history

This book uncovers the evil machineries of Castro's repressive apparatus. As it unveils the full real story of a 1996 purge against Cuba's top academics, it brings us back to the times of Stalinist terror - but in our century, and in the Western Hemisphere ! The author has managed to get hold of confidential (or secret ?) documents, which no other scholar had been able to acquire. The book offers an excellent and valid academic approach, but it is at the same time a "human story", it is written in a style similar to a novel even though - unfortunately - it is pure reality. It tells the story of human beings living their everyday lives in Castro's Cuba, who have suffered this horrible tragedy, even leading to the death of one of them. It will be pleasant and enjoyable for the average reader, even if she/he is not so informed about the subject.

This is of course an academic book, filled with information and data from secret documents which the author managed to obtain from unknown sources. It offers an analysis of the events it describes, as well as a lot of reflexions and interpretations. Yet, at the same time this is a 'human story', of women and men (perhaps special women and men, but still human beings) in today's Cuba. The book tells of their struggle in Castro's Cuba, to achieve or to maintain their own little niches of freedom within the regime. The book is not only interesting, but also fascinating to read, and makes excellent reading for all.

I don't know much about Cuba, but this book has set me straight. Make no mistake. This is not just an academic book, or not just one more journalistic account of today's Cuba. It is not about a specific issue or a specific time for Cuba. This book is indeed ABOUT CUBA. While it narrates the story of a particular group of intellectuals living in Castro's Cuba, it exposes a lot about the system: contradictions, paradoxes... It says so much about Cuban life in general, rich with anecdotes, reflections and so much more. And above all, the prose is great and it makes excellent reading. By all means, this is THE book about Cuba !

It has been two years since I read this book - but it impressed me so that I recommend it highly. It is quite readable without being condescending. It uses clear text and simple but essential diagrams to explain how physics evolved from Newton's work through to Einstein's. Only very basic mathematics is used (Can you add,subtract, multiply, and divide?) so the book is approachable by any reader who has at least a vague rememberance of physics. It's the best book of its type I have read.

This book provides a still useful account, from 'the horses' mouths', of what Alfred Korzybski called the Newtonian and non-Newtonian views in physics. As Korzybski noted, all human beings form a view of so-called 'reality'. Understanding how scientists do this can have value for the rest of us. In this excellent book, the authors emphasize general formulations and a non-mathematical approach: "Most of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible to everyone" (29). The book includes chapters on "The Rise of the Mechanical View," "The Decline of the Mechanical View," "Field, Relativity," and "Quanta." Readers will be rewarded with clear explanations of some potentially forbidding notions. These are interspersed with useful comments on physico-mathematical method, theory and the goals of science. Einstein's and Infeld's discussion demonstrates their view that "Science is not just a collection of laws, a catalogue of unrelated facts. It is a creation of the human mind, with its freely invented ideas and concepts. Physical theories try to form a picture of reality and to establish its connection with the wide world of sense impressions. Thus the only justification for our mental structures is whether and in what way our theories form such a link" (310).

Physics can be difficult to learn when theories and formulae are thrown at you with no historical context. You begin learning about motion, and then electricity and magnetism, and it's almost impossible to see a coherent connection between the ideas. Many people have heard of relativity and quantum theory, but do not have even a general notion of what they aim to explain.

Like mathematics, you can learn physics without knowing about the people behind its development (though you will encounter many of their names in important expressions), but it never hurts to study how such ideas began, and how they came to be what they are today. Einstein and Infeld's book is aptly titled. They show how and why certain concepts came into being and what significance they hold. Beginning with "The Rise of the Mechanical View," they describe vectors, motion, forces, and energy. With "The Decline of the Mechanical View," they show how the behavior of electricity, magnetism, and light waves poses problems for the mechanical view.

The next two (and most interesting) sections explore field, relativity, and quanta, and how they have proved more accurate in describing physical phenomena than what was previously known. Einstein and Infeld describe everything with a minimum of mathematics so that anyone with an interest in the development of physics can understand the contents. Although such math is necessary for a precise understanding of physics, the aim of the authors, which they frequently repeat throughout, is to give the reader a broad understanding of the general underlying principles. They have succeeded in giving an account of where the human construction of physics started, what has been covered since then, and where it is heading. It is a simply written book, suitable for readers who don't know physics and want to learn, but also helpful for students of physics who want to see a broader picture of its evolution.

