Fund-of-funds Books

To set expectations this book is heavily slanted towards winning Government business. It is also applicable to large businesses as well as small ones. That said, the information in this unique book can be effectively used by consultants and companies intent on competing for commercial contracts. I am fortunate because I have experience in Government contracting (on both sides of the fence - writing RFPs and evaluating responses when I was a member of DoD, and responding to RFPs when I was in the DoD contracting industry), and in the commercial world where I have been working as a consultant since 1988. From my vantage point I see the value of this book as advice and guidelines for developing effective proposal strategies regardless of whether you are competing for Government or commercial business.

I have used this book as a ready reference since the first edition was published in 1997. This second edition reflects a major update to the original book in that the proposal management tools in the first edition were woefully out of date and the focus was not on some of the Government opportunities for small business, such as Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)that require a tailored proposal strategy. The second edition also addresses new Government initiatives for e-business and a plethora of other topics that were not present in the first edition.

If you are competing for Government business this is the most complete, accurate book I know of that covers the RFP-Proposal-Negotiation-Award process. Short of memorizing the FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations), amassing years of proposal writing experience, and gaining the wisdom of knowing what works and what doesn't you will not find a more concise guide to the process. Also, you will benefit greatly from the wealth of tips and pointers that the author provides from his own extensive experience. If you are in the DoD contracting business, regardless of business size, I cannot overemphasize this book's value when it comes to cutting through the maze and providing a clear roadmap. If you are a proposal or capture manager I strongly recommend that you get a copy for every member of your team.

For the book's readers who are in the commercial sector the approach outlined in this book will add process and structure to your proposal writing efforts. The rigorous requirements imposed by the Government are too often lacking in the commercial process, which results in sloppy proposals that meander around issues and miss important client requirements. Also, because the proposal development process can be as large a task in the commercial sector, managing it can be a nightmare without a well thought out strategy for ensuring that all of the "t"s are crossed and "i"s dotted. The approach in this book practically hands you a ready-made process that you can apply to proposal development. This process will not only improve your ability to respond quickly and accurately to RFPs, but do so in an efficient manner. The result will be a significant competitive advantage.

For both sets of readers I think some of the advice, such as using the proposal as a marketing tool as well as a due-diligence instrument for responding to RFPs is excellent. For example, the author emphasizes backing up responses with examples to demonstrate claims. This is a powerful technique that I have used repeatedly to good advantage. It goes a long way towards assuaging client concerns about capabilities versus empty claims, and will turn a proposal that is merely responsive into one that is compelling.

Other things that make this book extremely valuable include the CD ROM of checklists and templates, and the numerous examples from the author's past proposals.

In my opinion this is the best book available for proposal development, and the only one that fully addresses every aspect of managing the proposal process for Government business. It should be on the shelf of anyone who responds to RFPs, and in the library of every company that does Government or commercial contracting.

Successful Proposal Strategies for Small Businesses is a MUST-READ for anyone involved in the government contracting procurement cycle. Everyone from the technical level manager in business and government to the owners of businesses and top level government managers should have a working knowledge of the information presented in this book. Specific key people who should use this book as a technical reference are:
1. all business development staff in private industry
2. technical managers in both industry and government
3. all technical publications staff
4. all government buyers, and procurement staff: including technical officers, source selection officers and source selection board and committee members.

The business development principles illuminated in this book apply equally when businesses sell to and buy from other businesses.

Moreover, I would like to see a companion periodical publication, a CD-ROM or a newsletter, that updates the rapidly changing technological and regulatory aspects of the book. Subscribers to such a service would include all full-time business development and government procurement staff.

The book's style is that of a successful proposal. The book, as the successful proposals discussed by Mr. Frey, is an effective sales document as well as en extremely informative technical reference. The key strengths of this work are its completeness and depth. Mr. Frey provides us with a broad overview of the procurement process presented from the perspective of the business developer. The book clearly shows how the various members of a small business organization should interact to produce a successful business development effort.

At each stage of the business development process the book describes all of the necessary steps to a winning proposal. Detailed schedules, document templates, document samples and examples clearly illustrate every critical step required for planning and executing a successful proposal effort. The book presents all aspects of proposal writing including the development and use of themes, illustrations, style, and even the physical production and delivery of the proposal have in a "user friendly" manner. Mr. Frey's system of handling acronyms and his implementation of the glossary are extremely valuable to the reader. The completeness of the acronym list alone is, in my view, worth more than the price of the book.

Two key concepts developed throughout the book are: the concept of proposals as sales documents, and the critical requirement for solid and continuous upper management's support of the business and proposal development process.

Private companies, both small and large, will find this book invaluable as the blueprint for establishing, and implementing their business development infrastructures.

