Wang Books

This is so funny I bought a copy of the FA book 2003 and looking at it and comparing it to the 2002 version I saw that almost all of the mistakes where being corrected and stuff like that...
I had the 2002 version, which was fraught with little mistakes here and there...
Yeah like I said there were many mistakes on the 2002 version; in the different subject areas.
At least the ones that I had come across while attempting to read it really made me mad...
Now the question is:
How come a book like FA for the usmle step1 book had
Some serious mistakes Like that?
I mean being so popular and all...
What a shame...
It had mistakes in Path; biochemistry and so forth and so on...
Thanks God that the 2003 edition came out; the book
has so many corrections made; you know thinking back now in those days, those mistakes really drove me really mad...
it drove me crazy some times thinking that they were meant to be at one time or another to be thought of as true....
It was driving me paranoid...lol
Oh my, all of those little mistakes, fraught with mistakes...?
Thx for your time in reading this article.
Hope that it made you less skeptical in buying future editions of the first aid book for the usmle step1.
Dr.Claudio A.G.Monteiro Filho
Recife,Pernambuco.
Brasil
South America.
CREMEPE: 13.652

Definitely the key source for step 1 preparation but as the authors say: it should not be the only source of preparation.
Molecular biology and genetics should have a separate section in the review section as they are heavily tested in the actual exam. Otherwise very good and concise presentation of high yield facts. Do not forget to practice questions which are most similar to the real thing in NMS or on Kaplan website.
Careful with rating of book recommendation.
Better to make up your own mind.
Good luck.

I found this book highly useful for the usmle step 1. It summarized the topics in a reader friendly format. It helped me to study for the test without carrying so many textbooks around with me. I also recommend the following which is sold on amazon:
Spinal Anatomy Study Guide: Key Review Questions and Answers
ISBN: 0971999600
Microbiology Study Guide: Key Review Questions and Answers ISBN: 0971999635

The last 2 study guides showed me the kind of topics that were asked on portions of the USLME step 1. You can't go wrong with these 3 books.

I wouldn't recommend reading this book 6 times cover to cover as the guy below me did, but it's definitely a must for Step I. Good images, great high yield info, wonderful index, great buzz-word association section, and helpful reviews of other medical texts at the end. You're making a big mistake if you don't pick this one up... if you have the time (and the lack of social life) to read this book cover to cover 6 times, more power to you... if you get through it once, more power to you. A must!

This is a great book for overall review. I'd recommend buying it at the start of 1st year or the very latest the start of second year and use it as a review tool for exams. Make notes in the margins on things you think are important and aren't included. By making notes in the margins it will become the only book you'll need to study from because if you know everything in this book you are guarenteed to pass the boards.

If you like system-based approach, Step-Up is a great supplement, but it's micro section is poor

-3rd Year Medical Student

A GREAT read! Just open the book anywhere and peruse the definitions. Bierce is satirical and puts his finger right on the nub of the thing!

Ambrose Bierce obviously had some fun at the expense of his fellow 19th century Americans with the cynical and sarirical word entries in his wicked dictionary.

Any reader,particularly of history by Ambrose Bierce,will greatly enjoy this book. Little wonder, Bierce (1842-1914),an American journalist,satirist -"it was said that a bad review from Bierce could break a writer's career;and writer of short stories who earned the nickname "Bitter Bierce" for his sardonic views and his vehemence as a critic".
While the thoughts and definitions in this dictionary were written many years ago;they remain sharp,revelent and cuttingly satiric today.What I find so surprising is that these ideas have not become dated.
While few,if any ,dictionaries lend themselves to reading or simply just spending time leafing through;this is certainly an exception.
Just to give an idea of what awaits in this tome;try these for size;

mausoleum- The final and funniest folly of the rich.

martyr- One who moves along the line of least reluctance to a
desired death.

blackguard-A man whose qualities,prepared for display like a box of
berries in a market-the fine ones on top-have been opened
on the wrong side.An inverted gentleman.

amnesty-The state's magnanimity to those offenders whom it would be
too expensive to punish.

grapeshot-An argumentwhich the future is preparing in answer to
the demands of American Socialism.
And last but not least;

nonsense- The objections that are urged against this excellent
dictionary.

Also known as "The Cynic's Workbook" this collection is classic and belongs in any library. Ambrose Bierce, like Mark Twain and few other of his contempories, had a biting wit that always left a mark.
Here is just a taste of his humor.

Philosophy: A route of many roads leading from nowhere to nothing.

Eulogy. Praise of a person who has either the advantages of wealth and power, or the consideration to be dead.

The large font is a plus in this book. Good illustrations.

Good good stuff.

The Devil's Dictionary / 0-19-512627-0

DICTIONARY, n. A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic. This dictionary, however, is a most useful work.

This "dictionary" by Ambrose Bierce is witty, scathing, and totally hilarious. In his characteristic style, he dishes out his contempt and distaste for those societal norms which he sees as foolish, hypocritical, and dangerous. This is not a book to read, but - truly - a dictionary to reference whenever the mood takes. The aphorisms ring true, even today, and the only real complaint is that we would wish for so much more - the dictionary is "only" 219 pages long, and while that is quiet a fair lot of words, oh, we wish he could have left us even more...

