Stuart Books

One of the best biographies on Mary Tudor, "Bloody Mary" ever written! The authoress outdoes herself and makes a fantastic dive into the good and the horrible events that outlined Bloody Mary's reign. This books is long and a bit overly detailed in places, but it is necessary to give the voluminous background on the life of this queen who was hated bitterly by many of her subjects. You won't be disappointed in this biography, especially if you want facts, details, and emotional input. A FANTASTIC ALL-AROUND BIOGRAPHY!!

What, out of print? What a shame. Carolly Erickson has outdone herself with this hefty volume, devoted to chronicling the dark side of English history. She fills us in on heartbreaking details of the Tudor family saga, keeps a lively sense of international conflicts; and very nearly creates sympathy for the self-described "unhappiest lady in Christendom" -- whose death was celebrated as a national holiday.

The main premise of Body Freedom Day is that it is a book from the future (2056). Author Ward's clever little device makes the book a delightful read. He starts with a bit of naturist history, bringing the reader up to 2005. Then, he moves into future territory, marking the beginning of the Body Freedom movement as taking place in San Francisco (where else?).

I hadn't read far, when I noticed a little device author Ward used to add authenticity to the futuristic claim. It was a small affectation but I found it delightful. Since the book was claimed to have been written in 2056, certain more modern word forms were used--words like thru, enuf, tho, altho, nite, and the like. It makes sense. Why wouldn't words with useless extra letters eventually be changed in the future?

For a naturist, Body Freedom Day is a delight. It makes one long for the day when clothes will cease to be the mandatory condition of society in general. To be able to walk out the front door on a fine summer's day in the state one left the shower (only dry), to go for a walk, or to drive somewhere on an errand, would be a treat indeed. As you read this book, you start asking yourself, "Why not?" Why not be able to go anywhere without clothing if the weather dictates? Why not be accepted as a person regardless of our state of dress?

From the start, it's clear that author Ward is a public lands type of naturist. All of the references he uses in Body Freedom Day's bibliography are from The Naturist Society's N Magazine. In addition, a portion of the book's royalties will go to select body freedom organizations.

I don't necessarily agree with every premise author Ward makes in his extrapolation of the future but I surely had fun on the ride. The writing style is light and humorous and clips along at a merry pace. By the time you get to the end, you'll be convinced that a clothes-free society is not only a possibility, it's almost a foregone conclusion. Pick up a copy of Body Freedom Day to read on your next trip to the beach. Better yet, make it a clothing-optional beach.

In the past couple of years, I've seen more and more fictional works appear addressing naturist (or nudist) themes. "Body Freedom Day" has been one of my favorites so far. Ward takes San Francisco's real-life Bay to Breakers Race (with all its zany clothed and unclothed characters), steps a few short years into the future, and crafts a nearly realistic scneario culminating in a cultural pardigm shift of epic proportions. The first half of the novel explores some highlights of naturist history, but the second half (the part set in the "future") unveils an approach to street activism that is insightful and motivating. It's a short, simple story, but if anyone wants a light read coupled with an opportunity to get inside the mindsets of naked activists wanting to take it to the streets, this book's the thing.

The Book of Common Prayer is the core of the Anglican identity. Since 1662, the standard bearer has been the primary Book of Common Prayer used by the Church of England; however, there have been many variations and developments, both supplemental liturgies and entire, new 'Books of Common Prayer' among daughter churches throughout the world. However, the 1662 Book of Common Prayer was itself the product of over a hundred years of development in the theological and worship life of the Church of England. Never was that development as varied and controversial as during the period between Henry VIII's break from Rome, through his Protestant successor Edward (or rather, through Edward's officials), back to the Roman Catholic Mary, and then to the Elizabethan period, in which a via media was attempted of sorts.

The 1559 Prayer Book was not the first; there were two predecessors -- one in 1549, and another in 1552, both done during Edward VI's brief boyhood reign. At this time, the Protestants who had been held back by Henry gained ascendancy, only to lose it again in 1553 when the young king died unexpectedly, and the people rallied to the Roman Catholic Mary, who reinstituted the Latin Missal and Breviary, used until her death in 1558, when the Protestant Elizabeth ascended the throne. The 1559 Book of Common Prayer is a revision of the 1552, only slightly, but given that the unbroken continuity of the Book of Common Prayer's usage dates from this book, it makes sense to be a significant text for study.

Elizabeth was a Protestant-Humanist, very much a character of the age, and this sentiment is reflected in the text of the Book of Common Prayer. However, the English have long been a traditional lot, and the similarities of English liturgies to Roman Catholic predecessors (particularly when compared with many continental forms of Protestantism) is no mistake. Indeed, Puritans would view the book as still too 'popish'. The Book of Common Prayer was long an instrument of state (indeed, it still is, in legal theory) and as such had more than just a theological significance. And, as an instrument of the state that was not always obeyed, sometimes the book was more honoured in the breech than in the observance.

