Stuart Books

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.

Catspaw II (Harlequin Intrigue #103, 1988) is the sequel to Catspaw (Harlequin Intrigue #9, 1985). There was over three years between the releases, but when read together, you will see they flow flawlessly as one story. A sequel that is as good as the original! A rarity, indeed. With Anne Stuart's brilliance dazzling Romance readers for over twenty years, the two novels demonstrate her amazing talent from the very start. They are Stuart at her very best. It's a shame Harlequin does not release both of these tales together under one cover. They had a tiny touch of dating in a few places, but to us who were readers back then, it's more like a hint of memory lane! But frankly, you will be so wrapped up in Ferris Byrd and John Patrick Blackheart you won't notice or care about anything else. These two characters are simply amazing.
Ferris Byrd is a self-made woman, but she tends to find herself more casual these days because her reformed cat burglar fiance likes her that way. Only, Blackheart is making Ferris wonder about their engagement. Oh, she loves him, but she is having doubt problems - same problems she faced in the first novel - she fears the lure of excitement is just too much for Blackheart to resist. So when he starts vanishing, without saying goodbye, and is gone for weeks at a time, she suddenly fears the worst, especially since there are big burglaries in the news all over Europe that sound like Blackheart it on the prowl again.

When the book takes up, it's exactly six months after Catspaw left off. They are engaged. Ferris is still living in her old apartment, though with new locks Blackheart installed. She is packing to move to his apartment, but on the rainy day, she is beginning to question if she has made a good choice. Her car had die and had to be towed to the garage, and worse, her house keys are in her purse. Going back to the garage is useless; they have already closed. So Ferris is left with breaking into her own apartment. After she goes their her cat burglar routine, coming from training from her husband-to-be, she is horrified and angry to find Blackheart has been sitting his in car watching her. She was not amused he enjoyed her bit of B&E. Neither were the police, when they nearly site her for tossing garbage around the area, since she used the trash cans to stand on to get to her balcony. She has to go out into the rain and pick up the mess. To say the least, that only lets her temper with Blackheart grow.

When she comes back, and finds he offers no excuses for his absence and says only he had been to England on business, she is far from pleased. When he is making coffee, she goes through his kit, finds burglar's tools - which he said he did not have need of anymore - and a passport, showing he had been to every country where there had been a big jewel robbery. She is not a happy camper. When he refuses to explain why he lied to her, she tells him the engagement is off.

Blackheart is furious Ferris refuses to trust him, but he is not going to involve her in the nasty things happening to him. Someone is trying to frame him for all those burglaries. Worse, now he is back in San Francisco, he discovers he is being set up to take the fall for two different robberies. Blackheart has to save his long-lost little sister from the clutches of jail, foil the robbers intent of making him their fall guy, and convince Ferris what she really doesn't trust is not him, but herself.

Ferris ex-fiance and his mother, characters in the first tale, are back. There is also a secondary romance between Blackheart sister, Dany, and the policemen doggedly determined to see Blackheart in jail.

All in all, it's Stuart Magic! Craft, imagination, insight, sexy characters that steal your heart, all stirred into one potent brew. It just does not get any better than Ferris and Blackheart.

from back cover: "Ferris Byrd had no intention of marrying a cat burglar. she trusted her fiance', but when news came of jewel robberies in European cities Blackheart had recently visited, she began to wonder. Had he taken to the rooftops again?"

...but, on the whole, it's a valuable addition to the history of the war. When I first saw this recently, my question was "Why"?...we already have at least three other major bios of JEB, all of them good. John Thomason's "Jeb Stuart" [1930] is, I think, the most positive, and the present offering the most negative. Burke Davis' "The Last Cavalier" [1957], and Emory Thomas' "Bold Dragoon" [1986] would be somewhere in between, and all four are well worth your time. The event in history that has caused more words to be written than any other is, certainly, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. What is #2? My vote would be for the American Civil War...new books almost daily...web sites by the score...our fascination is endless....

........and JEB Stuart remains one of the war's more fascinating characters. The man had FLASH...he had STYLE...but, he was brave, and he could sure fight. Mr. Wert gives us good descriptions of the man...he was loved by many, respected by most, but he was a darn tough man to work for [I would rather have ridden with Forrest]...a devoutly religious man, he could be more hateful and vindictive than a Christian should be. His lack of respect for Beverly Robertson has a sound basis, but Grumble Jones is a different matter. A shameless self promoter, he was still fearless in battle...his ride around McClellan and raid on Chambersburg are covered in superb detail, and fine operations they were, but part of it was always about JEB.