Winning proposals and new work are the lifeblood of any business. Bob Frey has provided the business development and project management communities with a winning, working reference. Technical project managers and task leaders will benefit from a fuller understanding of the close relationship between outstanding contract performance and proposal awards. From philosophy to tools, this well-balanced book (and accompanying CD for quick-search) provides the organizational structure, choreographed processes, and in-the-trenches tips for successfully building and fueling a quality enterprise.

Don't let the trade price of this book deter you. Mr. Frey analyzes every aspect of the RFP-proposal process, and he includes a storehouse of resources to place you at a competitive advantage. No other book even comes close.

Mr. Frey's book covers the full lifecycle for capturing new business. He provides a clear strategy for identification and qualification of "winnable" opportunities,and a section-by-section cookbook for how to plan for and create a winning proposal. In our case, we have successfully applied the processes and guidelines found in this book to position us for capture of over $30,000,000 of new small business competitive Government contracts. This is good stuff!

I WISH I COULD HAVE GIVEN IT 500 STARS! READ IT! THAT'S MY ORDER! Man I love this book!

I can't speak for others, but in my case I was always of the impression that campaign finance was the best solution for the country. I bought into the idea that there was massive corruption in government, and that a way to curb this would be through restricting contributions from large donors. This is what I was always led to believe, so naturally I would be for campaign finance reform.

After reading Bradley Smith's book, however, my view on the issue has completely changed. He documents in great detail the harm of campaign finance, how it can restrict the political speech of challengers and grassroots movements, and ultimately how the reform process will never end if it continues, and will only bring on more restrictions to help close "loopholes" in the current set of reforms.

Though I believe there is still a great deal of discrimination and corruption in politics (just look at the voter caging that took place in the 2000 and 2004 elections), I no longer am of the viewpoint that money is THE key factor in this problem, and limiting its use in the campaign process will only hurt the average US citizen's means of obtaining information and supporting a candidate in a monetary sense, rather than promote an even playing field for all those involved in an election.

I greatly appreciate Professor Smith's analysis. If nothing else, the rarely heard opposition to campaing finance reform is set forth clearly in this book. There is, however, some shortcomings in his analysis.

First, take this passage (there are other analogous ones in the book that prove a similar point) from page 71:

"(Steve) Forbes indicated that he would not have sought the nomination had former congressman and secretary of housing and urban development Jack Kemp decided to run. Kemp chose not to run in large part because he did not want to engage in fund-raising. Had Forbes been able to donate to Kemp the $25 million he planned to spend on his own campaign, Kemp might have run and would quite likely have been a frontrunner for the Republican nomination."

It is easy to see that from this bit (and others) that Professor Smith does not wish to gloss over that fact that money in fact DOES affect politics. Later on that same page he entertains a thought experiment in which all campaign contributions were banned to see who would run in such a scenario. He admits that those with the most name recognition (athletes, celebrities, incumbents, succesful business persons active in their community, etc.) would be able to win. And importantly, he says that those who would win in the experiment wouldnt be much different than those who win now. It would seem then, that name recognition or fame also affects politics.

Thus, the following two things Professor Smith does not challenge: money affects politics, and name recognition affects politics. Now, it is also apparent that money affects name recognition (think TV ads). Given that Professor Smith does not argue with these things, an proponent of reform is unlikely to be swayed. For proponents the unconstested fact that money affects politics (and can buy at least some degree of name recognition) is enough to justify contribution limits. So, it would have been better to see Professor Smith adress more directly the proponents onjections.

I also find lacking that Professor Smith does not mention much about spending for state or local elections and how money affects politics in those instances. For example, in the Austin, TX city council elections recently, 4 Democratic candidates with near identical views ran. The election came to a runoff between the two top contenders, both of whom had TV ads while the other two did not. Does this disprove Professor Smith's arguments? No, but it would be better if he discussed local elections as well.

As the best known critic of campaign finance reform, Bradley Smith makes strong arguments not just against the legislation itself but against the philosophy underlying the entire movement. This is important, because many supporters of reform refuse to acknowledge that any case against their rationale exists. Many critiques of campaign finance legislation focus on proving that not nearly as much money is spent on campaigning as the public has been led to believe, or that the proposed legislation would give certain types of grassroots groups an unfair advantage over others. Smith's attack goes much further than that. He demonstrates why, in the long run, strict regulation of campaigns will harm everyone by crippling their ability to channel their talents into meaningful participation in the political process.

