Richardson Books

I recently returned from Barcelona and couldn't be happier to have found this book at my local Williams Sonoma. It's gorgeous and informative and, in addition, has recipes! I feel much better equipped, for my next trip to Barcelona as I'm making lists of eateries not to miss. I'm in the process of ordering Barcelona for my sister and also Rome and Florence for myself. I'm looking forward to trying several recipes in the book, pork loin with peaches, Catalan-style fava beans, marinated olives and especially the cava recipe, "liquid" granita of sparkling wine. This book is going to make the coming winter months very warm indeed with marvelous memories of an incredible city and whetting the appetite for future trips.

This book looks beautiful, but that is not enough for a cookbook. The recipes should taste good and work, too and they do not in this book. We could not even eat the Chicken and Ham Croquettes, the mixture should have congealed into a thick paste, but it did not, it was runny and bland tasting. The chocolate truffle cake looks and sounds great, but is dry and dissapointing. The Cream of Lentil Soup was bland, the topping added a bit of flavor, but not fabulous. The Flatbread with Eggpland, Peppers, and Olives was the best thing we made, but the flatbread needed more salt for flavor.
Search for another Spanish cookbook if you really want to cook, but buy this one, if you would like to learn about the food and look at pretty pictures!

I am from Barcelona and there are two things I really appreciate about this book. It allows me to cook our food with US products, which is not always easy. On the other hand, it serves as an introduction to our food and our way of life. It is always a handy present for my non Catalan friends.

Nothing to say about the edition: it is good.
The author, however, is very inferior to Polybius and to Livy as a narrator and his sense of Spanish geography is deplorable. So, what does he bring to the party?
I recommend you buy one of the others rather than this one.

The sixth book of Appian's "Roman History" is the only continuous narrative of the "fiery war" between Rome and the native tribes of the Iberian peninsula. Here is recounted the heroic exploits of Viriathus, the futile defiance of Numantia, even the occasion which prompted the beginning of the civil new year to be moved from March 15 to January 1. Erudite and informative, Richardson provides an excellent introduction and extensive historical commentary. A welcome alternative to the 1912 Loeb edition!

Wow! I borrowed this book from a friend who kept talking about it. After reading 2 chapters I was on Amazon.com and got a copy for myself!
It is amazing how clearly and simply the book describes the SENSORY world as babies experience their new environment in the first year of their lives and what effect all those sensory input has on them. About how their immature nervous system is constantly trying to process ALL the information what they are subjected to - from the feel of their clothes on their skin to the temperature, the touch of your holding arms on their body to bright lights in the room and even the smell of all the visitors in the room! Things we take for granted, as our nervous system can filter it out - but they can NOT yet deal with...so we wondering WHY ARE THEY SCREAMING?? (it was also BRILLIANT to phrase from when the in-laws got carried away in their effort to entertain my little boy who wanted PEACE finally.)
I give this book to all my friends with new babies now! I think all new parents should be given this book on their way from the hospital (Or rather on the way in ....against all those early visitors who handle your baby around the room when you just want to get to know each other!)
Baby Sense

It is a FIVE STAR book and I recommend it with no hesitation to all new parents.

If you've read any other baby book then the info in this book will not be any different. It reminds me of a college essay - waste of time for me.

Baby sense is an exceptional guideline to the sensory well being of your new baby. The book serves as a step-by-step guide for new Moms to understand the sensory world of the infant, teaching you to see and interpret what your babies needs are. It has made my life as a first time Mom a breeze. The book covers all the important aspects of early baby rearing. I recommend this book to all moms who want to be able to understand their babies needs.

This book is a great disapointment. I heard a lot of Mrs Richardson work, I am on her news letter list and was a little too ansious to receive this book.

There is nothing new on her aproach, it is a not so well writen manual to apply sales techniques in the banking market. Somethig that any graduate can do after reading Dr Futrell's books or Spin Selling.

There is too much to explore in this teme. This sould bee a more compreensive work to be whorty.

Banking in the 1980's is a more fiercely competitive business than at any other time in history. Today's banking professional is expected to initiate sales and increase market share even as the number of competing banks and banking services spiral upward. In order to succeed in this intensely competitive enviroment, today's bankers must add the skills of a salesperson to their portfolio of financial expertise.

This compact "how to" guide - the first ever designed specifically for the banking profession - will help account and calling officers, product specialists, platform personnel, and management trainees develop the essential selling skills needed to effectively market the broad range of credit and noncredit services banks now offer. Drawing on her wide experience as a consultant to some of the leading banks in America, Linda Richardson shows you how to master a flexible, responsive approach to selling financial services - one that combines product knowledge with consultative selling skills. Using this approach, you'll be able to confidentlly plan your sales calls, recognise and respond to your customer's needs, and a sell financial relationship that will benefit your client and your organization.
--- from book's dustjacket

Basics: 1990, softcover, 180 pages, 101 color photos, 280 b&w drawings, 360 species, range maps, seasonal charts

This book is a hybrid between an atlas and a minimal photo guide. All the birds of the United Arab Emirates are discussed here. The seasonal status and distribution of each bird is covered in 3 - 16 lines, depending on its frequency in the country. This is not an identification guide but a reference book describing the presence of the birds in the country.

