ET Books

This book was a wonderful resource to me. I had been asked to install the officers in an organization to which I belong, and I was searching for the perfect ceremony. I came upon this book by chance, and it proved to be a lifesaver. All of the ceremonies are easy to follow and complete, and I had many rave reviews over my clever ceremony. Thanks for writing this book.

I have found this book to be an excellent resource for non-profit and volunteer organizations of which I am a member. With 26 different installation ceremony ideas offered, it's easy to find something relevent to your group or organization. The ceremonies are set-up for a standard grouping of officers, but can be easily adapted if your oganization does not have the same positions. I have been present when at least 6 of the different ceremonies were used, and they have worked well. It can liven up a portion of a meeting agenda that can become dry without something to add a spark.

After hearing the same two installation ceremonies for many years, it was a delight to find this book with its many unique and easy to do services. It's just what every organization needs. Each ceremony is complete from start to finish.

A good addition to church or public libraries, as a well equipped resource for civic clubs, religious and women's groups. Instructions for ceremonies are simple and complete from start to finish, providing creative ideas for installations of all kinds. Everything you need for an innovative and meaningful installation ceremony.

I can't add very much to the other reviews, but agree that this book is well-written history and deserves a five-star rating. While the author clearly admires Davout, he contributes clear and objective discussion on the various controversies in Davout's life (did he wish to be king of Poland, why he fell from favor after the disasterous Russian campaign, his conduct after Waterloo, etc.). My only quibble with this book is that it is a bit dry (but not overly so) and it would have been even better if the author had woven a bit more anecdotal material into the book.

This book is the long awaited reprint of John Gallaher's 1976 classic account of one of Napoleon's greatest Marshals, Louis Davout, 'The Iron Marshal'. According to David Chandler, Davout was "one of the least liked as a man, the ablest as a commander, and the most feared - and respected - as an adversary. He was also, from 1798, one of the loyalist of Napoleon's key subordinates."

This is an excellent biography of a Napoleonic commander. The book covers Davout's military career from when he entered the Ecole royale militaire in 1779, through the Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and finally his death in 1823. The narrative flowed along faultlessly although I would have liked more detail in regards to Davout's battles. However the author has covered these battles well enough and provided eight maps to assist the reader in following the action. Davout fought in numerous campaigns from Egypt to Russia and was successful always, his most famous battle being at Auerstadt.

Mr Gallaher has also supplied the reader with some insight into Davout the man with details of his relationship with his devoted wife and the tragedies of his children. You leave this book with a feeling that Davout was a man who did his all for duty (France and the Emperor) but never forgot his family. I loved reading this book and I felt it was not long enough (420 pages). I fretted about finishing, I wanted more, I did not want to put the book down nor finish it!

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves reading about the napoleonic period or anybody who enjoys a decent military biography. This is a great book about a great commander.

Probably one of the best biographies written about one of Napoleon's Marshals, John G. Gallaher does a fantastic job bringing Louis N. Davout to life in a well written, superbly researched and very insightful biography. The author managed to intergated all facets of Davout's life into a single flow that provides clarity and understanding. The two previous reviews have spoken more then enough on this book so I won't go on. It was nice to read a great biography which did great justice on Napoleon's greatest corps commander (my humble opinion of course).

Louis N. Davout was the best of Napleon's marshals. Undefeated in over twenty years of almost constant warfare, he was incorruptible, thoroughly reliable, loyal, an excellent tactician and strategist, and a faithful husband. Balding, grim, wearing special combat glasses that fastened at the back of his head as he was hearsighted, his titles, Duke of Auerstadt and Prince of Eckmuhl, were for battles he won on his own. He led the best trained troops in the Grande Armee, 'and usually got the hardest assignments.' John Gallaher has told his story with accuracy, wit, and near-faultless research, from his beginnings as an unruly junior officer to the end of the Empire and his retirement. This is the best biography of the marshal, and the author drew on much primary source material, including the marshal's correspondence, to give us this undispensable volume. It is a great read, jam-packed with vibrant, valuable information about one of the best generals, not only of the Grande Armee, but in history. Napoleon was served by the greatest collection of military talent ever to serve one man, and Davout was the best of that sterling lot. This volume belongs on the shelf of every military history enthusiast, whether or not your area of interest in the Grande Armee. Few commanders in history were as successful as Marshal Davout, and John Gallaher has presented us with a superb biography of an officer who definitely possessed what Napoleon referred to la sacre feu, the sacred fire, the unconquerable will to win or perish.