Roger Von Oech has an uncommon gift: he can mix knowledge, wisdom and humour. Von Oech is a fan of Heraclitus. If you really like to think creatively you will be a fan too.

I have never believed in reading about the theory of creativity: is like believing that you are exercising by watching ESPN. If you want to achieve the reality of a way to stimulate your creative thinking this book is for you.

Any work from this author is satisfaction guaranteed.

"Expect the Unexpected or You Won't Find It" is a collection of thirty of Heraclitus' epigrams along with an examination of some of their different facets. Heraclitus was a Greek scholar who answered many of life's questions with comments that were purposely designed to be obscure. This forced the recipient to think creatively to find their answer. Many of them contain internal paradoxes and so part of the creative process is figuring out the paradox and how it applies to your situation.

As Roger von Oech goes through each of the thirty selected epigrams he includes some of the ways that they can be interpreted, ways that they have been interpreted in the past, anecdotes, jokes, and riddles that illustrate the epigram and other ways of illuminating just how deep these pieces of wisdom are. Does he give a complete explanation of how they can be interpreted? No, because that is part of the design of these epigrams, they can be applied to different circumstances and product different but still correct answers. His illustrations are there to open your mind to the creative possibilities that lie hidden within just a few wise words.

Some of these I have heard in the past such as "You can't step into the same river twice". Others are less common but just as full of wisdom such as "On a circle, an end point can also be a beginning point". If you want a book that expands your creative mind and also shows you how to break out of old patterns of thinking in any situation, then this is the book for you. Well written and sure to point the reader to new directions of thinking, it is a highly recommended read.

I was first tempted to give this book only one star for disparaging the notion of "pure philosophy." But then I began to question what the purpose of philosophy was. Who has done philosophy more of a disservice, Von Oech, who sees the creative potential in Heraclitus and passes it on to willing readers, or the academics, who have purified and rarefied philosophy into something quite unrecognizable to the ancient Greeks? That was the easiest question I've had to answer in quite a while. Von Oech gets what the pointy-headed pettifoggers of academe do not: philosophy is only effective as it relates to the world. It is not a mere matter of linguistics nor an interpretation by each textual reader, but rather a force guiding humans towards creativity through its answers to our everyday questions. There was a time in the past when philosophers wrote for the educated public. Nowadays, philosophers write for other philosophers, substituting rhetoric and wordplay for creativity. The loser is our culture, which depends upon philosophy as a lynchpin.

Von Oech's fascination with Heraclitus goes back to 1971 while studying in Germany. Picking up a book of Heraclitus' epigrams, Von Oech became instantly hooked when he read "the way up and the way down are one and the same." He writes that this caused him to spend the next several weeks trying to figure out its meaning. Since then, he says, he's wanted to put out a "creativity tool" based on the works of Heraclitus.

And what a creativity tool he has created. His grasp of Heraclitus is firm and, moreover, he is able to apply each epigram he examines to the problems of thinking and creativity in the workplace. The reader will also notice a warmth coming through: a deep love of the subject and philosophy in general, something we do not always get from our academics, as anyone who had to sit through Philosophy 101 with a boring pedant will tell you. And Von Oech will succeed in doing what our friends in the ivory tower have failed to do, and that is to instill a love of wisdom in the heads of his students. For that, Roger von Oech, I salute you.

Action packed of what really happened in nam.Go behind enemy lines and feel the adrenalion rush of close encounters, ambushes
and prisioner snaches. I cant tell you how much this book actually teaches you about the horrors of war and the good times the soilders had to.

Gary Linderer and all the men of the LRRPS give you a first hand account of what it was like to sit through hours of boredom one minute then to have hundreds of enemy soldiers suddenly appear and make your blood run cold with terror as your mind races to the thought that you could be discovred and face 20 to 1 odds . This as with all of Garys books are highly recommended reading if you are the kind of reader who can actually picture yourself being there with him.

