ezloan

In this book starring CD Sloan, the murder is set in theenglish stately home of the Earl of Ornum... The suspects include thearistocratic family, two great aunts, visiting cousins, an absent minded mother, a blackmailing hanger-on and the butler; there is plenty of red herrings, for the reader to try and solve the murder. Before the mystery is soved another murder, a chandelier, a missing painting are all added to the mix. This is a delightful book, which gives the reader a look inside the workings of a stately home and a lesson in legal history, gently wrapped in a nice murder mystery. END

This is actually a game and not a book. It's kind of fun. There are nine different squares with heads and tails of different colored penguins on each of the four sides. The object of the game is to match up the squares into one big square in which all the heads and tails match up. It sounds a lot easier to do than it actually is; family members have been severely frustrated after working on this game for over an hour. An entertaining and puzzling way to spend some time.

This is a good book for a starter. If you are just getting into liking ancient Egypt this is a book for you.It tells of the gods and what they did and other cool things about them. Hey, I don't wanna tell ya the whole shebang about 'cause I think you should read it for yourself. I f you are just entering the knowledge of the Ancient Egyptians you should learn of their religion and of their gods and way of life. I'm tellin ya this is a good book and it is just the thing you need to start to learn about Ancient Egypt. Sincerely Mike Gratto.

To quote Janet Lowe's description of Graham's "Intelligent Investor" "This book was written for the people on Main Street rather than those on Wall Street". Laurence Sloan's insight into the future is astounding. He makes assumptions based on sound economic theory in the midst of the Great Depression and most of what he predicts actually comes true. I read it in 3 sittings and it was a refreshing change from the dry financial titles that I have read recently. Short on algebra, long on theory but a worthwhile read.

A unique collection of authors on a challenging assigment to take the four inanimate walls of a room within a house and infuse it with life. To reach this goal, each author has sacrificed a tiny intimate piece of themselves to create within the reader a binding intimacy which is permanent and unshakeable. You will come away from this book feeling as if you just joined a private club with 20 new friends and feeling as if the initiation rite is to create a room of your own.

It was fun to read this book because I found myself comparing essays, rating the authors on various points (such as how often they used the name of the room in the text) and searching for the various relationships. It was also very interesting to note the subconscious bonding rituals that occurred in every essay, without exception.

In criticism, several of the essays are severely lacking in relevance to the room by which the article is titled. The authors of these, although obviously talented, strayed too far from the perceived assignment. This was an irritating fault because I felt as if I, as the reader, had more invested in the book than the author did, having spent so little effort in applying themselves to the work. These same authors seemed to be using me as their therapist, when the reader is more often interested in the author as therapist.

Tom Rath represents the human being trapped within the financial, emotional and family restrictions that affected so many returning veterans of the Second World War. His struggle and quest for basic dignity and the resulting conclusions in the search for that reality make Sloan Wilsons novel enchanting and encompassing.

This compact (252 page) book provides a practical approach to structured forecasting and valuation which is based on the Eval 2003 software provided on CD-ROM. This software, though containing a few bugs, provides a systematic methodology for predicting income statements and balance sheets, based on data provided on more than 3000 companies in a consistent format.

Given that this book assumes quite a bit of knowledge about financial statement analysis, I do not consider it a substitute for a basic textbook. However, after having built dozens of valuation spreadsheets over the years, I appreciate the work that went into developing Eval. The book documents the approach well, and when in doubt the Eval spreadsheet can be consulted.

The authors of this text are experts in their field, and in particular have made lasting contributions to Accounting Analysis ("accruals") that are described in this book.

One caveat -- during the process of working with Eval I found a number of bugs in the software (a field was not imported correctly, a minus sign appeared to have left out of another field, etc.) that should have been caught prior to publication. Readers should pay particular attention to the "plug" assumptions, since these may be require adjustments in many cases.

However, if Eval is treated as a point of departure for a financial analysis, rather than a final result, readers will gain considerable value from this book and will be able to stay clear of potential pitfalls.

Stanley Sloan pairs an easy-reading writing style with a well-documented text to produce an outstanding work for both novice and scholar. His book focuses on the issues surrounding the formation of NATO, the historical events that shaped the alliance, and its relevance in today's political environment.

