book a slightly different title, for instance "A Concise History of Greece - 1770 - 1990". This would have been clearer because as a reader you think that he has written about the whole history of Greece. However, all in all it was a good book. I enjoyed it.

A very interesting and concise history of Greece from the 18th century to the present. It includes detailed examinations of all the major turning points in Greek history in the last three hundred years; the Greek war of independence, Greece under the Nazis, the Greek Civil War and the dictatorship. All of the important passions that have overcome the Greeks are woven into the story as is the story of the destruction of the Greek peoples of Anatolia (The Pontic Greeks and Smyrna Greeks and others) as well as the ethnic-cleansing of Greeks by the Turks from places such as Adrianople, Constantinople and Rumania and Bulgaria. The conflict over Macedonia is highlighted as is the tragic story of the 100,000 strong Greek community of Egypt that was also cleansed by the Nasser regime.

A fascinating history,

Seth J. Frantzman

This is a great book for both an introduction as well as an on-going reference source on modern Greece.
Highly recommend it to students or anyone interested in learning the history of the modern state, without getting bogged down with boring details.

Now in an expanded second edition, A Concise History Of Greece by Richard Clogg (Fellow of St. Anthony's College, Oxford University, England) is a straightforward, scholarly chronicle of the modern history of Greece, ranging from the Ottoman rule of the late 1700's, to the pressures of Balkan strife and political modernization of the present day. Deftly written and carefully researched, supplemented with tables, short biographies, as well as a listing of the royal houses of Greece, A Concise History Of Greece is an excellent and scholarly survey of the modern growth of the nation which is a strongly recommended addition to academic World History collections in general, and Hellenic History supplemental reading lists in particular.

Richard Clogg is a renowned international scholar who has been writing about Greek history for decades. This work is a popularization (from footnotes deliver me) that should prove very helpful to the layman with more than a casual interest in Greece. It invites comparison with C.M. Woodhouse's also famous history, but I must declare myself incompetent to decide if one is better than the other.

Clogg's section on the Ottoman period is blessedly brief and his discussion of the Nazi occupation and Communist insurection are to-the-point yet incisive.

Perhaps the most exciting feature of the work is the great bunch of pictures gracing nearly every page and showing the days of glory in Modern Greece as well as some of the saddest. The maps are also helpful.

There are no footnotes but the selective bibliography will be useful to most readers. There is also an appendix giving thumbnail biographies of some luminaries in modern Greek history.

Cork Silver And Gold: Four Centuries Of Craftsmanship was published to coincide with the exhibition in the Crawford Gallery Cork, but stands alone as well as the first to detail the work of Cork silversmiths and goldsmiths, and will appeal to specialty art collections. Both public and private holdings were culled for this feature: what results is a display which will serve as both a history and a reference to any dedicated jewelry student studying Cork craftsmanship.

Cork Silver And Gold: Four Centuries Of Craftsmanship was published to coincide with the exhibition in the Crawford Gallery Cork, but stands alone as well as the first to detail the work of Cork silversmiths and goldsmiths, and will appeal to specialty art collections. Both public and private holdings were culled for this feature: what results is a display which will serve as both a history and a reference to any dedicated jewelry student studying Cork craftsmanship.

Cork Silver And Gold: Four Centuries Of Craftsmanship was published to coincide with the exhibition in the Crawford Gallery Cork, but stands alone as well as the first to detail the work of Cork silversmiths and goldsmiths, and will appeal to specialty art collections. Both public and private holdings were culled for this feature: what results is a display which will serve as both a history and a reference to any dedicated jewelry student studying Cork craftsmanship.

Cork Silver And Gold: Four Centuries Of Craftsmanship was published to coincide with the exhibition in the Crawford Gallery Cork, but stands alone as well as the first to detail the work of Cork silversmiths and goldsmiths, and will appeal to specialty art collections. Both public and private holdings were culled for this feature: what results is a display which will serve as both a history and a reference to any dedicated jewelry student studying Cork craftsmanship.

Cork Silver And Gold: Four Centuries Of Craftsmanship was published to coincide with the exhibition in the Crawford Gallery Cork, but stands alone as well as the first to detail the work of Cork silversmiths and goldsmiths, and will appeal to specialty art collections. Both public and private holdings were culled for this feature: what results is a display which will serve as both a history and a reference to any dedicated jewelry student studying Cork craftsmanship.

Richard Woodman can be habit forming if you love stories from the days when men went down to the sea in ships that had clouds of sail on them and guns to run in and out of port holes when engaging the enemy. Having just finished this book, I felt compelled to embark on the next.