The first half of the book serves as a comprehensive survey of arguments brought against reform. He begins by analyzing why the proposed legislation would give incumbents enormous advantages over challengers. From there, he discusses how the term corruption has been expanded to mean anything that a legislator does to respond to the wishes of constituents who helped contribute to her campaign-whether or not a causal link can be established between particular contributions and particular legislation. He concludes it with a section on how limits placed on monetary expenditures made to pay for speech are, in fact, limits placed on speech itself because the expenditure of money to pay for speech is inextricably linked to speech itself.

In the second half, he deconstructs philosophical arguments used to justify reforms and turns them on their heads. He starts by pointing out that supporters of reform typically ignore the fact that most non-monetary means of influencing politicians are not distributed on an egalitarian basis. Thus, simply removing private contributions from our political system will not make everyone equal overnight. He develops this point by discussing the traditional notion of political equality-that "...Citizens are free to use their differing abilities, financial wherewithal, and personal disposition to become more or less active in political life, and to attempt to persuade their fellow citizens to vote in a particular manner." He points out that campaign finance reform is nothing more than an attempt to narrow the pool of individuals afforded this freedom.

He concludes by hammering this point home: "...Because the First Amendment...makes no distinction between the different types of political influence, it allows a maximum number of voters to participate and helps to prevent any one faction or interest from gaining the upper hand in political debate." This Madisonian indictment of the campaign finance movement goes above and beyond merely attacking various legislative proposals as incumbent protection schemes. It cuts through all the political rhetoric and reveals what campaign finance reform really is: an attempt by a coalition of elite groups to cast the rules of political debate on their own terms.

If you're concerned about free speech, read this book. You won't be disappointed.

This book changing my way of thinking 180 degrees. I was a huge John McCain and Campaign Finance Reform fan, but I read this book just to see what the other side had to say. I am sure glad I did! Smith points out many problems with alleged reform on mulitple levels. If you are interested in campaign finance reform, however you may feel about the subject, I suggest you read this book.

The other reviewers on Amazon have done an excellent job summarizing the main points in this book. I will briefly contribute to this discussion by detailing the arguments that stood out to me.

First of all, the book is dividied into two sections: (1) Scientism and the Study of Society; and (2) The Counter-Revolution of Science. The former expounds the differences and peculiar histories of both the social and natural sciences, while the latter seeks to understand the historical development of "scientism", finding its roots in the rationalistic tradition of French (continental) thought.

The first part is the more important section, and should be read carefully. Hayek traces the long escape of natural science from the anthropomorphic thought that characterized the Middle Ages. External events were believed to possess some transcendental reality. Slowly, however, science began to discover explanations of external reality that differed from our common sense perceptions. "Facts", it was argued, are different from "appearances." Note that in this discussion Hayek is not attacking the character of science when it is conducted in its own proper sphere. Science has much to say about the relation of material things to other things (cause and effect, etc.). Scientific study errs, however, when it begins to substitute material explanations for human affairs. There are some phenomena that cannot be explained by their material characteristics. In fact, most phenomena involving human opinions and beliefs cannot be explained by natural science. Hayek gives several illuminating examples to illustrate his case: "words", "sentences", "crimes" "family", "exchange", "money" etc. clearly can only be understood by finding out what people think about these things and not from their objective characteristics.

In this book Hayek shows that the social sciences are fundamentally distinct from the natural sciences because men can only be understood through their beliefs and opinions. A very important work.

Friedrich von Hayek has been one of the most ardent exponents of the dreamy hopes of progress and happiness that supposedly, would be brought by the Industrial Revolution.

When the triumph of the polytechnic spirit as he calls it, covers and comprises the whole of human experiences, in such extent to deny any other value it becomes a new sect and really, all of who maintain this belief become heretics due its own fanaticism. He wants to prevent us about the enormous risk of reducing the science to "scientism."

The rereading of this text is especially helpful in these times in which we are immersed in what we might call an ethical deficit of huge proportions that has underpinned the pragmatism to unexpected places. So the fact to expect the science and technology be by themselves the universal antidote, product of a superficial diagnosis or mistaking cause and effect, sooner or later a double cutting doge weapon.

Two brief examples may witness it: the use of DDT resolved a serious problem but also generated another one. And here we have: how to deal and even conciliate a dynamical vitality in our way of life without damage of our environment; because the imminent crisis of "the greenhouse effect" simply cannot wait any longer and obviously will demand and even affect a wide spectrum of the productive forces, no matter how effective negotiator you be at the moment to conciliate both interests in conflict.

In this book, F.A. Hayek sets some very important nerves blank.
Social sciences study the relations between men and things and between men and men. Some philosophers thought that social sciences should be treated like natural sciences and that the latter's laws were also valid for the former ones. This `scientistic' viewpoint led to the worst absurdities and aberrations in the history of philosophy.

