T Books

This was my first Schaeffer book, so I was unsure of what to expect. I consider myself rather picky with regard to religious subject matter. Mr. Schaeffer's book was enjoyable, and I will try another one. While "Genesis" did not really have any significant new ideas, it was well communicated and easy to follow, even for laymen or the casual reader.

If you are unfamiliar with Genesis and the conservative approach to its interpretation, this is a good book. It is not scholarly or philosophical, in my opinion, but it remains substantial - which many people will find refreshing.

This is a great book for all Christians to read. It puts creation back into perspective and establishes all the solid biblical proof for why creation had to exist in both space and time. Unbelievers will scoff but in this book believers will be reminded of who they are and where they came from.

One of Schaeffer's best that I have read.He looks at the start of time for us not God, since God is eternal.It really made me stop and think. Also to look at Genesis in a whole new way

Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-84) was an American Evangelical theologian and philosopher whose works were very influential on Evangelical thinking. In this fascinating book, Dr. Schaeffer takes a look at the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis, which many Christian thinkers seem to find irrelevant to a truly Christian worldview. On the contrary, Dr. Schaeffer shows that the early history of man, as contained in the beginning of Genesis, is crucial to understanding why man is the way he is, and how God works with and through man.

I must say that this is a truly mind-expanding book that goes a long way towards giving the reader a truly Christian view of the man and the world that he inhabits. I mean, how is man "fallen," and what was and is his relationship with God? These are crucial questions to understanding the very foundational concepts of our religion, and the answers are contained in this book.

This is a great book, and a true classic of Christian thought. I do not hesitate to say should be read by all believers.

Christianity contains the answer to the modern man's questions. This book provides the foundation for Christian belief and the understanding of an infinite personal God who is there.

A must read...for all

What a great book. It is full of detail and wonderful ideas to set your creative juices flowing. Judy

This is a book for the serious advanced quilter who wants to produce competition level quilts. Well written, covers the subject in depth.
Not a quickie short cut type book this is a reference level book that belongs on the shelves of all serious quilters.

I have met the author of this book. She is very knowledgable and a good teacher. Her book is well written and is instructive.

Excellent book. Precise directions. She writes exactly how she teaches and this book will give you step by step instructions on how to be a PERFECT quilter and make perfect finishing touches to your quilts. More than just the borders/edges instruction - Sally tells you how to be a better more precise quilter, making your day-to-day sewing even better! You can't go wrong in buying this wonderful book. Read it from cover to cover. Excellent!

This book is the "bible" for anyone interested in the art and techniques of finishing a quilt. Anything and everything you need to know is laid out in an easy to read format, with clear illustrations to demonstrate the techniques. Sally Collins is truly a master in quiltmaking AND in teaching. She explains everything in glorious detail but in a very clear and easy to understand format. Her quilts are candy for your eyes, and make me believe that I can do it too!

This book details the heros and oddballs of American economic history and their various innovations and inventions that have shaped the development of America's economy over the history of our nation. From the man who invented the "Graham Cracker" to the founder of the Bank of Italy(Bank of America) the book illustrates what, and who, made this country great.
This is one of the greatest books I have ever read, bar none. The only down-side is that when you finish it you'll feel depressed because it's over. But that's OK, you can just read it again!

I rank this book as a solid four star book. I didn't rank the book with a five star rating because it didn't cause me to have a "paradigm shift" or see the world from a different perspective. However, those interested in American History or economic history should thoroughly enjoy this book. I loved reading the book because Mr. Gordon's work clearly shows his in-depth knowledge of American history and his excellent storytelling capabilities.

These 47 articles, gathered from Gordon's 10 years as an American Heritage columnist, cover the post-Revolutionary period through the 1950s. Each article is written, as the title portrays, from an American perspective. Mr. Gordon talks, for example, about the railroads and the characters behind them in the American boom but rarely does he specifically address who invented a product / technology, unless an American did. Additionally, I found that little attention was given to air conditioning, as it has impacted migration patterns dramatically in the U.S.