Should be required reading especially for anyone who is ignorant or foolish enough to believe "Drill here, drill now" is the solution. The writing is plain English, not geological or oil & gas jargon. Hubbert's peak is carefully explained, and the explanation does not require much understanding of math. The author also explores other energy sources in addition to oil & gas. The basic message is that we need other energy sources now and we had better get cracking.

I thought this book sets out the peak oil theory and supporting information in a highly readable way. You can argue about whether it applies to just light sweet crude or to oil in all its forms but the distinction is not that relevant in the short term. I found it both readable and very thought provoking. I have been long oil for awhile as a result and that has been very successful.

Deffeyes has written an excellent book on M K Hubbert's 1969 published predictions for future world oil production.The most interesting chapter is chapter 3.It covers the basic logistics model that Hubbert showed fit the data like a glove fitting your hand.Deffeyes has uncovered a small error in Hubbert's exposition.It is presented on p.51.Deffeyes correctly states that production,discoveries,and hits started together."Hits have to initially grow faster than discoveries.Discoveries have to initially grow faster than production"(p.49) Hits has the highest peak and peaked about 1960.Discoveries then has the next highest peak and peaked about 1980.Production(discoveries and hits)peaked around 2000.

The conclusion is that "the major theoretical conclusion is that a straight line requires that production(discoveries,hits) depends linearly on the fraction of oil that is unproduced(undiscovered,unhit)".(Deffeyes,p.51).The major prediction is that the price of oil will be going up constantly.Possible remedies are conservation,more(much more)fuel efficient cars, nuclear power,solar power,wind power,and cogeneration.The one non solution is to try to drill our way out of the problem.This is not possible given the technical constraints of the problem.

While the list of books on this topic continues to grow all the time, this is probably one of the must-have books if you are interested in the topic of Peak Oil. Deffeyes is often quoted in other works, as is his former colleague, H. King Hubbert. Deffeyes comes off as a wise expert when talking about issues directly related to his area of expertise, and an honest layman when talking about things he's not as much of an expert on. This give the book an air of authenticity. It is a fairly short book, but manages to give a good background on the different energy industries related to the question of oil and its possible substitutes. It also gives a pretty succinct summary of the state of reserves and production which can go a long way towards clarifying many common misconceptions, such as the idea that we can drill our way out of the crisis. Deffeyes predicted that peak oil would hit on Thanksgiving Day of 2005. Interestingly, he maintains a web page on which he comments on the latest events. So far he has yet to retract his predictions.

A perfect introduction to energy for well educated readers. Short, clear, to the point chapters on the various options from traditional to alternative, full of pithy observations and good humor. Not alarmist, just fact based, clear headed and long sighted.

This book was an excellently written portrayal of presidential politics in the early 60's. Short of actually being there, "Before the Storm" gives a fully-developed experience of the time. Well done!

I was really looking forward to "Nixonland" -- 'though not anymore -- and in anticipation I thought I'd try Pearlstein's Goldwater book, mainly because of all the great Amazon reviews, and because I'm a junkie for presidential campaign books.

Wow, what were the other reviewers looking at when they read "Before the Storm"? Let's just say that Pearlstein's "depth" makes Teddy White seem like Suetonis. In Pearlstein's background as to the causes of the rise of the American Right to total and complete dominance, there is nothing about 1950s culture and the sexualization of what was pretty neutral stuff pre-rock and pre-TV, nothing about TV itself, nothing about the rise of the military-industrial-intelligence complex, nothing about the Dulles Brothers(et al), nothing about the vast nationalist movements across the world, nothing about the militarization of the society and culture, nothing about the rise of the Western Cowboy economies(space, oil, weapons, big agriculture etc), nothing about class, nothing about capitalism itself(the word is not even mentioned in a book of almost 700 pages), and nothing about the slow takeover of media by the far right.

There is a lot of mention, however, of Barry Goldwater's brawny arms, magnificent chin, and deep glistening tan.

An amazingly stupid book, supposedly written by a "leftist" in hopes of understanding the right. Which I guess means to become as dumb as they are. At that, Pearlstein has magnificently succeeded.

I found this book to be on many accounts a very interesting account of the birth of modern conservatism and the atmosphere of the U.S. in 1964 which lead to its emergence. Still, I found that the author went out of his way to paint the birth as a negative thing, obvious by the title, and something that has harmed the country more than helped it.

The portrayal of Barry Goldwater the man is very negative. He is often portrayed as garrulous bordering on rude when the fact was that Goldwater was plainspoken and made no apologies for who he was or what he thought. Heaven forbid that today. Also, the grassroots organizations that helped to place Goldwater at the head of the ticket in 1964 as executing a type of putsch over preferred candidates. Yes the candidates were preferred but not by Republican rank and file. Lastly, very little attention is given to the failures of the Democrats or the fact that the long grouping of Southern Democrats and northern machine bosses, neither of whom were very democratic, were falling apart when faced with voter dissatisfaction.

Overall this is a long book and it does a great job of describing a point in time. Be prepared to deal with the author's biases against both Goldwater and those who brought him to power.

