Research Books

I cannot imagine reading this and not being moved. I cannot imagine reading this and not being blown away by the wonder of existence and the wonder of the universe as you do so. I cannot imagine reading this and not absolutely loving Carl Sagan by the time you reach the last page.

COSMOS is an amazing read. At times, it may feel a little densely packed, but that's only because its every single word is important, is loaded with meaning. In 13 gorgeously color-illustrated chapters, Sagan takes his readers on an absolutely amazing tour through the entire history and geography of the universe, with exciting stops along the way--in Earth's distant history, on Mars, in ancient Alexandria, to the edge of the universe, to the insides of the stars, and the insides of our minds.

Over and over again, reading this, my jaw dropped in awe and amazement. I found myself quoting passages of it to whoever I was near. I found myself with a pencil in hand, marking every other line.

The perspective that Sagan gives to our lives on Earth, the wonder he imbues the pursuit of knowledge with, and importance he conveys regarding humankind's role as Earth's most intelligent and potentially destructive species feels holy, and needed. The whole books feel that way.

What more can I say? I love this book. I wanted to hang up a framed picture of its author by the time I was done with it. I wanted to buy copies for everyone I know. I wanted to watch the DVDs of its companion series, and I still do--it's nice in that way, in that you can recommend it to anyone, as a book or as a show, even to people who don't like to read. If you buy the book though, be sure not to get the mass market paperback version, as that doesn't have all the illustrations. Get it in hardcover, as you'll almost certainly want to keep it for further re-reading, and for your collection.

(Okay, I'm afraid this is more an essay than a review but I hope it's evident how this book and the views expressed are related.)

I remember the t.v. series from my childhood. It fascinated me then and I'd love to return to it someday. But I decided to go to the book first.

I got an original addition. No updates. I was worried that I'd slap my head a few times and think; Wow, THAT was off!

Nope. While the DATA may be out of date, the lessons taught in it were and still are spot on. Even the chapters focusing on the threat of nuclear war (say it with me: NOO-KLEE-ER) are still relevant because the driving force behind the arms race (to sum up; xenophobia) is unfortunately still so prevalent today.

People would rather shun/belittle/bully/kill those they don't understand or disagree with than live with them on this earth ... our Earth.

Sagan (as with MANY popular scientists) has drawn fire from religious groups due to his staunch atheism. Well, I'm not an atheist I find no threat it what he writes. Religion and spirituality in general came about to ease the minds of the general public concerning issues for which there was no understanding at the time. Science hadn't advanced enough to tell what was causing plagues or why the sun seemed to be eaten and gradually reappear every once in a while.

Now science can explain those things. Yes, there are questions it does not answer yet. Yes, there are probably questions it may NEVER answer. But questions of self-worth shouldn't come from science. Men and women around the world can decide for themselves what their "destiny" is and that personal voyage of self-discovery is the most spiritual activity one can participate in.

Science and spirituality (even religion) can coexist. Even the Dalai Lama conceded that if science should contradict the existence of reincarnation; "Tibetan Buddhism would have to change. But," he added, "you're going to find it pretty hard to disprove reincarnation..."

Thank you, sir, we'll see what we can do. :-)

... as there is nothing else to add except that this book is THE BEST book I've ever read in my entire life. Carl Sagan is a GENIUS. His memory will live on forever through his books. He made me love astronomy so much I bought a telescope! :o)

Carl Sagan's COSMOS is simply one of the best popular science books ever written. What sets this book apart from others on the subject is Sagan's poetic style and enthusiasm for the topic. By the way, the pictures in the hard-cover version are beautiful.

This is an incredible book, even if it is dated. I am a words person, not numbers, so when Sagan got into a lot of equations and chemistry, I had to kind of skim over those parts. I never could have understood them, and if I'd tried to force myself to, I probably would have gotten frustrated and gave up on the book. So I stuck with the parts (happily, that was most of it) I could absorb and easily understand. There were so many fascinating aspects to it that I would have missed had I given up over the math. This book is capable of starting you on a journey. It has made me find a book on Alexandria, which I am just starting. There is a fascinating history there, and I will continue on with books on da Vinci and Einstein. They are men I've heard about, of course, but never has my curiosity about them been so piqued. Being a book lover, the Library of Alexandria is something I want to learn more about. This book will make you want to learn more about a lot of things.

Book was in said condition, very nice. It arrived in a timely manner.
I am happy to have purchased it as the content is very meaningful and helpful.