Some have commented that Woodman writes with an authenticity that makes you understand what it is like to stand on a quarterdeck with an enemy bearing down on you with both ships set to loose broadsides upon each other, or to navigate in the Artic Sea, as Drinkwater does in this particular novel as he commands a captured French corvette while protecting English whale fishermen from the French who are known to have designs on the area.

Edward R. Murrow, used to host a TV show, many moons ago, entited "You are There" where he would interview various people from history as though they were alive today. Woodman takes you there with his words and his writing and it is a very real trip indeed. You would be well advised to come on board.

Nat is now elevated to Master & Commander and given Job-Captain cy in charge of a corvette as escort to a group of whalers bound for Greenland. As well as the usual excellent sail evolutions, there is wonderful description of below-decks life here, as well as incidental details (some qory) of whaling boats and the hunt.

Several plots run together in this story; the threat of privateers; the differing agendas of the whalers; insubordination in the officers; and a pastor with a past. All are handled by a Captain who has matured as much as his author, in a way that has neither the bluffness of Jack Aubrey, nor the asperity of Hornblower.
Excellent reading; but why can I not find Mr. Woodman on the average bookstore's shelves? *****

I've now read the first five books in the Nathaniel Drinkwater series and continue to be impressed with the author's command of the English language and his colorful characterizations.

In reading these books I get a strong feeling of having been with Drinkwater on his adventures; such is the extent of Woodman's talent for description and characterization.

Even minor characters are not neglected. For example, here's a quote from page 167 describing the gunner's reaction to an unusual order: "The gunner frowned, raised an eyebrow and compressed his toothless mouth. Then, without a word, knuckled his forehead and waddled below."

Gratuitous characterizations such as that demonstrate that Woodman misses no opportunity to animate his characters.

Even though Drinkwater at this stage of his "life" is 40 years old and captain of a ship, the reader can sense that he's still learning how to be a good commander. He hurts from his old wounds and misses his wife and children. In other words, he seems real.

I hate to compare Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharpe books unfavorably to another author's series because the Sharpe books are entertaining, and I have read nearly all of them. But Sharpe is almost a cartoon character in comparison to Drinkwater. I often skip over much of the fighting scenes in Cornwell's books, but Woodman's power of description makes the fight scenes a pleasure to read.

I expect to read the rest of Woodman's Drinkwater novels in chronological order.

The book is in three parts, in the first of which Acting Captain Drinkwater must establish his leadership in a new command and lead a convoy of hard-bitten and angry whalers onto the Greenland whaling grounds. The second concerns the hunt for whales and, despite its misfortunes, how Drinkwater slips into a yacht cruise mentality. The third part returns us to the fact they are all at war with the French, who are rumored to have sent out corsairs during the false peace of 1802 to lay in wait and cripple the British economy when the world war resumed.

I found this one of the most interesting in the series. For all the Napoleonic era novels out there, this contains the first discussion of whaling in the North Atlantic I recall (and only a few other series include the more familiar Pacific whalers). Also, Drinkwater essays humor on occasion, despite his author's rather grim prose and concern with political machinations. Drinkwater often struggles with scepticism and faith, God, and duty to the navy, abetted here by a pastor/surgeon who is philosophically inclined and by a righteously subversive whaling captain. Woodman describes the arctic well, but only occasionally does he evoke its beauty and terror. Pay very close attention to the beginning chapters for there are clues to anticipating a final mystery. If you understand sailing commands and constantly track the state of the wind through the story then all the ship maneuvers make sense; otherwise ignore them as nautical "period atmosphere" and be poorer for it.

We get to hear more sail commands than usual, thanks to an insecure but punctilious 3rd lieutenant, and also learn in great detail the meaning of "jury-rigged." What strange names some fictional captains have: Drinkwater, Hornblower-and quite the opposite of their true characters.

This is book five in the Drinkwater series, and was a bit of a disappointment after some of the earlier books. Once again, the author skips forward. Book four, "The Bomb Vessel," ended in July 1801 after the First Battle of Copenhagen. This book covers a relatively brief period from May to November 1803, falling into the tendency that Patrick O'Brien had in some of his later novels of putting a little too much action into too short a period of time (sometimes moving ships about the ocean at fantastic rates of speed).

At the beginning of this story, we find Drinkwater on the beach, recovering from a wound received between novels. Admiral Jervis (now Earl St. Vincent and First Lord of the Admiralty) was known for promoting officers based on ability rather than interest, and he gives Drinkwater (now a commander) temporary command of the twenty-gun sloop Melusine after the ship's captain in incapacitated and resigns (why this would only be a temporary command is not entirely clear - Jervis had the authority to promote officers).