Most (280) of the birds are depicted with a good black-and-white drawing. The 20 plates contain 95 species, which are shown in 101 color photographs. These represent the resident and expected visitors to the country. While some of the photos are a bit small, they are generally good. These photos were meant to showcase some of the UAE birds and not to act as a field guide. There are other books for that.

All of the birds have a seasonal status chart which is made up of a horizontal bar with all twelve months. The varying darkness of the shading represents the abundance of the bird during the year. Range maps represent the breeding ranges for about 75 species.

Lastly, 26 pages are dedicated to birding locations in the UAE. These locations are shown with maps along with notes on the area's habitat along with a list of expected birds.

This is book is a good data reference for those people wishing to get an overview of the UAE's birds, at least as of 1990 when this book was written. I'm glad to have added it to my library.

Other Related Books:
1) Field Guide to the Birds of the Middle East by Porter et.al.
2) Birds of the Middle East and North Africa by Hollom et.al.
3) Birdlife in Oman by Eriksen
4) The Birds of Oman by Gallagher/Woodcock
5) Birds of Al Jabal Al Akhdar by Eriksen
6) Common Birds in Oman by Eriksen
7) Inland Birds of Saudi Arabia by Silsby
8) Birds of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia by Bundy/Connor/Harrison
9) Birds of Southern Arabia by Robinson/Chapman
10) Birds of Bahrain by Nightingale/Hill

The Birds of the UAE is not out of print! It was privately published and I hold plenty of stock and can provide it to anyone wholesale (35% discount) or retail (£17 plus £5 p&p) who wishes a copy. Contact Colin Richardson P.O. Box 50394, Dubai. Thank you...

This book does not fully explain the status of some birds in the UAE. Some species are commoner than they were in the 1980's. I do advice a birdwatcher coming to the UAE to buy this book as he/she will not find it useful at all. The latest guide to the UAE's avifauna is the Shell Birdwatching Guide to the UAE.

This book was an easy read and wasnt all that scary to me but it had a good plot and stuff.So if u have nothing to read waiting for another book this would be a good book for that

I was browsing in my local bookstore and picked this up because of the cover. I wasn't expecting much it turned out to be surprisingly good. Although it's a kid's book the creep factor and actual scare quotients are high. In one exquisite scene the hero, Bryan and a buddy are running for their lives. They know that they are not imagining things, they know that if they slow down or fall they will die and they know that the adults in their town will not help and somehow don't want to know about the Dark Man. They are totally on their own. Scary stuff.

In some ways this book reminded me of It if It were written for a younger audience and cut out all the side stories.

I bought this book because I have been working on restoring a classic British car, and I wanted to make everything under the hood look nice and professional. To my surprise, this book is chock full of tricks that are useful for car restoration and beyond. I would recommend this book to anyone who is doing any kind of metal work.

This book contains sections on general detailing techniques, including sand blasting, painting, powder coating, polishing, welding, and stuck bolt removal. Specific sections apply these techniques to engines, brakes, suspension, and exhaust. I particularly enjoyed the sections on polishing and powder coating.

The powder coating section includes details of a do-it-yourself kit that costs only $150. This kit allows you to apply most powder coatings, and cure them using an ordinary household oven (don't use the one in the kitchen, you'll never get the smell out). I ordered the kit as soon as I read the section, and I have been powder coating all kinds of stuff, and it works!

The polishing section has also proved to be immediately useful. I also ordered the polishing kit recommended in the book, and I have been practicing. Though it is not as easy as powder coating, I am starting to get some professional looking results.

This book was written in cooperation with the Eastwood Company. Eastwood manufactures and distributes all kinds of unique and nifty gadgets for automotive repair and restoration.

While this book is excellent, I held back on giving it five-stars because it did not contain quite enough material. It could use a bit more detailed information in each section, and I would have paid more for it. But as it stands, it is a good work and worth the money.

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I ordered this book but when I first opened it, I was disappointed. I mean, how many times do I need to read about how to set up a shop? The further I got into the book though, the more I realized that Jim Richardson has been in the wrench business for some time and that he knows some pretty good tricks.