Anglican scholar John Booty edited this edition based upon published by Richard Jugge and John Cawode in 1559. It is housed in the Boston Public Library (Booty gives history of the text and its provenance). Booty describes the variations in texts from the time, minor additions and subtractions, some of which were incorporated here, and others not. Booty did correct typographical errors and modernise spelling and punctuation to a minor degree (unfortunately, for the scholarly, often without note, unless the modern spelling changes pronunciation). Some of these are to conform to English standards that did not come into practice until the advent of the Authorised Version of the Bible (King James) in 1611.

In addition to the text of the Book of Common Prayer, Booty includes an interesting 50-page essay on the history of this version of the BCP, a good selection of notations, a reasonable bibliography (alas, out-of-date, but good up to its time), and a biblical index. The text incorporates actual rubrics ('rubric' has the old meaning of 'red print', which is so printed in this text, the notes of practice and ritual around the words). Those who follow Book of Common Prayer liturgies in their own churches will be intrigued with the similarities and the differences. Christians of other denominations will be interested in the borrowings and the variations. Historians will find this useful in many ways.

A worthy text.

This book is a valuable resource for all Anglicans, depicting the change back to BCP after the reign of Queen 'Bloody' Mary. Much is unchanged from the 1549 and 1552 editions, however there are some subtle differences, particularly in thought. This was the book which led to the more popular 1662 version, which is the basis of liturgy for the Anglican Communion.

Here is the classic book for the fountain pen collector. It shows lots of pens, provides a value guide, and gives you plenty of information about the pens, the companies. The photography is top notch and you wont have to squint to see what the authors are trying to show. Loads of really rare pens also, so there is something to be on the lookout for. I really like this book and also have it in the limited edition of 300 with the leather cover.

If you want a book with lots of colour photos to compare and admire,then this is the book for you.As all coffee table books,not exactly overflowing with information,but has more than the usual.

Because its author never completed most of the entries for this biographical work, and never published it, what he did set down about his varied noble and ignoble subjects is uncensored, gossipy, perhaps unsubstantiated, and delightful. If you like browsing in Pepys' diary, or are fascinated by English life in the 17th century, this is the book to leave about for the occasional free moment.

It's fun reading this collection of digressive informal anecdotes about famous (and some obscure) Englishmen. If you enjoyed "An Instance of the Fingerpost" (where some of thc characters appear) you'd like this. As a primary source for information it gets less reliable the further back it goes. Aubrey was born in 1626 so his accounts of Shakespeare and Elizathans are a generation removed, but he had met Harvey and Penn and had been through the Civil War and the rule of Cromwell.

This book has excellently served me as an introduction to infantry warfare of the 18th Century. It covers the full span of British infantry warfare from the later Jacobite Rebellions to the end of the American War for Independence. I appreciate how it focuses on the British campaigns outside of America (Scotland, Germany, etc.) during this era, as well as the attention given to light troops and Highland regiments.

The color plates are excellent, depicting the soldiers in camp, on the march, and in battle. Throughout the book there are also black-and-white photos of modern reenactors showing the various steps of loading and firing the musket and charging the bayonet.

Overall this book is a fine source on the British redcoat of the mid-late 18th Century.

Stuart Reid provides the reader with a brief but insightful look at the Red Coat British soldier if this period. Well detailed and well illustrated though a bit chauvanistic in its portrayal I recomend this to anyone desiring to learn more about the soldier of this period, especially for those wishing to know more in regards to the American Revolution.

The man who took the King's Shilling and served in the ranks was as he is portrayed here a human being.

One of the best introductory computer science books I have read. Very understandable and easy to read.

The dominant approach to teaching Java is to start with objects as early as possible - the object first approach. If this is what you want, then this is not the right book. However, I believe that a growing number of people, myself included, have come to believe that object first doesn't work. Since OO is primarily a design and organization approach for building large systems it typically does not make sense to students trying to do one or two page introductory projects. In addition, the time taken in trying to explain objects comes out of time that would have been spent in learning programming basics such as loops, arrays, etc. The result is too many students that can't write good procedural code, as well as never grasping object.

Due to this problem, I have chosen to organize my classes to begin with a procedural style of programming (focused on loops and arrays) and introduce OO at the beginning of the second semester. One of my frustrations has been a lack of supporting material for this approach, particularly among introductory Java textbooks.