Rick Perlstein has done a magnificent job telling one of the most important political stories of our time: the triumphant journey of American conservatism from the political fringes to the center of power. Or at least the opening chapters of that story: Perlstein focuses on the doomed 1964 presidential campaign of conservative icon Barry Goldwater, a short-term setback that, in the prescient words of William F. Buckley, "planted seeds of hope, which will flower in a great November day in the future.'' Although Perlstein writes from a left-wing perspective, he is scrupulously fair. Goldwater emerges as a principled, decent, somewhat simple-minded man, baffled and often disturbed by the intensity of his supporters. Perlstein clearly admires the passion and resourcefulness of Goldwater's early backers such as Clif White. He doesn't hesitate to expose the hard-ball tactics Lyndon Johnson and the Democrats used against Goldwater in '64; young Bill Moyers comes off as especially Machiavellian. Sometimes Perlstein's narrative is a bit jarring, as he struggles to smooth over the ups and downs of political campaigns. On page 280, for instance, Perlstein writes that Nelson Rockefeller "knocked them dead in New Hampshire.'' By the next page, Rockefeller's "popularity was plummeting, his chances of (success) remote.'' Similarly, the Goldwater campaign sometimes comes across as an unstoppable force; at others like the fringe effort it proved to be on election day.

But that's a quibble. I learned a lot from this book. I never before realized the extent to which the money and venom of anti-union industrialists helped get movement conservatism started. I hadn't realized how early - pre-1964 -- Republicans started making inroads in the South, exploiting the white backlash against civil rights. I enjoyed many vignettes, including one on Lady Bird Johnson's courageous campaign trip across a hostile South. Perlstein is unsparing toward the era's elite political reporters, blinded by their own biases and comfy assumptions, who failed to see the movement emerging right before their eyes. Even after 516 pages of Perlstein's thorough reporting, intelligent analysis and fine story-telling I still can't really understand the conservative worldview. I'm a little like Adlai Stevenson, mystified when confronted by an unhinged rightwing protester. "What is wrong?'' he asked plaintively. "What do you want?'' Why did they see communist plots everywhere and a society lurching toward doom? Why did they overlook the violence and injustice in the South and see civil rights legislation as the first step toward a fascist dictatorship? I just don't get it.

~Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus~ is a sweeping narrative history of the American conservative movement in the 1960s. The author Richard Perlstein, a liberal journalist, actually offers a fairly balanced and objective view of the American Right in the 1960s. He doesn't quite picture the American conservative as the racist Archie Bunker character from Norman Lear's All in the Family television show, but rather sympathetically reveals their concerns and convictions, which were deep rooted in the American psyche. Conservatives were animated by a love of country, a principled anti-communism that was sometimes paranoid, and a desire for fiscal restraint in government particularly at the federal level. Many hoped to repudiate the New Deal of FDR. Perlstein leaps right into the streets of conservative bastions like Orange County, California and Dallas, Texas, and offers a snapshot of the conservative movement in microcosm. With clarity, he communicates their concerns and response to the troublesome and insecure world around them. Against the backdrop of the beleaguered conservative movement of the 1960s were the tumults of radical Leftist activists in and out of the government. The Great Society of the Lyndon Johnson administration marked the ascendancy of welfare-statism in the United States, which proved especially baneful to principled conservatives and constitutionalists.

Perlstein's trenchant commentary is well-researched and offers a bombastic flare which captures the spirit of the insurgent, albeit beleaguered conservative movement. Against the backdrop of liberal dominated 1960s, the conservative movement in the 1960s solidified into well-organized constituency which eventually propelled the Reagan Revolution forward in 1980. While the political tides propelled an activist centralized government in Washington, D.C. to the helm, there was a deep-rooted libertarian streak to American conservatives which desperately desired to fight tooth and nail against political consolidation and central planning.

Perlstein chronicles the failed Goldwater campaign of 1964, and illustrates how its mass appeal to free markets and constitutionally limited government rallied throngs of conservatives under the American banner. The powerful Rockefeller dynasty shifted all their fortunes in favor of the Johnson bid for the Presidency, and labored against Goldwater every step of the way. The Lyndon Johnson presidential campaign itself shamelessly exploited the heightened Cold War anxieties and insecurities in the wake of the tragic assassination of John F. Kennedy, Jr. This sensationalism was encapsulated in television advertisement which pictured a little girl in a field plucking a daisy, and then a brilliant flash of light followed by an atomic detonation. Johnson was always viewed by the American Right with suspicion. Johnson, a racist Texas politician by instinct and an opportunist, pandered to the worst socialist instincts of the Civil Rights movement with his Great Society proposal, and he made no qualms about the reality it was a vote-buying scheme.