If you're looking for a step by step book similar to How to Restore Your Ford Pickup by Tom Brownell, look somewhere else. Jim's book hits on many of the lesser know subjects like broken bolts, media blasting, steering boxes, and powder coating. Oh ya, if you don't know who the Eastwood Company is, you sure will by the time you finish this book. A lot of their products are featured.

All in all, I would have to say the book was worth the money. Heck, the door alignment carpet trick and the info now how to deal with a front coil spring without injuring my body, probably paid for the book.

While this book is certainly representative of the current state of gender equity research, it suffers from the same flaw - a "zero sum" approach. This handbook fits well into the current "backlash" trend that has characterized the gender equity community over the last several years.

Given the context out of which it was created, it is not surprising that a review of this book shows that coverage of male gender equity issues is noticeably lacking.

First, there is no substantive coverage of the gender gaps in the language arts. In fact, this handbook devotes nearly the same number of pages to "visual arts and dance" (22 pages) as it does to "communication skills." (24 pages) Of particular note, there is no discussion of the role that the current "girls club" model of secondary language art instruction has on enrollment in elective language arts classes.

Second, there is no mention of the three most important areas of gender discrimination in the public school system today - teacher assigned grades, the availability of extra-curricular activities, and school disciplinary rates . As many parents have realized, the best way to evaluate a school's commitment to gender equity is to attend the academic awards ceremony at the end of the school year, or to read the honor roll if it is still published in the local newspaper. If there are more girls than boys mentioned, then it is obvious that the school is not educating its male students. Likewise, if there are more female students involved in school activities (student government, athletics, band, newspaper, yearbook, etc.) than male students, then it is obvious that the school does not provide sufficient extra-curricular activities for boys. Finally, if more male students are suspended or expelled than female students, then it is obvious that the development and enforcement of school rules is biased against boys. The one common factor in all of these areas is that the gender equity community (and by extension this handbook) has refused to even acknowledge that these areas of concern exist.

Finally, at several points this handbook bemoans the fact that gender equity research is not taken seriously by the "general public." The reason for this is clear - gender equity research is not grounded in reality. As described in the previous paragraph, members of the community are well aware of the true state of gender equity in public schools. People are also aware of the outcomes of education - simply compare the gender gap in life expectancy (mortality rate), or the incarceration rate.

In summary, this book is rooted in the "zero-sum" model of gender equity. Fortunately, parents, teachers and administrators have generally rejected this approach. It is for this reason that most of the current work in addressing areas such as the language arts gender gap is taking place at the "grass roots" level of the educational system. This is also the reason why this handbook has little to no value for parents and teachers working in the real world.

The first edition of this Handbook (then titled Handbook for Achieving Sex Equity in Education) appeared in 1985. The Handbook was among the landmarks in examining the extent, the roots, and the possible remedies for inequities. It stood at the time rather like The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World, prominent by virtue of uniqueness and scope of the endeavor, by virtue of the quality of the materials, and by virtue of the close connection sought between policy and practice. For a free digital version of this classic, see http://feminist.org/education/handbook.asp

The context for the 2007 edition is different. In part because of the success of the 1985 Handbook, the 2007 edition arrives in a world with greater attention to gender equity in education, with some areas where gaps are closing or have closed, with more research available, with other excellent books whose contents and intent somewhat overlap, and with standards for educational research emphasizing strong inference and empirically-based knowledge. It also arrives in a world where for over a decade funds for research focused on gender equity as well as gender equity initiatives have lost ground in purchasing power and where once-stronger federal emphasis on educational equity has dwindled.

How, in this context, can the value of the 2007 Handbook be judged? As I studied my copy, I looked in particular for (1) balanced attention to progress made and unfinished business, (2) adequate consideration of diversity and disaggregation in the analyses, (3) attention to research quality, and (4) value beyond the sum of its parts.

My conclusion? The Handbook, while issue could be taken here or there, is probably the single best source today for those wanting a comprehensive assessment of where we have been, where we are now, where we might need to go, and how to get there with regard to gender equity in education. Let me begin, however, with a few places where issue might be taken. These are (1) more systematic attention to assessment of the quality of research and evaluation in this field and how to improve it, (2) a more consistent voice across the chapters on gender equity in contrast to the status of girls and women, and (3) in some chapters, greater recognition of the debates within this field. That is, some, indeed many or most chapters, show exemplary attention to these three issues but better still, if all had.

The strengths far outweigh the limitations.

First, all of the chapters include discussion of the present status with regard to gender equity of the specific topic of the chapter as well as discussion of changes in these indicators over a fairly long period. Progress is spotlighted, and unfinished business highlighted. An example is gender equity in educational leadership where teaching, particularly at the elementary and secondary schools, is predominantly female today, while principals particularly at secondary levels are predominantly male This chapter provides a great deal of carefully presented data over time showing the size of the gaps and trends, thoughtful examination of research on root causes, and policy recommendations. Another chapter focuses on gender equity in foreign and second language learning, finding, as in the preceeding communication skills chapter, a gender gap favoring girls/women which leaves boys/men disadvantaged for languages where data were available. This chapter again describes trend s, gives data on the size of the gap, examines evidence on reasons for the gap, and offers recommendations relevant both to men and to women, for whom study abroad may be challenging.

