College and University Books

Alexander the Great, was born on or around July 20, 356 B.C.E., and is my favorite personality to read about in history. To me he is the whole package general, statesman, conqueror, and philosopher. The smartest man who ever lived, Aristotle, tutored him. Alexander conquered more of the known world than any other figure in history, accomplishing all this before he dies at the ripe old age of 33. Some people called him conqueror and violent overlord. Some other called him civilizer and even God! All of them yet, called him "The Great". He was the first man in modern history that took this name, "The Great"! Even as a young boy, he shows great promise.

Diodorus a Greek historian who lived from 80-20 BCE wrote 40 books of world history. He is an uncritical compiler who used good sources and produced them faithfully. His work is one of the oldest works available and is based on eyewitness accounts. He does a better job than most in explaining the battle scenes, and seems to be more balanced in his admiration and criticism of Alexander then any of the other early biographers. I love his Bucephalus Story, and I recount it here so you get a flavor of the promise this young Alexander shows.

The legend begins with Philoneicus, a Thessalian, bringing a wild horse to Philip for him to buy. None of the hands was able to handle it, and Philip grew upset at Philoneicus for bringing such an unstable horse to him. Alexander, however, publicly defied his father and claimed that he could handle the horse. The bet between Philip and Alexander was that if Alexander could ride the horse, Philip would buy it, if not, Alexander would have to pay the price of the horse, which was 13 talents, an enormous sum for a boy of Alexander's age to have.

Alexander apparently noticed that the horse had been shying away from its own shadow, and so he led it gently into the sun, so that its shadow was behind it, all the while stroking it gently and whispering into its ear, (Alexander seems to be the original horse whisperer). Eventually the horse let Alexander mount him, and Alexander was able to show his equestrian skill to his father and all who were watching. The incident so impressed Alexander's father, King Philip that he told the boy "Look thee out a kingdom equal to and worthy of you, for Macedonia is too little for thee". He named the horse Bucephalus, which means Ox head, and rode it across Asia, founding a city in its honor in India after its death. This story gives you an inkling about the man.

This book is a necessary read for students of Alexander, I also recommend Plutarch's and Arrian's work, and from contemporary writers, J. F. C. Fuller and Tarn. Most of Alexander's greatest military traits are in the area of military logistics and to understand his genius in this area I highly recommend reading, "Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army," by Donald W. Engels.

As a retired U. S. Army Major, I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in ancient warfare, and history.

The book named Diploma Mills by David W.Stewart & Henry A. Spille is the best book ever written on Fake Educational Institutions and their diplomas/degrees. Author has also mentioned the process and legal tactics these fake and fraud educational institutions use to work in public.Book is full of knowledge and fully recomended to know and protect oneself from these diploma mills.Authors are hereby congratulated on doing detailed research work.

This is going to be a great help with my school search!

DISCIPLINE is Volume 14 in the DIMENSIONS series. The DIMENSIONS Series of journals is an excellent find. It contains theoretical projects and articles, student and professional work and interviews from star architects as well as up-and-coming designers. The series is edited very nicely with a very clean graphical quality. As one of the designers for Volume 15, I must say that this issue is an excellent find. Contact the school for more copies of past journals as well as the newly published Volume 15 entitled: LIMITS.

Designer editor Dimensions V15: LIMITS

Leaders in higher education should stand up and applaud the efforts of these authors. This is an accurate appraisal of the IT landscape in higher education. Few have ever touched upon this 800 pound gorilla of a subject. These authors have challenged the misperceptions held by many about the real costs of technology. It's about time.

Annan provides memorable portraits of many Oxbridge dons, even as he shows how different from our own were the eras in which these men (and, far too belatedly, women) worked. For example, consider the following:

** The two opiates to be avoided at all costs were love of success and a preoccupation with money. Lowes Dickinson's most famous pupil was E. M. Forster, who in his novels tooks Dickinson's ideas a stage further; and he summarised the King's [College] ethos by saying that it was a place that "taught the perky boy that he was not everything and the limp boy that he might be something." **

Alas, this is not _our_ era . . .