Perlstein sympathetically elucidates upon some of the anxieties felt on the Conservative Right. The anxieties were multi-faceted and owed to racial and social strife, as well as the heightened Cold War tension with the communist world following the Cuban Missile Crisis. There was grave apprehension that elements of the American Left and the Civil Rights movement were conciliatory to the Soviets, or worse yet, treasonous pawns of Moscow. Herein, we see an erudite profile of the various factions of political activists on the Right from the Young Americans for Freedom to the more conspiratorial minded members of the John Birch Society. The Right lacked cohesiveness and men like President Eisenhower and William F. Buckley were viewed by some as trojan horses on the political Right. The conservative movements began to emulate the mass-organization of their antagonists on the Left. Groups like the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) and Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) were very articulate and erudite in the quality of scholarship they produced. Both defended the free-market economy and constitutionally-limited government with extraordinary intellectual rigor. While Yippies and student radicals were protesting on college campuses, articulate conservative activists like Phyllis Schlafly and Robert Welch pandered to the concerns of American conservatives. They pressed for repeal of New Deal policies and sounded alarms about communism and the emerging feminist movement. A former G-Man Dan Smoot who left the FBI, warned tirelessly of subversive plots from Moscow. Other enigmatic voices came and went. As pamphleteers and propagandists, activists on the Right told prescient tales of communist subversion in our midst. Given the radicalism of the Left from the Black Panthers to the SDS, some of their fears were certainly warranted; but some of their conspiratorial speculations often proved to be unfounded.

Perlstein stumbles from time to time, but overall this is a quality work. It is well-researched and possessed of extraordinary clarity and a meticulous quality that makes one wonder that it is possible for an outsider to the conservative movement to put such a monumental work together.

This is by far the best Aleister Crowley biography on the mass market because the other books are biased and not very good. This one, however is straight from the author and he has nothing to hide, not even his sexuality as he admits he liked both sexes. His childhood was the most interesting part. The son of a brewer from a strict Christian sect that he rebelled against and inherited a small fortune is a key element in the book. He also details his many mountain climbing expeditions and was one of the best in the world. I also really liked the parts on his ascension to the head of the Golden Dawn, eventually having a falling out with Mathers and being expelled for moral depravity. If you were wondering if cats had 9 lives, Crowley details how he tortured a cat to see if it did. This part reminded me of Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat. Like I said, avoid the countless biased biographies from others. Those are the books his detractors like and are cheesey. An essential look at one of the biggest bad asses in world history.

Crowley's autohagiography is fascinating from start to finish: he was the supreme egotist in all things and a master manipulator of weaker souls (of which there was a limitless supply). So, read and enjoy, but ask yourself: did he really turn Victor Neuberg into a camel? Could he become invisible as he claimed? Did he copy down a book dictated to him by an Egyptian god? You get to decide whether he's a reliable source....

After you read this, you'll want a more objective view of the life of this remarkable man, and for that I'd turn to either John Symond's "The Geat Beast" (fair but credulous) or the much more recent "Do What Thou Wilt" by Lawrence Sutin-- an excellent, open-minded, reasonably skeptical look at Crowley's life and works. No matter what you decide about Crowley (genius, prankster, or madman), these are all entertaining and worthwhile books.

But begin with this one, straight from the magus' mouth.

Before I read this book (years ago - it was at a bookstore in the clearance section for $4.95!), Aleister Crowley seemed pure myth. He was but a cryptic, faceless personality surrounded by what I'd later find out to be gross misrepresentation and ignorance - which, incidentally, I fell for, hook, line and sinker.

But upon reading his 'autohagiography,' the man was finally fleshed out and rendered human. And what a colorful and fascinating character! Hardly the evil scumbag people considered (and occasionally STILL consider) him to be. I found that he harbored views and opinions similar to my own about mob psychology and the like, and he had a way of expressing his thoughts, feelings and views which was nothing short of amazing. This is one of the most quotable books in the world, I feel. Crowley doesn't mince words, and he has a wonderful command of the English language (among other languages).

His accounts of mountain climbing and world travels are fascinating. His magical experiences are equally so. He approaches these subjects with great wisdom - often tinged with a priceless sardonic humor (which is what I appreciate most about the book). Crowley was a great wit.

I find that I can open this book to any page at random and start reading - and every time I'm hooked.

I have breezed through this review, so it isn't as incisive as I originally planned it to be. But the above is how I feel in a nutshell. If you are at all interested in this man, this book is a must. I recommend it very highly.

Aleister Crowley is perhaps one of the most interesting characters in all of world history. He attempted to synthesize the techniques of Western occultism, Eastern mysticism, and modern scientific thought into a workable system he liked to call "Magick." All the time he was trying to do this, he was hounded by people who branded him a charlatan, a Satanist, and "the wickedest man in the world." Even the famed Russian mystic George Gurdjieff, who was controversial himself, cursed Crowley's name after they met. Crowley's flawed character is very interesting to look at, especially from his own perspective, and this is why "The Confessions of Aleister Crowley" is such a great book.

My psychology professor loaned me his copy of this book, after we got into a discussion about Crowley one day. The case of my professor demonstrates how much Crowley is ignored, as his copy of "The Confessions" had sat on his bookshelf for years unnoticed. It was only when I mentioned Crowley and my professor read over the book that he understood my fascination with Crowley. Unfortunately, I was unable to finish the book, due both to time constraints and the fact that the book is rather boring in the middle, when Crowley begins to talk about his mountaineering adventures. I can, however, tell you my general impressions of the book, and Crowley, after what I have read of the book and several other books on The Great Beast.