The title of this book should be Balls of Steel or something similar. Gary makes you feel as if you are on a mission with him. He is a superb writer and an Honest to God Hero. A must read. 5 BIG Stars.

This is a definite must-have for any Disney fan. The book is divided into three basic sections: Characters in shorts, characters in television shows, and characters in features. Each category has a mention of every Disney character created until 1997 including interesting articles about them. This is also a great place to find information on lesser-known or forgotten Disney characters such as Spike the bee from a number of Donald Duck cartoons and Little Hans, a star of his own wartime propaganda film. Combine this with hundreds of pictures from the films and you have a book that is sure to be a favorite of any Disney fan.

This encyclopedia gives thoughtful, complete portrayals of every Disney character, from the shorts to the movies to the TV series. From the 9-page essay on Donald Duck to the paragraph or two on a minor character, it all makes for great reading. It is wonderful reference material and even as a good book; John Grant treats the characters like real people! It is very well reasearched, too. It's also got great animation stills of almost every character, too. Wonderful to read, browse through or look up stuff!

First, while the title of this book is accurate, it is also misleading. This is no fluffy, flimsy book containing some fun descriptions of Disney characters from the latest popular films. This is an intense, in-depth look at EVERY Disney animated character since Walt began his career. The book is divided into two parts, "Shorts" and "Feature Films". The shorts have the usual gang, Donald, Mickey, Goofy, Pluto, and so on. After each characters bio is a list of every Disney short they've appeared in. Don't be worried or fooled by by this truly encyclopedic book - it is not a boring A to Z book. Color photos pop off of every page, including some from rarely seen Disney shorts. The feature films section not only includes detailed character bios, but plot summaries and "making of" details, cast and crew credits, and more. You buy this book, you will have a list of EVERY Disney short ever made (including the early "Alice" shorts and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit), every feature film in chronological order, and enough information about each one to be the champ of any Disney trivia game!

I read this book because I had a passing interest in the story of the doomed ship. What I found was a great tale of will and courage in the face of overwhelming odds. This book sparked my interest in polar exploration and the explorers. Shackleton's story is a great one that should be read by anyone with an interest in Man's triumph over nature.

Note, the reader should have some prior background of the Endurance, since the book starts with the ships destruction.

You'll be embarassed to read this fantastic story of tremendous hardship and longsuffering hope as you sit in the comfort of your favorite chair or curled up under the covers in your bed. What a great accomplishment for these adventurers! How tough these men were! What a different era that was not so long ago!

I cannot imagine how they made it through the mess they were in. How is it possible to survive in perpetual cold and wet? The length of time they lived in the various components of this adventure, the amazing visual perspective and the power of nature at her worst which they experienced, and the strength of character and courage all these men exhibited combines to make a most inspiring tale --and it is all true!

I have always been attraced to artworks from that time that depict the frozen parts of the earth. Specifically, Frederick Church's painting of "The Icebergs", "The Aurora Borealis", and many other paintings of ships, ice, and wrecks by a variety of artists, as well as stories of exploration which have influenced me since my youth. Worsley's account of the Endurance has been a remarkable journey for me as well.

Skip the preface and foreward which give too much away --but read this book if you have any spirit of adventure within you! Prepare to be astounded at what we can do, at least what some of us can do when the need arises.

Jack Anglin

An absolutely unbelievable expedition and survival story. Cleary the greatest exploration of all times. Fantastic and gripping description of the hardship that the Endurance crew of 28 men had to face for one year in the harshest terrian in the world.

There are many books written on the epic voyage of Edurance. This one written by F A Worsley, the captain of the ship, who was constantly by Shackelton's side is definitely a thorough description of the entire journey, their troubles, their struggle, their joys and hope thru the voyage.

A must read for everyone. especially those interested in adventure travel, exploration and expeditions.

Also a great book on leadership lessons.

I really enjoyed reading this book that describes some background on Euler and his work. It is written in an informal style, so for people with a math background it reads like a novel.

The book is not suitable for people who want to learn more about the person Euler, but do not have a math background, because 75% of the book is about real math (equations). So if you don't enjoy reading equations, do not buy the book.