I have been an Oswald Chambers follower for many years. I had been reading a tattered copy that belonged to my dad. For my birthday today I got this copy for my birthday and it is so very special. The leather cover is so soft and beautiful. Two shades of purple and liliac. Soft and comfortable to hold.

The dovotions are still current today. They make you look deep within your heart to what God is saying to you.

Highly recommend.

This book has been a profound daily devotional for me for 15 + years. I have read it every year. The insights this man of God had are some of the most relevant, authentic, and remarkable devotions I have ever read. I continue to be amazed.

Oswald Chambers gives the awesome truths of the Bible and God's character in this easy, daily study.

If I had to make a choice of only one book that I could have in addition to my Bible "My Utmost for His Highest" would be it. Next to the Bible, this book has had the greatest impact on my understanging of what is means to walk with Jesus.

As a deputy district attorney who prosecutes people who murder and attempt to murder police officers, I have a vested interest in understanding what officers go through during a deadly force encounter. Without a doubt, of all the books and articles I've read, this is the best book on the subject. The discussion of a person's reaction to a deadly force encounter is right on point. From auditory excluson, to visual distortion. For example, I did not understand in one of my cases why one police detective had temporary hearing loss during a shooting with a suspect, but the other person in the car who shot did not. Both were in an unmarked police car when the defendant turned his gun on them. The answer I learned is that the first law enforcement shooter in the car had momentary auditory shut-off (similar to the eye blinking when something comes close) because his body knew he was about to shoot back at the suspect who was outside the car. It's just a little thing, but I headed off a bigger issue in trial by knowing this.

By reading this book, I've had more effective interviews with victim officers, and have been equally effective is confronting arguments by defense attorneys regarding an officer's visual or auditory distortions. This book is a must read for anyone who helps protect the protectors, and especially for those on the front lines of protecting all of us. By knowing what is happening to the victim officer, he or she will be in a better position to explain it to investigators, prosecutors and juries.

My only complaint, is that I think Col. Grossman went off the deep-end when he gets to the chapter on video games, kids and T.V. That's not what I bought the book for, nor do I necessarily agree that he has sufficient support for his conclusions. You can skip those chapters near the end of the book, and still I would give it a 5 star rating.

Read this book before you by anything else. The subsequent books I've purchased, including those from the co-author have fallen quite short.

This extraordinary book details the reactions and responses of the human body under battle conditions. During such an event, our physical systems transform for greater efficiency and effectiveness. The book is quite fascinating in its details on the nervous system, the heart, eyesight, hearing, breathe, etc., The author, Lt. Colonel Grossman, has considerable experience in the field as an expert in psychology. He has taught at West Point and is a Professor of Military Science.

The point of the book is to acquaint the warrior (including soldiers, police, citizen soldiers, etc., ) with the effects of combat to understand their own physical responses - and better perform in the field. This knowledge is critical. The warrior will begin to understand his own physical transformation in combat and perform better. Grossman examines the nature of combat and violence including its evolution and also the requirements both physically and psychologically which are necessary for the warrior. Grossman details research how to buttress the mind against stress and fear. He even explores the body's response in the post-combat arena.

Overall, this book is essential for combat training for the Police Officer, the soldier or America's Citizen Soldier.

Michael Mandaville, Author of the upcoming, "Citizen Soldier Handbook: 101 Ways for Every American To Fight Terrorism"

I would recommend this book to any combat vet. I had the opportunity to hear him speak as well, great man, great book.

This is one of those must read titles! Lt. Col Grossman is a brilliant writer, with a narrative style that is so detailed and descriptive the reader can easily picture the scenarios and situations described. This book reminds us of how crucial the warrior mindset really is. Combat is not only a physical condition, but mental as well. The book contains numerous accounts of people who have faced combat not only on distant battlefields, but also in the streets of American cities. Soldiers, police officers and other first responders should all read and understand the concepts and ideas presented in this book and apply it to their official duties. Outstanding!