This book solves this problem for me. It introduces concepts in almost exactly the order I have decided to use in my courses. The book is well written. It has a modern organization in terms of things like sidebars and its graphic design without going overboard and trying to compete with MTV the way the Head First series does, or by putting in a bunch of expensive color pictures that have nothing to do with the subject as many current textbooks do. In short, the book design matches its subtitle of being "a back to basics approach".

The authors have chosen to avoid showing a specific IDE and limit graphics to an optional chapter. I approve of both of these choices. I find that teaching IDE's, such as BlueJ, leave students confused about what the tool does and what the programming language does. While full IDE's, such as Eclipse, overwhelm first semester students. Graphics are "sexy" but every library is different. Real world libraries, like Swing, are too complicated for first semester students. Teaching libraries make the students learn something that is promptly thrown away. I, like the authors, would rather put the effort into the basics of programming.

This brings us to the book's other strengths - well thought out examples and assignments that use the basic portion of the language (and could be used with practically any language). A series of character graphic examples are presented that do a good job of showing ideas such as repetition, and functional decomposition. They also include many good "case studies" that show how to apply the techniques introduced in the chapter to a "large" (for first semester) programming problem that is related to real world concepts. For example, one early case study calculates body mass index (fat to weight ratio) of a person. Their case study examples are definitely better then what I am usually able to come up with on the fly, which I think is a key reason to even bother with a text book.

Summary: I believe this book delivers on its title. It is a well written book that focuses on the basics of learning a programming language without getting lost among "hot" topics like OO, IDE's, or GUI's. I will be switching my classes to this book.

This book of narrative poetry is beautifully written, evokes unforgettable scenes of Chicago to those who know the city well, and the accompanying art (also done by Tony Fitzpatrick) is amazing. I loved this book.

In the short and sweet, Mistah Fitz puts a world there before your eyes that exists, existed and will exist again. His Chicago and the one of his father exists and always will, it's changed a bit, but he got the gist of it here as it was, and his art gives the words the framing that a masterpiece requires, to put best though, and in a manner more befitting, this d*mn thing is friggin' awesome!

This is a very important book, because is concerned with a contemporaty issue because of the 500 years of american colonization. Since the Handbook of South American Indians,organized by Julian Steward no other enterprise of this kind was made. It is very important to us, american, to know better our indians. From the academic point of view, this book contributes with wide informations congregating researchers and the results of its reflexions together in only one place. It is really good to find in one volume informations about several country. We have in this volume, contrasting views from the theoretical aproach that enrichs, we have, besides of historical perspectives, archeological focus about empires such as the Inka and discussions about colonialism and its damages upon the indigenous people. And neither the indigenous organization is forget in this volume, in this historical moment a surprisengly movement of this massacrated people who is strugling for their rights by their own voices. I would recommend this book to students, to specialists in anthropology and ethnologist and to whom is interested in history of America and in our present days. Last, I would mention the beauty of the volume and of the hardcover.

This is a very important book, because is concerned with a contemporaty issue because of the 500 years of american colonization. Since the Handbook of South American Indians,organized by Julian Steward no other enterprise of this kind was made. It is very important to us, american, to know better our indians. From the academic point of view, this book contributes with wide informations congregating researchers and the results of its reflexions together in only one place. It is really good to find in one volume informations about several country. We have in this volume, contrasting views from the theoretical aproach that enrichs, we have, besides of historical perspectives, archeological focus about empires such as the Inka and discussions about colonialism and its damages upon the indigenous people. And neither the indigenous organization is forget in this volume, in this historical moment a surprisengly movement of this massacrated people who is strugling for their rights by their own voices. I would recommend this book to students, to specialists in anthropology and ethnologist and to whom is interested in history of America and in our present days. Last, I would mention the beauty of the volume and of the hardcover.

I really enjoyed this book.

Stuart is my grandfather but that is not why I am writing this review. I am writing this because after reading 'Carlino' (or 'Pebbles From My Skull' as it is otherwise known as) you have more of an understanding of what it was actually like to go through WW2 and survive, to be a partisan behind enemy lines and to endure all the hardships associated with war.

This book does not try and glorify war, rather it merely reports on what really happened, what really happened to my grandfather.

It doesn't hurt that it is amazingly well written either.

I really enjoyed this book.

Stuart is my grandfather but that is not why I am writing this review. I am writing this because after reading 'Carlino' (or 'Pebbles From My Skull' as it is otherwise known as) you have more of an understanding of what it was actually like to go through WW2 and survive, to be a partisan behind enemy lines and to endure all the hardships associated with war.

This book does not try and glorify war, rather it merely reports on what really happened, what really happened to my grandfather.

It doesn't hurt that it is amazingly well written either.