Scott Books

A DIVISION OF THE SPOILS by Paul Scott is the last book in his series known as the Raj Quartet. The four books are classics, that have been read and will continue to be read centuries from now as readers attempt to understand what happened during the last days of the British Raj in India. I read history but I am also a great fan of well written historical fiction and these books are extremely well written historical fiction. Having read them, I am much more enlightened about the struggles which continue today betweem Hindu and Muslim.

Many of the characters from the earlier books converge in DIVISION, and the book introduces a new character, Guy Perron, who is a Chillingborough-Cambridge educated historian whose "period" and place are mid-19th Century India. Guy's character is used to tie up all the loose ends.

After arriving in India as a British army sergeant (he has elected not become an officer although his education and class clearly warrent it), Guy has the misfortune to be "chosen" by the recently-promoted-to-LtCol. and very wicked Ronald Merrick as his aide-de-camp. Merrick is still riddled with class envy, and sees in Guy an excellent opportunity to abuse someone he despises. Fortunately, Guy is able to escape from Merrick through the graces of his Aunt Charlotte who pulls strings to have him released from the army.

Fortunately for Guy, he doesn't escape Merrick before he meets Sarah Layton. Their story is told in this fourth volume and certain elements of the tale bring to mind the earlier story of Hari Kumar and Daphne Manners. In fact, it is through Guy's meeting of Merrick, Sarah, and another Chillingburrian, Nigel Rowan (who interviewed Hari Kumar in prison) that he becomes interested in the events at Mayapore in 1942 and the subsequent consequences for all involved.

As with other great classics, in DIVISION things do not always evolve as the reader would have wished. This book is very realistic -- sorrow and joy are mixed. In JEWEL IN THE CROWN, the first book in the series, Lady Chatterjee says she does not want to go to a heaven that excludes joy and sorrow because being human requires one to feel joy and sorrow.

Perhaps it is because humans can experience sorrow they are capable of experiencing joy. In the end, the reader discovers Hari Kumar's fate and the identity of Philoctetes as well as the difference between Dharma and Karma. This is a powerful series and a fabulous ending to the tale.

The Raj Quartet comes to its spectacular conclusion with "A Division of the Spoils." Of the four books, I perhaps enjoyed this one the most. The main character (Guy Perron) is observant, funny, and human, so he's easy to like. He is a complete opposite of the story's antagonist, Ronald Merrick. The scenes in which they must work together (Perron is a sergeant and Merrick his officer) are some of the best. I could hardly put this book down and finished it in just a few days.

Please do not let the length of this series dissuade you from reading it! The books are all very compelling and well-written. If you like historical fiction, they are very much worth your time. I would recommend you watch the mini-series (I rented it from Netflix), read the 4 books, and then watch the mini again. You'll get quite a bit out of it that way.

Enjoy!

Anyone reading the reviews for the previous 3 books, knows I have struggled to read these series. However, Scott absolutely redeemed himself with this final book.

The first book focused on the British occupation of India during WWII and introduced us to the "Manners" case - the only interesting bit in a book that had long waffly passages describing India. Who needs to read a history book? This book would have done it... The 2nd book focused more on the "Layton's" and was much more readable as it was the changing India as seen through the eyes of a few key characters. The 3rd book was a boring repetition of the 2nd book and this last book, about the end of the British occupation and WWII was just brilliant!

Like his much more enjoyable 2nd book, this one is told almost exclusively through the eyes of key characters we met in previous books - and it introduces us to the rakish charm of Guy Perron. I always remember Charles Dance's interpretation of Guy Perron in the BBC series making a strong impression on me, but I found the character in the book even more engaging.

This last book in the series was absolutely stunning and made persevering through the whole series somewhat worth it. I say somewhat, because it has been a real trial getting through the denser parts of Books I and III and I wouldn't push this series on anyone, even though the last book is a literary accomplishment.

I try to think if this book is readable without having read the previous books, and although I suspect it is (Scott continues to go back over vast chunks of history from someone else's point of view), it would be a shallow interpretation without the reader gaining all the knowledge from the first 3 books.