Summary: as enjoyable as the other Dunham books, although a bit more expensive (but still worth the money).

With the publication of this, his third book, Dunham has once more shown himself to be a master himself of mathematical explanation. Unlike his previous two books, The Mathematical Universe and Journey Through Genius, which covered results by a variety of mathematicians, this book focuses on selected results that sprang from the remarkable mind of Leonard Euler, one of the most prolific and important mathematicians of all time. What sets Euler apart is not only the vast quantity of his output (the publication of his collected works, the Opera Omnia, spans six dozen volumes, or over 25,000 pages in all!), but also the breadth and originality of his work. Not only did Euler contribute to a wide array of mathematical fields -- from number theory to complex analysis to geometry -- but in many cases, he was the founder of those fields. For example, Euler invented the field of analytical number theory, and he was the first mathematician to recognize the importance of and to discover the important properties of complex numbers.

This book in many ways resembles Dunham's Journey Through Genius. As in that book, Dunham has selected 15 or so theorems to present in detail, and he makes an effort to keep the proofs similar in spirit to the original proofs. Although the proofs are complete and the book is full of equations, they are accessible to anyone with a high school level of mathematics education. But in addition to the proofs, Dunham also provides historical context, as well as commentary on how later mathematicians used and improved upon Euler's work. For example, we learn that Euler began to loose the sight in his right eye at the age of 32, and that despite his virtual blindness by the age of 65, he continued his prolific rate of output until his death at age 84.

The book's title is taken from a quote by Laplace, who said, ``Read Euler, read Euler. He is the master of us all.'' Indeed, if you have any interest in mathematics, you will almost certainly find yourself in complete agreement with Laplace's sentiments by the time you finish reading this wonderful book. ...

I had never read any of William Dunham's many books before. Now I want to read them all. In a scant 173 pages he describes in great detail how Leonhard Euler, arguably the greatest mathematician ever, solved the most difficult mathematical problems of his day.

The style in this book is both unusual and clever. Each of the eight chapters covers a different branch of mathematics and each begins with a prologue, then follows with some of Euler's contributions, and finishes with an epilogue. The prologues present the history of mathematics up to Euler's time, so the reader gets a feel of what this great mathematician had to work with. And the epilogues tell where we have come since Euler.

This book is full of equations and expects some work (but not much mathematical background) from the reader. If you like mathematics or ever wondered how some of the great discoveries in this field were derived, do yourself a favor and buy, then carefully read, this wonderful book.

a great introduction into the confusing world of manga (and anime by extension) this book allowed me for the first time to direct my search for great titles and artists in the sea of incoherent bubble that overflows the genre. contains some very interesting and new to me thoughts on the nature and implications of the abundance of erotocism and violence that characterize the genre to much surprise of the general american audience.

being an aspiring manga artist myself i found the book very inspirational. it was while reading this book when i realized what is it my upcoming great graphic novel is going to be about. :)

I have yet to read Manga! Manga!- this was what I was able to get my hands on first, but with enough background info, it is a great read. And as Schodt says in his intro, one can read Dreamland without Manga!Manga! but it is meant to be a sequel of sorts. The most useful part of the book, as a researcher, was the section with descriptions of individual artists and their works. Basically, Schodt takes you through the world around manga, the different kinds of publications, then the individual artists within those publications, and then on top of that, leaves you with some thoughts on manga in the context of art and literature in both Japan and the US. The most useful part of the book is in the back where Schodt offers some helpful resources for the English reader of manga as well as internet resources (although, no fault of the author, many of these sites are changing all the time!). All in all, a worthwhile read for many different purposes.

What a relief to find such a well written book after having read so much poorly written trash lately. The author clearly knows his topic, its historical and cultural context, and its impact on modern society. Oh, and did I mention, he is a great writer! The style suggests that the author is well versed in both western and eastern classical literature. Indeed, his insightful observation that manga can be both "trash" and "great literature" provides a hint of breadth and scope of this book. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in comics, animation, or Japanese culture and history.

This is an awesome and compelling book on the cruelty and harshness of the Nazis during WWII. The heroics of Sasha, Shlomo, Toivi, and other Jewish prisoners helped the escape of more than 50 Jews from the death camp. Well written.