I read this book while serving in Iraq as a Combat Infantry Soldier in the US Army. I was not a Fobbit, meaning I went on on patrol everyday into the 'dreaded Red Zone'. I conducted raids, TCPs (Traffic Control Points), responeded to - and found IEDs ( sometime the hard way, meaning they blew us up) and toom part in many, many QRF (Quick Reaction Force) missions... And yes, I shot people. And hit them.
Everything described in this book I went through. Memory loss, feeling outside myself, auditory exculsion, reacting without thinking, blah, blah, blah...
This book has it nailed. LTC Grossman knows what he is talking about.
If you are a Vet, read it. If you know a Vet, read it. If you are a nobody, read it.

dr. field has done an excellent job of making stats understandable and spss user friendly. as a social psychology grad student, i enjoy the ease of use found with the index. if i forget the differences in rotation methods for factor analysis, i can quickly find clear explanations in the book. i suggest to all grad students and advanced undergrads using spss to get a copy of this text!

This should be the first book you buy if you need help with stats and SPSS. When I first began doing empirical research I knew almost nothing about statistics or SPSS, and had to learn virtually everything I needed to know about complex multivariate tests on my own. I had suffered through many of the relevant, canonical books before I happened upon Field. It was a V-8 moment. Not only does the book explain everything in engaging, easy to understand, often hilarious terms (a favorite example is the caption of the photo of statistician Bonferroni: "Carlo Bonferroni before the celebrity of his correction lead to drink, drugs and statistics groupies"), but again and again it answered questions I had that other sources didn't address in a practical way. One example out of many is how to calculate and interpret effect sizes, which SPSS doesn't calculate for all multivariate tests, or calculates using a measure that has been widely criticized. Field describes the rationale behind several measures of effect size as well as formulas for calculating them, including clear indicators of where to find the data in SPSS output.

Other reviewers have commented that this book is light on theory. I don't know enough about statistical theory to know if this is a valid criticism. But, I do think the book provides ample and detailed "whys" behind the "hows" that I haven't found elsewhere and that were necessary to help me justify the tests I run and how I interpret them. The level of detail and abstraction, in my opinion, is completely appropriate for most researchers and students.

This book was an enormous help to me in writing my doctoral dissertation. Now, I am a Communications scholar and I did a content analysis, so I didn't need to master a lot of highly advanced techniques. But nor had I taken courses that taught statistics in any depth. I was feeling quite at sea on some things. And for a dissertation, you really have to understand things, so you can defend it at the end. Although I had other statistics books and they certainly were helpful, this one that walked me through the tests I had been doing and -- quite simply, with patience and good humor -- helped me to understand why they were necessary and basically how they worked. I liked the fact I could read much or as little detail as I could absorb at the time -- there are quick summaries, clearly marked, or longer, quite simple explanations for those in a hurry, as well as in-depth explanations for things you really need to know thoroughly. It was having those choices that made this book incredibly helpful.

This book is perfect!! Very informative, the layout is systematically and on top of it all; statistics becomes fun. It is a pleasure to read this book!!
Thanks to Andy Field which made my life as a PhD easier!!:O)

Useful and entertaining stats books are hard to come by but this one has hit the mark! Comprehensive and clear explanations of statistical theory are provided as well as of SPSS output. Love the examples and icons. Who would have thought a stats text could make me laugh out loud?!

despite the coincidences and the parlor room confession. The author shows us stuff we usually don't see. Drug trials and back stage drug politics. And Massachusetts. Watch out for jelly fish and slimy scientists.

I really enjoyed reading this novel and had a hard time putting it down! The aspect of the novel that I enjoyed most was the parallel stories. I found both stories incredibly engaging and was thrilled to see it all come together at the end. This is one of those books that consumes you and makes you forget that you are flipping pages and reading. The concept of memoriane is very interesting as well, especially in a time where all sorts of medical research is being conducted. The situations that the characters in the novel find themselves in cause th reader to experience his/her own moral dilemma. I am looking forward to reading more by this author!

I thought Flashback was a great read, I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed the creative plot, and I was also drawn to the characters. I look forward to reading other novels by him.

Braver's novel struck me as nothing but genius. He took fascinating ideas and translated them into beautiful literature. As a nurse, I pick up easily on medical inconsistencies on television or in writing, but I was thoroughly impressed by Braver's knowledge and presentation of pathophysiology and pharmacology. "Flashback" is an extraordinary piece of work that combines modern medical concepts with a brilliant imagination. As this was my first Braver novel, I can't wait to read his other books. I would be happy to recommend Gary Braver to anyone.

Braver has written a thoroughly enjoyable thriller in Flashback. This is the first book of his that I have read and I will definitely be checking out his others. The story evolves around an ethical dilemma faced by a drug company. The company's decisions are certainly not surprising and definitely to be expected. One wonders almost every day whether decisions like this are made by the big drug companies in the world. I think they are. Very interesting storyline to involve alzheimer's a disease which surely we are all afraid of suffering.