I found "Italian Made Simple" to be the best Italian workbook for the student studying at home. All study books explain the grammar, but this one also drills you extensively in it. I learned more from this book than any other. After completing this book, I can recommend moving on to Living Language's Ultimate Italian tape courses and also Schaum's Italian Vocabulary book. Also, a good way to get your feet wet learning Italian, is with the book entitled, Italian in 10 minutes a Day. Buona fortuna!

Como se dice..."I love this book!" I would know how to say it but I let a cousin borrow my book and it's never been back in my hands and now she's in love with the Italian language. :) That's a good thing! Well, I found the same edition of this book at the library and 3 months later, I was practically fluent in Italian. It's been a few years since then and my ability to speak Italian is almost non-existent. This book is good for a quick review or if you want to learn to speak a language within no time (but with dedication!). You'll find common phrases, words, but you will also find important grammar lessons in this book--the key element in learning a language.

This book is an excellent introduction to the Italian language. Its pronunciation guide is the most thorough I have seen, and pronunciations next to words indicate which syllable to stress, which is not done in the other popular italian books I have used. This is crucial to pronouncing the language correctly. The book is well layed out, pedagogically, if a tad ambitious. It keeps a fairly rapid pace in introducing new grammar rules, and can be overwhelming as a first text. Heavy use of drills really does get the language to "sink" in, however. The reason this book gets four stars, is that the italian it teaches is a bit outdated. Some of the vocabulary it teaches is straight out of 1960, and the pronouns it teaches for "he" and "she", among other words, are not in common current usage in Italy. My friend from Italy explained to me that those works anly used by her grandparents' generation.

By buying this book it really helped me understand the basic-intermediate status of Italian. It does everything in the best way I thought possible, and helped me learn my new language quickly and easily. It takes you step by step so that you don't get confused. Every six chapters there is a brief Quiz to see what you have learned and what you still need to spend some more time on. In the end, you won't be speaking fluently, but very very close to it. I reccommend buying "Living Language: Italian" that will give you an advanced-intermediate status. and finally, buy an advanced book or get a tudor...(TUDORS WORK REALLY WELL!)

HAVE FUN!!!

The books by Martin Popoff are excellent. This book will not disappoint. If you want to learn some JP history, look no further. Also look at Martin's other books. They are just as good.

I really liked this book. From the early days to now. He really kept it interesting.
I,of course, was not crazy about the indivial critisism of each and every album at length. Sometimes it just seemed tooooo long.
I felt he did a good job of the bands history without their consent.
The day they consent to a full history; that's the one I realy want to see. Until then, this is pretty good.
Visit Judas Priest INFO pages if you want to know more and remember to take it with grain of salt.
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"Judas Priest: Heavy Metal Painkillers" is a very good chronicling of the band's 35-year history by Martin Popoff. The book is 380 pages and full of colored photos and illustrations of band members, album covers, magazine covers, etc.

Popoff devotes 25 chapters to tell Priest's story, one chapter per each official studio & live album, as well as chapters devoted to "the early years" and all side projects of band members, such as Fight, Halford, Glenn Tipton and Two.

Martin rightly stresses Priest's most innovative and prolific years from 1976-1979 wherein they released four incredible albums that pulsate with creativity: SAD WINGS OF DESTINY (1976), SIN AFTER SIN (1977), STAINED CLASS (1978) and HELL BENT FOR LEATHER (1979). Popoff states that, if Priest did nothing else significant in the rest of their entire career, they are worthy of eternal respect and awe for these works alone.

It has been said that Black Sabbath created heavy music, but Judas Priest created metal. The above four albums testify to this with songs like "Tyrant," "Dreamer Deceiver," "The Sinner," "Let Us Prey," "Dissident Aggressor," "Exciter," "Stained Class," "Beyond the Realms of Death," "Saints in Hell," "Burning Up" and "Delivering the Goods." Sabbath may have given birth to doom, gothic and stoner metal, but Priest gave birth to power, speed, progressive and epic metal.

In 1980 the Priest boys dumbed everything down to create the first and greatest kindergarten metal album, BRITISH STEEL. Okay, I'm joking a bit so don't get your feathers ruffled, but ya gotta admit, compared to the four incredibly innovative albums that preceded it, BRITISH STEEL is a very simple and juvenile piece. But, you know what? It works. Priest were ready for something new at this point and wanted to expand their creative parameters by working LESS hard (!) and making an album full of simpler, more pop-friendly numbers.

