Richards Books

Dreams in Blue: "The Real Police"This is an Exceptional Book.I could not put it down.I agree with his views on the system.The stories he tells are edge of your seat,Thrilling.. to see if he catches the bad guy,Hoping he doesnt get shot or just listening to his routine traffic stops.It's like your in the car with him.You cant believe this is what cops deal with everyday.They are Heros in every since.He has lived an amazing life,He Helped alot of People,and was wronged by so many,When they should have been thanking Him.He told his Story so excellent in this Book.

Book Review: Dreams in Blue by Richard Neal Huffman

People today don't wonder why the show "Cops" was one of the longest running Television series in the United States. The show needed no scripts, no music (besides its infamous theme song) and no narration. Filming of incident after incident coupled with commentary from the Law Enforcement Professionals on the job perfectly sufficed. Unlike today with the litany of "reality" shows that plagues our televisions every evening; the idea of filming "reality" was revolutionary. Unlike today's "reality" shows (notice the parentheses, as most of these programs are carefully set up by producers and directors, and therefore far from resemble the everyday in society) COPS was filming what was actually going on in the shift to shift lives of Law Enforcement Professionals. This gave the ordinary citizen a window into the lives and struggles of our people in law enforcement. The show, as well as the use of video in general, also gave law enforcement a great learning and training tool; this tool could prove to be revolutionary to law enforcement today. It is no wonder to us today why such a show was so successful. Being able to witness the behaviors of people of which the law enforcement profession was designed to handle, and the struggles of the professionals who work in such an environment, is incredibly interesting and compelling for everyone.

The book, Dreams in Blue: "The Real Police by Richard Neal Huffman would prove to take its readers much deeper than a video camera could go. Unlike most of the police TV programs, accounts that are generally taken from largely populated areas, Huffman's writing takes you deep inside small town America. Small, quaint little towns that most people would drive through and think, "what a nice, quiet, and peaceful place," if they thought anything at all. Sadly, as evident in this book, no place where people inhabit is problem free. The derelicts of humankind exist everywhere.

The average citizen is not equipped, either mentally or physically, to deal with these derelicts. That is why even the smallest of towns have law enforcement coverage; and usually the coverage they do have isn't enough. The small town departments usually aren't operating 24 hours, and are usually understaffed and underfunded. This leaves people like Richard Huffman to be the street cop, the detective, the crime scene investigator, the SWAT cop, and the liaison to the public. Small town cops, even today, are your "Bill Hickocks" and "Wyatt Erps" of society. They have to be everything to the town in which they work. They work in environments where backup may be anywhere from two minutes to a half an hour away. In such environments, and with such duties, the ways in which problems are solved and situations are handled are far different then what you see from large city video footage.

Richard Huffman takes you inside this world; the world of the small town cop. This is a world where most video based television shows haven't ventured. He introduces you to people, situations, and a culture that is both interesting and unique from anything else you might read. He takes you on a journey from his life as a laborer from a sharecropping family, to his life as a military man during Vietnam, to his life on the streets as a law enforcement professional. He ends his tale from his journey into the political arena where he served as mayor, to his quiet retirement. He takes you not only into the environment of small town law enforcement, and not only into his personal journey in the profession, but he takes you to a place where cameras can't go: into the mind and emotions of someone in the profession.

This is a place that the cop reality shows can't take you. It is easy to sit behind a television screen and watch an incident with detachment. It is challenging if not impossible to get into the officer's mind and heart. Dreams in Blue takes you there. With his Hemingway-isk style of prose, Huffman takes on that seemingly impossible journey. You don't witness these incidents from a bird's eye or camera view. Through this book, you feel what it would be like to be there yourself, possibly having to handle such incidents that plague small town America. Incidents that may range from dealing with community relations or driving the town drunk home to the situations involving the violent criminal, the rapist or child molester, or the murderer. Are you prepared to not only witness, but feel what it would be like to have to deal with such circumstances?

Purchase Dreams in Blue: "The Real Police," and go on a journey with Richard Neal Huffman that you will never forget. It will change the way you look at your small town cop, and it will revolutionize the way in which you view our society. Get into the mind and heart of a "real" policeman. You'll be happy that you did.