One of the task of science is to constitute `wholes' by constructing models which reproduce the relationship between some of many phenomena observed in real life. `Wholes' (language, market, morals, money, social processes ...) are not natural `units' like flowers, but refer only to certain structures of relationships which we select because we think that we can discern connections between them. However, for some philosophers `wholes' are more than the aggregate of all constituent parts (e.g. human history, societies, economies) and are subject to relatively simple laws. This viewpoint led to the thesis that the coherence of these large entities must be subjected to conscious control.
As F.A. Hayek remarks, phenomena like language, markets, money or morals are not real artifacts, products of deliberate creation, but the outcome of spontaneous processes. There is a crucial difference between influencing spontaneous processes and attempting to replace them by organizations fabricated by conscious control. Nevertheless, for some philosophers, processes which are consciously directed are superior to any spontaneous ones. Man must have complete power to refashion everything in any way he desires. The outcome of these policies was pure determinism, relativism, totalitarianism, collectivism, compulsive planning.

A few examples quoted in this book:
For A. Comte, `freedom equaled the rational submission to the domination of natural laws. Liberty of conscience was an antisocial dogma and a revolting monstrosity.' `There is nothing good and nothing bad; everything is relative; this is the only absolute statement.'
For F. Hegel, `man cannot change the course of history, which is directed by the laws of the development of the human mind.' `All that is real is rational and all that is rational is real.'
The influence of these philosophers (and others) cannot be overestimated until today.

In this book, F. A. Hayek shows how the 'fallacy of misplaced concreteness' generated (generates) disastrous policies for hundreds of millions of humans.
Not to be missed.

This text is yet another testament to the extraordinary erudition of Dr. Hayek, and his ability to convey that methodological subjectivism (or individualism) is the foremost analytical technique for the several social sciences.

What is discomfiting in this work is the historical support that most of our basic ideas are formed early in our academic careers, and only painfully revised in subsequent years. This is particularly troubling for many trained in the scientistic legacy of Saint-Simon, August Comte, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Hegel. Hopefully, the recrudescent interest in the "economic sociology" of Mises and Weber will free sociology from its scientistic tethers. But I am not confident about that.

Hayek's long-lived philosophical commitment to methodological subjectivism is articulate, and is unmistakably clear in this work. And the Counterrevolution only restates the postulate that social scientists ought not to imitate their more highly paid colleagues in the "hard sciences." And this seems like eminently sound advice for sociologists, and particularly now that the flagship sociology journals are cluttered with, e.g., "religiousity scales," "mentoring scales," and other synechdichocal concepts that are amenable to various measurement scales.

The price of this work is a steal. It must be known, however, that Hayek is an author who challenges readers. And this book is no different.

The Counter Revolution of Science was one in a series of books by Hayek to explore the abuse of reason in the twentieth century. Hayek started his career writing technical economics. Books like Prices and Production and Collectivist Economic Planning were meant to settle issues among economists. Hayek's efforts were initially met with success. Hayek swayed professional opinion on business cycles. Hayek also forced socialists to revise their early proposals. Yet professional opinion turned against Hayek during the mid thirties. Why? Had they proven him wrong? Did they fail to understand why he was right?

How was it that intelligent and educated people could not see the strength of Hayek's arguments? Hayek saw that modern collectivism was working to undo the intellectual progress made during the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment. Collectivism was antithetical to reason, and would lead us to a new Dark Age if not reversed. Persons of the left with surely find this absurd, and their revulsion to Hayek's thesis is consistent with his thesis. The Left does not reject reason explicitly, it abuses reason unwittingly. People on the Left truly believe that they are progressive and scientific, but this is a false belief. Socialists and Welfare State Liberals abuse human reason by failing to see its limits.

I find the sections on Engineers particularly interesting. Hayek's views on Engineers are so diametrically opposed to Veblen's Engineers and the Price System that one must wonder why he did little more than mention Veblen in passing. The Counter Revolution of Science is one of Hayek's best books, and that is saying a lot. The Counter Revolution of Science was important in the twentieth century because it penetrated to the core of intellectual problems of that time. We live in a new century now, but the old problem of abusing reason remains. The Counter Revolution of Science should be read by the entire educated public.

I ordered the book for a class I'm taking. I find the book to be very interesting and it keeps my interest. Key points that I need to know are included in the text. Excellently written.

The book's content is precise, to the point and not repetitive in hard to understand grammer. The context was really reliable for the course I am currently taking. The chapters are not long and drawn out yet the examples the author uses are up-to-date, on point and target. I truly liked this book because it is a great read outside of higher education.

Kim Klein is a nationally known expert in the area of fundraising, and demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of all aspects of fundraising in the book. She presents the information in an easy to understand format, and shares her expertise in a motivational manner. I highly recommend this book, even if you have been in fundraising for a number of years.