Action finds Drinkwater guarding a whaling fleet in the Greenland Sea, dealing with French privateers and English renegades, and seeking a French base. There is considerable detail about the operation of the whaling fleet and the hazards involved in arctic whaling. John Nicol, in his autobiography, gave a brief description of a voyage on a whaling ship to the Greenland Sea, and noted his resolution not to make another.

Like other novels in the series, characters in this novel carry over into the next.

I find this was a refreshing view point of a designer.He went into the nuts and bolts of the business,not just the artistic side. I enjoyed the book so much I ordered a copy for a gifted student of mine.

From the very first chapter, the author made it seem like he was speaking directly to me. This book is definitely for someone who is interested in Costume Design and wants to know absolutely everything about it, in detail (not for someone already in the field and familiar with how it works). It's not just a book that I'll read and then retire to my bookshelf. As I continue to aspire to be a costume disigner, this book will stay by my side for a long time. The ideas he gives you in the first chaper on how to break down the script is easy to learn, with practice. I urdge anyone who is interested in this field to buy this book first.

A graduation requirement for my high school is a year-long senior research project on a subject we choose. This project includes a year-long research portfolio, a piece of work applying the research, as well as a 20-30 minute presentation. I decided to research costume design for films. The first book I found was this book by Richard La Motte, and it was the most helpful book out of all 27 that I read for my research project. This book not only tells of costume designing itself, it shows what goes on behind the curtain, the business of it, the organization and preparation involved in costume design, etc. This book truly is a costume designer's manual. There is so much helpful information written in a clear way, there are examples in the book that help the reader understand the information even more clearly, as well as some designs by the author himself. This book helped me ace my Senior Project, and also inspired me to study and pursue costume design for films.

This book is probably THE most informative book I have ever read, irregardless of the subject. Everthing you need to know about costume design is here, in this book. Critical information when contemplating a career, that you cannot get in a classroom. The author has been there, worked in the "trenches", for years, has had a successful career, and is now willing to share years of accumulated knowledge. I was amazed at all I gained from this book.

I found this book to be incredibly useful. Even though I work in stage theater, its information is immediately applicable for all levels of productions. It has tips for organizational skills, outlines of how things work, who does what, advice on how to manage your time, working with actors, dealing with unexpected problems, etc.

I've read it several times and each time I get something new out of it. Read this book, apply it, and you will be a shining star that gets hired again and again for productions.

How can crime be bad and yet so good! Look inside the cover of these pages for the answer. Not much reading required but plenty of illustrations. And what illustrations!! Cigarettes, dangling from shadowey faces, killer guns begging for victums, and behind every crime there's a "good" women to lead him on to both heaven or hell. These images can usually sum up the classic Crime Movie Poster. In cronological order the images take us from the birth of this gendre to it's present. This is no small feat, as the first poster is dated 1913! That's how many years? Page after page is loaded with poster art that grabs the eye and makes you want to view the film. Vivid coloring shows the excellent printing quality of this volume. One only needs to turn the pages to discover "the stuff dreams are made of".

Absolutely stunning! Superb graphics of some of our favorite movie posters! Highly recommend.

How can crime be bad and yet so good! Look inside the cover of these pages for the answer. Not much reading required but plenty of illustrations. And what illustrations!! Cigarettes, dangling from shadowey faces, killer guns begging for victums, and behind every crime there's a "good" women to lead him on to both heaven or hell. These images can usually sum up the classic Crime Movie Poster. In cronological order the images take us from the birth of this gendre to it's present. This is no small feat, as the first poster is dated 1913! That's how many years? Page after page is loaded with poster art that grabs the eye and makes you want to view the film. Vivid coloring shows the excellent printing quality of this volume. One only needs to turn the pages to discover "the stuff dreams are made of".

Every last shot heard in the world of motion pictures is displayed here. From Pre-code films like LADIES THEY TALK ABOUT to the Code-in-your-face PULP FICTION, Bruce Hershenson captures the poster art of these films in splashy high quality color. A bonus is that Bruce always includes lobby card art, cherished by many a collector, but not displayed often.