Paul Janulis

Richard Neal Huffman stepped out of the TV of his childhood, and began walking then, in his daily reality, in the footsteps of his super heroes. Though some of Huffman's steps fell far and hard, he kept walking, kept defending, even now, 58 years hence.

This true story needed to be told and needs to be read. It was written in a clean, direct style which had me reading easily, comprehending without effort, wanting to return to read after being away only a few minutes.

Even having been married to a policeman for many years, I learned more from this story than I knew or had experienced about the life of a policeman, more of what I wanted to know, what I felt honored to know.

I am thankful to Amazon for many things, including opportunities in which to develop my profession as a writer; including various services to customers to communicate opinions to each other and to the public on products purchased; including product availability of items I need and can't get as easily locally, or elsewhere.

After reading this story I can say that I'm more thankful to Amazon for one thing over the others noted above. I'm thankful to have been able to find, read, and review the books I have from authors who believed in their work so much, they paid to have their books published. This book, DREAMS IN BLUE, has solidified that appreciation for Amazon being the only easily accessible, viable place in which I could have discovered this book and bought it, in the Super Saver Shipping category, no less. After reading DREAMS IN BLUE, my conclusion has become concrete that I've discovered more rare gems among the offerings of POD's like Publish America, Book Surge, Author House, etc., than among the established NYC Houses. I do not mean to disparage those houses or books; I mean only to elevate POD offerings as they deserve to be in the currently quirky and queue challenged market place.

This true story needed to be told and needs to be read. Yes, I've purposely repeated that statement from my above paragraph.

This is a man who didn't stop at reading and watching movies about super heroes coming to the rescue of the timid or weak, against those who brutally and repeatedly bullied them. This man dedicated himself to defending people in harm's way, from his childhood days through adulthood, in his personal and professional life. His stories accounting this walk reached beyond my heart, into my soul and will do that to most if not all who read it. One qualification, however: Please read this story from page one, in order, and slowly. To use any other method might allow a reader to draw inaccurate conclusions about "The Real Police." This story deserves any reader's apt and orderly attention.

In his introduction, Huffman writes: >>...so that people can better appreciate what the police do on a daily basis.<< He expressed that "daily basis" with refreshingly simply clarity, more so than any other police novel or true crime book I've read. Again, I don't mean to downplay the others; I'm merely expressing my opinion of the unique value in this account.

I had forgotten how underfunded most police agencies are, and how much this lack is increased in many small towns:

>> In stark contrast (to the City Hall in the same building), the police department was housed in a section that, back in the fifties and sixties, had been used by the fire department. During the time that the fire department used the building the floor had a drain so the fire trucks could be washed. The floor became impregnated with oil from leaky seals on the fire trucks. As a result, the carpet that was installed for the police department, later became discolored in spots from the oil working its way back to the surface. The carpet always appeared dirty because of the oil stains.... Many of the (ceiling) tiles were missing or broken, exposing a tangle of electrical wires running this way and that. Some of the tiles were discolored from leaks in the roof, a problem that was not only cosmetic but dangerous, since water and electric does not mix well.... Our two police vehicles were Chevy Novas with too many miles on them, both ran good but were in constant need of repair.... Generally speaking the night shift would get between three and ten complaints during the shift. Now that appears a small number, but when one complaint, such as a serious accident or someone stabbed, or shot, happened, then eight hours was just not enough. Mostly however, it was responding to domestic situations, a report of theft or vandalism a landlord tenant dispute, a disorderly person or a reckless driver. <<

I had known first-hand how these men felt to be in a patrol car alone at night, with backup sometimes a half-hour away in the distance. My husband was a deputy for Multmomah County Sheriff's Office, which protected the large rural county surrounding Portland, Oregon. Those deputies didn't run with partners; each vehicle was manned by a lone deputy, but there were other deputies and Portland police officers actively "out there" somewhere. In a small town like Bangor, Michigan, a single deputy would sometimes be alone in the city, the solitary law enforcement, except when an auxiliary or reserve officer would ride along or have their radios tuned.

This story lived up to its title perfectly, and it does so much more than that. "This is my story," means something here. Something I am thankful to have read. Something you will be thankful to read.

Thank you Richard Neal Huffman, for making it through the other side of throat cancer to write and publish this story. And, my thanks also to your family. I know how it feels to be on their side.

