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This is easily my favorite book on origami. All the diagrams are clear, the models are very detailed, and more importantly, all of them are an awful lot of fun to make, and very rewarding. While it has models from the whole range of difficulty levels, it focuses primarily on the advanced folder.

A little bit of history- my parents bought me this book about 15 years ago, I couldn't have been more than 8 at the time. I had dabbled a little bit in origami before then, but this is the book that got me hooked. I still have that copy, ragged at the edges, pages falling out, but still as fulfulling as it always was. I just can't stop singing the praises of this book- it's that good.

I Remember When I Got The 3 Final Steps On The Lobster. I Got so Into Origami That I Started Making Lobsters, Crabs And Cranes During School! I Have Loved Origami ever Since I Was 9 Years Old. This Book Was A Little Easy For Me, But For People That Can Only Make Cranes, Tigers, Paper Cups and other Easy Things. This Book is A Little Over Your Head.

This is a great book, not quite for beginners, though. In this book, you work your way up through the angel fish (easiest) to the lobster (hardest). The book has great step-by-step intructions which helps you create a model with great detail. This is one of the best origami books I've ever gotten and I definatly recommend it if you're really into origami.

Since 1933, the Eranos Conferences have gathered the world's leading scholars of religion and mythology. This set consists of Joseph Campbell's selections of the best papers from that conference. This is Volume 2, "The Mysteries". The fourteen papers include: Paul Masson-Oursel, "The Indian Theories of Redemption in the Frame of the Religions of Salvation" and "The Doctrine of Grace in the Religious Thought of India"; Walter F. Otto, "The Meaning of the Eleusinian Mysteries"; Carl Kerényi, "The Mysteries of the Kabeiroi"; Walter Wili, "The Orphic Mysteries and the Greek Spirit"; Paul Schmitt, "The Ancient Mysteries in the Society of Their Time, Their Transformation and Most Recent Echoes"; Georges Nagel, "The 'Mysteries' of Osiris in Ancient Egypt"; Jean de Manasce, "The Mysteries and the Religion of Iran"; Fritz Meier, "The Mystery of the Ka'ba: Symbol and Reality in Islamic Mysticism"; Max Pulver, "Jesus' Round Dance and Crucifixion According to the Acts of St. John"; Hans Leisegang, "The Mystery of the Serpent"; Julius Baum, "Symbolic Representations of the Eucharist"; Carl Jung, "Transformation Symbolism in the Mass"; and Hugo Rahner, "The Christian Mystery and the Pagan Mysteries."

Since 1933, the Eranos Conferences have gathered the world's leading scholars of religion and mythology. This set consists of Joseph Campbell's selections of the best papers from that conference. This is Volume 4, "Spiritual Disciplines". The twelve papers include: Heinrich Zimmer, "On the Significance of the Indian Tantric Yoga"; Erwin Rouselle, "Spiritual Guidance in Contemporary Taoism"; Theodor-Wilhelm Danzel, "The Psychology of Ancient Mexican Symbolism"; John Laynard, "The Malekulan Journey of the Dead"; Carl Kerényi, "Man and Mask"; Martin Buber, "Symbolic and Sacramental Existence in Judaism"; Friedrich Heiler, "Contemplation in Christian Mysticism"; Maw Pulver, "The Experience of Light in the Gospel of St. John, in the 'Corpus hermeticum', in Gnosticism, and the Eastern Church"; Fritz Meier, "The Spiritual Man in the Persian Poet Attar"; Rudolf Bernoulli, "Spiritual Development as Reflected in Alchemy and Related Disciplines"; Carl Jung, "Dream Symbols of the Individual Process"; and M. C. Cammerloher, "The Position of Art in the Psychology of Our Time".

Since 1933, the Eranos Conferences have gathered the world's leading scholars of religion and mythology. This set consists of Joseph Campbell's selections of the best papers from that conference. This is Volume 3, "Man and Time". The twelve papers include: Erich Neumann, "Art and Time"; Henri-Charles Puech, "Gnosis and Time"; Gilles Quispel, "Time and History in Patristic Christianity"; Louis Massignon, "Time in Islamic Thought"; Henry Corbin, "Cyclical Time in Mazdaism and Ismailism"; Mircea Eliade, "Time and Eternity in Indian Thought"; Carl Jung, "On Synchronicity"; Hellmut Wilhelm, "The Concept of Time in the Book of Changes"; Helmuth Plessner, "On the Relation of Time to Death"; Max Knoll, "Transformations of Science in Our Age"; Adolf Portmann, "Time in the Life of the Organism"; and G. van der Leeuw, "Primordial Time and Final Time."

