Sheridan Books

Barney Leason should not write about women's emotions or in their voice. His totally missed the mark with this book and it was a dreadful experience - completely boring and dull. Can't say much more - just miss this one.

Nice book, but not one I would normally choose to spend my summer reading and especially not comparing it to another book! However, if it were for pleasure, this book does have several charming qualities.

I really wanted the famous sea poets and authors: Masefield, Tennyson, etc. What I got was some of that, but interspersed throughout with the anthology editor's own poetry -- which I'm sorry to say, isn't that great. And the editor doesn't appear to know much about sailing either; for instance, he totally misses the nautical meaning of the line "when the long trick's over" (Sea Fever). A trick is a turn at the wheel, standing watch, silly rabbit!

Serious sailor-readers should find a different book.

This book makes a readable refresher of yacht design theory basics for anyone who has suffered through more technical works on the subject. A novice to the concepts will have too many questions, but if you've had some prior exposure to the issues you'll find the verbal discussion here clarifying. The book was written in the golden age of IOR (International Ocean Race) design standards, which governed the creation of most of the small fiberglass yachts from the 80's that make up the "affordable" segment of the used sailboat market today. Thornton's British viewpoint and background in racing make his personal perceptions and preferences seem very old-school, such as declaring rolling furling to be "not much use on a boat of this size with a crew of 3 or more" (furling is considered a major safety asset today), or declaring that "most boats in this size range will have fractional rig, masthead rig is rarely seen" (the vast majority of IOR boats manufactured in the US during this era were in fact masthead rig). Notwithstanding that, the author's combination of engineering and racing experience come through in a wealth of clever insights, such as pointing out against conventional wisdom that nav stations are of more importance for coastal than bluewater sailing because of how they are used. This book remains fresh and readable for the owner of a "classic plastic" yacht in the smaller size range.

Contains a description of all the terms asociated with the topic, but little more; if you want to know what it is all about, is OK; but if you have to solve a problem, is of very little use

If you want to learn to develop software using UML with VB then don't get this book. It won't help at all. It doesn't explain how to use UML, and it doesn't explain how to develop VB code based on UML diagrams.

The book has a lot on project management, but I found this also completely useless. There is a huge case study of a concert booking and ticket sales system, which is a good idea, but any meaningful information is lost in a sea of extra-verbose descriptions of what all the different 'architects' are doing and how they are being motivated to do a good job. It's like trying to learn UML and how it gets transformed into VB code by reading the verbal description of a very detailed workflow chart in Microsoft Project.

If you're interested in a good beginning book on UML with a useful case study, try "Sams Teach Yourself UML in 24 Hours" by Joseph Schmuller (2nd edition).

Don't waste your money on this book.

This book has a total of 27 pages dedicated to UML. The remaining content is primarily focused on project management and UML is only used in the examples. Even the quality of the project management content is questionable.

The authors focus on the top down approach. Management makes all decisions. Programmers are considered to be nothing more than allocable resources, despite the fact that they have in-depth knowledge of the technology. A recent project undertaken by my company followed this development process. After two years and six million dollars, there were no deliverables and most involved were no longer with the company. Instead of accepting input from the staff programmers, the management gained all their information from salesmen and sales presentations.

If you are looking for a UML book, this book will not fulfill your requirements. Therefore, I give it one star.

This book really is more about project management; UML and its application within a VB project to the authors, seems optional. Here's were the book goes bad: 1) There are no UML syntax definitions.

2) There is no hard reference to UML tools, not even Visual Modeler.

3) The VB source code for the Case Study is passed over in abut 10 pages. (the author seem more comfortable with project management)

4) The CD-ROM is one big promotion for Visio, there is source code but the source is not eve rapped up in a Visual Molder file and you get a MS Project outline of their proposed method (ooh! hold me back)

If you are looking for a book on project management and team development organization, this book is for you. "If you are looking for a no-nonsense book on UML for busy developers looking to unleash the strength of the UML" (from the books intro), this is not the book for you, don't waste your money. If you fall in the later category try "Developing Applications with Visual Basic and UML"

_shawn

This book has strong elements of a Victorian romance novel mixed with military elements. There is as much attention to the officer's women as to soldiers. The story takes place during the amateurish British campaign (after 40 years of peace) west around the Black Sea to the Crimea in support of the Ottoman Turks against the Russians. Alexander Sheridan is a disdained but competent English officer. It's hard to like him much, for he's a bit wooden. He's been a bit of a fool in love and gotten himself cashiered from the regular army and fled to India. He's in love with one or the other of the two beautiful Mowbray sisters who suddenly appear in his battle zone. The sentimentality and reticence seen in the relations between the genders may be true to the period (1854), and overlays a still hard world. The main thread is the forlorn lost love between Capt. Sheridan and Charlotte, rather than the fierce personal and battle emotions when he joins the Light Brigade (yes, THAT infamous brigade, so yu know what must happen...). Alex and the girls' eight years together in India are entirely skipped, so tight is the focus on the romantic triangle of the moment. Dialogue is restricted to proper Victorian discreetness. We are spared battlefield carnage, as military affairs are kept in the distance. The author, a WW II British lieutenant herself, foregrounded the suffering of women surrounded by men at war, trying to survive and nurse cholera victims in appalling filth and disorder, and striving to keep or get an officer husband while crazed with fear or jealousy.