The majority of the book is dedicated to examining the historical events surrounding the formation of NATO and the European Union. He begins with NATO's genesis out of World War II by discussing the need for a collective defense system, the struggles to gain organizational consensus and early challenges faced by NATO. At center stage of the conflict is the European distrust of US intentions and the US's desire for greater European financial/military support for European issues.

He moves to the Cold War period, examining the impacts of nuclear weapons policy on NATO and he looks at lessons from the Cold War. This book provides a great deal of insight on US Nuclear Policy development as we confronted both a Soviet threat and European political challenges. The post-Cold War portion of the book provides an exceptional look at the wartime missions faced in the Balkans, the issue of NATO expansion, and the impacts of 9/11.

The final three chapters examine NATO's relevance in today's environment and potential organizational changes for the 21st Century. He finishes with his draft of a "contemporary" North Atlantic Treaty and his rationale for why changes need to be made to the 1949 original.

Sloan includes two appendicles which compliment this book. The first is the 1949 Articles of the North Atlantic Treaty and the second is a chronological history of NATO from 1941-2001. Both are outstanding references. He also includes a bibliography as well as web links for updated information. All are great additions.

I recommend this book.

Merely the utterance of the name 'Oscar Wilde' is enough to polarize people. He was many things to many people - a brilliant playwright, a charming wit, a flamboyant artist who flaunted his homosexuality during the conservative Victorian era.

John Sloan's 'Oscar Wilde' examines the Irish writer, his influences and his works, and how they impacted society then and today.

This book is part of the 'Authors in Context' series, a sub-series of the Oxford World's Classics series, which captures the essence of popular writers, including Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy (see my reviews on these books).

The series details a writer's life and times and also explores the social, cultural and political values that influenced their works. In addition to examining the writer's impact on their own times, each volume considers their interpretation today, in terms of being recontexualized on the stage and screen.

Author John Sloan is Fellow and Tutor in English at arris Manchester College, Oxford. He is a specialist in the literature of the late 19th century, and has written several books on the era, including A Literary Biography.

The book covers Wilde's extraordinary life, ranging from his early childhood and mother's influences, his marriage and his string of comedies, including the classic, The Importance of Being Earnest. It also details the court case and his subsequent imprisonment relating to homosexuality, and his final years as a broken man.

Sloan covers a great deal of ground in this volume, and explodes myths relating to the writer, now and then:

"The perception of Wilde's career as a writer has passed through several stages in this respect. In contrast to the established views of Wilde as an exceptional personality and dilettante, or as a conformist rebel or subversive, there has been an important revaluation of Wilde as a versatile professional writer, tuned to the necessary compromises and realities of literary production."

And in the final chapter, he concludes:

"Gradually, Wilde has begun to be seen as a serious literary figure, rather than as a dilettante and witty aesthete. This radical reassessment coincided with the liberalising atmosphere of British culture from the 1960s onwards which transformed Wilde into a cultural icon for those championing alternative values and the claims for the importance of popular culture. Finally, the gay rights movement and the rise of Irish literary studies in the late 1980s and 1990s resulted in new politicized readings and interpretations of Wilde and a greater appreciation of the contemporary relevance of his writings so that today Wilde's appeal to a wide variety of readers and theatre-goers is greater than at any time since his death."

'Oscar Wilde' includes an extensive chronology that covers in detail the major works and events of Wilde's life as well as an extensive further reading section plus a range of web sites on the writer.

While the book draws on a wide range of information, it is presented in a colorful and highly accessible manner, providing great insight into the man, society at the time, and Wilde's continuing relevance today.

-- Michael Meanwell, author of the critically-acclaimed 'The Enterprising Writer' and 'Writers on Writing'. For more book reviews and prescriptive articles for writers, visit www.enterprisingwriter.com

I must say that this book has everything in it. Murder, Conspiracy, Romance, Twists, and Turns; Bill Sloan took the Kennedy Assassination, and using his imagination wrote a brilliant fiction. The main character Matt is given such life-like qualities that you feel he is an old friend by the end of the novel. The story is completely fiction, but it makes you think, "What if?" If you like to read about The Kennedy Assassination, conspiracys, cover-ups revealed, or are just looking for a novel that has something new, I highly recommend this book.