Neither has historical fiction. Harry Flashman is both. By now you are probably joining me in wishing Harry Flashman was here today. I'd vote for him to President.

I read this book as part four of my chronological survey of the life and times of the greatest jewel in the British crown. After greatly enjoying the original Flashman papers and the two following edited packages, I consider this installment the best so far.

Fraser not only gives us the expected portion of ribaldry, but puts our hero in an accurately described historic situation in which some of the players are so spineless that they make Flashy look rather virtuous, by comparison.The result is a well-documented narrative, describing the first series of big battles of the British in the Punjab in which the local powers did not have any scruples about plotting a defeat resulting in thousands of deaths of their own people, just to hold on to power a little longer.

In style, Flashman, who looks rather upstanding through it all, gets none of the credit that he for once deserved. Don't worry, even our weak-boweled toady bastard himself took it rather philosophically.

This book was a great read and I can't wait to devour the next volume in the series.

Reading this series in chronological order has been tricky, thanks to Fraser's skipping about history. Still, having already read "Flashman", "Royal Flash", and "Flashman's Lady", I saw a change in the "Mountain of Light": Flashy gets a little backbone.

The book itself focuses on a largely forgotten episode in British India, between the Afghan withdrawal in 1842 and the Great Mutiny in the 1850s. This time, Flashman is called into service just as the 80,000-strong Sikh army, the Khalsa, appears ready to sweep down on the English and drive them out once and for all. Flashman is drawn into behind-the-scenes subterfuge that take him from the Sikh royal court to the middle of bloody battlefields. To say much more would spoil the living history that Fraser's created.

However, I find it interesting to note a change in Flashman's character. The first novel, "Flashman", remains my favorite because the young character flees from every battle, and it is only through luck and chicanery that he rises to his fame. Never fear; Flashman still lies to save his hide and jumps on every woman he can get, but I finished "The Mountain of Light" feeling that Flashy had done a pretty good service--which he will tell you in the book. Maybe this is due to Fraser. While the book is the 4th chronologically, it's Fraser's 10th book about his alter ego. Having known the character for so long, maybe Flashman's done a little growing up.

Martin Blumenson's has created a fascinating and surprisingly readable biography of the World War II hero, General George Patton. Blumenson has taken the General's diaries, personal and official letters and combined them with letters written to him and newspaper articles written about him. These are arranged in chronological order.

The period covered by this book was the most active of Patton's lifetime. In the last three years of his life, Patton had adventures enough for several lifetimes. After playing a major part in the conquest of North Africa, then Sicily, Patton was sidelined for nearly a year after the slapping incidents. During this time a disinformation campaign was put forth to convince the Nazis that Patton would command a non-existent army group that was to invade the south of France. A month after D Day Patton took command of the recently formed Third Army and drove across Europe, playing a pivotal role in the Battle of the Bulge.

In this book, Blumenson splices together the actual documents written by and about Patton as the actual events unfolded. Despite being an amalgamation of material from so many different sources, the book reads like a novel. Blumenson very rarely adds his own editorial commentary. This is done in a way that enhances the flow of the narrrative. My only complaint is that it frequently is difficult to determine where these asides begin and end. This readability is what makes the book great and unique. Having read many other biographies that over-analyze and inject the authors' personal opinion into the narrative it is refreshing to simply have the facts laid out in front of you.

Patton had an amusing tendency to give sarcastic nicknames to his rivals and adversaries. Omar Bradley is "the tentmaker," both for his Arab name and his tendency towards caution, Eisenhower is "divine destiny" for his political ambitions. General W. Bedell Smith, Eisenhower's hated chief of staff, is variously referred to as Beadle and Beetle. At the same time he is privately mocking these people, Patton takes great pains to praise and flatter them publicly. He even admits to himself in his diary that he is a shameless bootlicker and rear-end kisser when necessary. Patton justifies his actions because he feels he must be a sycophant to fulfill his destiny of leading men in battle. Patton even advises his son (who was a West Point Cadet at the time) that the way to advancement at the Academy is to seek out the Commandant and Superintendent and suck-up to them and their wives as much as possible.