I love this book. It's been around for a while in one form or another. Currently it is in its 5th revision. And with each revision the author has refined it. As a result, it is very well written and outlined. It is also really good because the author is a fundraising practitioner and teaches what she does. She really knows her stuff when it comes to fundraising. At least that's the impression I get from reading her book.

Fundraising at a nonprofit, whether large or small, is basically a profit center. It's a business! This book treats it as a business and has the feel of a startup guide for that business. As a SCORE volunteer believe me when I say this book has the feel of a startup guide; I've read my fair share of startup guides for for-profits and counseled enough wanta-be entrepreneurs on how to start a business. This book is a startup guide.

So how is this book a startup guide? Well, it advocates preparing a written fundraising plan BEFORE you put together your fundraising office and start raising funds. It describes a "fundraising framework" that you must understand before you can prepare a sound and successful plan. Then it tells you about time-tested strategies for acquiring and keeping donors - the strategies that will enable your nonprofit to build a foundation or base of donors from which all successful fundraising will emanate. And next it tells you about the time-tested strategies for upgrading donors so they will (or can be expected to) give larger gifts as time moves forward. There are also sections that explain how to setup and manage a fundraising office, and how to prepare a budget and write a fundraising plan.

The book could have stopped there. That's all that a startup really needs to know and do to be successful at raising sufficient funds to provide its services and distribute its products. However, the author tells us more. She talks about feasibility studies and capital campaigns. And she talks about actually being a professional fundraiser, and about special or unique circumstances where traditional fundraising methods don't always work well.

I really have only one problem with this book. I would like it so much better if the author would change its title to something like - A Fundraising Startup Guide: The Nuts and Bolts to Building a Successful Fundraising Profit Center. I realize the author's background is in helping cash-strapped nonprofits that advocate social change, and that this book was initially created to help her help those organizations (and herself). But the book is not merely about nonprofits that advocate social change. And I wish the title would properly reflect what the book covers. 5 stars!

This is a must read for any staff member of a small not for profit organization. It's a bit freeky how she knows so much about my group, and then cuts to the chase on how to address the problems identified.

This book is a must read for people who are interested in their financial health.

After reading Highway to Success, I feel somehow cleansed in my relationship to money without taking even one additional step. What a relief to see finance in its own rightful place instead of clouded with my feelings or confused with other aspects of my life. I like the Time Capitalization System, and I really appreciate the kindness and spirituality that permeate this book. Finance is an area in which I never in my wildest dreams expected to find these qualities, so this has done more to break down my internal Puritan-ethic split between money and spirit than all the philosophy and therapy I've experienced before.

Niloufar talks directly and knowledgeably to me like a good friend who knows exactly what will help me and her approach is respectful so I don't feel talked down to. Reading her book has move me into action in a way I am amazed to see happening. I really beleive reading Highway to Success has caused a breakthrough in my life. It's as if I've grown up overnight.

Just like a loving parent, Ms. Abedi not only explains what to do, but why it should be done. Imagine not only understanding investement terms, but also what all the various steps on the HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS means and why they are important to your life. Great clarity, especially well organized, which truly assists the novice and even those who think they know already.

Niloufar talks directly and knowledgeably to me like a good friend who knows exactly what will help me and her approach is respectful so I don't feel talked down to. Reading her book has moved me into action in a way I am amazed to see happening. I really believe reading Highway to Success has caused a breakthrough in my life. It's as if I've grown up overnight.

I Just got through reading the book for the second time,and it
was just as good to me the second time as the first.
I will never understand the disparagey in the verdicts.To me the one that was most guilty got off scott free, while the least
guilyy got the worst punishment.That militarry justicefor you though.

The reviews of Gary Solis's SON THANG are entirely accurate: the book is a masterpiece of historical research and sharp, incisive, nuanced writing. A gripping and depressing read, the book examines not only the singular horror of the Son Thang massacre (and in that it is a refreshing alternative to the incident as presented in Oliver North's white-washed memoirs, and Randy Herrod's self-serving BLUE'S BASTARDS), but also the decline in morale and professional standards during the waning days of the Vietnam War. That this decay almost overwhelmed the draftee-filled U.S. Army is an accepted fact. That an institution as proud as the Marine Corps (an institution which had upheld its highest traditions at places like Con Thien, Hue, Khe Sanh, and Dai Do from 1965-68) was also dry-rotting during the 1969-70 period is not as well known. Though a proud Marine veteran himself, the author is willing to look such ugly truths square in the eye, and SONG THANG is all the better for it. The Foreword by BrigGen E.H. Simmons, USMC (Ret), is also fascinating.