Thank you Amazon, for assisting authors like this to be discovered and read. That service is close to being equal to the one given by men like this author.

Possibly nothing rises above the service of a human being who steps far enough out of his boundaries of safety to rescue someone within the clutches of a bully, when that victim is not able to defend himself. Some people seem to be born to defend.

This hero will not go unsung. Read this clear voice singing as one, in DREAMS IN BLUE "The Real Police." Read it before the chorus comes. I'm proud to be among the first. This man, this story, deserves to be read.

Bless you and your family, Officer Huffman.

Linda Shelnutt

I just finished reading Dreams in Blue and I have to say I could not put it down. My father authored this brilliant peice of work and I have been telling everyone about it because I am so proud of what he has accomplished as well as the fact that it was a great book! I found it to be humorous and frightening at times. The writing moved quickly enough to not be boring and yet slow enough to paint a picture of what was going on. This was my father and I never realized what danger he put himself through every day and what he fought for. This book has truly opened my eyes to the things that were going on as I grew up and they weren't pretty. My father protected us from the "bad guys" and made our town as safe as he could, all the while keeping his humor and good spirit about him. I recommend this book to all those who really want to know what it is like to dedicate yourself to protecting the world around us, even in a small town there are people that are working to hurt people around them and my father along with all the brave police workers are there to prevent them from doing just this. Good job Dad! I am so proud of you! I can't wait to pass this on to my daughter and tell her what a wonderful grandfather she had!
Jenny

So often taken for granted, police throughout our nation help to maintain order and sanity in "civilized" society. They risk their lives every single day for people whom they will likely never meet, all to preserve peace. They see things people should never have to see and face situations people should never have to face. All while asking nothing more in return than a modest paycheck.
Dreams In Blue: The Real Police chronicles the real life career and experiences of one such policeman. The stories are chilling, inspiring and all the more poigniant because they are true. The reader is afforded a rare "fly on the wall" perspective of police work that gives a heightened appreciation for what it means "To protect and serve". Do yourself a favor and buy this one. You won't regret it.

Anyone involved in city planning or anyone that lives in a city should read this. Power of Proximity!

The most amazing book I have ever read...life-altering look at evolutionary coexistence. There is hope for our future...with others understanding and implementing ecocity principles. Please - I challenge you to read and use the book...our way of being depends on it.

Here is an ambitious remit. Register gives a history of the development of cities. And he offers suggestions for what he calls eco-modern designs. That attempt to minimise energy consumption and maximise biodiversity. The former is an obvious laudable aim for any city and its occupants. Rising energy costs, due in part to ever increasing global industrialisation, can adversely affect everyone in a city. Reducing consumption is shown to involve such trends as more energy efficient cars.

But he also advocates a greater biodiversity within cities. More gardens, including on rooftops. Multiple benefits are offered. A more pleasant recreational environment. And reduced cooling costs for buildings.

Register offers a light leftist approach. He does not seem anticapitalist, unlike some radical environmentalists.

EcoCities is a book I have returned to repeatedly and discovered new insights every time. Register is no utopian dreamer; he's addressing real problems in contemporary urban design and land use patterns that cannot be sustained in a lower-energy future. Register's personality comes through loud and clear in his writing--this is no dry treatment of the subject.

Through this book, Register helps us to envision with some specificity what urban landscapes light on automobiles but rich in biodiversity could look like. It's as if he's illustrating a series of before and after treatments of various spaces, but the before picture is now and the after is a future yet to be realized. Highly recommended reading for anyone who wants to help actively design their built environment towards sustainability.

Along with books like Natural Capitalism and Cradle to Cradle, Ecocities takes its place among the most important environmental tomes of our day. In a nutshell, Richard Register's vision (replete with a plan to get us there) could transform our world. In fact a structural response like ecocities (and smart growth) may be the best tools available to bring us to our only destination, sustainability. In his thoughtful book, Register waxes poetic on the environmental crisis we face, shares a grand vision for addressing the crisis -- while simultaneously improving our everyday lives -- and wraps it up with a road map for getting there. His many illustrations spark the imagination and are guaranteed to put a smile on your face. If you haven't read it, just do. Buy this important book now.