Braver joins Lincoln Child, Douglas Preston, Greg Iles, James Rollins, Michael Palmer and others on my list of favourite thriller writers.

This book is much like Prof. White's class at Northwestern, it sounds great at first, but if you actually stop and think about what is being said (ironically employing a lot of what White is recommending) you start to realize that it is just a collection of anecdotes and quotations that are intended to make you feel good and to get motivated.

This book isn't horrible and I am sure many new hires, fresh out of college, will feel good about what is being said and will gain some self confidence in the process. Unfortunately much of the statements in this book are corollary, have little or no factual basis and are not all that insightful, but rather common sense stuff. Call this book what it is, a self-help guide, a motivational text, but certainly not an insider's guide, nor insightful advice from a CEO.

This is a great book to read as soon as you get out of school. This book gives advice from a former CEO perspective and now excellent professor to the New Manager. I believe is a must read to anybody getting out of MBA school!

The book gives great tips that you can literally apply at work on day one. I was lucky enough to be able to take Professor's White New General Manager Class at the Kellogg School of Management, which allowed me to get double doses of advice. But regardless this book is a very easy read, gives very practical examples, and talks to the entry too mid-level manager. The book is great and I highly recommend it....and I am not being bias because I was one of his students!

The author was a successful CEO, and is currently a professor in organizational behavior at Northwestern. This background has made his advice uniquely valuable. I would recommend this book to anyone who is preparing for his/her first job.

CEO and Professor Bill White creates a wonderful toolkit to answer questions everyone in or going into the professional environment runs into. This is certainly a good resource for both those just graduating and those several years out. Bill's experience as a CEO and then as an educator at Northwestern gives him unique insights into the keys to success. The book takes a very common sense approach that will resonate well with readers. Having been in the workforce for several years now, the fundamental habits Bill outlines are spot on and serve as a compass for me even today. This book is a must read and will not disappoint.

Bill White provides timeless advice for anyone looking to succeed in the world. His words of wisdom apply not only for business managers, but for anyone wanting to get ahead in the world. Regardless of your job, regardless of your lifestyle, Bill breaks down some universal truths and helps you apply them to your life. You may have heard some of the advice before, but it will never mean as much, will never be as applicable to your life, as when you read it in Bill's words.

with over 20 stalingrad titles in my collection this book was impossible to put down,one of the best written well researched books i ve read in a very long time.at the price these are selling for it is an absolute steal!if i would have known how much i would enjoy it i would have payed double the going rate and never flinched.probobly the most absorbing aspects of this book is all the myth busting it does.stalingrad is one of those battles to which the "telephone game" syndrome has been deeply rooted a "fact" is used in some of the older less researched books and is re used by many authors without verification.this book disspells many of these,and proves with documentation why they are false.also does an excellent job at explaining how the 6th army wound up in the predicamement it did.lots of info on the crimea campaign and how this directly influenced the stalingrad battle. avery fairly priced book written in an excellent style .simply one of the best researched books i ve read in a long time worth every penny

You will not find a more diffinitive book on the Luftwaffe's activites in
operation Blau. I was happy to see that the siege of Sevastopol was well covered, I have found so little information in other books about that epic siege. The book does a very good job in explaining the terrible conditions at the outlying airfields trying to supply the 6th army,the lack of fuel,spare parts and the horrific weather conditions.
Hitler decided to try and take the Caucausas oil fields as well as Stalingrad. They had forces to take one,not both. They would have had much
greater success if they had just bombed the oil fields especially Baku which represented 80% of Russia's oil. Army group A and B could have bypassed Stalingrad,cutting the Volga river traffic and with a pincer movement, enveloped the Russian armies coming to the aid of Stalingrad.
Field Marshal's von Bock and List did all they could and were treated unfairly by Hitler. This book is great in showing the leadership qualities of Wolfram von Richthofen,clearly the most outstanding Lutwaffe commander of World War2.