Crowley's style is very lucid and descriptive, but readers without a dictionary should be warned; Crowley's vocabulary is immense and multi-lingual. Crowley makes some rather astute observations about the course of his life and his actions in the book, and he is able to psychoanalyze many of the people who one way or another became involved with his life, but this book, and his whole life, in fact, show one fatal flaw: a lack of self-analysis. Crowley's egotism contributed greatly to some of the errors he made. For instance, in reference to his feud with several members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, he accuses many of them of having been jealous of him, going so far as to say that the great poet Yeats hated Crowley because Crowley was the superior poet. Any look at Crowley's poetry will prove this claim to be laughable, although Crowley did occasionally write wonderful poetry.

Crowley has long been ignored in Western society, although many of his ideas have influenced the course of the 20th century. Hopefully with the success of Wicca and occultism in general right now, Crowley will attain the position of great sage and artist in the larger world someday, as well as serving as a warning to all those who would tread his path. In closing, the reader of this book should bring with him an open-mind, intelligence, and a sense of humor (for Crowley's sense of humor is one of his often ignored qualities). With these qualities, he should be able to understand Crowley and learn from his ideas.

I found the Confessions to be inspiring, irritating, tragic, and hilariously funny. Love him or hate him; Crowley was a unique individual whose accomplishments are not to be underestimated.

I was not bothered by the lack of magickal writing: after all, the book was never intended to be a textbook on magick. Besides, I have no interest in practicing magick.

Apart from Crowley's racism and misogyny (he was, after all, a 19th century British man. He couldn't help it), he had a remarkably progressive and universal view. He did the best that he could.
I delighted in the lessons that his strengths, weaknesses, virtues, flaws, follies and triumphs. One thing that he was was honest. Despite the possibility that he may have embellished the truth at times, he did so leaving the reader with the oportunity to see through him. He held himself and others to very exacting standards.

At times I found myself laughing out loud at many of his anecdotes. They were my favorite parts of the book; especially when he was presenting himself as either the fool or "The Wickedest Man in the World": with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek.

I have met a few people who knew Crowley during the last years of his life. They all had some interesting things to say about him. Apparently, despite his occasional display of bad manners, he was quite an interesting man. One person described him as being "a lot of fun".

A good read. One of my favorite books.

I thought this was a well written memoir and as hard as it was to read it is something that should be read by every living person. We need to step up and not allow this to happen in any country and it is so sad to see it happening everywhere. When will we learn our lessons?

This was one bound volume of Wiesel's first three books, which concern the Holocaust, survival, and humanity. Night is Wiesel's personal memoir, which relates his personal story before and during World War II, as he and his father are separated from his mother and sister and interned in a series of concentration camps. Dawn is the story of a member of the movement to free Palestine from British occupation and Day concerns how one could move from a past that consumes one's every thought (or even if one should).

Quote: "Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never."

I read Night in high school, and always think of it as being a particularly long book, which it is not. Wiesel manages to pack more than I would think possible into a little over a hundred pages, which relates the story of himself and his family during the Holocaust. It is a beautifully written work that relates a terrible story. I found the story of Wiesel's loss of faith and the relationship he had with his father particularly memorable. If you somehow missed this in high school, pick it up, if you didn't, find it again. It's worth it. Dawn and Day are not as catching as the first work, but are still interesting in their own way.

Elie Wiesel won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, for his tireless work in addressing the Holocaust, wrestling with its almost incomprehensible moral questions, and most importantly working to ensure that it never happens again. NIGHT, his memoir of his own experiences in Auschwitz and Buchenwald, was perhaps the earliest first-hand account to be widely published. Totally authentic, written in blood and tears, it quite defies criticism. To assign four, five, or even ten stars to it would be an obscenity.

And yet Wiesel followed NIGHT by two very short fictional works, novellas rather than novels, called DAWN and DAY. Clearly he wanted to explore issues that could not be addressed in a factual memoir. And these two later books are fascinating in showing Wiesel's first steps as a novelist, rapidly gaining confidence and skill. In this respect alone, I feel that criticism is indeed germane.

We all know the advice to writers: show, don't tell. You can see Wiesel encountering the issue even in NIGHT, which is a mixture of simply reported facts and personal reflection. When he is simply telling his own story, the facts stand by themselves, and even at this date reveal aspects of the Holocaust that I did not understand: for example, why the Jewish communities did not move more proactively to resist their fate, and details of the social interactions among the camp inmates themselves. Occasionally the personal reflections get in the way of relating events, and yet how else is the author to tackle his loss of faith and feelings of guilt which seem to have been a heavier burden than any physical indignities? Wiesel's answer was to turn to fiction.

In his preface to DAWN, Wiesel makes it clear that the protagonist, Elisha, is not the author himself, although he admits that it easily might have been, had he been sent to Palestine rather than France after his liberation from Buchenwald. The fictional Elisha is recruited by freedom fighters trying to oust the British and form the state of Israel. After taking part in several guerilla actions, he is ordered to execute a hostage, a British army captain, in reprisal for the hanging of a Jew. The whole of this slim volume takes place in the night before the execution, and poses the question of whether a man who has escaped the hands of killers can ever be justified in becoming a killer himself. The theme is clearly important, and once more topical, but I cannot say that it works as a novel. The fictional background is sketchy and seems constructed with the sole purpose of presenting this dilemma. A large section of the book is devoted to Elisha's dialogue with ghosts from this past, which further diminishes reality. After a few pages, Wiesel stops showing Elisha through his deeds and social interactions, and concentrates instead on the moral dilemma in his soul; in novelistic terms, the result is to reduce rather than enhance the character's humanity. The book thus comes over less as a novel than as a parable.