Second, most chapters admirably demonstrate detailed subgroup analyses and disaggregation. Almost every chapter could be a model of how to get beneath simple male/female comparisons, examining these comparisons for different ethnic groups, economic groups, or other meaningful sub-groups. In statistical terms, the chapter authors check out two, three, and even four-way interactions before drawing conclusions about main effects. Great care is taken to look for explanatory research and to incorporate disaggregation in the recommendations. The exception in a thick book of 31 chapters was a chapter on the arts and dance, where I felt the starting point was feminist critiques of the curriculum. An explicit focus on encouraging more gender equitable participation and valuing of the arts and dance would have reached different conclusions.

Third, almost all the chapters had sections discussing research quality in an effort to cast the net widely but accept only studies of reasonable research quality. The chapters did rely more on dissertations than some meta-analytic or review-of-the-literature researchers prefer, in contrast to including only material published in refereed journals. This is a tough choice when data are scarce. One felt care was taken to look at all the research cited with an appropriate and often highly knowledgeable eye. The authors are researchers and this shows in their effort to sort out more and less trustworthy findings. Often, there just isn't much evaluation or research available. The extent and depth of the methodological discussion varies, however, chapter by chapter and there isn't an overall chapter on issues of research and evaluation quality. Research issues were briefly discussed in the introduction and, as noted, in many of the chapters.

Fourth, the individual chapters are in general first-rate and many are probably the best single source for such relevant topics as the role of government in advancing gender equity and gender equity in educational content (the chapters on social studies, communications, and science, for example). These alone make the Handbook an important resource for research and practice. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts because of a firm editorial hand assuring every chapter discusses policy recommendations and a superb overall summary and recommendations chapter bringing these together. This chapter in itself could be a framework for task forces at various governmental levels and foundations concerned with the unfinished business of gender equity, as well as a framework for graduate seminars in gender equity and policy.

The book further may help assess our priorities. Many chapters conclude that gender gaps are closing, that differences within gender groups often are wider than differences between them, and that in indicators used to assess equality, ethnicity/race is a considerably more striking and continuing point of inequality. The multiple whammy of gender, ethnic, economic and disability is addressed, laudably, in many chapters. But the Handbook documents, celebrates, and makes clear progress since 1985 but it also makes clear what the unfinished business is: for instance, boys continue to lag in language arts and communication skills; high school graduation and college enrollment rates may be equal, but not participation in AP math/science/engineering courses or attainment of Ph.D.s in these fields; and CEO salaries are still more the domain of men than of women, although the trends show this gap too is closing in areas such as college presidencies.

Having such data collected and readily available to hand can make the good difference in discussing priorities and policies. The Handbook does an outstanding service in providing a generally comprehensive, well-structured, and credible source of thought, word, and inspiration to new deeds in finishing the business of reaching fuller gender equity in education.

Lois-ellin Datta, Ph.D.
Datta Analysis

Very useful for business managers. The steps could be confusing at first for non-quants. But the datasets from www.duxbury.com makes following a breeze! I would recommend this book to all those interested in making better judgement using excel tools.

This book is a little difficult to follow. The editoral review said that you only need some familiarity with excel but I found this to not be the case. You will need to be at least at the intermediate level with excel to follow some of the examples and many of the problems in the book. Some examples are unclear and no answers are given to the questions. However if you are able to follow the book, the practical applications will be benefical to managers.- Even though there are better applications than excel that managers can use.

An essential book for learning about the architecture of Pompeii. This is intended to be a scholarly work for people with a serious interest in the subject. It hardly deserves two stars because it's not written in the style of a comic book. Grown-ups, mature lay-readers, and professionals will want to add this to their collections.

First, a warning: do not buy this book if you're thinking of curling up by the fire at home during the weekend, lying back, and learning about the colorful and exotic world of ancient Pompeii and foreign Roman society via colorful and provocative pictures of ruins and paintings.

This book is purely an architectural study. But it's material like this that's used by other writers to scribe the interesting books with lotsa pictures. Hey, I didn't enjoy reading it during my Pompeii class, I probably wouldn't have read it at all if the Prof hadn't assigned it, but it helped me to familiarize the city of Pompeii and its principal ruins. And I'm not saying that I did great in the class either, but the book helped.

There are no pictures. But anyone who's REALLY interested in Pompeii should read this.

Also, buy the paperback: it's much less expensive and easier to carry. Peace.