This book is just as impressive as the three others of the Raj Quartet. Once again, the cast of interesting characters is huge; the atmosphere of the time is brilliantly captured and the variety of scenes/plots is well mastered. The book is instructive and yet enormously entertaining. The Raj Quartet is one of the most rewarding pieces of literature I have ever read.

The four volumes of the Raj Quartet overlap and complement one another, while at the same time forwarding the main storyline of the slow twilight of the British ascendancy in India, always with the rape of a white girl by Indian men as the central lodestone everpresent in the background, the nightmare which is seldom mentioned but which none can drive from their minds. Events occur, are discussed, witnessed as newspaper reports, court documents, interviews, vague recollections from years later, or perceived directly by the main characters. Then the next volume will take two or three steps back into previous events, and these same events will be perceived from another angle, perhaps only as a vague report heard far away across the Indian plain, or witnessed directly by another character, or discussed in detail long after their occurrence over drinks on a verandah. This may at times seem like rehashing, indeed as one reads the four volumes one will be subjected to the account of the rape in the Bibighar Gardens many times over; but what will also become apparent is that additional details, sometimes minor variations in interpretation and sometimes crucial facts, are being added slowly to the events discussed, as though the window to the past were being progressively wiped cleaner and cleaner with successive strokes of Scott's pen. In this way he draws the picture of the last days of the Raj not in a conventional linear fashion, but recursively, and from multiple angles. One gets the clear impression of life in India during the first half of the 20th century as similar in nature: Fragmented, multifaceted, largely dependent upon perspective and experience and never perceived whole or all at once.

Book 4 is the tour-de-force of the series, the longest and the one that covers the greatest distance, emotionally and chronologically. Into the Laytons' social set come Nigel Rowan, an officer in the political branch whom we have met before in Book 2 interrogating Hari Kumar some years after his imprisonment, and Guy Perron, a sergeant in the intelligence service who is "chosen" against his will by Ronald Merrick to serve in his unit. Merrick seems deliberately to surround himself with people who dislike him: Guy Perron, Sarah Layton, and before them Daphne Manners and Hari Kumar. Rowan and Perron, incidentally, are former schoolmates of Kumar's at the posh Chillingborough Academy in England. And they're not the only ones: The British in India seem constantly reminded that Kumar symbolizes the insoluble problem of India's Britishness. He's too British for the Indians and too Indian for the British. Perron is an excellent guide through the final days of the Raj, stolid and proper yet inwardly seething with intellectual outrage. An explosive yet sombre climax in 1947 details the very end of the British presence in India, the beginnings of the Hindu-Muslim riots throughout the country, and gives an expansive sense of just how far one has come from the small town of Mayapore and the darkly deserted Bibighar Gardens.

I have listened to Dr. Laura's radio show and read her books for several years, and this video is another winner! It uses cute puppet characters to present real world situations and examples of following (or breaking) the ten commandments; it is not too preachy, but presents it to kids in language they can understand. My kids love the songs, and I have to admit they are pretty catchy tunes. Parents can enjoyably watch this with their children, but children can also understand and enjoy it on their own. My kids are now 10 and 8, we've had this video a couple years, and they still watch it. Highly recommended!

As a divorced father with every-other-weekend custody, I was grateful to Dr. Laura for this DVD until my eldest said I only followed two of the commandments. Pointing out there was no commandment against selling kids into slavery shut her up pretty fast!

My 6 y.o. Eva loved it as did Tsion and Meklete. They ran around screaming GOD'S TOP 10! all day - but the DR Laura butterfly is kinda weird - but the puppets are funny.

These 11 songs (One for each commandment and a very fun theme song) are real eyes openers for children and thier parents. A great way to learn not only the 10 Commandments, but to internalize thier meanings. Lots of fun and a perfect companion to DVD. (Highly recommended if you can find it anywhere.) I look forward to seeing more of this kind of product soon.