Now this is a really heavy book, there is so much information its amazing! Lei esta version en el original ingles y luego en castellano. Poniendo religion a un lado este libro es espectacular, tiene tanta informacion que tienes que tomarte la lectura con tiempo y calma. Las posibilidades son increibles, y muy logicas si piensas abiertamente y dejando dogmas de lado. Este libro es definitivamente de esos que guardas y relees mil veces.

iT IS A VERY GOOD BOOK IF ARE YOU LOOKING FOR SOMETHING SIMILAR AS A DA VINCI CODE. PLEASE READ IT AND YOU WILL SEE HOW ENGROSS YOU WILL BE.
INGRID

Excelente en forma y fondo. Està escrito para que el lector no quiera dejar de leerlo de principio de fin. Historicamente espectacular, un golpe al cristianismo donde mas le duele, en la verdad. Ya era hora de romper los mitos y desenmascarar a la iglesia y toda su farsa de los ùltimos 2000 años. Afortunadamente ya no quemam brujas porque de lo contrario los 3 historiadores que hicieron el libro estarìan en la hoguera junto a los millones de inocentes que el cristianismo ha matado durante su historia

Holy Blood, Holy Grail is a clever, thought-provoking book that will get your blood boiling if you're a Christian fundamentalist. The authors create a wonderful story by tying together some of the world's greatest religious mysteries (the historical Jesus, the Crusades, the Knights Templars, the Albigensian heretics, and Freemasonry). You'll have to decide for yourself the accuracy of their theory. In a nutshell, the authors argue that the Holy Grail was the bloodline of Jesus, descendant of King David, which was carried out of the holy land in the form of Jesus' wife, Mary Magdelene, and which survives today in the noble houses of European aristocracy. Don't scoff at this idea, because recent Dead Sea Scroll scholarship (see Barbara Thiering) lends credence to much of the story. Even if you don't believe the premise, you'll find this book hard to put down

Esta es la verdadera fuente de la cual Brown tomo su idea para "El codigo da Vinci". Aqui la historia y las especulaciones en torno al tema de la descendencia de Cristo provienen de fuentes historicas. La informacion, mas "heavy" que esa aguada que aparece en el libro de Brown, requiere de un lector con cerebro, dispuesto a detenerse de vez en cunando a pensar en lo que le estan diciendo. Apasionante.

I flunked algebra in high school. Now I'm taking a 095 algebra class at a local collage and now I'm getting A's and B's. It's a great book and ours came packaged with lecture CDs. It maybe the best algebra text book but you still have to do practice problems over and over to get good grades they don't just happen because the book was so good.

I used this book in my first back-to-college algebra class, and it is a great book. Easy to understand explanations and step-by-step instructions made algebra way easier than I remembered! Please note: the companion solutions manual has many wrong answers. The book itself, however, is great. If your class is using this book, you will do well.

I would really like to thank Mr. Angel for putting together a great book. I have to admit that I was afraid of Algebra until I started studying from this book.

Thanks !

I wish he had written all of my text books. Everything is clearly laid out with examples that are broken down into small steps to make understanding even clearer.

The book was laid out well and establishes a good flow with the reader. Contains helpful drawings and diagrams. This book is well suited for visual learners.

When I readThe Feynman Lectures on Physics including Feynman's Tips on Physics: The Definitive and Extended Edition, I was hoping to understand the reasoning behind the exclusion principle, and was disappointed to find that RPF felt that this was too complex for undergraduates, so he asked them to take it on faith for the moment.

Here he is talking to a more advanced audience, and explains it - he was right, it's tough. I'm still struggling to understand it, but I have confidence that this is a good book to help.

[Added nearly a year later] Having reread the book several times, I finally understand Feynman's lecture! As is often the case, once I understand the principle, I see relationships to various other things I had not fully understood before.

I should also comment on Weinberg's lecture: he's talking about more speculative areas than Feynman, which is perhaps one reason I found him less enlightening than Feynman, but in a rather vague way I follow what he's saying. Certainly these are fascinating ideas, but they don't sing to me like Feynman's lecture.

From Richard Feynman, with love. Need more to be said? Read it, and read it again. This one can be read all over again once in a while and does not get boring.