A very interesting book.The author was not afraid to put the blame where it belonged. I wonder how many more such incidents happened in the time we were in Nam.As a Nam vet I know to well what it was like to be in a situation where you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. Hind sight is always 20 - 20,but sometimes our boys were put in a situation like that and were killed if they didn't take the nescesary steps. I am not condoning any senseless killing, but when it is kill or be killed you do what you have to do.

Professor Gary Solis' "Son Thang: An American War Crime" is an excellent account of the courts-martial of four Marines for the murder of 16 Vietnamese civilians during the Vietnam War. Drawing from the transcripts from the courts-martial, the appellate record, the historical record, and interviews with many of the participants, Solis - a Vietnam veteran who served as both a military prosecutor and military judge in the Marines and who now teaches military law at West Point - gives a complete picture of the story as only a true insider can.

Although this book is history, it reads like a novel. Solis brings the tension of the battlefield and the drama of the courtroom alive in this book. And he also brings alive the legal maneuvering before each court-martial as the prosecutors, defense counsel, and - in some cases - civilian defense counsel, all "prepared the battlefield" before each court-martial.

As a former practitioner of military justice, Solis understands the nuances and intricacies of military justice, staff work on a division staff, and the actual role of commanders in the process. He methodically explains how military justice works in a deployed environment (the rules are the same, but there are many "real-world" problems such as witness production and transportation that can threaten an otherwise sound case).

Finally, Solis also gives glimpses of the bigger picture of the Vietnam War in 1970: the USMC manpower problems with Project 100,000, law of war training issues, the moral problems dealt with by Marines facing women and children fighters, etc. And, after telling the full post-trial stories of the convicted Marines (that went on for over 10 years), Solis wraps up with some conclusions about what went wrong, what went right, and suggestions for improving the military justice system (which are especially relevant now that we are again trying important courts-martial in deployed environments).

"Son Thang" is an outstanding book and a very easy read. Anyone interested in the Vietnam War, military justice, or in trial work in general should read it.

"Son Thang" is both an important work of legal scholarship and a compelling, well-written story. Col. Solis documents, step by step, exactly how the Marine Corps treated its own suspected of war crimes in Vietnam-they were quickly tried, and if convicted, imprisoned. There were no coverups and no excuses. Marines accused of killing non-combatants were swiftly brought to book and the chips allowed to fall where they may. Here, it appears that several of the Marine Corps prosecutors were out-lawyered by civilian attorneys. That doesn't matter; a trial is, after all, a contest. What matters is that the Marine Corps had-and has always had and will always have-the will to try those accused of atrocities.

This book, Keep the Fiath, is a relly good book. It will start with someone and stop, then start again with someone else. You don't stop thinking about the other person.It draws you into the book. I would recomend rerading this book. I started with book four and read five and six also. The book is about young people who have problems like we have today. Other books like this are Lurlene McDaniel books. Her books deal with people and things today. Keep the Faith, is a book that i would rate a five being the highest. the author did a great job of writing the book. I would recomend it to anyone who liked books of romance and of things that we deal with today. this is a really great book to read.

You should total read all the clearwater crossing books they deal with everything from lossing a friend to being in love. TRUST ME IT WAS A GREAT BOOK!!!!!!! SO READ THEM ALL!!!

this book was great, i love all of them. they deal with such real things. they are all pretty emotional for me. i started this series after it came out so im behind on reading the books, but the next books seem to all different people to portray the characters? does anyone know why? i mean i loved the characters they started out with.

Keep the the Faith is a great book. God is there for everyone and it is nice to know that more then a few people have Faith.

I think that the auther really realises that being a teenager isn't that easy , and it shows in her books.

Amazon is great. The book was delivered on time & was in great condition. My son absolutely loved the story. It was a fun read & he couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next!

I liked this book alot. I recommend reading it. It never got boring for me, which was good because usually in books I do. But i found in this book that it was alot better then i thought it would be. I thought it would be good, but it was awesome!

This book was a great story for third graders. I wonder if the math concepts were lost on them or not. Jessie makes notes about economic ideas like franchising and profit margins, which may be a little abstract for younger readers. There are some wonderful math ideas within the story, however, like when Evan figures out division using pictures. It is a great conversation starter on how people use different strategies to solve math problems. And the real-world number problems are fantastic!

The kids' parents are seperated and the father has left them. This isn't really a strong theme for discussion, other than possibly how it affects the kids' relationship. (i.e. they are actually really good friends and help each other a lot, complimenting each other's strengths and weaknesses.) Something to keep in mind. My students did not seem to even notice this part of the story.