Everyone has their own favorite film genre (animation, action and adventure, science fiction, etc.). This one is mine. If you are the least bit interested in the jaw-dropping beauty of what has become a lost art -- the exercise of drawing images associated with the advertising of a Hollywood film -- this is the book to have. No other genre, in my opinion, was more dark and foreboding and in turn experienced a burst of creativity than posters associated with the film-noir period of Hollywood, which roughly ran from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s. This book is part of movie poster maven Bruce Hershenson's exhaustive multi-volume series of books highlighting the history and beauty of what much of mainstream America has only in the last ten years begun to recognize. And that is movie posters are a "popular art" form that can stand proudly next to all other styles of art from gothic to modern, from expressionist to impressionist. Great film art borrows from all of these styles and this volume, which focuses only on posters associated with crime and film-noir films, is my favorite. It illustrates innumerable examples of the ranges in style, despite the superficial expectation that all art from this genre was the same. It was not. From Gilda to This Gun For Hire, Hershenson and Allen have built an incredible archive of images in all of his books, capturing a period (when all posters were drawn by hand and then printed, as opposed to today's method of using a montage of photos and manipulating them digitally and printing them by the thousands) that would otherwise be lost forever. A fine book for any collector (get the hardcover edition if you can, it's harder to find; if Amazon doesn't have it, it's available from Mr. Hershenson directly at mail@brucehershenson.com.

I highly recommend this text for anyone who is preparing for certification or just wants to brush up on their knowledge! The text is great, and the review questions are an effective study guide.

Okay, so where to start...
Let me give my first disclaimer that, in fact, I know Rick personally. I also have helped him teach the class for which this book is used as the manual/syllabus, and I also work in "friendly competition" with him in the emergency/critical/healthcare continuing education business. I consider him a friend, a business colleague, a peer as well as "the competition" (remember, I said "friendly competition").....

I've known Rick for the last 3 years (little more/little less) back from when HE TAUGHT ME my first CFRN review class, using the very "rough draft" copy of this book back then (of course I passed my exam!). Since then, I know he has been busting his rear trying to get this book published and "just right" so it is a professional and high-quality book.

This is the book we typically teach from when we do his CFRN/FP-C courses. Although he mentions that it is used in CEN classes, one must realize that this book's strength is the critical care and flight components (CFRN/FP-C material). It "could" be used for a CEN review, but one might find that it is not as in depth for that purpose when compared with some of the others out there.

I believe (but he doesn't advertise it as such) that this could also be used for a "light" PCCRN or CCRN review as well as he includes a wealth of critical care knowledge in here also.

His passion for flight medicine as Certified Flight Paramedic and Critical Care EMT, is evident in the dedication and committment he puts into devloping his publications. I have personally known him to be up until 3 or 4 AM some nights, writing, re-writing and refining his material. His unyielding pursuit to be "the best" and the highest quality is beyond mention. He is driven to provide YOU the CFRN/FP-C candidate with the best for your money.

While the book is published as a stand-alone resource, as I mentioned, it is also used as the manual/syllabus for the 2-day live review course he puts on (again, disclaimer here - I have helped him in a few of these). As a side note, if you like his book, you'll LOVE HIM in PERSON! If you get a chance to attend one of his classes, don't let the oppotunity slip by....

As to the quality of the book, I give high marks. It is broken down by systems in a bullet-point outline format. It flows from one section to the next. Included are tables, formulas, diagrams and "PEARLS" to help the learner assimiliate and retain the knowledge. His mastery of certain areas including his unique take on ABG analysis and manipulation is light years ahead of the rest of us!

It is not a HUGE book, so it's fairly easy to transport in your work back pack or messenger bag while on duty to study from.

And finally, Rick is committed to his students. If you ever need him for whatever, even if it's just to get a question answered, he's never too busy for a phone call or email and will happily follow up with you.

In all fairness, I'm going to give the ONLY downside to this book in that the price is a bit high when compared with other books of this genre. (CFRN/FP-C review manuals). It is a smaller book and there is less content; but this is only beacuse he has CONDENSED it all into a concise/no-frills/dedicated format. Other CFRN/FP-C manuals may be priced fairly similar, but they are more comprehensive in scope (like a BIG college text book). Again in fairness, there is another competitor on the market, who markets a similar CFRN/FP-C manual that I also have commented that his prices were a bit high too for a "smaller" book.

But to counter what I just said; if you want a dedicated, committed professional, who has such a love and passion for flight medicine and quality continuing education, then the extra money may be worth it to you to not just "buy the book" but to actually have an "educational relationship" with the author.

Rick, keep up the good work and best wishes....
-Mark Boswell MSN, APRN, CEN, CFRN, NREMT-P

Being a Seahawk SAR pilot, this was an extremely helpful review of the fundamentals. The material was easy to follow and understand. I have attended one of Mr. Patterson's courses in the past and his wealth of experience is illustrated in this text.