These 11 songs (One for each commandment and a very fun theme song) are real eyes openers for children and thier parents. A great way to learn not only the 10 Commandments, but to internalize thier meanings. Lots of fun and a perfect companion to DVD. (Highly recommended if you can find it anywhere.) I look forward to seeing more of this kind of product soon.

This outstanding work of critical scholarship takes the Dred Scott case as a point of departure to examine several important issues in American history. These include both the nature and dynamics of the great sectional conflict over slavery, and the nature of juidicial power in our system of government. Fehrenbacher provides careful history and analysis of the Dred Scott case itself, it significance in its own time, and the possible role of this case in the history of Supreme Court power. Fehrenbacher's reconstruction of the case and the associated political events is remarkably erudite; informed by the highest level of critical intelligence. He dispells a number of myths related to the case and his analyses of contemporary politics and legal history are equally astute. This book is exceptionally well written. Even when exploring apparently obscure details of 19th century juidicial and political history, Fehrenbacher's writing is always lucid, and at times, elegant.

I read the abridged edition of 1981, titled Slavery, Law and Politics. I can only echo what the other reviwers have said. It's about a court opinion but it is anything but dry. You learn much about the law and politics of slavery, from the founding of the nation forward. You learn about the Dred Scott case itself, including the legal maneuverings in the lower courts. The author's analysis of Chief Justice Taney's opinion for the Court is one of the best single chapters I have read in a history book in a long time. The author is learned but the prose is engaging--elegant, even. You feel you are in the company of a wise teacher, who is not trying to impress you but simply to impart his considerable knowledge without ego on a topic that turns out to be an excellent prism through which to view an important swath of our history. Read it!

This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It might seem that a 700 page book (600 pages of text; 100 pages of notes) on a 19th century court case might be the epitome of exceedingly dry material suited only for particularly motivated graduate students. But I found this book captivating. What came through in every paragraph was the work of a skilled and judicious historian sleuthing his way to an understanding of the background and ramifications of the enormously important Dred Scott decision. Not one page in this book read like the work of an uninspired academic sawing his way through a pile of research notes.

Fehrenbacher focuses on the political, legal and constitutional aspects of the Dred Scott case. He explores the background and developments, from the arrival of the first slaves in the colonies in 1619 through the bitter political battles of the 1850s. His discussion of legal developments is particularly interesting because this is one area where the reader encounters the concrete complications and conflicts between various state and federal laws affecting slaves and slave owners. He also shows how legal developments and constitutional theories were affected by the increasingly acrimonious political battles over the rights of slaveholders. His analysis of Chief Justice Taney's opinion was particularly impressive. Finally, his discussion of the immediate and longer term impact of the Dred Scott decision was fascinating. When I finished the book, I was disappointed that he hadn't carried the thoughts in the last chapter further (even though it was clear he had chosen a good stopping point for his analysis). I was also tempted to go back to the beginning and re-read the book immediately! It is so rich, and there's so much of importance to understand. (Instead, I started in on Fehrenbacher's more recent book, The Slaveholding Republic.)

One of the strengths of the book is Fehrenbacher's attention to the relevants facts and texts. His text never reads like a cut-and-paste compilation of other authors' conclusions. Throughout, Fehrenbacher was doing his own thinking - and he came through as quite skilled in asking good questions, identifying all the relevant facts, weighing the possible meanings and interpretations, and arriving at fair conclusions. (Whatever the topic, it's always a pleasure to read the work of someone who works as Fehrenbacher did in this book.)

I highly recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in American legal or constitutional history, in the events that lead to the Civil War, or in race relations in America.

Dred Scott Case by Don Fehrenbacher proves to be a definitive account of this controversial Supreme Court case that had far reaching consequences then the fate of one black slave wishing to be free. The book is superbly researched, written and the author presented total clarity in his presentation. He clearly points out the total significance of this case in face of American history.

