Independent Books

This is one of the Lifeguide Bible Studies, which is generally a good small group study series. My former Sunday School class liked the Lifeguide format and consequently used many of the guides. So I have first-hand experience, in an actual classroom setting, using many of the books in this series.

I say all that to say this: This particular guide is the best, in my opinion, in this series. There are a couple of reasons for that. Some of the questions in these guides tend to be more subjectively focused on how you might feel about a particular passage or statement. The questions in this guide are more objectively focused on the actual text. The other reason is because the guide closely follows Stott's full-length book on this passage, which is also excellent (but that's another review).

All of that makes this a much better than average small group study guide.

This is the best book I've read on secondary education. Most educators would agree that small schools--where teachers and students know each other well and cooperate on meaningful work--are incredibly effective. However, standard high schools are large and chaotic places where students and teachers go through the motions and not much of great intellectual significance ever happens. Rather, they are like shopping malls, where customers (students) go into stores (classrooms) and are offered goods (knowledge) by merchants (teachers).

We convince ourselves, though, that large, shopping mall-style high schools provide a "choice" for students, and grant them numerous "opportunities" to achieve. (Customers can choose whether they want to buy what the merchant is selling.) Writing in a similar style as "Horace's Compromise"--what Ted Sizer calls "fictional non-fiction"--the authors challenge the notion that big is better, and that more content equates to more learning. They demonstrate how truly ineffective schools are when they force teachers to see 160 students a day for only 50 minutes at a time.

The book wraps up with a detailed history of secondary schooling in the United States that demonstrates how we got to a place where we expect schools to do so much that they cannot do any of it well. If you are a secondary teacher in a large high school, I highly recommend this book.

Very well written and will help you use your money wisely. Part 1 gives a good overview of "...what you need to survive" and paints a broad picture of the small business market.

Part 2 and 3 get down into the details of accounting for small business and investing, respecitvely. Of course each part is composed of several sections and throughout the book shows how technology can be used proactively, not just as a passive menace.

My favorite section is Part 4. If you are deadly serious about selling online then get this book today! WEB Storefronts is the name of this section and it covers such topics as "why you need a web storefront", "when to do it yourself, when to hire and ISP", "setting up electronic commerce" and other useful topics. The last section, Part 5, has 4 chapters cover credit cards, smart cards, adjusting your life style, being socially responsible and mentions of venture capital, angel investors and other financial hope for entreprenuers.

This book is a must for any small business who is serious about managing their money AND using the Internet to grow their business.

Dr. Morgan's magnum opus on left-handed German Socialists delves into the untapped absurdity of continental politics. While he fails to remain within the mid-1917-1922 timeframe, his description of Babylonian mythological tithe system was nonetheless apt. While Dr. Morgan professes to be unbiased, in light of his upbringing, his chapter on the German lawn-gnome fetish seems a bit peculiar.

Of interest was his meticulous account of the German handicraft looming industry in a time of great upheaval and phlox. His account of material oppression by German loomers against the Socialists was particularly draconian. While Morgan avoided the didactic style of his colleagues who profess to write in a "concise and precise" style, his writing issued forth with wisdom and witticisms, particularly his metaphor representing German Socialists as a smelly shoe.

Dr. Morgan's post-modern style leads the attentive reader to question "Does this book mean anything?" However when viewed in light of it's companion novel "Whips and Whipmaking, With a Practical Introduction to Braiding" Dr. Morgan's magnificent account of Babylo-German Socialists and their favorite pastime bursts in a crescendo of unsurpassed yonic imagery and historicity. novel

It's embarrassing that we Yanks need an Australian to write our history for us, but Shane White does it with humor, insight, and thoroughness. This is unquestionably the best book I have read on the subject of slavery in New York, and I've read all the books there are on the subject. (There aren't many.) White uses primary sources and original research, supplying data which our own historians have not bothered to ferret out. He gives an excellent description of the peculiar nature of the peculiar institution in New York, the different slave culture and different relationships between slaves and owners which in no way resembled that of the South.

Most recent books that deal with the subject of slavery in New York quote this book extensively; you might as well read it for yourself.

California residents are well aware of headlines which reference the California Independent System Operator when speaking of energy grid issues, but SOUL OF THE GRID: A CULTURAL BIOGRAPHY OF HE CALIFORNIA INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR is absolutely essential for understanding these news headline references. It probes the creation of California's power market, why the ISO was developed, and what happened during the power crisis of 200-2001. Chapters chart politics, California's electricity marketplace, key figures on all sides, and are essential for any educated discussion of the topic, making SOUL OF THE GRID a top pick for any California library, whether college-level or public lending institution.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

He captured the beauty of that part of the country!

Having read the first 6 editions of Soviet Military Power (SMP) (published by the DoD) while in the Army, I was interested enough to purchase this annotated and corrected version of the '87 SMP when it first came out. I learned very quickly not to bring it to work. Everyone wanted to borrow or look at it. All I can say is that it was quite an eye opener. It made me wonder what other figures were being fudged.

The book is in excellent condition with no writing or marking. The cover is perfect. Delivery was prompt. Thank you.

This book is a well researched, easy to read chronical describing the unsung heros of telecommunications, the (non-Bell) Independents! Pleasance's book focuses on the struggling competitors to the mammoth Bell System as they attempted to take the telephone to cities and towns long ignored by the Bell. Follow stories of intrigue, larceny and the massive power of the Bell as they fought to stamp out or otherwise control the industry and maintain a total monopoly of this important invention.

To those who think the Bell System was the phone company, this book will be an awakening to the many advances, contributions and inventions that occured outside (and despite) the Bell System.

A great read!