My son's third-grade teacher is reading this book aloud to the class. He loves it so much he wants a copy of his own! It's an honest, apt depiction of children's real emotions and behaviors. Like Beverly Cleary, Ms. Davies does not try to sugarcoat kids' anger, fears, and how those can be acted out. Children clearly recognize and respond to this.

Out school also had the pleasure of bringing Ms. Davies in for an author visit. She made a real connection with the kids at all different grade levels, and won high praise from the teachers and school librarians! She has written other wonderful books, for pre-school through elementary.

I've got a sister just like Jessie, but I'm the smarter one, and we can both understand feelings. We're both misers, (Nora a little bit more), But she likes lemonade stands way more. I really liked how they both sabotaged each other's money to become the winner of the Lemonade War. I can also relate, because I play with Nora a lot, but if I found she was being promoted from 3rd to 5th, I would be the same as Evan. Jacqueline Davies sure can write a story about a conflict between a brother and a brother. Even though it was 3rd person writing, she sure can write it from a kid's perspective! This is a really good book, some people might say as good as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)(a really good book), or all the Harry Potter Books. Kids (and even grownups) of all ages will like this book. I recommend this book to everyone who reads this, because I know you'll like it!

Daniel Glenn Leonard
10 years old

Actually my girlfriend suggested that I read this book, which I would have otherwise surly passed on, given the title --My Trust Fund Husband. Now I must admit that I not only enjoyed reading Laura's story, but learned a lot from it as well. And I thought I knew all about women until I viewed Laura's lovemaking lessons.

This free-spirited woman shares her secrets about "preliminaries" that will make your woman ecstatic. In addition to her "sexpertise," Laura had entrepreneurial attributes like great intelligence and drive. Not exactly Martha Stewart, but certainly her equivalent when it comes to goal reaching determination. Using wit, wisdom, and will power to get whatever she wanted from the men in her life she ultimately found her heart's desire to become the bride of a very wealthy Connecticut magnate's son.

I was very impressed by this woman's innate resourcefulness, which unfailingly yielded whatever she wanted from men. I also enjoyed seeing the very real places throughout Europe and the U.S. so interestingly described by the author. Her story is like watching a romance novel, travelogue, and documentary combined since it's autobiographical and REAL. If you like being entertained and educated simultaneously buy it, but be careful or you're apt to fall in love with Laura as I did much like the lovers you read about.

In this fascinating autobiography, Luciana Contin, the author, amusingly describes her character's captivating guile. Laura had the charm and beauty to always win the favor of her many masculine admirers just when she needed them most, wherever in the world her wanderlust took her.

I am fully aware of the moral derelictions affecting New York City ghetto public schools. The horrendous experiences of a young female teacher named Laura are sadly true, and reading about them will make you want to flee for your life as Laura once did.

Her story took me into a far more personal dimension than the geographical one I am accustomed to. As I began to appreciate the subtleties of Laura's uninhibited passion to follow her heart and mind, my subconscious voice began to rejoice. I had discovered a woman determined to use her beauty, charm, and cunning to fulfill her thirst for knowledge, hunger for sex, and yearning for the accoutrements of wealth.

Some women are content to dream. Laura made her dreams come true. You will be inspired by her remarkable ingenuity and capacity to transform her most challenging episodes of hardship and despair into triumphant memories.

Author Luciana Contin has captured my imagination with her inspiring and dramatic autobiographical story. One can only marvel at her gifted capacity to vividly articulate her life's most cherished and disturbing memories. There is a very disarming purity about her enchanting sotto voce narrative intonations that imbue My Trust Fund Husband with compelling dramatic might.

It's the story of Laura's remarkable metamorphosis from a very precocious but penniless ingenue nurtured by the tumultuous horror of Nazi-occupied World War II Italy into a clever young lady and ultimately into a highly educated, sophisticated bride of a Connecticut tycoon's son. Her story will leave you inspired to celebrate life.

This is a story about a determined and clever woman who used her beauty to obtain the romantic pleasure she desired, and her beguiling charm to provide the sustenance she could not afford from handsome men of means.

It is also a story of a naive yound girl who yearns for intellectual growth and travels the world to sucessfully acquire it. It is more fundamentally a story of self-discovery against all odds. And one played upon a global tapestry of exciting locations interspersed with intense drama that keeps you always concerned for the welfare of the heroine's safety and solace as she relentlessly and resiliently emerges unscathed from diversely passionate and intrepid alliances.

This book is clearly written and user friendly. Biafore gives links to information sources, making it easy for the reader to get more information on each of the hacks. These links alone are worth the price of the book.