This case is often overlooked as part of 1850s pre-Civil War history but the author make it clear that long term effects of this case clearly helped initiate the American Civil War. It also helped Abraham Lincoln become President and ironically speaking, discredited Robert Taney, the chief author of the Dred Scott decision so badly that Taney was totally ineffective as the Supreme Court Chief Justice during the Civil War. His rulings against Lincoln and many of his civil rights violations during the war went totally ignored and although he was always treated well, he was a total non-entity as a factor. His death was viewed with relief.

The book gives a very insightful background on slavery and its impact on American history prior to the case. It doesn't get into Dred Scott himself until page 210 or so. It pretty obvious that the author has excellent command of his subject matter. His insight on what influence and repercussions of this decision after the Civil War proves to be quite interesting. I was bit surprised how Taney's reputation have survived so well despite of his decision that the author clearly shown to be crude, shallow and highly biased. The author have clearly shown that Taney did not behaved as a Supreme Court Chief Justice in this case but as a pro-southerner who wishes to nationalized slavery throughout the land as a mean to end this debate once and for all.

I would regard this to be one of the mandatory reading material that any reader must tackled if he or she wants to advance their knowledge of the Civil War and its issues.

There is little that I can add to what has already been written. Fehrenbacher is clear, thoughtful, and comprehensive.

I've been reading comic strip collections ever since the first Garfield books came out in the late '70s/early '80s, and I can say that this compilation might be the best of all in terms of how many laugh-out-loud strips it contains. Anyone whoever had kids, or who has had a pain-in-the-neck sibling, or been a PITA sibling, is going to find lots to laugh out here. While the artwork is weak, the jokes are terrific, and I don't read comic strips to admire the art.

This ranks right up there with the best. It won't make you think like Doonesbury or Bloom County used to, but it will make you laugh.

I have all the Baby Blues books, and this one is the best of the treasuries. I loved it.

Great book. You should buy it if you want to have a good laugh!

I have read Baby Blues on and off in the local paper for the past several years. Having not received the paper on a regular basis has prevented me from sticking with it consistently. However, I have historically enjoyed it when I read and decided to start picking up the treasuries to play a bit of a game of catch-up. They weren't all readily available and I'm a bit of a stickler for reading in some degree of order. As a result, I started with the first of the series that I could readily find.

As expected, it was very entertaining and made brought an audible chuckle on more than one occasion. Thoroughly enjoyable. I would happily recommend. Next up for me: Framed - Baby Blues Treasury

As a parent of four grown sons, I found this a very entertaining and accurate view of the 26 child rearing years I spent at home with my sons. So I bought this book for my son and his wife who are raising twins, a boy and a girl.
The bumper sticker in the back of the book is a nice bonus: "Driving under the influence of children" How true!!!!

This book, not unlike your first kiss, stays with you long after it is into history. Scott Gertner's writing style is at once smooth yet with just a touch of edgy. Every word is believable, descriptions take you right THERE. You not only know what each character is feeling, Gertner allows you to feel it through the characters' own eyes, you become a part of the story, feeling the joy, the pain, the wonderment, as they do, every step of the way.

If only there were more books like this one; you can lose yourself in the language, the events and the charm. Everyone should read this book..take it to the beach, on the plane, on the bus and read read read!

Thank you Scott Gertner for writing such an amazing book. It, and your writing skills will stay with me for a long time.

I was immediately drawn into this marvelous book and found it difficult to put down. It isn't until the end that you realize how deeply you are emotionally involved with the main character, Hal. Thanks to Scott Gertner for taking me back to the 50's and enabling me to remember the nuances of growing up in that innocent era. So sorry I was to come to the end of Swanson Lake, I am anxiously awaiting the next work by Scott Gertner.

This book captures small towm America in the 50s and is almost poetic in its descriptions of people and places. The suspense kept me turning pages even though this is not a mystery. You will love some of the people and squirm when faced with others.
The end still has me thinking about what could have been if only a few decisions would have been made differently.

A sensitive portrait of a more innocent time in America. Gertner creates an array of funny and lovable characters, seen through the eyes of young Hal Moffat. Heart-wrenching dialogue. Elegant prose. A deeply moving work of fiction.