DAY (originally published in English as THE ACCIDENT), Wiesel's second attempt at writing a fictional sequel to NIGHT is altogether more successful. This is partly because its theme is less absolute and more subtle: the difficulty of returning to a full loving life for somebody who has lived so long in the realm of death. His quasi-autobiographical protagonist (Eliezer, but the name is mentioned only once) is a rounded character with much depth. The book follows him as he recovers in a New York hospital from a near-fatal encounter with a taxicab. Although we still hear his inner thoughts, his situation is shown primarily in terms of his very real relationships with others, particularly his lover Kathleen. He has clearly led a varied and somewhat successful life in the dozen years since his liberation, but, though no longer a loner in practical matters, he still retains a huge void in his heart. Wiesel introduces quite a lot of psychological suspense, and has the wisdom not to make the ending too facile; if there is healing to come, it will still be a long process.

I have not (yet) read any of Elie Wiesel's later novels. Judging by the speed with which he ascends the learning-curve as a fiction writer here, I would expect them to be increasingly filled out in human terms -- perhaps even to the point where his Nobel Prize might have awarded as much for Literature as for Peace?

This was one of the most moving book(s) I have ever read. Everyone should read this at some point in their lives

I was given the first two stories of the trilogy to read in my Nazi Germany and the Holocaust class this year and found them to be excellently written and very meaningful. With the help of an excellent teacher who posed all the right questions I was allowed to see the full meaning of these two stories.

I wasn't able to read the Accident, as my teacher chose for us to read the Sunflower by Simon Weinsenthal instead, although I do hope to someday.

Night and Dawn are two great stories which should be read by all.

Do not buy this! I am a Martial Arts practitioner for over 15 years, almost 10 years of internal training, and three in Xing Yi Chuan. These exercises are nothing unique or new. All of these, and a lot more, were normal conditioning in my Kung Fu and Tai Chi training. Also, I have fond them in other Tai Chi and Pa Kua books. The other books had much better explanations and guidance on how to do the exercises correctly. This book is nothing but standard Internal Conditioning.

Ordered this book in May.
Was "lost" in the mail and I was promised a replacement.
Have contacted "Superbookdeals" numerous times and as of yesterday, July 29th, the replacement book has still not shipped!
My advice is to stay away from this company.

This book will not teach you Wu Xing (the five fists of Xing Yi) or any of the animal forms and linking forms. It won't teach you how to fight. It is NOT another "chi gong" book. As the title states, it is "nei-gong" (roughly, "internal work" or "internal exercise") and it is specifically attached to one of the most effective of Chinese internal kung-fu styles, Xing Yi Quan. The historical, biographical and introductory material is excellent and valuable to anyone interested in martial arts, Chinese culture or exercise for health benefits. The exercises themselves are well-sequenced and, unlike so many other books like it (martial arts, yoga, or otherwise), the directions will actually show you how to do the exercises on your own. It still would help to have a highly-experienced teacher such as Tim Cartmell review them with you.

I practice Xing Yi and I do this nei-gong every day. It has deepened my practice and increased my power in a way that decades of hatha yoga couldn't. I recommend this book without reservation to anyone who wants radiant good health (or who wants to hit harder). Wang Ji Wu died at 100. The book pictures a number of Xing Yi masters who lived into their 90s (through the Cultural Revolution - quite a feat!). This nei-gong and this book can do the same for you.

I have had this book for ten years and have been practicing the exercises daily for roughly that amount of time as well. Though I was never really a practitioner of the internal arts, I have a clear understanding of Chi-development.I notice that alot of the readers reviews state that they are practitioners of Xing Yi and for that purpose,this book is helpful in many ways. However, this book is not just for the Xing Yi student,it can be utilized just for the exercises alone as the book states.In the book there are case studies of different types of people most of whom arent martial artists and they have benefited greatly from these easy to learn exercises. If you are student of Xing Yi or any art and have at least some knowledge of chi-Gong and want to do exercises that will give you a lifetime of health and vibrancy, then this book is for you.This book is by far my most prized book. The exercises are easy to do and learn,and with consistent practice can give you a good sense of well being.

Tim Cartmell is always a must have when it comes to martial arts. But this book is very well written. He doesn't do what so many writers do. He gives parameters of what is and what is not acceptable in Xingyiquan. And not "HARD and FAST on what Xingyiquan is all about.
He allows the art to speak for itself.
This book is for anyone of any style Xingyiquan who is looking to better him or herself in this amazing Chinese Internal Martial Art.

Gilbert presents an outstanding chronology of the Holocaust, from its orgins through the end of the war and after. This book is exactly what I was looking for in terms of an historical account. It can be difficult to read, but I highly recommend it.

Everyone with any interest in the 20th century soon has to come to grips with the Holocaust. Whether you believe that the SS who murdered civilians were automatons acting under orders, or were psychotics, or were brainwashed by Nazi ideology, one has to come to some conclusion.