...

I so enjoyed this book I didn't want it to end. Please, Mr. Gordon, write another. My normal read is gory mystery thrillers, so this was quite a departure. I saw Mr. Gordon on C-Span and thought "The Business Of America" might be interesting. This book went far beyond interesting; it made the history of dull finance be as exciting as my normal gory thrillers!

We love stories. Since the time human beings crawled out of caves, stories have been the way that we pack lots of information into a digestible package. John Steele Gordon is a great storyteller, and this book is full of great business stories.

If your idea of the business book is the macroeconomics text that you slogged through when you were in college, the Business of America will come as a pleasant surprise. You'll find yourself engaged with the material and learning a lot about the history of American business and how business is done that you simply wouldn't get any other way.

Gordon writes the "The Business of America" column for American Heritage Magazine, and the stories that he tells there are the stories he tells here. He has divided the books into several sections. There are stories of the early days of the American dream that focus on the first years of Europeans on this continent up through about the Civil War. Other sections are divided into topical areas, such as Farming and Food, Manufacturing and Mining, Transportation, Banking, the Business of War, Business and Government, Retailing and Real Estate, and the Telegraph, Telephone, and Television. The final section is called After Hours.

Each of these sections includes several stories. There wasn't a single one of them where I didn't underline something or put an exclamation point in the margin, or write a note to myself. These stories are insightful, because Gordon understands the basics of how business works and the oddities of the human condition.

There are several stories that deal with how technology, in this case the cotton gin and the sewing machine and the steam engine, transformed whole industries. Gordon backs up his stories with facts.

For example, in the section called, "King Cotton," Gordon tells us: "Only five hundred thousand pounds of cotton were spun into thread - all by hand - in 1765. Twenty years later, sixteen million pounds were spun, by machine, and the price of cotton cloth had dropped from the caviar range to the mere smoked salmon bracket.

That illustrated the effect of the power loom on the spinning of cotton, but later in the same chapter, Gordon comes up with another statistic and description to describe how Eli Whitney's cotton gin transformed the cotton industry still further. "Whitney's machine could be built in an hour or so by any competent carpenter and worked by a single laborer, increasing his productivity fully fifty times. In a stroke, Whitney had reduced the labor cost of ginning from the dominant component in the cost of cotton cloth to a mere triviality. And the cost of cotton cloth dropped, as a result, from the smoked salmon range to the fish and chips bracket."

That's how of Gordon works and writes. He includes the stories and the statistics and the conclusions in a wonderful mix that delights, entertains, and informs.

If you are a businessperson, this book is for you because you will learn about how others before you have faced some of the same challenges that you face. You'll learn about how the economic wheel tends to revolve and good times follow bad, and times of great change follow times of stagnation. You'll be a better and more effective businessperson after reading this book.

This book is also for you if you think business is boring. Those of us who are in business know that it's endlessly fascinating and filled with things to learn, as well as with opportunities for profit. But the media as a whole tend to reduce business to the stock market and ignore the true human drama of what goes on. They miss some of the best stories, because they start from the assumption that the most interesting things in the world have to do with almost anything but business.

That's a point that Gordon makes at some length in the chapter called, "No Respect." It opens with this line, "If Rodney Dangerfield weren't a comedian, he would probably be an executive. Executives don't get any respect, either."

From there, Gordon goes on to point out that many famous inventors were not the people responsible for the changes in society brought about by their inventions. Alexander Graham Bell, invented the telephone, and has a giant entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica. But it washis father-in-law, Gardiner Greene Hubbart, who put together the system that became A T & T; and, not only made a lot of money for himself and Bell, but also changed the shape of the country.

In that example and dozens of others throughout this book, Gordon shows us the romance that goes with the business of America.

Ten years' worth of writing, these forty-seven essays capture illumuniating anecdotes about economic history, captured in the stories of people, ideas and moments in time. Booms and depressions, clever inventions and failed plans, tough competitors and grandoise government schemes all receive their due.