This short book, Elementary Particles and the Laws of Physics, offers two lectures: Richard Feynman's The Reason for Antiparticles and Steven Weinberg's Toward the Final Laws of Physics. These two talks comprise the 1986 Dirac Memorial lectures at Cambridge University. Both presentations are cogently structured and make fascinating reading.

The talks were directed at an advanced audience, one that was familiar with quantum mechanics. Unlike many popular presentations by Feynman and Weinberg, these lectures are not suitable for the general layman.

However, these lectures are accessible to a persistent (perhaps, stubborn) layman with a calculus background and a deep interest in particle physics. I am not a physicist, but I did take my share of physics, chemistry, and math courses several decades ago. I encountered Schrodinger's equation in more than one class, but not relativistic quantum mechanics. However, having recently read Bruce Schumm's wonderful review of particle physics (titled Deep Down Things), I was sufficiently motivated to work my way through both Dirac memorial lectures.

Richard Feynman's lecture, The Reason for Antiparticles, is decidedly the more difficult. Feynman first demonstrates that quantum mechanics and relativity together require the existence of antiparticles, and then shows that they also establish the spin-statistics connection. Within a few pages advanced mathematical expressions appear and then persistently stay in the foreground for nearly the entire talk.

Although understanding Feynman's mathematics is critical for a full and deep appreciation of his exposition, with careful, repeated readings the stubborn layman will have sudden moments of enlightenment and can come away with a deeper understanding of antiparticles and spin statistics. For readers engaged in some self-tutorial readings, it may prove helpful to return occasionally to this classic Feynman lecture to qualitatively measure progress. I have no doubt that, on a deeper level, Feynman's lecture will similarly challenge and enlighten physics majors as well.

Steven Weinberg discusses his speculations on the shape of a final underlying theory of particle physics. Initially, his talk is deceptively easy as few mathematical expressions are used. However, about midway a Lagrangian density equation appears, ratcheting the difficulty several notches, as Weinberg considers a theoretical framework based on quantum mechanics and a few symmetry principles, that is also mathematically consistent with the Lagrangian dynamical principle. After discussion of some limitations of the Standard Model, Weinberg concludes his talk with a somewhat mathematical introduction to string theory.

As usual, the best physics books are short and to the point, as is this one. The two Dirac lectures may serve as a perfectly good mini physics course all by themselves. I always enjoy a Feynman lecture, and this is no exception. He cuts to the chase without sacrificing the plot. But, I must say, in this case the Wienberg lecture is the better of the two. Weinberg's style has a particular grace & beauty about it that gently exposes the aesthetic meaning of the search for a picture of nature.

Feynman yet again gives great insight into the laws of physics, this time exploring the reasons for existence of anti-particles, starting from the dirac equation etc.. Plus some really outstanding photographs, that fella Weinberg will be chuffed to have his name mentioned on the book cover!

ELf Quest is not like anyother graphic novel I've read. It shows you a whole other world of elves no one knew existed. Yeah, it sounds really lame, but trust me. Its more then a farytale about elves, trolls and faeries. Its actually a lot more knowledgable. Trust me, your really missing out if you dont give this book a chance. ITS THE BEST

The Quest Begins is another wonderfull book from elfquest. A Tale of Undying love and unjust hate fill this book. A great book for any Elfquest fan.

The persecuted elves cannot find any safehaven. The humans want their extinction. Cutter, brave young leader of the wolfrider-elves tries to find and unite all the elves of the World of Two Moons to avert the elves' final destruction.

Arguably the best of the three Elfquest-based novels yet written, "The Quest Begins" includes all the plot material from issues 6-10 (collected in Book Two, "The Forbidden Grove") while effectively expanding the story, mainly by getting deeper into the emotions of the characters.

Those familiar with the series may want to know that the main improvement this novel provides is the extra insight into Leetah's mind, as she wrestles with the necessity - but also the danger - of leaving her home and heading into the great and mysterious forest, in order (possibly) to save Cutter's life. This is the element missing from the original story, which makes it whole.

This is the second book in the series. Written in text form, it covers book 2 of the graphic art series. It is, if anything, even richer and better written than the first book in the text series. The book covers what happens to the Wolfrider elves after they settle down with the desert elves. After a traumatic encounter with stray humans, the Wolfrider chief decides to see if he can find other elves to unite them against what is clearly becoming a major problem -- human invasion of the elves' homes.