This is a very good description of Luftwaffe Operations on the Eastern Front. It has good background information speciffically about the economic side of it. Decisions made based on oil supply's rather than military objectives. Very interesting material.
The only bad thing about this book is that the editing comes across as very sloppy. German names are often misspelled or incorrect. It is not Manstein, but von Manstein, not Bock, but von Bock, not Kluge, but von Kluge.
Also it is not Count von Sponneck but Graf von Sponneck. If you overlook those issues, it is a very good book

Very thoroughly researched book. Could have explained infantry operations in a little more detail after all most of the movements of the Luftwaffe happened in direct support of infantry movement. Could have given a little bit more weightage to characteristic traits of leaders involved in action. But all in all a very lucidly written book a definite buy for anyone interested in eastern theater of WWII

This book is a treasure. Saying it deals with just the Luftwaffe effort does not really address the scope of the book. In addition to the author's fabulous treatment of air operations, it has some great stuff on naval operations in the Crimea. This book is an absolute MUST for your WWII library. This guy is a lecturer at some college in New Zealand. Get him to some University in the USA!!

I am a keen and persistent complainer. I do not apologise for this trait. Complaining affords me a libidinal satisfaction. Most gratifying is when one's letters of disaffection appear in public so that others can appreciate one's polemical brio. This book recognises that there is a veritable art to complaint, that complaint has its own poetry, its singular joys. Moreover, this book will make your tirades and protestations all the more effective, all the more caustic and galling. I have attained much through the techniques outlined in this volume: refunds on defective products, statements retracted, apologies proferred and even defamatory articles removed. But, more than this, I have enjoyed the exercising of my democratic right without which I would feel unfree and powerless.

You may only need this book on occassion, but when you do you will be very glad you have it. It proved indespensible for me recently!

This book is great if you have no idea how to write a complaint letter. However, most of us have common sense, and know how to express that we are "shocked, appalled, and dismayed"! Also, this book discourages the use of certain words and phrases for no other reason than that the author doesn't like them, or thinks they are overused. This book does provide some useful information on how to contact people you may want to send a complaint letter to, but this information can easily be found on the web (for free).

I'm glad I went back and read Shocked, Appalled, and Dismayed. Planning for a long-awaited Caribbean vacation turned into a nightmare when sickness prevented us from making the trip. The airline refused to help, citing its new rule. Well, Phillips's advice helped me to do the trick. My husband and I fly out to Nassau for Christmas. Can't wait for the new book's publication this year.

If her new book is as good as this one, every consumer will be happy. Since Shocked Appalled and Dismayed was published, I've written 22 letters. All but one got results. Write on, Ellen, write on!

Been homeschooling for years now and in doing a review last year of my teaching strategies (in terms of what was working well with my children and what was not) I had to go back to the chalkboard.

I began to research all of the Homeschooling Approaches I could find and Charlotte Mason seemed/s to be a perfect fit for our family.

Incorporating and exercising as much as I could understand of the CM Approach, I began to see some results, but I still needed more input as to how this "thing" REALLY worked.

After purchasing this book, I can say that I am really starting to "get it" now. CM allows for so much flexibility and there are no dead ends to any (lesson) topic. CM focuses on the specialness and wonder of each child and her approach is clearly guided from the motive of their godliness, security, betterment and love.

Karen Andreola 'gets it' and I am SO grateful that she is sharing her understanding, experiences and insights in her CM research, visits to the CM college, and in rearing she and her husband's own children with this teaching methodology.

Mrs. Andreola makes me excited about teaching my children CM, which is completely out of the box, Biblically based/inclined, fun, and FAR MORE effective than any other method I have yet to come across. My children love CM and so do I.

The possibilities to your child's learning are limitless using this methodolgy. It brings the saying, "Learning is its own reward," to life. You learn that you don't need to bribe your kids with stickers/incentives, or berate them get them to study and to learn. Follow this methodolgy and they will BEG you to teach them more, as THEY begin to teach themselves.

Get this book for a better understanding of the CM approach and shake off the stress of homeschooling. I am a witness and my children are living testimonies as to how one can enable their own children to learn better and RETAIN more. All instruction and learning really do begin at home.

I love this book. As a new homeschooling mom it was the one resource that really went along with my heart's desire to teach my children, but wasn't sure how to get going. I would recommend it to even those who don't homeschool.

This is a wonderful book for anyone wanting to know more about Charlotte Mason's educational philosophies. This book breaks it all down into manageable pieces that are very easy to follow and understand. This should be on every CM fans "must-read" list. An excellent book!

This book was my favorite (as written by a homeschool mom) to describe the Charlotte Mason philosophy and how one can use it in a practical way to teach their own children at home.

It is not only easy to read but a charming book. I have passed it on to my oldest child, who has begun homeschooling her daughter and son.