There is the story of King Cotton and how the gin made it profitable. Gordon reports on the California Gold Rush, the first television syndication (that's how Desi Arnaz earns a cover picture on an economic history book), war economies, the decision to build the World Trade towers (an eerie story to read today), steamboat races, railroad competition and more, each in pithy, five-page synopses of major historic studies or records. Brief as they are, there is not always a full story, but the histories leave the read impressed and engaged.

Gordon highlights well-known phrases, e.g., "The business of America is business," "The public be damned!" and explains how they came about (and the myths around same). Before we spoke of people "going postal", Gordon writes about the now-lapsed term, "postalization", another idea entirely.

In "The American Game" he shows how baseball is unique in that it was a business and not just a sport from its early years. A strange business, yes, where today "semiserfdom" of ballplayers has produced average annual salaries of $2.38 million and an industry prone to "work stoppages" and seemingly on the brink of disaster.

The better stories are of the visionaries who made and managed business in America, including the man who spent his personal fortune to make milk safe to drink for millions and the unsung heroes who saved businesses from failure. This is a good education for those who don't understand or who doubt the power of free markets, an idea whose time has come, or simply the American dream as it has been lived.

I recently took a class from Carol Doak using the Simply Sensational 9-Patch Stars. It was totally fun and entertaining and I completed the Bright Stars Wall Quilt. The instructions are easy to follow and the results are spectacular. This book also included a Foundation Factory CD to load onto your computer to print the paper-piecing patterns onto Carol Doak's Foundation Paper. Nothing could be simpler.

The cover was great but the other patterns inside I don't like as well and will probably not use.

Good and informative book for everyone who like Paperpiecing
A lot of new inspiration and easy to work with

Carol Doak's Simply Sensational 9-Patch Stars: Mix and Match Units to Create a Galaxy of Paper-Pieced Stars

This is the best thing I have seen on paper piecing. Carol is the expert.

Until now I had never attempted paper piecing, but with this book it was so easy. Tips, CD, pictures, the designs, were out of this world. Love all the possibilities using just a simple square then combining them into a 9 patch block. Thanks Carol

This product was great. The book was almost new, with only minor highlightings inside that you can't even notice. It arrived in almost no time. I admit that I didn't expect it to be that good.

This is one of the most helpful texts that I have purchased in the past year. It is easy to read and gives lots of examples as well as many points to ponder. HOWEVER, (if it matters to you)- make sure that you do not get the BOOK ALONE version. There is an online component that you need an access code to, which doesn't come with the book unless you buy the other version (I believe it said "with myeducationlab" in the item description). As a matter of fact, it's cheaper that way by about $8.00 believe it or not. I had to buy access separately because I waited too long to return the one that I bought which was book alone. I guess you have to live and learn... I hope someone benefits from my mistake!

I got this book for a class. It worked great. The book was clean and brand new. Thanks!

Very good reference on how to handle an elementary classroom. Children's environment and temperament were considered. Sample lay-outs included.

Smooth and speedy transaction. Updated emails on the tracking of my purchase were much appreciated. Great buy. Recommended.

I absolutely LOVE these series. I'm now reading them for the 4th time. I love how Lund breaks down the parables and teachings of Christ to make them easier to understand. I also love the historical accuracy. He brings you into the story as if you really are there. I highly recommend these books!

I am a huge fan of Gerald N. Lund and love his works. Fire of the Covenant was an excellent read and so I began this series. Lund has a way of making you truly understand the people and times that he writes about. He also raises the question inside yourself, "What would I have done if I were there?". Highly recommend this series and the rest of Lund's works, for LDS or non-LDS.

Love this series! These books really give you some insight on the life of the Savior - when and why he did what he did. These books also help you to understand Jewish traditions, are historical fiction, and very entertaining!

The author's biblical references are integrated into an incredible fictional setting and you will experience Jesus as a real life person.