A Drowning In Swanson Lake is a nostalgic, but often painful, look back at a child's growing up in upstate New York during the 1950's and 60's. Through the narrator's insightful and often humorous descriptions, and the book's quirky characters, the reader is totaly drawn into the story. What is particularly interesting to me is that the novel is more about self-discovery and self-realization than about any particular dramatic event. That is not to say that there are no dramatic events, but the real story is about the choices that the main character, Hal, makes and the consequences that follow.

Benson's book "Timeless Healing," contrary to its subtitle, "The Power and Biology of Belief," is not just for believers. Benson defines belief in epistemologically correct way: belief is nothing other than a set of operating assumptions, as a substitute for immediate and direct experience. It is with this epistemologically value-neutral manner that Dr. Benson approaches the topic at hand - the biology of expectation.

Benson - as most psychologists know from their grad studies - is the guy that brought the Relaxation Response to the West. Sure, the East-West synthesis had predated his writings and research, but Benson is arguably the first to have empirically studied and reported on the physiology that underlies relaxation.

The present book is an excellent resource for a behavioral medicine/health psychology clinician as well as for a general reader who is interested in leveraging the mind-over-body self-help. The book offers a cogent, highly accessible coverage of the concept of placebo (and its "evil twin," nocebo); it details the psycho-neuro-physiology of the relaxation response; it examines the variables that potentiate therapeutic suggestion and expectation in the clinician-client interactions; the book summarizes the mind-over-body research, and generally succeeds in making a good case for the need to infuse a greater degree of psychological savvy into the Western medical training.

The book is in some ways auto-biographical. Benson shares his journey from the medical establishment to the study of the relaxation response and, arguably, back to the medical establishment but on a mission of integrating what he had learnt.

As such, the book is a kind of life-review, perhaps, an attempt at professional legacy, and a suggested mission statement. A particularly secular reader might find Benson's book to be slightly evangelical. But Benson doesn't deceive: he checks his faith at the door, so to say, and offers an explicit "disclosure of belief." As a scientist-practitioner, he appears to be acutely aware of his potential for bias and narrates in a respectfully parenthetical manner, always seemingly cognizant of not overstepping the value boundaries of his hypotheses.

In short, Benson's "Timeless Healing" is an effective attempt to redefine "faith healing" in medical terms and to ground it in the axioms of behavioral medicine. Benson - in my opinion - succeeds in leaving a cosmopolitan enough legacy that is compatible both with secular and non-secular worldviews.

Pavel Somov, Ph.D.
Author of "Eating the Moment: 141 Mindful Practices to Overcome Overeating One Meal at a Time" (New Harbinger, Nov. 2008)

This book is WONDERFUL not only for the one needing to be healed but for the "healers." I highly recommend it to anyone who is going through an illness or recovery process and those who are helping them through it.

I think what is amazing about this book is that Herbert Benson states without a doubt that faith in God is healthy for us. While our ancestors took it for granted that God healed them, as Dr. Benson explains, we have been taught to see healing purely in technical scientific terms. Dr. Benson explains that when we repudiated the importance of belief in healing we deprived ourselves of a powerful healing force.

Dr. Benson knows that his rational-scientific audience will be skeptical of his arguements. So, he provides us with well-reasoned arguements supported by ample evidence. He explains that we need to relax our over-stressed minds on a regular basis. We need this as an antedote to our hurried lives that stress us out and make us sick. He cites many studies (much from his own research) that daily meditation stimulates the bodies natural healing mechanisms.

Now, the radical finding of Dr. Benson's research is that belief in God makes a difference in healing. If a person meditates regularly using a spiritual phrase they are more likely to heal than those who use a secular word such as "peace". The person's religion doesn't matter. It seems that God is an equal opportunity healer.

Through many of the medical observations made by the authors, this book provides some interesting ideas about the connection between the mind and body. Even though we all know that stress (which comes from our minds) influences our health, many of us find it difficult to put the mind and body together in one equation. This book is a great attempt to begin making the bridge between the subjective and objective world. It is full of insightful ideas and inspiring anecdotes. Just excellent overall. If you'd like to read about a sound theoretical framework that explains many of these things, I strongly suggest "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato. When I read Sato's book, everything clicked so much is was unbelievable!