The idea is simple, but mythic. Covering much land, the questing elves run into not-so-hostile trolls and friendly humans of various sorts, forcing them to go against their grain in many ways. As usual, the writing is lush and descriptive, painting evocative pictures with words. Elves are more than capable of bigotry, false assumptions, and violence, as well as fear and hesitation. One elf has to confront his longstanding hatred of humans; another has to confront her terrible fear of the unknown. The conflicts set up in this novel are amazing to watch unfold.

Best of all, the novel stands on its own easily. It expands very much on what happened in the graphic novel, to the point that it doesn't feel like a novelization at all. I would suggest this book wholeheartedly both to people who don't own the graphic novels, and to those wishing to learn more about what happened in the graphic novels.

I loved this book. Not only is the art work beautiful, the story is one I've been wanting to see for quite some time. If you don't have this book in your collection already, I recommend adding it.

the book wolfrider is one of wendi's best i think. beutiful story, art, and over all everything

If you are a fan of the Elfquest comics, this is really a must to own. Lots of facts are to be revealed about Bearclaw's leadership and about the elf he was and if you are fan of Strongbow, you really must read it...

Why?
Because in this book you will find all kinds of emotion, from happiness to desperation and grief. And a dark chapter in the history of the Wolfriders is enlightened. What kind of chief, lifemate and father was Bearclaw?
And...
Did you ever wanted to know more about Strongbow, the silent archer? And about his deceased child? Then this issue is worth to read. His dislike of changes, it doesn't come out of nowhere, does it? Read and you'll know.

Not only this issue, but all the issues drawn by Wendy Pini are worth to read... you won't regret it......

Bearclaw isn't an easy character to love, and he definitely isn't the stereotypical nurturing, loving, peacable Wolfrider. The book details how he came to make war on the humans and firmly sets responsibility for that war just as squarely on his shoulders as on the humans'. Prejudice, racial hatred, violent childrearing, and Dumb Boy Mistakes abound here. After reading this book, I came to understand that the Pini's elves are in their way just as human as we are, and just as capable of unpleasant behavior and beliefs.

In "Hidden Years", when Ember asks her father, Cutter (whose hand is raised to slap her), "Who taught you to do that, anyway?", the question is all the more poignant, and Cutter's childrearing beliefs in the face of Bearclaw's treatment become all the more remarkable.

I was quite jarred when, midway through the book, another artist took over -- this new artist had a very different style from Wendy and honestly I did not like that style much -- but eventually Wendy took over again.

I'd consider this a must-have in an Elfquest reader's library. It very efficiently balances the overly-good image the elves have.

I think that this book is very interesting becasue it gives a little insight into bearclaw's world as a leader, but the illustrations get a little shotty towards the end. But all in all it is a great book. I recomend reading this book, so one would be able to learn the history of the wolfRider tribe.

This was a great find and addition to my cookbook collection. The recipes are easy to follow, the prep and purchasing information is no-nonsense and easy to follow. If you love seafood or need to but a bride gift, this is a great purchase and reference tool. I have learned much and enjoy the recipes.

this is hands down the best book for fish lovers

it is a valuable resource in my kitchen

A plethora of information about hundreds of species of fish- How they are classed and where they inhabit, historical and cultural importance of many fishes, identification of fish, quality of meat and how to cook them. Incredibly interesting and useful!

Easy to use, accurate basic knowledge on the origin, taste, texture, and even good suggestions for prepareing almost any fish under the water!

This book is organized alphabetically; to give a sense of its scope it begins:aalmutter, abalone, akule, Alaska pollock, alga, anchovy, Artic char, ark shell, aspic (not a fish but useful for fish recipes), Atka mackerel, barnacle, barracuda ... in short, you'll be hard pressed to find in your fish market something not covered here.

For each fish, the book gives information regarding their looks (there are ample photos), where they grow, their culinary uses ... and for many of the fish, recipes. To take a simple example, for black sea bass it gives recipes for steamed sea bass, sea bass Lisbon style, and sea bass chowder.

The recipes are reliable - easy to follow and well proportioned. This is everything you'll ever need or want in a fish cooking resource.