THis is the most wonderful series I've read in a long time. It helps to fully understand the happenings of the life of Jesus Christ. Gerald Lund writes fictional characters along with real life characters. He helps you understand the Twelve Apostles, the Zealots, Sadducees and the Pharisees. You learn about the life of Jesus Christ; his miracles; his death, and the atonement. You learn about Herod's Temple and what went on there. This series is well worth reading.

The Complete Angler - Izaak Walton and Chalres Cotton

This book deserves a place in a collection of great angling books, such as those of John Geirach, Henry Middleton and Scott Waldie. It is really two books and an odd sort of middle section on property rights and fishing (funny how some issues have not changed much since the late 17th century). It has some wonderful discourses on not just fishing but the lifestyle and philosophy of fishing. There are some sections and descriptions that can be tedious but they minor compared to the overall wonderful dialogue of the majority of the book.

The first section is written by Izaak Walton and, to me, was Canterbury Tales-esque, is it's older English language (which is entertainingly preserved) and its format. Three travelers - a fisherman (angler), hunter and falconer meet. In the course of discussing the merits of their activities the angler convinces the hunter to come along fishing with him (after seeing a hunt with hounds). Over the course of a few days on the rivers of England, the angler turns the hunter to the quiet joys of angling. He goes through the fish in England and all the baits and methods of fishing for them as well as how to prepare each of them. I had never through of carp of chubs and fish to eat, but after some of the descriptions in this book, I may have to give the a second look someday. The first book is as much of a celebration of the social and contemplative nature of angling as it is descriptions and methods of fishing. Interspersed are encounters with the local farmers, milker and inn-keepers as well as the talking over of the days activities among friends. But the highlight of this first section, and in my opinion the entire book, is the parting words of the angler to the hunter of how angling is a life philosophy that departs sharply from the hustle and bustle of the capitalist life. The first book is replete with references to early Christianity and its admonitions against looking to wealth for happiness.

There is an odd middle section about property rights and fishing which serves as a rather odd bridge to Charles Cotton's section. This book focuses on fishing for trout and graylings in a small section of England. If found the wordy descriptions of the flies by month to be tedious and the lack of philosophical discussion of fishing to be a little disappointing of an end.

Five days of fishing along the river Lea which joins the Thames near London is the background on which the cheerful narrative of The Compleat Angler is laid. The splendid civil conversation of Latin named Piscator, Venator, Auceps, Viator, and Piscator Junior is a joy to hear. Shakespeare was just publishing his first work when Izaak Walton was born in 1593 in Stafford. Walton retired in his early fifties and traveled about rural England visiting friends, fishing, and writing in his easy-going fashion. After publication of The Compleat Angler in 1653 he continued to add to it in his leisurely way for the next quarter century. Samuel Johnson praised the book in the eighteenth century and later Charles Lamb recommended The Compleat Angler to Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 'It breathes the very spirit of innocence, purity, and simplicity of heart,' he noted. 'It would sweeten a man's temper at any time to read it; it would Christianise every angry, discordant passion; pray make yourself acquainted with it.'
The Compleat Angler is a true classic of English literature that owes it's esteem not to advice about fishing but to Izaak Walton's pre-occupations and exquisite manner. Subtitled The Contemplative Man's Recreation the pages glow with delight in the hills and dales, woods and streams of the beloved countryside. Walton conveys a message of meek thankful fellowship and peace to all "honest, civil, quiet men". 'The Compleat Angler is not about how to fish but about how to be,' said novelist Thomas McGuane. 'Walton spoke of an amiable mortality and rightness on the earth that has been envied by his readers for three hundred years.'

This is surely one of the earliest books available to the modern angler. But it's worth distinguishing 'anglers' from 'fishermen'. I take 'anglers' to be people who go after fish for fun or sport or pleasure and 'fishermen' to be people who go after fish for work.

The first thing to be said about Izaak Walton's book, is that it is a play followed by a text book. The second thing, is that it's in a foreign language even to the English, because it was first published in 1653 when the author was 60. A ripe old age in England in those days.