This is a well-written book that clearly describes the links between our thoughts and our physical health. It is written in an accessible personal style, without the "guru" overtones of works by Deepak Chopra or Wayne Dyer (good writers, just with a different style). Everyone, regardless of their view of God, can benfit from the concepts of Remembered Wellness and the Relaxation Response described in this book. A personal recomendation - couple this book, with its "unproven healing energy", with Greg Bradden's "The Divine Matrix", which describes this energy, and you will be good to go.

Ok, I'm not giving this one 5 stars b/c I'm pictured in the book, but because it is a great visual story of the great sport of NASCAR. Since the fans are heart of NASCAR, it is essential that they have a place in this book. Scott did a fabulous job (aside from spelling my name wrong even after he verified it-typo?)
The crisp, bright pictures pull you in with each viewing.

If you love Talladega, Bristol, Lowe's Motor Speedway and all those other haunts where NASCAR is a religious experience, then you will enjoy seeing Scott Robinson's up-close and personal images of the real people who make auto racing an authentic part of life in the United States in the early twenty-first century.

Robinson's camera lens has a point of view that is at once affectionate and straightforward. He neither condescends nor fawns, but he does thoroughly document with the fervor of a true believer in NASCAR.

I received this book at Christmas and have been pleased to keep it on the coffee table. To me the most interesting sections are not about the cars but the fans. Nice quality printing and binding. Some text but mostly its about the photography, which is very good. This will appeal to racing fans of all ages..

Outstanding coverage of the "other side" of a great subject. Very impressive that Mr. Robinson did the writing as well as the visual reporting. Nice visual rhythm page after page. He has captured some wonderful "blink-of-the-eye" moments to savor again and again. judy sawyer & chip maury send

Scott Robinson's photographs and essays provide a fresh and welcome perspective on the world of NASCAR, one that is more personal and intimate than I'd previously seen. I enjoyed his photographs tremendously, and found the essays insightful and engaging. The pictures are both vivid and warm, and anyone who has even a passing interest in auto racing and NASCAR is going to love this book!

Even though tomes have been written on the American presidents, Dr. Smith manages to bring fresh insight as a result of painstaking research. ( It could serve as a model for any student looking to document his research) The book is not "light" reading....but the author writes with clarity and with as much impartiality as humanly possible. I found his distinction between the ways that these presidents' faith shaped their policies to be thought-provoking. This book provides a strong framework from which to examine the coming election season.

I encourage you to set aside a block of time each day as you loose yourself in the history and faith of each of these men. It is full of interesting faith facts that just a history of these presidents would never touch. I must confess it took me time to read and digest this book, but well worth the time. I look forward to reareading this book in order to grasp new facts that I did not glean from the first read. I would love to see it used in school class rooms everywhere. The research, notes and excellent writing of this work is outstanding!

A first-rate work in which eleven presidents are analyzed in terms of their religious beliefs and their actions. Solid framework of analysis. The work brims with new details, broad understandings, and sound and judicious conclusions. Impressive, varied bibliography. The copious notes, alone, are worth a close read. Sparkling writing and sound organization make this a page-turner.

Gary Scott Smith's Faith and the Presidency is fascinating to read and weighty in substance. Full of personal details drawn from the lives of various presidents as well as important observations about public policy and religious impulses, Smith hits the sweet spot between bold, exciting claims and strong supporting evidence.

I was particularly persuaded by the book's observation that the foreign policy of presidents more readily reveals their philosophical commitments because the U.S. presidency has greater latitude abroad than at home.

This is a book worth reading from cover to cover. Smith hits a home run with this exceptional book. A tour de force!