In the decade following BRITISH STEEL Priest was all over the place: 1981's POINT OF ENTRY was an experiment of pop rock mixed with metal, but it was a disappointment. 1982 featured Priest's all-time best selling album and certainly one of the best metal albums of all-time, SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE. 1984 showed the band going through the motions with DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH, which was similar in style to SCREAMING but no where near as dynamic or captivating. 1986 brought forth their worst album ever -- TURBO -- which isn't even metal, more like new wave pop rock. The album went platinum so it wasn't a financial failure, and it did prove that Priest could write really good 80's pop rock, but in hindsight the majority of Priest fans qualify it as their darkest, most embarrassing hour. 1988 issued TURBO's heavier brother RAM IT DOWN. Popoff decries the album as lifeless, but this simply isn't so. RAM IT DOWN proved that Priest could write and perform 80's hair metal better than any glam band. I stayed clear of the album for many years because I don't particularly like hair metal, but I recently bought RAM IT DOWN and gotta admit it works for what it is. And it's anything but lifeless. The disk is full of pizzazz with quality cuts like "Hard as Iron," "Blood Red Skies," "Heavy Metal," "I'm a Rocker" and "Monsters of Rock," not to mention the blazing lead solos on "Ram it Down." I'm not saying RAM IT DOWN is necessarily essential Priest, but I do enjoy it when I'm in a rare hair metal mood.

The 80s, incidentally, is my least favorite decade for Priest. Of the six albums they released only BRITISH STEEL and SCREAMING are truly mandatory, although the other albums feature some stellar songs.

In 1990 Priest returned to their 1982-84 style with PAINKILLER, adding a thrashier edge. It's a fine disk with quality cuts like "Touch of Evil," "Nightcrawler," "Between the Hammer and the Anvil" and the titular cut, but a tad overrated IMHO. Singer Rob Halford left after the PAINKILLER tour and would not record with the band again for fifteen long years.

1996-2003 gave us two studio albums and two live disks with young new singer Ripper Owens. Popoff generally writes off this era in the band's history, but nothing could be further from the truth. Metal was supposedly no longer 'hip' during these years (who cares?) but Priest flew the flag high with 1997's JUGULATOR and 2001's DEMOLITION. JUGULATOR is the band's most brutal album ever (even though it has an undeniable cartooney and colorful air), proving that they can out-riff, out-write and out-perform any thrash, speed or death metal band out there. Take my word for it, JUGULATOR kicks total axe and the songs are ultra-catchy. As for DEMOLITION, it's the band's heaviest, most modern-sounding moment with stellar and innovative cuts like "Subterfuge," "Hell is Home," "Metal Messiah," "Machine Man" and "Feed on Me." Say what you want, but JUGULATOR and DEMOLITION are two red-hot smokin' albums that utterly blow Halford's by-the-numbers RESURRECTION (2000) out of the water. In other words, Priest did anything but rest on their laurels while Halford was absent.

Lastly, the book chronicles 2005's ANGEL OF RETRIBUTION which is highlighted by the return of the "metal god" on vocals. ANGEL reverts to the style of PAINKILLER but is more mature and arguably better. Unfortunately Popoff wrongly disses one of Priest's better mellow tunes "Angel" and ridiculously lambastes "Lochness," which is actually one of the album's highlights, a highly creative epic doom metal masterpiece, in fact. To his credit Martin cites numerous other peoples' more positive take on the song.

Popoff interestingly observes the numerous "er" songs in the Priest catalog -- songs about some sci-fi/horror character ending with the "er" sound. For example, "Ripper," "Deceiver," "The Sinner," "Starbreaker," "Exciter," "Invader," "Grinder," "Steeler," "Jawbreaker," "Painkiller," "Nightcrawler," "Abductors," "Demonizer" and "Hellrider." It's so obvious but it never occured to me before.

I should close by pointing out that Popoff has progressed as a writer in the last decade. With his first "Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal" he had a tendency to go off on brief rants of nonsensical prattle. You'll see little of this with "Judas Priest: Heavy Metal Painkillers." It's highly readable, full of quotes from the band members, as well as those connected to the band, and is valuable, even mandatory, to any Priest fan.

Very well done mate... and THANK YOU! A ton of memorabalia, photos, and informed writing make this a MUST for every Priest and Metal fan on the the planet! Martin does a wonderful job chronicling the Priest's career album by album and remains subjective throughout, as every REAL fan can appreciate.

Of course, Priest are the world's second and purest Metal band there has ever been! After Sabbath..it was Rob Halford and this slicing Heavy Metal that really defined the genre better than any other band, including Black Sabbath!

Simply...a real feast of Priest is served here.