Gosh! This is for people who count, what else does a combinatorist do? Before people dismiss me as somebody who don't know hoot about math: I took a class with Prof. Stanley (the author) in college, and I had actually used vol 1 as a text. The material is highbrow (I agree on the 'hardcore' math observation) but the main theme of the book is how to 'count' -- needless to say not in the sense of everyday counting, but in the sense that 'topology' is 'coffee-to-donut transformation' and 'analysis' is 'honors calculus'. You have to know how to count, and comfortable with combinatorial proof to actually learn from this. I like the fact that Prof. Stanley asks for combinatorial proof to some known results, marking them as unsolved -- he really elevates the status of combinatorial proof, a method many dismiss as 'handwaving'. There is a number given to each exercise, according to the level of difficulty: [1] for trivial, [5] unsolved. I saw a professor who worked in differential topology for 40 years refer to this book -- and first year undergrads thumbing through the pages for exercises marked [1] and [2] to solve in spare time. This is a book for all levels of mathematicians: I am sure even the armchair amateur mathematicians can grasp some of the materials after a hard day's thought. I dont see this book as any less than a definitive text on enumerative combinatiorics.

This book is a must for anyone who likes how to count. In addition to the superb exposition of deep and important mathematics, it contains so many intriguing problems, some of them even puzzle-like. Read this book cover-to-cover or open it at a random page. Either way you would love it!

This is an excellent book on combinatorics, but it is quite difficult to understand--written for experts, not novices. The author often chooses a more general framework in which to present things, and this can make the material quite difficult to follow. But the rewards for the diligent reader are great. Occasionally I question how Stanley chooses to present a certain topic, but usually if I look closely enough, I see that there are deep reasons for his choice of notation or presentation.

Some of the material in this book is easier than others; some of it depends on earlier chapters, but some stands on its own. People interested in partially ordered sets and lattices may want to jump ahead to that chapter--much of this chapter stands on its own, and it is an excellent exposition of that topic, and I think somewhat easier to understand than the rest of the book.

The most precious thing about this book is that the author manages to provide several comprehensive frameworks for solving large classes of enumeration problems. Combinatorics seems a hodge-podge subject to many mathematicians, but Stanley manages to see it as a unified subject with a number of general theories and common techniques. This book is truly the only text I have ever read that has this perspective on the subject.

I would recommend this book only to someone who has a strong background in mathematics and wants a challenging text that can take them to a deeper level of understanding. Students of combinatorics may want to take this book out of the library and read the introductory pages; there are some particularly useful comments right at the beginning. As a final note, the exercises in this book are also helpful and of diverse difficulty levels--and Stanley classifies the exercises by their difficulty level. People who find this book difficult to follow may want still benefit from some of the easier exercises. Students wanting an easier-to-follow text might want to check out Cameron's "Combinatorics", or Wilf's "Generatingfunctionology". As a final note I would like to remark that this book is very reasonably priced, especially when you consider the wealth of material it contains.

I agree with the other reviewers. The book is a masterpiece on enumerative combinatorics. However, I am not so sure that it is a good book for a beginner. If you are a beginner, then you should read another book first, like John Riordan's book on "Combinatorial Analysis." Stanley's book is best suited for an advanced student who has a high level of mathematical mental maturity. The reason I say this is that in a few places Stanley's formalism, which is entirely appropriate for professional exposition, actually obscures the underlying simplicity of the mathematical ideas. We have all seen this in research papers, where a mathematician takes a trivial idea and "obsures" the underlying simplicity with too much formalism. However, for an advanced student, the book has a high density of important ideas and methods.

There was an earier review that claimed this book is for "people who like to count." That's a little silly. This book is a rigorous math text. And it's glorious. It's probably my favorite text. But it's not light reading at all.

I spent a semester actively reading and working on this book with my advisor. I read this book and worked on research, 50/50 split on my time. I got through 2.5 of the 4 chapters, and I'm damn proud of myself. It's a great book, but if you didn't know that 'enumerative' was for "people who like to count", you probably want a different text.

This is a fantastic and accessible tour through the work of one of the greatest prose stylists of the 20th century--within the law or outside it. Holmes's style is clear-eyed without being cynical, concrete without being simplistic, and erudite without being pedantic. Just when a thought threatens to become wispy and indefinite, Holmes nails it down with a perfect metaphor.