If you are looking for fresh information about the role of faith and religion in the lives of some of America's greatest presidents then I highly recommend purchasing Faith and the Presidency.
The author, Gary Smith has done his homework. His research is very thorough and his style of writing is clear and free of technical jargon.
I thought the book presented a balanced view of democrat and republican presidents; and the author covers each president's religious affiliation without bias. After reading this book I finally understand why religion is such a hot topic during every presidential election.
Reading about Abraham Lincoln and how his faith helped him address the crises of the civil war is the best I have read to date.
Students, teachers of history, religious leaders and those with a love of presidential history need this book to complete their library. A must read for 2007!

I thought this book did a great job at getting me up to speed on C#. I came from C++ and MFC development, so this definitely fit the bill for bridging me into C#.

Worth the read!

Excellent book. I am a VB 6 programmer making the jump to C#.

C# instead of VB.NET? Mostly because there seems to be more contract jobs for C#.

This is an excellent book. If you are a long time programmer like myself and want to get into C# programming I highly recommend this book. This book can make you a very functional C# programmer in a very few hours.

This is an excellent book for C#. It covers almost every topic in C# in a consie, to-the-point fashion. Whether you are new or experienced programmer, this book will give you a head-start on mastering C# concepts. If you are doing MCAD, this is the book you should read first for brushing your concepts. I like the portability of this book (400 pages). Big thumps up for Wrox Fast Track series.

If you need to learn C# in a hurry, this is the book that will get you up to speed. The entire "Fast Track" series from Wrox were written to help you learn a subject fast and this is especially helpful if your employer decides to convert to C# or any other .Net technology or language. I purchased both Fast Track C# and Fast Track ASP.NET C# Edition together. I am impressed with both books. The Fast Track C# book is 413 pages and the chapters are not to long. This makes the reading very easy and the chapters don't take weeks to read. The book starts out with the basics of .NET and C# and then progresses to more advanced C# subjects. Note: The authors do not go into great detail on the various subjects and you should augment this book with a more advanced books on C#. There are ample examples but the authors do not provide the "results". This is a book for the intermediate developer making the conversion from Java or C++ but I think Visual Basic 6 developers will benefit from this book.

In Chapter 1 - Overview of .Net and the CLR (Common Language Runtime), the authors explain the fundamentals of .Net.

Chapter 2 - Introduction to C#, Chapter 3 - C# Basics, and Chapter 4 - Object-Oriented Features of C# provide the basics that you will need to know about C#. If you are coming from Visual Basic.Net, you might want to skip over these chapters but I read these chapters twice.

The authors explain the more advanced features of C# in Chapters 5 - Advanced C#, 6 - .NET Programming with C#, and 7 - Working with the .Net Base Class. These chapters will help you get beyond the "Hello World" type of applications. These chapters provide some real-world examples.

In Chapter 8 - Building Windows Applications, the authors explain all of the basics to windows development. The GUI or the presentation layer is what the end-user will be most familar with.

The next chapters will help you with real-world applications that you may encounter.

Chapter 9 - Assemblies and ILDASM.
Chapter 10 - Data Access with ADO.Net
Chapter 11 - COM and COM+ Interoperability
Chapter 12 - ASP.Net
Chapter 13 - Web Services

Wrox guys, you have done it really well. I am a beginner to C# but have previous experience with C/C++. Really wanted to get into the C# field. Tried 2-3 books but was bogged down by details everytime. Then I got hold of this book. Man this is awesome...really takes no time if you have some programming background..esp. OO related.

Just devote 1-2 hours for each chapter..and this will cause the Sams 24 hours series some serious worries.

I liked this book - simple rhyming and bold colors in the illustrations make it appealing to children. It teaches a good lesson.

Front Frog Fred and Back Frog Jack is entertaining, a quick read and also teaches. My kids love this story!

This book is great for kids - it combines an interesting story line with practical lessons on life without being 'preachy'.

A fun, well paced book perfect for pre-schoolers and beginning readers! The rhythm, rhyme and message, not to mention the excellent illustrations of the story, will make this book a favorite for all young children! Dr. Seuss look out!

My first graders just loved the story line of this most enjoyable book about Fred, a little frog who became a leader.