If you've read the Charlotte Mason 6 volume set, there is no need for this companion book. My hope in reading this book was to get a modernized take on Miss Mason's educational theories. I was sadly disappointed. I find this book to be just about as victorian as the original. I do believe that the CM method will work in today's homeschools, but let's be honest, my children (and my home for that matter) look nothing like the rosy picture painted by Karen Andreola. I was hoping this book would break down the meat of CM's philosophy into what works for the modern home. I guess I'll have to do that myself.

This is not a book for the faint of stomach or heart. I was astounded at what a physician who was to become head of the American Medical Association thought was appropriate medical research. It should be required reading for all medical students.

This book was pretty eye-opening. I'm too young to remember Tuskegee and I grew up in the North so I've never felt very racially divided, so this book was very informative. When I was reading this book, I recommended it to everyone I could. It is a 'should read' not a must read, but if you are interested in medicine, research or just racial injustice, this will be a good read. As the book goes on it does seem like the author was kinda grasping for her theories to hold true in all of these situations. I am aware of inequalities in treatment towards people of different colors (and I'm really sorry that it's a reality), but I don't believe it is as prevalent as the author makes it out to be.

Presently reading this book and it's very informative while at the same time one finds it a shame that people were the way there were back in the 18th, 19th and even 20th century when it came to people of color.

"Harvard Medical School was move from Cambridge College to Boston in order to be in closed proximity to poor colored people. This gave them access to a huge supply of poor and powerless experimental subjects."

So now I understand why all the teaching hospitals are generally in poor black neighborhoods. By locating these areas, medical staff have a unlimited supply of people to use as guinea pigs.

I thought this book was fascinating, and I would absolutely recommend. However, she contradicts herself quite often. She is telling us about all the experimentation and abuse of black Americans and their African slave ancestors. She even said something to the effect that the experimentation and abuse doesn't occur anymore. Yet she discuss several relatively recent experiments and clinical trials. So it is like she giving me the a fantastic dinner and telling me it's poison, but then setting a plate before me to eat.

I find Ms. Washington to be quite contradictory and annoying at times. The following made me say huh:

"I am in no way suggesting that this predominance of black body parts was deliberately engineered, but the confluence of presumed consent statues and the appearance of black homicide victims on coroner's tables explains why their organs and tissue dominates body part scandals." She annoys me. Why is she stating a fact, then backing down.

This is what she said in the previous paragraph to the statement above::

"Legal bias also exist in the form of presumed consent statutes, which were enacted in the 1980s to increased the number of organs donated for transplantation and research via various presumed consent statutes, which presumed that the descendent would want to donate his body parts."

Oh hell naw, if I ain't signing nothin', I aint donating squat. I have told my family I am not donating nada. They know. So how can the government presume anything. This is fraud. This medical apartheid.

Ms. Washington continues with "Many blacks do not wish to donate their bodies or body parts. Only 5 percent of Black Americans surveyed by DePaul law professor Michele Goodwin considered presumed consent a legitimate source of body parts. Eighty six percent of blacks she surveyed thought presumed consent should be illegal." It is blacks who organs and tissue are most likely to be appropriated via presumed consent by coroners after autopsy."

"There is no such entity as a crack baby. - Washington

"Birth control & abortion are turning out to be a matter of Eugenics steps. But if they had been advanced for eugenic reason, that would have retarded or stopped the acceptance." - Frederick Osborne, a Population Control Founder.

I give this book a five star, even with Ms. Washington's back peddling. I absolutely recommend this fascinating book. I would encourage everyone to familiarize themselves with term "presumed consent." This means that doctors can confiscate your organs immediately after death without your consent before death or the consent of your family after death. This sophisticated grave robbing. Please visit my book blog for June with your review of the book and review thread "De Corpse Getting de Shaft.

There was a lot of pain and ugliness in this book. Those poor slave women being tortured and brutalized could have been me, had I been born during that time. My family could have prayed that I would die in the summer. So my body would discompose quickly so that it would me it worthless for the grave robbers.

I encourage all to read this book, but most especially, my people.

Although I would like to think that I couldn't be tempted (as a medical researcher) to break the rules and to impair human dignity, it was a very disturbing eye-opener to read this book! It made me remember a few events in my medical education when I saw my teachers cross the line, not as dramatically as most of what Washington portrays, but nevertheless the start of the slippery slope, and I know the temptations to "cut corners" in pursuing your goal of completing your research project. Once you give in to that, much worse can follow. I agree with other reviewers that this book has rendered a great service and should be required reading.