I had low expectations for this book. Every other collection of the letters of famous men I have read has been interesting in spots but unreadable as a whole.Even the famous collected letters of Pliny the Younger are mostly dreary reports to the emperor and uninteresting notes to friends. For Blumenson to have created such an entertaining and informative document from similar material is a remarkable achievement.

I used this book while writing a paper for my Graduate level International Relations class. Although it is not considered a classic, it possess and delivers enormously relevant information regarding one of the greatest and most controversial master of war acknowledged in modern history. I commend this book as an pleasurable read, as well as an highly effective intellectual reference instrument.

Although a fan of General Patton, I hesitated to purchase this book. The title indicated a daunting book for reference only, rather than one for reading. But one shouldn't judge a book by its cover; I was wrong. "The Patton Papers" is surprisingly readable, and a must for anyone who would seek to understand this American hero. From diary entries to personal letters, Martin Blumenson weaves a fascinating story that makes one feel one is a part of the Seventh and Third Army staff! I recommend that you read a biography first ("Patton: A Genius for War" is excellent) so that you have an overview of Patton's life. A word of caution: reading this book will dampen your enthusiasm for the movie "Patton," as it makes clear the multitude of historical inaccuracies. A really great book!

Some Personal Papers, which recently garnered author, JoAllen Bradham, the Georgia Fiction Writer of the Year Award, is a must read. This exquisitely told story is about Eugenia Putman, "Miss Genie," a dedicated social worker who is forced to make choices regarding the children in her personal care that few of us could ever make. This is a case of when "doing what's best" is, without a doubt, a case of "doing what's worst," but for all of the right reasons. Although it has often been said that actions speak louder than words, Miss Genie's actions cannot even be considered without first reading her story in her own words, words that scream at you about the often painful experience that is life for many people, and particularly for children. This is a story you will not soon forget.

This novel is just as JoAllen herself said; "It's a quick read, and a long think."

The press may specialize in books about the South, but the book itself deserves the attention of readers everywhere. Those who read for significant, thought-rpvoking subject matter will find it. Those who read for artistic method will rejoice.

OMG i lov this bõok. my friend give it to me to read,and i was aðicted to it from the 1st pg. on. i could not put it down until the very last pg. very gõod story line and romance. Nan now become one of my favorite author. i really recomended. very gõod,and i just love the character of Clay Knight and Mary Ellen, they are meant for each other

I read this book in an evening and could not put it down. The characters are delightful and well discribed. A true romance with wonderful descriptions of heartfelt passion. Nan Ryan is the queen of the Romance novel! 9 Girlfriends read this book after me and all had the same reaction.

This book was wonderful. I am an avid romance reader and this is one of the best books I have read all year. The civil war makes for a wonderful and exciting background. The story moves very quickly and it's filled with passion! I read it in 2 days! A wonderful, sensuous, emotional story. With a Great ending!

This is a good book for all ages. It's a fun little book that you could read over and over again and again! This book is about two little monkeys that love their babysitter because she just talks on the phone all night. They get in to all mischief and mess the whole house in the process. They slip and slide out of the banana-covered kitchen in to the bathroom now covered in bubbles then outside to the muddy ground below the jungle gym. I think they are dirty now so they need a bath. They go take a bath and then notice the mess in the house they have to hurry to clean it before mama and papa monkey get home and then jump in to bed just in time!

The story begins with the mommy and daddy monkey getting ready for an evening out and their two little monkeys are delighted because they know that the babysitter will let them do basically anything that they like because it is her opinion that they are "the best little monkeys in the world" The little monkeys do get into mischief while their parents are away, but it all works out in the end. This story delighted my children...ages 4 and 7 and even made their big brother (12) smile when he over-heard part of it. I recomend this book for children 3 - 7.

This book was my favorite as a child. The illustrations, and the words just make you feel like your really in the story. The tales of fun and games were endless, amd I absoloutely loved the illustrations. I think out of the many books I've read I can definitely say this is the best!

This tiny textbook is well organized with an incredible amount of information. If you manage to read this, you will have much machinery of algebraic topology at hand. But, this book is not for you if you know practically nothing about the subject (hence four stars). I believe this work should be understood to have compiled "what topologists should know about algebraic topology" in a minimum number of pages.