Walton was essentially a biographer. He got paid for it - often commissioned as a good artist might. He wrote 'The Life of Donne' - a poet who even I've heard of. He's alleged to have been a prosperous merchant, but it doesn't really matter. Great angling writers like Richard Walker were engineers. Old school writers like George Skues, were public school educated solicitors in London practices who took the train to the chalk streams of Winchester in Hampshire at weekends, tying flies as they went.

The play concerns three people who meet by chance and get into conversation about their interests. They're travelling at a walk, and so they lighten their journey with convoluted conversation. Before long, it develops into a bit of a competition. Walton is the angler (Piscator). Another gentleman is keen on falconry (Venator) and yet another is keen on hunting (Auceps).

If you tire of 17th century banter, skip forward to the chapters on each particular species of fish, which will ring true immediately. To me it's a revelation that these friendly old fish will still fall for the same tricks as Walton was playing on their ancestors over 350 years ago.

Three hundred fifty years ago Izaak Walton wrote of the curious blend of inner peace and giddy excitement which the amateur naturalist finds at streamside. He invites us to stroll with him through the countryside, discussing the mythology, superstition, and the science of England's aquatic fauna. It is an unrushed journey, though we often arise at sunrise, and the author introduces us to many of the local inhabitants. Indeed, if our fishing is successful, we might exchange our catch for the song of a pretty milkmaid. The Compleat Angler is a brief book, and Walton's intent is to hook the reader, and encourage him to try fishing for himself: "I do not undertake to say all that is known...but I undertake to acquaint the Reader with many things that are not usually known to every Angler; and I shall leave gleanings and observations enough to be made out of the experience that all that love and practise this recreation, to which I shall encourage them." Interestingly, Walton starts off on the defensive, since the fisherman's passion was even then caricatured. By the end the reader has joined the "Brotherhood of the Angle," making artificial flies and enjoying the poetry of fishing: "The jealous Trout, that low did lie, Rose at a well-dissembled fly." To the modern ear Walton's literal belief in naturalists' old wives tales may seem humorously anachronistic, and it comprises a remarkably large part of his affection for his subject. We are also frequently reminded of the book's timeline with comments such as "...the Royal Society have found and published lately that there be thirty and three kinds of Spiders," while we now know that there are thirty thousand species of Arachnids. And the Brotherhood of the Angle is a genuine fraternity to Walton, "...I love all Anglers, they be such honest, civil, quiet men." The prospective reader must also be disabused of the misconception that Walton was a purist for artificial lures; he strongly recommends worms, minnows, and live flies. In Walton's watery world there is no dry humor, only fresh. Following his description of the twelve most effective artificial flies he says, "Thus you have a jury of flies likely to betray and condem all the Trouts in the river." And here he compares the beautiful coloration of a living trout to...well, you'll see: "Their bodies [are] adorned with such red spots, and...with black or blackish spots, as give them such an addition of natural beauty as, I think, was never given to any woman by the artificial paint or patches in which they so much pride themselves in this age." At the risk of taking some of the surprise out of the book, I here present a sample of Walton's fishing secrets: "Take the stinking oil drawn out of Polypody of the oak by a retort, mixed with turpentine and hive-honey, and anoint your bait therewith, and it will doubtless draw the fish to it." I would guess that Walton wasn't much of a cook, however, and I do not recommend his recipe for eel (partially skinning it, packing the viceral cavity with nutmeg and anchovy, cutting off the head, slipping the skin back over the body, and sewing it together where the head formerly was, then barbecuing it on skewers). Walton's affection for fish and fishing extends beyond the aquatic nobility of trout and salmon, to the often ignored commoners: gudgeons, sprats, bleaks, herns, tench, roach, umber, loach, and sticklebag. And as for the importance of fishing in Walton's world: "I envy not him that eats better meat than I do, nor him that is richer, or that wears better clothes than I do; I envy nobody but him, and him only, that catches more fish than I do."