The Crimean battles are mostly described in offialese from the generals' and units' perspectives, with no overview of the strategy. There's nothing of the personal fear and shock of raw troops, or the novelistic here. At least until the inadvertant Charge of the Light Cavalry Brigade, when we get to see through Sheridan's eyes the confusion and horror of that affair, when "cannon volleyed and thundered...someone had blundered" (Tennyson). Amid the filth it lift's one's heart to see Emmy Mobray open the way for Florence Nighingale to begin the army nursing profession. The presentation is good and includes two vintage maps.

I agree with Tim Cole - the Sheridan series is pretty weak. V.A. Stuart is no Bernard Cornwell. The author knows her history well enough, but the main character isn't very interesting, nor does he really do anything interesting, despite being involved in the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny. On the whole, I was glad I got these from the library rather than buying them.

Probably the worst historical novel I have ever read. One half of the book consists of a syrupy faux-Victorian love story between cardboard characters, the other sounds as if it was lifted verbatim from one of the duller pre-World War I military textbooks. It would seem hard to make the Charge of the Light Brigade sound as exciting as the daily Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, but that is exactly what Ms. Stuart's does. Obviously the publisher is trying to cash in on the current vogue in 18th and 19th century soldier and sailor yarns by republishing this dud, but you'd do better to save your money and re-read the Sharpe series instead.

I didn't have a problem with this book; in fact, I enjoyed it. It was a little deflated because it was not filled with all the normal tripe you read about Judy Garland's personal life. It's not easy to syphon-off the personal from the professional in Judy's life. This book made that attempt, and I'm okay with it. Sometimes the lite-touch is sufficient. We don't need to know about how many times Judy dunked her head in a toilet. I think, if Judy had lived to talk about her days in rehab, or what have you, she would have preferred to be remembered as someone who gave her everything to the fans. And she would have told the tripe-writers to buzz-off. I think Judy would choose this book to represent herself, uh-huh! At the end of her life, she was fed-up with hype. I think this book offers a simple, uncomplicated profile of an extremely intense life in the eye of the public. By the end of her life, when she was putting in phone calls to President Kennedy for validation and approval, it must have occurred to her that the personal is political. She experienced this downfall with her TV show, and was somber.

This collection is more focused on her long-time career, with excellent, clear photos, outlining the years of her performances, movies and concert projects. So from that angle, it could be anti-climatic. But I found it to be a light, entertaining read that left no heaviness. Something you could sit and drink your coffee with. It's a fun book for the serious collector.

The authors conclude that Garland's untimely death - in fact it wasn't untimely at all since everyone expected her to die given what a wreck she had become - was her best career move. This is sheer blasphemy. If anything is clear, it is that Judy Garland had nothing but talent and not just, as the lyric goes and the authors point up, "a talent to amuse," but a great big stunning talent that hypnotised anyone who paid attention. It is not only nonsense but debasing to imply that a tragic and early death is a reason why anyone would still watch Garland movies, or listen to Garland songs. The fanatics, described by these authors in such detail to the point where you would believe they were Garland's only fans, are a small minority. Most of us love the songs, the sound and the thrill of her talent, not the creepiness of her demise or even the so-called tragedy of her yearnings to be "over the rainbow." If there was anything boring about Garland it was that oft-repeated why-oh-why-can't-I line, which even she admitted had worn very thin, having told Liza that sympathy was her "business" as an explanation for why she receive so many get-well cards all the time. If one listens to the Carnegie Hall album, it's not because she pulled herself up once again, but because the actual product is so alluringly good in the first place.

When there are such glorious testaments about Judy Garland from a long list of legendary personalities including Gene Kelly, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, the authors dig deep in the barrel to drag out a nasty slap from the likes of Moire Shearer (Who? Right, I had to look her up, long-forgotten if she was ever remembered in the first place) blasting Garland's worth into hell. At least the quote from Anita Loos (Again, another unfamiliar name except to those who take note of screenwriters from the 40s and 50s) was wry and amusing, "she was so boring about her life," she says. Well, we can all imagine that to be true, especially in hindsight and in view of the current familiarity with addicted and neurotic people. But boy could she sing. And act. And dance.