JEB's most improbable friendship with Stonewall Jackson is well documented, as is his rather cool relationship with Longstreet [Mr. Wert has given us the most postitive bio of him], and his virtual reverence for Robert E. Lee...nothing unusual in that. Wade Hampton accused JEB of already starting his campaign for Governor of Virginia...there was mutual respect between them, but no friendship. JEB probably would have been Governor had he survived the war; Hampton was Governor and Senator, and ran SC for 30 years, but he had the advantage of massive wealth.

Gettysburg.

That's where all modern appraisals of Stuart eventually lead. Numerous studies have either blamed JEB for the loss of the war, or completely exonerated him. Mr. Wert does neither, and that's probably the proper path. If you're reading this, you already know the story...discretionary orders [that was Lee's fault]...discretion exceeded...125 useless wagons...8 days wasted...battle lost. JEB was trying to show off after his screw up led to Brandy Station. "Where's your mule"? Indeed. We do get a good picture of JEB's partial redemption on the retreat. And, something I've never read before...apparently after Gettysburg consideration was given to firing Stuart [no surprise there], and replacing him with John Bell Hood. I'm pretty sure I've read all the Hood and Stuart bios, plus "RE Lee" and "Lee's Lieutenants"...I've not seen that, and neither has my friend Sam Hood, but he's checking into it. General Hood had been Cavalry prior to the war, but he had been wounded at Gettysburg. He could have done the job [in fact, he was chosen chief Cavalry instructor at West Point in 1859, though, anticipating secession, he turned down the job], and he probably got along with others better than Stuart did.

One thing will disturb some, especially Stuart's descendents...everybody knows that though JEB was devoted to his wife and family, he enjoyed the attention of pretty girls...no crime there. So do I. Mr. Wert implies that there was a lot more than harmless dancing, and innocent flirtation, going on, and names names...Laura Ratcliffe. Are the facts straight? Beats me, but, with as good a historian as Mr. Wert, probably.

A couple of minor errors...Fitz Lee wasn't injured in a fall after Second Manassas, it was Robert E. JEB attended St. James Episcopal in Richmond, not St. Paul's...I admit he could he could have visited St. Paul's. St. Paul's is still on East Grace Street, right where it was then. St. James [which is correctly given as the site of JEB's funeral] moved to its present location on West Franklin Street in the early 20th. century. It's within a block of JEB's statue on Monument Avenue, and has a beautiful memorial window picturing JEB as a Teutonic Knight. JEB IV is a Vestryman. Both St. Paul's and St. James are great Churches. I digress...

This book, like the subject of it, has both positive and negative aspects. In both cases, the good far exceeds the bad. Was Stuart the greatest Cavalry Officer? Maybe, but there was Forrest [and Joe Wheeler and William Clarke Quantrill]. Is this the greatest Stuart bio? I don't think do, but the margin is awful thin, and the competition very tough. It Mr. Wert a great historian, and writer? Darn right he is...well recommended.

The Army of Northern Virginia possessed more than its' share of large than life figures. Some of them have become American icons, while the balance is familiar to the Civil War community. Their images grace our artwork, books, and stamps or are the subject of movies.
James Earl Brown Stuart is one of these larger than life figures. Commander of Lee's cavalry, Stuart trained and motive these men into a dominate force. He personally led them into numerous fights both large and small. At Antietam, his placement of guns on the army's left helped breakup Union attacks. At Chancellorsville, he shielded Jacksons march and on Jackson's being wounded, Stuart took command. His attack reunited the wings of the army giving Lee a unified line and contributing to Hooker's withdrawal. Stuart's decisions during the Gettysburg Campaign are debated to this day and contributed to Lee's army being defeated. During his life, the press lionized and vilified Stuart, depending on his latest action. He was a man of great contradictions. A very competent officer but ambitious to a fault. Considered fair, he was known to be a good hater. His ambitions and personal feelings about people overruled his good judgment at times. A religious man with strong family ties and a good marriage, he sought the company of young women and flirted with them. This caused limited problems in his marriage. JEB Stuart is a fascinating subject with an interesting complex life.
Jeffery Wert is one of our better authors. He combines a very easy to read style with an in-depth knowledge of the subject. His biography of James Longstreet is consider one of the best on the man. Wert captures the complexities and contradictions that make up Stuart's personality. He has the background to understand and explain Stuart's contribution to the war. Wert is neither enamored with nor critical of Stuart. He presents both the good and bad points in a fair manner allowing the reader to judge. On questions of judgment, Wert presents the facts and shows us why Stuart may have done as he did. The results of Stuart's actions are presented fairly without excuses or accusations.
This is an excellent book! It finds the balance between readability and scholarship. The result is an informative read that is fun too. In addition to a biography of Stuart, the reader gets a view of cavalry operations during the war. I am not a great reader of biographies. However, this is a military and personal history of a major player in the Army of Northern Virginia.