Walton uses the perspective of an enthusiastic angler to promote a lifestyle of reflectiveness, gentle humor, and appreciation for nature. The book is easy to read, despite being first published in the 1600s.
The Coachwhip Publications reprint edition (ISBN 1930585209) is inexpensive and contains Cotton's "Part 2," written at Walton's request for the fifth published edition of "The Compleat Angler."

If you want to know what Florida was like until just a few years ago this is the book. Great reading and stories about real people and places. Although Cross Creek has not changed a lot it is just a matter of time. This book is one of the last ways to see the original Florida and the people who settled there before the modern roads and air conditioners.

For those of us old enough to remember the South before theme parks, interstates, and air conditioning this book revives many wonderful and a few not so wonderful memories. J.T. Glisson brings that period of Florida history alive with his vivid descriptions and wonderful stories. Very well written with the distinctive outlook and perspective of a true Florida Cracker. Enjoyed every page of this very entertaining book.

The Creek is a delightful look at rural FL in the years prior to and shortly after World War II. If you have already read Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' Cross Creek, The Creek will provide additional information and entertainment, as well as give you the added perspective of a native whose family and father in particular were featured prominently in Cross Creek the book. I found the book thoroughly entertaining and a worthwhile read. It along with Cross Creek is a must read for anyone with an interest in North Central FL.

No one on the planet is a bigger Rawlings fan than me. But THE CREEK is better reading than CROSS CREEK. And the writing is a wee bit better than Rawlings. This book is going in my Floridiana collection.

J. T. Glisson grew up next door to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings in this small central Florida community. This book of stories from his childhood provides a great context for learning about Cross Creek, and fans of M. K. Rawlings will find lots of insight into her place in the community. Glisson, himself, is a fine writer. He has great insights into life in Cross Creek, and his commentary provides a good understanding of some of the contemporary values and mores that continue to shape Florida's culture. There are also some interesting subtexts in the book. For example, Glisson affectionately gives the scoop on Rawlings. He modestly provides some specific references to himself in her writing, but after reading this work, I'm convinced that the character Jody in _The Yearling_ is modeled to a great degree after Glisson. He is also very funny. More than a few of the stories had me laughing outloud.

Excellent framework for business development analysis from market overview to deal implementation. Terms for some sample deals are provided, but wish even more was written on deal structure specifics. The book covers turf not previously explored and advanced my professional thinking. Very useful.

I have been involved in private equity, acquisitions, and joint ventures for the last several years, and bought this book to learn more about other types of deals, such as e-commerce partnerships, etc. Given the multiple five star ratings for this book, I expected quite a read. Unfortunately, although the book is fairly informative, I cannot say that it imparts anything that could not be gained by an attentive reading of the business press--just a chronology of various deals along with their rationale. I would say that this book would probably be quite useful for a novice or someone that doesn't keep up with their business magazine subscriptions.

If you 'do' strategy, if you 'do' planning, this is a must read for you. Time is, without a doubt, the most perishable asset on the planet. Where and with whom we spend our times now defines our social and workplace identities. The efficacy associated with our use of time charts our career trajectory. Spending time `strategically' on `strategic issues' is what executives are supposed to do. In almost two decades serving as trusted advisor to executives, I have never heard an executive say, `We have no time for strategy." Having huddled around my fair share of top-of-the-house campfires, I find that as the libations taken at CXO watering holes loosen tongues and the executive elders start to tell stories, the most memorable narrative emerging revolves around a review of past decisions. I have heard, stated quietly and in confidence, "We focused on the wrong things. We made the wrong decision." The payback on time spent strategically was, in many instances, negative.