The book is also packed with amusing quotes from the dons themselves, such as the following message from one don to another:

** On our return last night I found as I thought that a spider had crawled out of the inkstand over a piece of paper; but it turns out to be a hieroglyphic from which I so far interpreted as to perceive it was an invitation to meet some professor whose name as you wrote it looked somewhat indecent. I shall be happy to wait on you and take the opportunity of learning the Eyptian mode of writing. **

Annan's book is ultimately an elegy because Margaret Thatcher, among others, did so much to ruin the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge.

Garrett uses his relationship with his fellow Southern writer, the late Peter Taylor, as a basis to explore issues of personal and regional identity and the demands of a writer's vocation. The way both the real-life originals AND the fictional alter egos are present in the text interrogates the wall between reality and imagination in a way that is provocative, mind-stretching, and always great fun. Garrett is a kind of stealth innovator in American fiction. He does not get the avant-garde headlines, but he has consistently been trying to ramify the creative potential of fictional narrative.

The book is a detailed study of the university examination systems in South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. As Zeng astutely notes, "The history of exams is a history of an institution, a system. On the other hand, this system is not an empty shell, but a structural order governing human behavior and consciousness. In that sense, what we have been studying is a key behavioral pattern, the history of the pattern, and the power behind that power". This book is an excellent introduction to what can be called the "culture of exams" in the Far East. It is a badly needed sourcebook and rare history of a topic which encompasses such diverse subjects as history, education, politics, and religion. Zeng is quite good at delineating the precise influence of Japan on the exam systems, general historical trends in the development of these systems, and the social roles that the exams serve.

There are, however, several drawbacks to the book. Zeng's writing style is often quite dry and sometimes awkward, and in certain sections the book is not very well organized. Finally, at $... US, quite pricey. But these faults do not ultimately detract from the importance and novelty of this study.

I just bought this wonderful book when I went back to Hampton University for Homecoming 2003. I was glad to see such an undertaking written on Dr. Harvey. I found it very interesting and I am now in trouble with my wife because I kept my night-stand light on all night reading the book from cover to cover. I have only one criticism so I will dispense with that first: Dr. Benjamin is very repetitious of certain facts and accounts including them in one chapter to illustrate one aspect of Harvey's leadership and then in another to illustrate a similar leadership trait, while this is the only weakness of the book it is a common thread throughout, chapter after chapter,and therefore does lend itself to no small amount of irritation. Other than that, it is an absolutely fabulous book about a man who has been a true inspiration to more than a generation of Hamptonians. As an approach to the work, it should be noted for the true students of the genre that the book neither is nor pretends to be a work of autobiography, instead it is a chronicle of how one man's value based leadership transformed an institution of higher learning. In the pages of this book one finds a man steady at the ship in steering Hampton toward new horizons while keeping her true to her most noblest traditions and aspirations. One finds a man of vision unafraid to do what is right for that grand institution while in the process demonstrating and exemplifying dignity and decency. As an alum of Hampton University who was inspired by Harvey's leadership as a student, the work came as a refresher and a capsulization of all that I learned while quietly observing this man from a distance. Thank You, Dr. Benjamin for capturing one of Hampton's finest moments...Dr Harvey, Hampton University is your destiny... what a blessing to be so clear...and she still needs you!!!

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Dry Rot in the Ivory Tower is described in the foreward as a "angry call to arms". It is that, and much more. Through a series of vignettes describing life at the fictional "Omnibus University", John Campbell (former professor, dean and university president) describes the light and the dark that exists at universities throughout the country. The stories, though fictional, have a ring of truth to them that makes one suspect that the only fiction is the names, which have been changed to protect the guilty (and the occasional innocent as well; see the vignette about the Heisman Trophy winner which seems to be a barely disguised story about Barry Sanders). Nobody in the university, from governing boards, to administrators, faculty, alumni, and even a few greedy students, escapes unscathed. Thoughout the book, the author's love for the university comes through loudly and clearly, even as that love is challenged by the unending bureaucracy, personal agendas and political vendettas that, unfortunately, exist in universities. If you also love the ideal of the university, this book will make you angry. Your anger will be aimed at those who, by their actions and attitudes, prevent universities from accomplishing as much as they should. Additionally, some of your anger will be with yourself, for failing to do more to help.