Given their lack of appreciation and understanding of the subject, why did these two authors write this biography? Buyers beware.

This is a terribly written book! The inaccuracies have already been addressed by others, so I won't repeat them. Suffice to say the inaccuracies became so numberous, I stopped reading at page 38. Did the writers even bother to research anything? Was the editor asleep? Nice pictures, but don't bother buying this turkey.

I ordered this book from the store and am getting it tomorrow (tuesday 6th jan 04). I am now very dissapointed that i ordered this book because after reading everyones reviews i feel i have wasted money on it and i havent even read it yet.
when i go to collect this book and i am going to order the lorna luft book that everyone keeps recommending.
I was very much looking forward to reading this book but now i dont think i can be bothered.
i loved judy garland dearly. i am only 16 and think she was such a wonderful actress and one of the best singers i think i have ever seen. I would like to apologise to everyone that the writers of this book are british (atleast i think they are... thats what someone said) and would also like to point out that not all brits are like that and many of us love judy garland as much as all other fans.
may you rest in piece judy!

Obviously the authors are ripping off Judy's name for the money. What other excuse can there be for writing this piece of crap? At first I was happy to see another Judy book hit the market - especially one with such lovely photos. But after I started to read it, I was horrified. As I browsed through the text, I got sick. I am shamed to even admit I have this book in my collection. What a vicious piece of garbage! And these authors have the nerve to say they love Judy...

I think it is possible that some people do not like the truth about their favourite stars hence the comments so far.
Personally, I think the book is to the point and S.Morley does not mince his words and in my estimation: that is being honest.
This book is extremely good (for those who are quite willing to accept human fraility in the star).

I should have listened to all the negative feedback in this forum on this item. Mr. Morley hasn't got a kind, or even fair, thing to say about his subject if he can't substitute something rotten for it. The entire "biography" is marred by mean-spiritedness (and isn't even entertaining on that dubious level). I say give it a wide berth.

I could not believe how bad this was. I have been a fan of Ginger's for a long time & saw her recieve her award at the Night of 100 Stars in London just a few months befroe she died. I was shocked at how mean & unpleasant this book was. It skirted through much of her career & life, & was a incredibly dismissive of all that she had done-ironic considering she was a highly skilled actor, dancer, artist, comedienne & athlete with a warm & affecting singing ability & a feisty & fun personality & real professionalism. Whilst i do not need hagiography, this biography seemed to simply want to demlosh her completely. The photos were a treat though, but i reccomned reading her own autobiography or Homer Dickens' Films of...If you are already a fan, you will be angered & disappointed by this book, & if not you will not get any true idea of her talents from it. Ultimately, a totally pointless exercise in vitriol.

I bought this book shortly after Miss Rogers passed away.
I had enjoyed watching her films with my Grandmother, who adored Ginger! I simply wanted to learn more about the ladies life, work and add shine to my memories of "Nan".
While I was not looking for cheesy and sickly sentimental representations of Miss Roger's life, I did not expect to find the book to be so scathing, critical and frankly, bitchy.
It was nasty to the point of horribly dismissive and cruel. The photography is lovely, it could not fail to be, she was a beautiful woman. The written word here is just mean and spiteful and it assumes all her achievements to be accidental folly or ruthlessly aquired.
Morley has such an axe to grind, but why he does is best known to himself since he never discloses the source of his disdain. I hope no author is as cruel to the memory of his Father, the British actor Robert Morley, as he is to Miss Rogers. The only postive thing about this book is that you won't want to buy a Morley book again, and he has produced many on other stars.
Biographers can be hard to take at best, making a living by picking over the lives of others so disrespectfully, when they do so nastily it just smacks of the worse kind of envious resentment and inadequacy. As a boigrapher, Morley is as awful as Andrew Morton, the awful man who picked over Princess Diana's life both before and after her death. These people are like verbose vultures.

One can only imagine the author Sheridan Morley obtained his employment at The SPectator and on the BBC due to who his father was and NOT because of any talent or insight he has about actors and acting. This is clearly revealed in the petty, pointless attack on Ginger Rogers in his sorry excuse for a review of her career.

I heard the "author" on the Howard Stern show this morning. She and her son participated in "It's Just Wrong" where the son would have to undress his mom if he answered questions wrong. Great premise, but the mom, who authored this lousy book, was very drunk and extremely obnoxious. She kept insisting on calling her son a motherf*%#er. Nice mom!! Don't bother buying this, it's not worth it at all. There are many, many more high quality books out there on sex and how to please your lover. DO NOT waste your money.

Book was very poor quality. Looked like it had been produced on a copy machine using very poor stock. Content was equally poor. It looked more like soft pornography than the exercise book I was expecting. ...