Is time spent strategically a bad thing? Is strategy dead? Was time spent on strategy wasted? Does strategic planning have no place in our time-crazed, execution-obsessed New Economy? In 1983, the uber-executive of our age- General Electric Chairman Jack Welch dismantled the company's once heralded planning department. We have empirical evidence that those spending the most on traditional forms of resource-centric `strategy consulting' [the cerebrally challenged SWOT - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats dance] performed the poorest in the market place. The biggest strategic planner of them all, the Soviet Union appears to have just about finished its pre-Millennial journey from totalitarianism to disintegration. Strategy is not dead, but it had certainly fallen out of favor. Few companies don't have strategic plans. Yet few devote the resources to them they used to. Most disturbing, is that efforts to fix the problem, often had the effect of making things worse - or at least making them bad in a different way. Crusades and reforms intended to reinvent, relaunch and reposition the practice strategy have failed.

Lewis Mumford divided history into epochs characterized by their power sources. Traditional strategy tended to emphasize a focused single line of attack, executed by a single economic enterprise- a clear statement of where, how, and when to compete. Noticeably lacking was the question of `with whom?' The new power source in the New Economy is the ability to assemble the most resource-rich, market-savvy, technology-gifted, fleet-of-foot, known-and-trusted-by-the-consumer armada of partners. The way you do that is the subject of Digital Deals.

No book can promise infallibility. No book can guarantee that good decisions will be made. This book will help you spend the time you can allocate to strategic thinking more efficaciously. As such, this is not a coffee-table book. This is not a Great-Title-No-Content book. This is not a Good-article-unbelievable-they-stretched-it-into-a-book-book. This most definitely is not a I'll-buy-it-but-I-won't-read-it book. Digital Deals is the new, new thing in strategic thinking. Using the framework in Digital Deals to analyze the ur-protangonists of our evolving New Economy [Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, AOL, AT&T, Amazon] I experienced something akin to the joy that must have accompanied Galileo's use of the telescope to study the heavens or Robert Hooke's (1635-1703) use of the microscope to study bacteria. The tools contained in these pages will let you see new things. It will simplify what heretofore has been an incoherent jumble of pieces parts. This book has helped me understand the players, the deals and the deal rationales of the market I work in - digital security and privacy. As I read the book, I continued to ask myself whether the two Georges were adding words to the existing vocabulary of strategic planning or creating a new grammar into which the old words might be conjugated. There is no doubt that the process of market modeling described within these pages fundamentally changes the types of conversations we will be having as we try to plan our respective futures.

For an organization to survive in today's economy, it's not just a matter of doing deals, but of doing deals in a strategic and systematic way. Geis and Geis emphasize this tenet and provide substantial evidence why a well-planned partnering methodology is critical for the future of any organization. Not only does "Digital Deals" explore a number of partnering models, but also uses extensive real world examples and case studies from familiar companies who battle with these challenges every single day.

This is a book that puts partnerships and alliances in perspective in terms of their usefulness, value and criticality for the future of any organization in today's complex, competitive business world. Highly recommended reading for executives in general and Business Development professionals in particular.

Geis and Geis have produced an extraordinary product that will serve business leaders and deal makers well in both old economy and new economy companies. Their methodology of digital deal mapping provides a very necessary organic approach to identifying, organizing, and strategizing deals in the new millenium.

As a marketing/brand consultant to both Fortune 500 companies and to start-ups I will be handing out this book as Christmas presents to my favorite clients.

The front of this book says it is, "A Superb Book" It does not lie. It further states this book should be considered "A Classic of Civil War fiction." It is that. It ranks right up there with "The Black Flower" by Howard Bahr and Cold Mountain," by Charles Frazier. A love story set amidst the ravages of war, it is a masterpiece of emotional reading. for the Civil War buff, a must read, for everyone else, an excellent book to spend some time with. A Hallmark card of 300 pages. Get yourself something to drink and set yourself down in a nice, comfortable chair.