I've been trading for over twenty years, including a period as a floor trader on the Chicago Board of Trade. Even with that experience there are tips and tricks in this book I found useful to the point where I employ them daily. To be complete as a reviewer I will say there is a lot of pretty basic stuff from my point of view, but still well worth reviewing since some of it I had forgotten.

Well written, easy reading, well organized

Online Investing Hacks is an excellent introduction to the world of investment. Though the title does contain the word 'Online', I would say that the general information the book provides on investing is not limited to the online realm.

Overall, I was very happy with the book, and found it incredibly useful. Though I do have several investments (401K, some stock, mutual funds etc) I would hardly consider myself an authority on the subject. This book provided very detailed explanations and tips on various forms of investment, from CD's to Index funds, and everything in between. While the experienced investor might not glean much from reading this book, anyone just getting started will find it an excellent reference, and resource.

The format of the book is similar to the other books in the 100 * Hacks series published by O'Reilly. There are exactly 100 hacks, or topics, which are spread across 9 chapters. Each one is an individual entity and can be read and understood without reliance on any of the other hacks.

One minor annoyance I had with the book is that it is geared toward those of you who, for some reason or another, run Microsoft's Windows OS, or have access to Microsoft Excel. Luckily, of the Excel examples that I played with, Open Office's Calc program handled them with minimal tweaking.

I can easily recommend this book to anyone who wants to invest, but is unsure of what to invest in, or needs some tips on making the most of preexisting investments. Those of you who enjoy research and building your own stats and graphs will also find parts of this book rather intriguing, as it covers data acquisition and manipulation with Excel in great detail. It will make an excellent addition to my reference shelf, and I have a feeling it will be well thumbed through in a very short time.

It seems like everyone is involved in investing in some form or another. While I always felt like I should be investing too, it was never clear to me how to begin this process. After all, it's my money. How can I be sure I'm investing in something that will provide some sort of reasonable return? This book is an excellent resource in answering some of those questions and putting the new investor on the right track.

This book is written in the same format as the other "hacks" series by O'Reilly. This format is very easy to read, and the format makes it very easy to find answers. Rather then having to read the book from cover to cover, the reader can pick out topics they are dealing with, read the answer, and move on. Since many of the people interesting in a book of this nature will likely have little time, the book's format works to its advantage.

The book begins with some basic introduction to the stock market and tips for selecting appropriate stocks or mutual funds. The whole middle section of the book deals with data analysis. The author discusses how to understand a company's balance sheet (e.g. what that P/E ratio means), how to spot companies in financial trouble, how to pick a good stock, and even how to trade. There is also a good discussion on minimizing the effect of taxes on your little return on investment.

The author even goes further and gets into a discussion on financial planning. In addition to discussing debt reduction, the author also talks about IRA plans and different strategies for saving for your child's education expenses. I think my favorite part of this book was the discussion on different education savings plans. The author discusses the ins and outs (as well as tax consequences) of each of the plans, and provides some examples illustrating the fact that it's better to start saving earlier than later.

This is an excellent book, not just for its investing advice, but also for its sound financial planning. This is a great book for anyone who is interested in increasing their wealth, saving for a rainy day, or simply saving for future financial goals.

Online Investing Hacks by Bonnie Biafore (O'Reilly) is one of those books that can pay for itself in short order, as well as over and over.

Chapter list: Screening Investments; Hacking Excel for Financial Analysis; Collecting Financial Data; Analyzing Company Fundamentals; Technical Analysis; Executing Trades; Investing in Mutual Funds; Managing Your Portfolio; Financial Planning; Index

I worked at Enron from 1998 through 2001, and spent plenty of time during that dot.com era following my stock portfolio. I watched my Enron stock value go from incredible value to a point where it cost more to sell the stock than it was worth. I won a few bets (face it, that's what they were) on a few dot.coms and lost many more. What could have been an incredible nest egg, isn't. This book would have been a lifesaver if I had read and paid attention to it a few years ago. Biafore shows you how you can analyze and invest wisely using a variety of tools available to everyone.

If you're an Excel user, you'll find it an invaluable tool for analysis. She'll show you how you can use it to create financial charts (#13), calculate compound annual rates of growth (#26), and use rational values to buy and sell wisely (#36). #39 - Spot Hanky Panky with Cash Flow Analysis (using Enron as an example) would have literally saved me hundreds of thousands of dollars had I known about it. Even if you don't care about the investing tips, the hack on downloading data via Excel web queries (#7) was something I didn't know how to do (or that you could even do it!). The book has a little something for everyone.

As with all Hacks titles, you probably won't be interested in every single item. Some may not be applicable to your situation or may be too complex for what you care to handle. But all it would take is one hack to work out and change your investing for this book to pay huge dividends. If you do your own investing, you owe it to yourself to get this book.