As a matter of fact all the materials written by J. P. May are precise, concise and useful. He is not kind of those people who write 1000 pages and reach at obvious matters. This book is really a good introduction to the modern aspects of algebraic topology. It has less than 250 pages. I liked the treatment very much and appreciate it for teaching me a lot of mathematics. I dare to say that if someone else want to write a book including all materials treated in this book, then the book would consist of at least 1000 pages. Beside the mathematical values, I like the English language style of its writer as appeared in this book.

Ones first exposure to algebraic topology should be a concrete and pictorial approach to gain a visual and combinatorial intuition for algebraic topology. It is really necessary to draw pictures of tori, see the holes, and then write down the chain complexes that compute them. Likewise, one should bang on the Serre Spectral Sequence with some concrete examples to learn the incredible computational powers of Algebraic Topology. There are many excellent and elementary introductions to Algebraic Topology of this type (I like Bott & Tu because of its quick introduction of spectral sequences and use of differential forms to bypass much homological algebra that is not instructive to the novice).

However, as Willard points out, mathematics is learned by successive approximation to the truth. As you becomes more mathematically sophisticated, you should relearn algebraic topology to understand it the way that working mathematicians do. Peter May's book is the only text that I know of that concisely presents the core concepts algebraic topology from a sophisticated abstract point of view. To make it even better, it is beautifully written and the pedagogy is excellent, as Peter May has been teaching and refining this course for decades. Every line has obviously been thought about carefully for correctness and clarity.

As an example, ones first exposure to singular homology should be concrete approach using singular chains, but this ultimately doesn't explain why many of the artificial-looking definitions of singular homology are the natural choices. In addition, this decidedly old-fashioned approach is hard to generalize to other combinatorial constructions.

Here is how the book does it: First, deduce the cellular homology of CW-complexes as an immediate consequence of the Eilenberg-Steenrod axioms. Considering how one can extend this to general topological spaces suggests that one approximate the space by a CW-complex. Realization of the total singular complex of the space as a CW-complex is a functorial CW-approximation of the space. As the total singular complex induces an equivalence of (weak) homotopy categories and homology is homotopy-invariant, it is natural to define the singular homology of the original space to be the homology of the total singular complex. Although sophisticated, this is a deeply instructive approach, because it shows that the natural combinatorial approximation to a space is its total singular complex in the category of simplicial sets, which lets you transport of combinatorial invariants such as homology of chain complexes. This approach is essential to modern homotopy theory.

The book is great but it should be rated for 12+ instead of 9-12. The book goes into abstract concepts very hard to understand for a 10 year old. I bought it for my daughter which is the best of her class in math and she was very frustrated with the book. To really appreciate the book you need a very good grasping and confidence with the basic operations, fractions, powers and geometry, that means well beyond the years where your kid is learning those topics.

This book has gotten more kids fired up about math than anything I've seen. The engaging format shows kids that math is more than arithmetic - it's fun, it's cool, it's a blast! Even kids who are afraid of math will be hooked! I use it with 3rd and 4th graders who regularly ask their parents to buy it for them. They actually ask for a math book - go figure!

(...) We have a copy of this book at home, and I've purchased this book to give to some of my children's friends and some home-schooling parents I know. I think giving this book to any math phobe, whatever their age, is a great idea. I also highly recommend the "I Hate Math Book", also by Marilyn Burns.

"The New Origami" is quite possibly the greatest beginner book there is... it has incredibly good diagrams and very clear text instructions to go along with each one... it's projects range from very basic to high intermediate (I don't think any other beginner book even attempts to take you as far as this one does). On a whim one day I picked up this book and "Brilliant Origami", having never done origami in the first place (aside from flapping birds and paper airplanes)... after completing "The New Origami" I was able to tackle even the hardest models in "Brilliant Origami" (which is an intermediate to advanced book if ever there was one). Since then I've collected many origami books (old to new, simple to complex), and I've yet to find another book that I'd recommend above "The New Origami" for someone wanting to get into the world of paper folding.

The diagrams are extremely clear and the illustration of the hands position combined with the text, helps the creation of extraordinaary models. The Pterodont (seen in the cover) produces an amazing result. Just one advice: Use at least 9"x9" paper, so you can get the best effect from the claws. With a little patience and a few days, one can make a very cool mobile with pre-historic animals.

i had only seen and tried very basic origami. the book, the new origami explores a lot of different possibilities with paper and also leaves the reader with a lot more to imagine. The instructions are simple and the models made are very fascinating.