This is one of my favorite books, children's or otherwise, because of the lovely way it teaches that people can look at the same object or situation and see different things because we are all experiencing life from different perspectives. And the truth is that all of the different things that we see are really there, all of them, even though we may see only one aspect of the whole. The artwork is beautiful and the storytelling soulful. I raised my children on this book, and now that my daughter is seventeen and applying to colleges, I am buying a copy for her to take with her when she moves away from home. This gentle story and the detailed luscious artwork are a treat to be savored and shared across the generations.

The beautiful illustrations help make this book one of my favorite childhood stories. It is a heartwarming story of a little mouse who is an artist. She captures her dearest friends in a painting, in which they all see just themselves. "Little Mouse's Painting is a story that can be enjoyed by everyone.

A lesson in perspective(How things are viewed).
Great illustrations. My 4th grade Art classes loved it.

When searching for just the right gift, I remembered this lovely book. Little Mouse's Painting has everything you may be looking for in a book for young children. Beautiful illustations, sweet as pie story and a lesson to learn for young and old. Little Mouse paints a picture and all her friends see something different in it. It will become a family favorite.

Well done! Interesting to see scenes that are familiar to me through the arts eyes.

Put this book on your coffee table and no one will ever leave your house. The art work is not only inspiring, but historical as well. Some paintings show parts of the island that are gone now. I loved some of the artists so much that I actually purchased several of the prints shown in the book. If you love the ocean you will love this book.

I am a Realtor on Long Beach Island and live just off the island. This book has some of the most beautiful pictures of the past and present in it. I originally bought it because my last name is Anastasia and the first artist in this book is Anastasia, but the art work in the book is magnificent. Everyone I show it to just loves it. In my family room I have pictures of lighthouses and everyone is in this book. And Jane Law is a favorite artist of mine and I also have one of her pictures of the "Shack" which I just love. If you love seashore art and especially Long Beach Island you will love this book. It is a beautiful coffee table book. The picture on the cover is one of my favorites.

This book is extrememly well done. The reproductions on the page are excellent with rich, deep, and vivid colors. The variety of painitngs is wide as is the subject matter. Not every painting will appeal to every viewer. But every painting will give every viewer a new perspective on this unique island which is changing fast and forever.

This documentary is a reasonable exposition of Chomsky's views. For those unfamiliar with Chomsky's (and Edward Herman's) propaganda model, this film is highly recommended. Those already conversant with Chomsky will probably revel in the extension of his ideas to real Living Color (those who agree with him anyway). However, I have one complaint: the propaganda system is complicated, and the film seems to take a dive on the specifics instead of dealing with its essential details. The failure to explicate what exactly Chomsky means when he speaks of "thought control in a democratic society" allows the pejorative claim that his ideas are "conspiratorial" to seep into the argument. Tom Wolfe scoffingly impugns what he calls, "the cabal"- I doubt he's actually read Chomsky. Anyone who understands the propaganda model, even if they fervently deny its existence, realizes that it is not worthy of "conspiracy theory" derision. The film would have done well to debunk this myth.

The other flaw as I see is the focus on Chomsky's background and personal life, which are superfluous to the film's main message and inconsistent with Chomsky's own feelings about celebrity.

As you can imagine, the film is rather one-sided in favor of Chomsky's views. Once you've seen this, it's absolutely imperative to read "Necessary Illusions", "Manufacturing Consent", and even some of Chomsky's other books- "The Washington Connection" and "Rouge States" are recommended. Also of note is that Chomsky may be Godfather of media criticism, but others including Nancy Snow and Michael Parenti have written well on the subject.

This book is much more than a simple transcript of the documentary of the same name, it also offers a lot of information and excerpts from interviews with and writings by Noam Chomsky not included in the film. It is a very wonderfully put together book. This might be the best introduction to Chomsky's thought around. and the philosopher all star trading cards in the back of the book are a great idea. Plus, it really looks good on the coffee table.

"While the film has met with large-scale success throughout much of the world, it is as a book that Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media is most useful. A virtual transcript of the film, it also includes a range of other materials--extended extracts from Chomsky's writings, reviews of those writings, interviews and a variety of novelty items, from comic strips through to a set of "Philosopher all-Star" trading cards attached to the spine. Through these, the emphasis on Chomsky's personality with marks the film (and about which Chomsky himself was concerned) is diminished, and the result is a highly skimmable guide to Chomsky's political ideas, the controversies in which he has been embroiled, and the notoriously thorny question of the relationship between his political and linguistic ideas. It is, perhaps, too fragmentary and montage-like in its organization to serve as a course text, but as a distillation of one important current within Western radical thought it is extremely useful."