Martin Gilbert's book is an inside view of the Holocaust. There is very little theoretical material here, but only a narrative history of the genocides. Because he appears to cover as many massacres and shootings as possible, it is quite numbing to read this book. At first massacres are relatively sparse, though still horrific. As time goes on, the Einsatzgruppen step up the tempo, until sometimes it seems that every paragraph of the book describes a different massacre. There might be a shooting of ten thousand Jews at a small ghetto in Poland, or the extermination of an entire village community in Lithuania, or a shipment of Jews from Paris to Auschwitz.

The sheer number of massacres is really disturbing, and really forces one to consider how anyone could go from massacre to massacre like that, every couple of days, shooting innocent civilians, even children. Surely they cannot all have been psychotics? Many of these killers appear to have had normal backgrounds and certainly did not come from asylums.

Read this book with a strong stomach, and make your own conclusions on how such a horror could have happened.

Martin Gilbert's the Holocaust is the most comprehinsive and in depth work I have read on this subject, and why it gets 5 stars is because of the very personal nature of this book. Mr. Gilbert reverts the numbers back into real people. When reading other books on the Holocaust I found myself being deluged with these massive numbers of atrocities until they began to become abstracted and unreal, but Mr. Gilbert's account is so detailed and filled with personal accounts that every page fills you with a greater sense of the reality and the scope of this tragedy. Instead of a clinical account of numbers, this book has personal and eyewitness accounts throughout. He never lets you forget that these were real people with families, friends and real lives. This is a gut-wrenching read that forces you to look into the darkest reaches of human nature and see just how vicious human biengs can be to one another. A Diary of Anne Frank on a grand scale.

The book is over 800 pages and while the research seems through it is a hard read as one experience after another with many similarities described. I found myself skipping parts to get to the meat of the book. Seems very well documented.

I've read about half of this book so far, and while it is a decent resource about the Holocaust, it is way too detailed. Many times in the book, Gilbert will stop and put in one liners about individuals and what day they were killed and where. Honestly, I'd rather get to the meat of the book, like why did the Holocaust happen, where did it happen, and it's aftermath. Gilbert also goes out on wild left hand turns, when he suddenly throws in a paragraph about Jews fighting in the Red Army, then returns to descriptions about ghetto liquidations. If he wanted to put in information about Jews fighting in the Allied armies, then he should have devoted an entire chapter to that subject. The descriptions about the ghetto liquidations do get tiring to read after awhile. After reading about the 40th detailed description of a ghetto liquidation, I wanted to throw my hands up into the air and scream "Enough, I get the picture already!". Still, the book will drone on and on, as if it is trying to make sure it hits every single ghetto that existed during World War II.

Like I said, the book is decent, but it does have its flaws.

This is a very good reference for those who would like to improve their public speaking skill. This book will help you develop self-confidence, learn how to persuade, get action, inform, impress, entertain, and convince. The easy five-step program will show you how to be a powerful and effective speaker.

Dale Carnegie, most known for his masterpiece "How to Win Friends & Influence People" produces a compelling and articulate work with The Quick & Easy Way to Effective Speaking.

Carnegie has the writing skill to convey the obvious in a manner that leaves one asking themselves why they had never put these principles into action in the first place. Many detractors of Carnegie's doctrine have suggested that he merely affirms the obvious; yet the intrigue is buried within the notion that while apparent, few people actually in fact apply these simple principles.

Carnegie's standards are derived from countless studies, trials and investigations; thus his premise is sound and proven. He delves into a all encompassing overview of what is needed to fully be an effective public speaker. Each chapter has a mission and covers such topics as confidence, content, reading the audience, and being persuasive.

I have no doubt that anyone seeking to improve, perfect, or even start a public speaking endeavor should review the principles outlined in The Quick & Easy Way to Effective Speaking, thus I recommend this book favorably.

I wasn't planning on giving a speech when I read this book -I just thought it would give me some ideas in case I had to do so in the future. As with Dale Carnegie's other books, "The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking" presents individual points of advice fattened by entertaining anecdotes and examples from the lives of well-known people and from Carnegie's own experience. As Carnegie himself suggests, the actual advice could be summarized within the space of a few pages (There's a summary at the end of each chapter) but the stories and examples make the the information more digestible. This edition was actually edited and released posthumously by Dale Carnegie's wife. The title is a little misleading because the number one lesson of public speaking to take away from the book is the importance of practice and preparation. There are no shortcuts. Although some of the examples are a little dated, this is still a worthwhile book to read especially if you enjoyed Carnegie's other books.

I actually didn't finish this book. It had some good pointers within it but I felt it was doing more story telling than teaching me how to calm down and deliver a speech without my breakfest or lunch wanting to errupt. Although it was somewhat interesting it wasn't doing what I needed it to and that was to teach me not to want to disappear before I got up in front of a group of people.

I loved this book. I am in the process of becoming a public speaker and wanted to be very affective with the people I speak to. This book helped me to make sure my workshop is designed in the correct order to teach from A to B rather than floundering around from one to another topic never smoothly progressing toward the ultimate goal. I am well on my way to become an excellent public speaker.