This collection covers a wide range of Holmes's seemingly inexhaustible interests: literature, history, economics, science, and, of course, the law. The introduction by Judge Posner is excellent.

After reading this, I am eager to read more about Holmes and even more eager to read more Holmes.

This selection made by Posner gives us an interesting and different approach to Judge Holmes which allow us to discover not only the Judge but the most intimate thoughts of the writer and philosoper who Holmes was.

A must for those interested in Law and Freedom and the human beings who, as Holmes, had no fears to develop a free spirit and to be free individuals.

U.S. Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes has to be one of the most frequently quoted legal scholars and this book walks a reader through his prolific writings. Judge Richard Posner has written some of the most thought-provoking legal books but this one is his editing a compilation of a variety of Holmes' writings that gives well directed insight into Holmes'amazingly creative mind.
Posner's extraordinary introductory facilitates a reader's understanding of Holmes' pearls of wisdom and for anyone fascinated by legal brilliance this book is a great read.

The Essential Holmes, edited by Richard A. Posner (judge on the seventh circuit) collects the thoughts of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. via his numerous letters, court opinions, law journal articles and miscelleneous writings. It is a daunting task as Holmes was quite well-learned and something of a polymath, discoursing on everything from metaphysical philosophy to economics to law.

Posner, though, does a great job in editing the letters and pasting the relevant sections into easily digestible sections loosely related to the chapter's 'theme.' Posner's goal, to be sure, is to focus more on Holmes the philosopher, and i'm sure law students (who may know Holmes the Justice best) will thrill at the chance to really see how his philosophy - sympathetic with American pragmatism - extends into his thoughts on law. About the first half of the book is devoted to Holmes's philosophy on everything from metaphysics to the 'life struggle' and 'social struggle.' The second half segues the more theoretical sections into Holmes's views on statutory and common law, the interpretative 'theory' of both, and Holmes's ever contreversial and confusing views on individual liberty.

As the reader will find (or may already know) Holmes's social, ethical, and metaphysical philosophy is something of an individualistic relativism. Dreams of any final theory are suspect, and the social order is not much more than each person operating in self-interest, clashing with other people (doing the same) in something of a never-ending Darwinian struggle. From this (and the fact that Holmes believed all morality to be local and relative to context), law should not be seen as being gotten from some 'natural law'-like moral order, but should be disconnected from morality; rather, it should be seen as humankind's way of deriving regularity from the clashes of human interest in a neat little fiat. The law, then, is simply what the soveriegn says it is.

This (among other things) has made Holmes out to be something of a bad guy. To be sure, he can come off as crass and 'pre-post-modern.' But Holmes is also refreshingly real (at least to my eyes, as I am a philosophic ptragmatist through and through). It is becasue Holmes saw that there is no universal standard of 'natural law' or other such 'free-floating' fictions that he was such a believer in judicial restraint - holding to the constitution even when he personally disagreed. Many of those cases (Lochner, etc.) are included in this volume.

The only two things I was disappointed did not get more time was Holmes's first amendment views which are notoriously hard to decipher, and the conflict between his simultenous support of a 'living constitution' and his belief in judicial restraint. Both are conflicts that even the best of scholars wade through confusedly (never able to resolve their tensions), and it would have been nice to see a bit more focus on these two areas.

Of course, Posner is not at fault as this is an edited collection which can only provide what Holmes said; maybe he simply never resolved these two views.

To conclude, this is a great and artfully done collection that focuses more on Holmes's philosophy (from metaphysics to ethics) than do most of Holmes's collections. For those that know Posner, he is awfully sympathetic in idea to Holmes and his intro, though, breif is first rate; the selections, also, are fantastically picked. This book is not to be missed by lawyers who want some philosophy, and philosophers that want some law. Holmes was just amazingly skilled at both.

Posner, who is arguably today's most influential legal thinker, has put together an invaluable collection of Justice Holmes' most memorable writings. The combo of Posner selecting Holmes is powerful: the selections invariably present the brilliant Holmes on timeless legal topics. So much brain power is frightening, and we are lucky to be able to get it all in one fairly short book. All the more remarkable is how Holmes' ideas have not aged a bit; the similarities between Holmes and Posner are obvious.

This book is a must for academically-inclined lawyers, judges and professors.