ET Books

Great! Essential! Outstanding! Uncanny! That's all I can say...

I do not rate with 5 stars easily. However, Conrad's book is essential reading for everyone not familiar with boards of directors, their responsibilities, their liabilities, and how they work. If you are thinking about joining a board, then read this book and keep it next to your dictionary and your Bible, because these will be your most important books. I cannot say it better than that.

This is the second of the Harvard University Press' avowedly "new" versions of literary history, having been preceded by a "New History of French Literature." It stands in marked contrast to the traditional banal historical surveys, which often read like annotated bibliographies rearranged in chronological order, which give the reader no flavor for actual literature. It is also different from an ideosyncratic synthetic history which presents the viewpoint of one critic, glossing over certain periods and authors in order to dwell on others, merely because the author finds them more interesting or in better conformity with his thesis. Instead, this book is a compilation of essays written by over 150 specialists in different periods and aspects of German literature, each essay concentrating upon a particular work, or a particular moment in German literary history.
In some respects, it works amazingly well, seeing 1200 years of Germanic literature through a series of epiphanies. The quality of the essays is extremely high, and there are enough of them that the reader does get a notion of the richness and breadth of literary creation in the German language. Best of all, the essays are such that they tend to create a hunger to read many of the works reviewed. The reader can browse through the book, following one of the many threads provided by the diverse assembly of critics, jumping from one essay and epoch to another, noting along the way many works of which he may never have heard, accumulating a rich mine of future reading.
But the History's chief success is also its chief failing: such a book can never be catholic enough to serve as a reference with which to place in its historical or literary context any book which one has read, or of which one has heard. Some significant minor authors are omitted altogether, as well as a few major ones, and especially as we approach more recent times the selection has to become ever more arbitrary and limited. The greatest names in German literature are inevitably slighted due to the format, as they are given only slightly greater treatment than the lesser figures which each also command at least one essay. Goethe's Faust, most notably, does not really loom as the immensely important monument which it is, nor does it receive the kind of elaborate explication it deserves. To those tired of grazing solely on the highest treetops who might be tempted to say 'Good riddance,' one must point out that this is supposed to be a general history, and not an eclectic selection of good books the uninitiated might not otherwise have read. Another defect is that by focusing exclusively on individual works, and on the moments in history which have witnessed their birth, there are no general essays which cover the broad and pervasive literary movements such as Romanticism or Expressionism, nor are there any extended discussions of such recurrent literary genres and themes as the Bildungsroman, or the fantastic novel. In short, this is a superb anthology of essays, which deserves to be put on the shelf next to a more traditional history. The inclusion of some thematic essays, and an extended narrative to bridge the gaps and tie the essays together would partially remedy this defect at the expense of making a fat book even fatter, but I am afraid that without turning it into an encyclopedic reference of at least two volumes, a book of this structure cannot fully realize its ambition to become a "new history" which transcends the traditional model. Nonetheless, for its sheer readability, and especially given the ignorance which even most educated English-speaking readers now have of literature in German, it is a worthy acquisition for any lover of literature.

I'm soooo looking forward to getting this terrific Economics Dictionary/Encyclopedia. Wonder what's taking the publisher so long to get it out? Price is about one-third what the original cost. I thought of getting that original one back in graduate school (Ohio State University). But now the softbound will do just fine, as a welcome addition to my library. Ohhh, Palgrave, where ***are*** you??? Come to my ***mailbox***. Quickly, please........

There will most likely be some new hobbyists who will flip through the pages of this book and think that it will be too technical for them. Actually, this book is quite user-friendly and understandable, especially the first two chapters covering the ionosphere, general propogation and the solar cycle.

What will probably be the most used part of the book, particularly by beginners but also by experienced hobbyists, is the Do-It-Yourself Prediction Chart section. Here you can get an idea as to what reception conditions can be expected from specific areas of the world into a specific region of the United States (and presumably the southern part of Canada).

"The New Propogation Handbook" is a great way to learn about how shortwave radio waves get to your receiver from all over the world, but it should also be thought of as a tool in the hobby of SWL as much as the "World Radio Television Handbook" or "Passport to Worldband Radio." I believe that new hams should find it particularly useful.

New Towns For Old is a must have for anyone that is interested in building great cities. Nolen's descriptions of the new towns of his time are filled with lessons that can be applied to current practice. Once you read this book, you will want to see these cities.

Although this came out in 2001, it contains tons of information and analysis that is relevant to the debate on the draft Constitutional Treaty. The voting analysis, for example, is critical since many members are pushing for keeping the Nice Treaty rules. And it has an analyis of how Council voting rules affects the balance of power among institutions.

nietzsche's though of eternal return?
he's still having it.

This highly readable and pithy account includes all the basic fact about the life of Nikita Khrushchev while at the same time giving us personable detail that brings him alive. It's short on political history and almost reads like a novel. You'll find yourself admiring this Soviet leader even though he was party to some of history's great crimes.

Il existe des dizaines d'ouvrages sur PI, sur (e)... mais aucun sur le nombre d'or vu d'un côté musicologique. Bravo à Jean-Bernard d'avoir rendu ce texte très disponible. A LIRE ABSOLUMENT.