Will Straw,
Canadian Journal of Communication

Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media is the essential companion book to the celebrated philosophical documentary film of the same name which was released in 1993.

Noam Chomsky followers and all free thinkers who have seen the film (and those who have not) owe it to themselves to get a copy of this provocative book and discover the incredible depth and lucidity of Chomsky's thought and ideas which address the most important moral, ethical, political and social issues of our time.

The book contains a complete transcript of the film, with 300 stills illustrating the text, as well as copious excerpts from Chomsky's writings, interviews and other sources. The side-bar rich format of the book is well designed in that it allows one to follow the sometimes fast pace of the documentary's narrative while providing well chosen excerpts from Chomsky's writings that enrich and elucidate the topics presented in the film.

Like the film, this book will hold your attention, and you will find yourself returning again and again to explore the political life and times of the controversial author, linguist, and radical philosopher Noam Chomsky. I would highly recommend this book both to the seasoned reader of Chomsky's work and as a very approachable introduction for the first time reader to this authors intellectually potent thought.

My little boy loves to go the aquarium in Chattanooga, TN and he adores this book.

Akiki's 'My Visit to the Aquarium' is another wonderful addition in her series of children's books about nature and science. For us, it became the inspiration to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium while on vacation in California. I can still recall my six year old son's excitement as he acted as our "tour giude" from the knowledge he gained from this book. Beautifully illustrated.

My son is almost 3 and loves to read this book along with me. We have supplemented this book with actual "field trips" to a local aquarium and he enjoys the relationship between what we read and what we see. The author has included many interesting and informative facts without "going over" the little ones' heads. We recommend it!

My visit to the Aquarium captures the feeling of being at the Aquarium with its beautiful illustrations. The author has very thoughtfully included a diverse gathering of people who visit this Aquarium, including a young girl who is using a wheelchair. There is so much information to teach a child who is reading this book about fish, sealife nad other water resources. My daughter exclaims her excitement when looking at the illustrations in this book. It is truly a visit to the Aquarium with out ever having to leave the house. We have renewed this book three times from the library and have decided to add it to our perminent collection since it is liked by every member of the family, adults as well as children. We know you'll love it too

This is the book that opened Shakespeare up to me. In a college Shakespeare class, which I came into with a strong anti-Shakespeare bias, I found myself confused with the language, bored and indifferent with the stories and frustrated. So, I went out and picked up this book (I had read Frye's the Archetypes of Literature) and it immediately changed my outlook on the old bard. I soon noticed that much of what my professor was lecturing in class was taken from Frye's work. I had discovered the secret. This is a very readable, interesting and witty look into many of the Shakespearean plays. Frye is quite unusual for a literary critic, he's fun to read.

This book is excellent. Only two words are needed to explain its incredible value: "Green World"! Nothing more needs to be said.

Frye's essays on Shakespeare are distinguished by their accessibility. In "The Anatomy of Criticism" and "Fearful Symmetry" as well as other, more scholarly work, Frye demonstrates his profound insights into literature generally in the former and Blake's work in the latter. In both works, the reader is expected to have significant background in literary studies.
"Northrop Frye on Shakespeare" is targeted for the general reader. Frye's commentary helps any reader understand the Bard, but it does so in a more accessible style than any other work I have read by Frye. Ideally suited for the high school student or the college undergraduate, Frye's essays provide excellent entry points into many of Shakespeare's plays for the student who wishes to delve further into these essential works. Not exhaustive like Bloom's "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human," or scholarly and advanced like Cavell's "Disowning Knowledge," Frye's work invites the reader to ponder some key points and formulate her own ideas.
This collection of essays complements the other works mentioned in this review. As an introductory set of essays on Shakespeare, it is without peer.

Frye expertly reviews and comments on over half-a-dozen of the Bard's best works. The only problem with the book is that he doesn't look at more of Shakespeare's works!

This book is pleasant light reading, with many historical photos of the track, equipment, buildings, and even boats of the NWPRR. Since traces of that railroad still exist all over Northern California, this book is a useful guide to finding the old main lines and spur tracks.

I bought this book "for auld lang syne"...the photos & narrative are excellent...this one is for my Dad.Thank you !!.

Great production of historical photographs and educational captions. Soft cover with all black and white pitctures. Material on freight, passenger, and ferry traffic. Links company origins to present day situation. Good reference for railroad historians, modelers, and students.

A very good book featuring photos that I have rarely, if ever, seen. While not the definitive book on the NWP, it is a great suppliment and an absolute must have for the NWP fan. Lots of early photos and information on the railroad. A great tribute to an often overlooked railroad.