Although there have been a seemingly infinite amount of books written on 17th century England, this one stands out from the rest. Although it is not exactly a thoroughly in depth study, it provides ample knowledge about all of the important people and events of the era. It is also helpful that each division of the era is looked at in several different fields of study, including the often overlooked area of economics.

The late eminent British Marxist historian Christopher Hill is better known for his pioneer work in the micro-history of the English Revolution and the influences of left-wing political forces such as the Levellers and Diggers and religious forces such the Quakers, Shakers, Ranters and Seekers on it. Here he has written an overview of the entire 17th century as part of this series of books on the history of England to modern times. Needless to say some of his work around the English Revolution seeps into this work as well, which makes that period the strongest section of the book.

Professor Hill traces the major social, political, economic and religious trends that culminated in the revolution back to the reign of James I (and some economic trends back to Elizabethan times). He covers such keys areas of conflict as the changes in land use and ownership, agricultural innovations including the highly controversial enclosure policy, governmental foreign policy which tended to have a distinctly Catholic, particularly pro-Spanish, orientation, the embryonic beginnings of the split between court and `country' as a result of Stuart arbitrary rule, the split between landed proprietors and city merchants; the city and the country, the established church and the numerous pro-Puritan (read Calvinist) sects that started to sprout up like wildfire and the rise of a secular democratic movement based in the cities that both the Army and the Levellers would draw upon in the Civil War period.

Special note should be taken of the decades between the beginning of the defensive parliamentary struggles against Charles I in 1640 and 1660 with the restoration of his son Charles II to the throne. At this point the tensions that were merely outlined by the prior policies of the Stuart governments came to the breaking point. Hill does more than merely narrate that story. He shows, based on his well-stocked body of knowledge about the period, the various stages that the revolution went through from vascillations of the first defensive struggles of the Parliamentarians to the definitive break with Charles and the establishment of the New Model Army which would usher in a period of military dominance of government and society and with it the rise and fall of the various secular and religious democratic movements. Hill also does a masterful job of showing how the various plebian democratic forces in society reacted to governmental policy (and how the government dealt with those forces) and how, as a result, these various fights sapped the revolutionary energy of the masses.

As more than one historian and sociologist has noted, as a general proposition the study of post-revolutionary periods tends to be rather anti-climatic. That is also the case here with the restoration of Charles II. England, however, exhibited that trend in revolutionary history that demonstrates that even when the revolution runs out of steam there is generally no regression back to the old ways of ruling. Despite the regression in governmental form with the reintroduction of the monarchy, parliamentary supremacy was essentially assured although not without various intrigues by Charles and his brother James against it and against England. As importantly, the capitalist industrial developmental trends that had been gathering force throughout the century kept expanding after the revolution. That trend would make England the number one power in the world in the next century. For an excellent overview of an important period in English history, which moreover is filled with helpful footnotes on sources for further research, this is your stop.

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I'm a computer guy working at a biotech and wanted to know more about what the guys in the coats are doing. This book is a very good introduction for those with a science bent.

I especially enjoyed reading about the Bohr model of the atom (which is what I learned in school) only to have it totally dissed after 3/4ths of a page as inadequate!

I don't know how well it works as a class room text (this is night-time reading for me) but for a enjoyable well written text on Biochemistry this is an excellent choice.

I'm very happy to see an extraordinary writer get some recognition, as Dybek has with his new collection "I Sailed with Magellan." I hope his new readers will pick up this book as well, which is, quite simply, the best collection of short stories I've read.
Dybek captures the magic, wonder, and fear of childhood and adolescence precisely, transporting us back to that time in our own life where we still hoped anything was possible, but had seen enough of the world to know otherwise.

This is my favorite collection of short stories by any contemporary author. Stories like "Blood Soup" contain bizarre, unforgettable characters and the author's unique, horrified yet loving view of Chicago mainly through the eyes of children. The neo-gothic setting of the "city of big shoulders" (as Carl Sandburg put it) is a perfect backdrop to stories of love, violence, and growing up.

If you are sick, disturbed or basically interested in a kinky, tasteless, funny and weird sort of book. Then this is the book for you.

Joshua puts together a wonderful book with a superb cast of characters.

And the ending is fantastic.

Gotta love his sick mind and I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Can't wait for his next book.

Joshua's characters are so vibrant, their lives so richly textured, that they seem to leap off the page...you want to know them and reach out to them. This story is not for the faint-hearted, but its lurid imagery combines with gut-wrenching pathos to create a potent, beautifully-crafted brew that will stick in your heart and mind long after you close the book.