This book is a great study guide for those on a tight time budget, concise and to the point. Get this book if you want to pass your test the first time.

I just took my FP-C exam last week and passed!! This book does not have extraneous information --it is the "meat and potatoes" outline of the exam. I have a busy schedule and was unable to travel and take a review course, so I bought the text and studied on my own when it was convenient. Definitely worth the money!

This is an absolute essential guide for Dark Ages: Vampire players. It has info on Medieval life, history of the time, religion of the time period, and fictional info on more obscure DA:Vampire bloodlines and disciplines, including the frightening Baali and the mysterious and doomed Salubri. Definitely recommended, excellent reading..... If you're going to play a Dark Ages Vampire game, get this!

If a chronicle is hard to build, it is a dark ages chronicle, not because of lack of plot, but excess of it, there's too much going on with the church, also there's chivalry and clan differences begin to break the vampire society. Certainly it is a good time to have a companion to give you few details.

It expands existing disciplines providing new ones, with even new rituals. The blood lines also prove to be interesting characters that players might enjoy, and storytellers trying to run the dark ages chronicle will find this book quite useful.

While Vampire: The Dark Ages is infinitely resourceful, the Dark Ages Companion is infinitely more so. It has detailed information on aspects of the dark ages which will help any chronicle. Included are several new bloodlines, plenty of new disciplines and new powers for old disciplines, and details on several religions. Possibly the most valuable resource is the new data on combat, including the mass-combat for the armies of the day.

All in all, this product is essential to run a complex chronicle, and well-worth the money.

Great book filled with lots of info on different religions, really helps form backgrounds for npc's. On top of that I also have a pc who is a salubri and It REALLY helps, thank god I found a book that has the discipline of Valeren in it. Anyway overall this book was very helpful.

If you have just purchased Vampire: The Dark Ages, then you will want to look deeply into this book. This book contains information to help make vampire chronicles even more dynamic than before. This volume contains a detailed section outlining the various actions and reactions of different religious organizations. I state organizations because too often the word Church is assumed to mean the Holy Roman, or Catholic Church. Although it was a major power in Europe, there were still plenty of other religions in the world; each religion had its own agenda and these are illustrated in the Companion. Now a Storyteller can be sure throw a massive curve into a Chronicle when Cainites are now confronted by not only Catholic clergy, but also pagan and followers of even more remote religions. What basis of belief do the Assamites follow? It is most assuredly not catholicism. With this book, you can get a slight taste for their beliefs, or the beliefs of those in their homelands.

So that is the church, but what about Cainites themselves? The Companion carries the higher level disciplines for the one listed in the Dark Ages core book. The authors have also included more Thaumaturgical paths as well as power to make better Infernalists. This book carries a wide selection of Dark Thaumaturgical paths and rituals. It also carries a few new disciplines altogether. Wait! New disciplines? Who wield them? This volume also adds four new clans/bloodlines. The Laibon, Lhiannan, and Lamia make their possible First Appearances in the White Wolf canon. Their chapters contain information on their origins, structure, beliefs, and discipline just as it does for all others. The one exception is that it also spells out each bloodline's fate. These Cainites do not survive into the modern days, and now you know why. But, I only mention three, who is the fourth?
The Dark ages are a strange time. Not only does it see the "birth" of a new clan, but also the genocidal hunting of another. Yes, the Salubri are still alive at this time and the Companion provides both a clan overview as well as a long listing of Valeren, the Salubri principle power. For all you veterans, Valeren is not the same as Obeah. Now we have the actual power the Unicorns wielded long ago in Enoch, the very power that is said to have temporarily soothed Malkav of his madness. This alone makes the book worth its cost, but the authors have included so much more.

In summary, coupling this book with Vampire: The Dark Ages will only enhance a chronicle. If players feel they done this before, add a few new religious antagonists, or just drop one of the unknown clans into he story to add danger, intrigue, and a huge new enigma to solve. Do not forget to spice the game with the upper levels of Disicplines. You may have a Brujah or a Nosferatu with a ton of Fortitude, but what good is that when you opponent can strike you from across the room without moving? What good is a ton of Potence and Celerity when your weapons shatter upon impacting another Cainite and not leaving the slightest mark? Who said the "things-that-go-bump-in-the-night" in the night do not have their "things-that-go-bump-in-the-night" as well? Can we say Methusala? Sleep well, childer. Sleep well.