Among his peers Alex Vilenkin is one of the most imaginative of cosmologists, offering ideas relating to the possibilities of multiple universes. MANY WORLDS IN ONE explains to lay readers these potentials, offering insights into physics advancements and developments and the possible coexistence of other universes. Collections appealing to lay readers in physics and astronomy will find it an exciting, accessible guide.

This is an excellent guide to inflation theory, and the doors that it opens up- Multiverse etc. After all if you can't trust Vilenkin, Guth or Linde to to tell you about their theory, who can you trust? What is most important about this theory is that it vindicates Christianity - indirectly of course.

I didn't find this book at all difficult to read, even though my physics and math background is fairly rusty. The author clearly explains many concepts in theoretical physics/cosmology that eventually leads him to what I was looking for, a discussion of the multiverse. However, the discussion is at the end of the book and is rather flimsy. The book is more about how theoreticians got there. It's also heavily stacked in the memoir category, with sections of a "who I met" or "where I was" variety. Cute, but not necessary -- probably included in order to make the book seem more for the masses than for scientists or science fans.

Alex Vilenkin is a real physicist and he's been at the cutting edge of cosmology research so it's no surprise that he has a solid grip on the theoretical underpinnings and major issues and problems facing modern cosmology. What's unexpected is that he is such a fluid and comprehensible author. Dr. Vilenkin writes beautifully - with humor, vision, impeccable organization - and great mercy for the layman. He spares us the math, but gives us a real mental picture of the issues at play. This is a great review and explanation of the modern scientific picture of the creation of the universe.

And what a picture it is. Exotic states of vacuum engendering faster than light expansion; infinities contained in bubbles inside finite spaces; multiverses with endless variations in the laws of physics, most inhospitable to life. We see the history of the subject from Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton up through Einstein and into the modern period. We get a great view of how Guth's expansion theory resolves a host of problems and suggests, tantalizing, the nature of the stuff that gives birth to our universe (higher energy false vacuums). Much of the resulting weirdness comes about as consequences contingent on expansion. There's a great explication of the cosmological constant and how the recent observational proof of it shatters particle physics independence from the anthropic principle (the notion that our presence here as observers is evidence that must be used to help gauge odds in a scenario of multiverses in which only some outcomes are hospitable to life such as ourselves. I find myself thrilled by these ideas and enthralled that Vilenkin gives me the impression that I'm really following along.

I'd give it an unqualified rave except that I have a major problem with his central thesis that a consequence of our island universe's infinite size is an infinity of parallel worlds and an infinity of identical earths with identical "you"s doing the same things. It's poetic, and certainly shocking and gets the point across that infinity is a really weird concept with very strange consequences. However, his assumption that the quantum fudge factor necessary to his proof of truly duplicate universes can give rise to a truly duplicate earth with duplicate people betrays an empiricist fallacy of particle physics' reductionism: the same particles will not build the same individual life forms because emergent complexity makes liberal use of chaotic recursive phenomena. It's the genotype/phenotype divergence. Even if the all the particles end up in the same places (by pure chance alone like monkeys typing Shakespeare, since there's an infinity of universes, some will bound to have all the particles in the same places) the way these particles code for complex emergent phenomena like life, brains and social structures makes use of chaos' sensitive dependence on initial conditions to yield divergence on the quantum fudge factors alone - in direct contradiction to Dr. Vilenkin's central conclusion.

So - I'm totally down with "Many Worlds in One" as the best explication I've encountered on the history and evolution of the ideas and theories of particle physics as it relates to cosmology. But I'm completely at odds with Vilenkin's central wowser that there's an infinity of each of us in a weird cosmic hall of mirrors because it's an inescapable consequence of infinity. I think that's just too simplistic and reductionist a reading of how particles combine to manifest the complex emergent phenomena all the way up from molecules to life forms and higher levels of reality. The way Vilenkin blithely ignores emergent complexity reflects physicists bias that particles are an ultimate reality completely encapsulating all higher order reality in and of themselves. It's a pretty picture; but it just isn't that easy. Maybe my insistence that the infinities involved in chaos and emergence trump the infinity of universes reflects my own cowardice and bias - but I couldn't help being disappointed that Vilenkin didn't seem to have recognized that issue with that facet of his really cool theory. Ultimately, my issue here is really just a quibble since that aspect is just one in a long series of amazing ideas that get presented here. On the whole, this book is the most stimulating thing you can expose yourself to from a philosophical, spiritual, and intellectual perspective. I might dock it a point because I don't like the pop aspect of the central thesis, but I'd highly recommend it to anyone at all for all the rest of it.

A special note on the Kindle edition: footnotes are rendered with direct links, but end notes are not (forcing you to jump locations manually - annoyingly - if you want to read the end notes). The index is totally lost because of the relative locations - there are no listed page numbers, no live links, no location numbers - nothing - on the index. So if you want to use the index - buy the printed book because the Kindle version has no functioning index. The Kindle edition also has a some spelling errors from the scan, but the pictures are OK and it all works fine otherwise.

An excellent introduction to modern cosmology both from the phenomenological and theoretical perspectives. The clarity of presentation and absence of math makes the book comprehensible to anybody interested in the subject.