Philip Lee Williams' poignant Civil War novel about the beginning of the 1864 Atlanta campaign is a classic. Charlie Merrill, the central character, is everyman. He is the essence of THE Confederate soldier late in the Civil War when defeat was known to be inevitable yet duty, honor, and country demands to soldier on. Mr. Williams portrayal of the battles are historically accurate and well done, yet he uses his poetic license to examine the psyche of the common confederate soldier in the total context of those horrific times. Sad yes, but oh so glorious in a spiritual sort of way. The horrors that young Merrill sees and experiences are all too graphic yet he continues on wrapped in the friendship of his comrades.
The story is really a 3 part examination of Charlie Merrill's life during those difficult days. Mr. Williams artfully weaves the younger Merrill's life with the horrendous fighting of the 1864 Atlanta campaign, and his older life 50 years later when he is to give a keynote address to his hometown about the Fall of Civil War Atlanta. Charlie Merrill is a complex character that is slowly developed by Mr. Williams. Charlie is everyman of those chaotic times. He loves, cries, grows, and eventually understands the meaning of it all. Times change but memories endure.
Overall an amazing book. Outstanding character development in all respects. The complex relationships between Charlie and others in the book are well developed and although sad represent the circle of life in all its profoundness.
No gratuitous sex, language, or violence. The battle scenes are well done and not too graphic but necessary to the story.
Highly recommended, especially to those interested in the Civil War. A superb novel that anyone would enjoy. Good job Mr. Williams.

A book most readers would enjoy. If your looking for "The Red Badge Of Courage" or "Killer Angels" you may wish to look elsewhere. Not enough battle scenes/army life in this book though.

While young Charlie Merrill can hit a target 2,000 yards away with a Whitlock rifle, he is an unlikely soldier. We see him before the war as a frail, sickly teenager who is well-schooled in poetry and classical literature, living in one of the many North Georgia towns that is not altogether convinced in the wisdom of secession, much less war. We see Charlie Merrill in 1914 as his home town prepares to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the battle of Atlanta, thinking back on the loss and the sacrifice and the love that tied them together. And those of us who have walked the old works of Kennesaw Mountain where hikers now commune with a quiet wood and families spread out blankets and picnics on the warm grass of summer afternoons, see Charlie Merrill in in the contrasting bloody hell of 1864 rendered here in graphic detail. This novel received the Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction in 2004. It is a well-deserved honor, for A Distant Flame stands very near the top of the 80,000 books published about the civil war.

A literary Civil War novel that alternates between Charlie Merrill's grim existence as a sharpshooter in the Army of Tennessee, his sickly but love-touched boyhood and his old age.

I have very mixed feelings about this novel and I note from the other blurbs and reviews it's gotten that my opinion is a somewhat contrarian one.

I certainly have no issue with the research, which appears to have been painstaking. I found, though, that my engagement with the story wavered many times as I read. I honestly can't decide if this is a significant literary work told in a poetic style or if it's essentially sentimental in its themes and given to purple prose in its execution. I had trouble with the narrative's total humorlessness, with the saintly profundity of every character, with the endless repetition of variants on "Slavery was wrong." Yeah, obviously slavery was wrong. Every modern reader, hopefully, realizes that. But I'm not really convinced that the nineteenth-century Georgian character Charlie Merrill would realistically feel so unequivocally about it, and, as ever, the statement would have worked better shown than told. The race relations shown in the novel are all actually idyllic.

And along those same lines, I'm tired of reading about Confederate characters who don't believe in what they're fighting for. I think sophisticated modern readers can deal with protagonists who are fighting for a variety of reasons, some of which we do not consider today to be good. Merrill's lack of commitment to any aspect of his cause (whether resisting invasion or states' rights or his comrades, except for his single companion Duncan, or slavery) actually makes his battlefield actions more, not less, morally questionable for me. It severely undermines the quality of moral spokesmanship that I think the novel is trying to give him.

I was more moved by the failed-romance aspect of the story than I was by the war aspect, which is unusual for me.

I think this would probably appeal to readers who enjoyed books like Cold Mountain more than to readers who enjoy, say, David Poyer's Civil War novels. As for its overall quality, I'm just not sure.