The release of Claude Lanzmann's new documentary about the escape from Sobibor may cause readers to flock to this book, first published in 1982. (Lanzmann this week won Israel's highest cinematic honor for his film). It should.

As Richard Rashke noted in his 1982 introduction, even then almost no one had ever heard of Sobibor, although it had been the scene of the biggest prisoner escape in World War II, on October 14, 1943 at 4 p.m. Why? Millions of pages of Nazi records included only three documents on Sobibor--like Treblinka and Belzec, a top secret death factory. These 3 places, unlike Auschwitz and Dachau and thousands of other camps, had no satellite labor camps.

Here, virtually everyone was sent immediately to their deaths. The handful of survivors were those enslaved to process transports. Even these laborers, if they did not die of exhaustion or starvation, were largely murdered after a very short while.

Poland's pre-glasnost Commission for German War Crimes estimated that the Nazis gassed at minimum 1.65 million Jews (25% of all those murdered in the Holocaust) in these three camps alone--250,000 of them at Sobibor, which Rashke called Heinrich Himmler's "best-kept secret."

This book was perhaps the first lengthy expose of such a place. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Rashke interviewed 18 of Sobibor's 30 survivors, who warmly welcomed his inquiries because he is not Jewish. He interviewed escape co-leaders Alexander (Sasha) Perchersky (in the Soviet Union) and Stanislaw (Shlomo) Szmajner (in Brazil) and spoke for more than 10 days with Thomas (Toivi) Blatt, who survived Sobibor for six months and made it his business to know everything about that hell. Rashke's subjects also included Chaim and Selma Engel in the U.S. and Eda and Itzhak Lichtman in Israel.

What resulted from this extensive research was not any old oral history. Rashke made a valiant and largely successful attempt to check and cross check all the information he was given. The book contains 335 footnotes and an extensive bibliography including many primary sources.

But this is high drama, not academic work, the more so because many of the survivors are still (even now) living. In fact, the book was in 1987 made into a television docudrama starring Joanna Pacula, Alan Arkin and Rutger Hauer.

After reading it in the mid-1980s, I discovered family members were acquainted with some of the survivors. And a close friend's grandparents had been murdered in Sobibor.

This is a book you will never forget. Alyssa A. Lappen

I am so glad the people whose lives are told about in this book were willing to share there personal histories with us the reader. I am also greatful for Richard Rashke for the time and energy spent researching this book to bring it to life. The people in this book will touch your heart and you will find yourself thinking of them as people you know and care for and cry for and pray for even still. Even though many books have been written of holocaust survivors,every one deserves to be read,no matter. They speak out for the living as well as the dead. We must never forget,and we must read books such as this one to keep them alive in our memories.

Author Mark Kermode, well know as one of the biggest fans of THE EXORCIST did a good job and goes very deep in the background story of the scariest movie of all time.
The problem with this book is, that Kermode never talk about real exporcism and the sequels, plus the size of the book is too small.
But still four stars !

...This superb dissection of the making of the movie "The
Exorcist" is a must have for those interested in devil worship,
the Holy-wood treatment of obscure Christian beliefs and traditions,
and it is a darn good read. In its particulars, this book belongs on
the same shelf as Orson Welles 58-page objection to the studio's
mangling of "Touch of Evil."

I was fascinated with the
insights of the artistic conflicts between the director and the author
of the original book upon which the movie is based. He devotes just
the right amount of analysis to the legal fights surrounding the
proper credits for Mercedes McCambridge, the 'voice' of the demon, and
the stunt double for the possessed girl, including the famous
exorcised 'spider' crawl. He does not allude to the portrayal of
Teilhard de Chardin by Max von Syndow, but does justify his own
insights concerning a homoerotic element not intended by either the
author or the director, but present within this cinematic
classic.

One need not have a personal belief in demonic possession,
and the ability of priests to 'exorcise' multiple personalities, to
truly enjoy both the movie, and Kermode's medical school Anatomy 301
dissection of one of the 100 best movies. The Movie, this book, and
the CD Soundtrack are five-star winners. AMDG

I love it! It has good pictures! Read it if u like the exorcist as much as me!