History Books

A very zen approach to becoming more mindful and thereby becoming more meditative and spiritual about every day miracles. This book hit all the high notes with me.

Easy inexpensive purchase!
Very quick delivery!
I love it when it's like that!

Two copies (One for a friend)

Mindfulness in Plain English, Updated and Expanded Edition

Not quite as easy a read as I was lead to believe in the reviews. But definitely an excellent overview of mindfulness. I liked how it pointed out the pitfalls some beginners run into. I liked how they outlined the variety of ways meditation can be practiced. I would recommend this book to other beginners.

I purchased this book because I was interested in learning about the concept of mindfulness. I wasn't exactly looking to develop a serious meditation habit, but during my reading of the book I began to embrace the idea. I read the book and wanted to re-read it fairly soon after finishing, but I loaned it out to someone. I'm eager to get it back and read it again, but I've told someone else they can borrow it! I may have to buy another copy. The book is well-laid-out, covers the subject matter very well, and opened my eyes to a new way of thinking. I'm trying to become a more regular meditator; currently I do it in ten-minute increments a couple of times a week at minimum, but I'm hoping to build from there. Also: I'm currently reading the "sequel" to this book, called "Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness: Walking the Buddha's Path." I'm only in the beginning but I'm finding it on par with "Mindfulness in Plain English" -- informative and eye-opening, and teaching me things that I feel can impact my everyday thinking (and hopefully result in an overall healthier mind).

THIS BOOK ENGAGES THE READER. THERE IS ALSO HUMOR IN THE PART ON MEDITATION AND THE INTERFERENCES THAT COME DURING YOUR ATTEMPTS TO MEDITATE THAT MAKE THE BOOK EVEN MORE ENJOYABLE.

I remember the first time I walked into Yankee Stadium in 1960. It was larger than life, captivating and thrilling. The facade, the field, the sounds, the smells. Later I became a Mets fan, and experienced the same sensation upon entering Shea Stadium. To this very day,I have never lost that feeling of expectation when entering a ballpark. The little boy in me has never left. Over the past two weeks, New York City has lost both of these Baseball landmarks. The final games have been played, and they will fade into history. That's why Harvey Frommer's "Remembering Yankee Stadium" is a welcome addition to my Baseball library. It captures the essence and magic of Yankee Stadium. The winning combination of outstanding photographs and engaging annecdotes allow the reader to experience once again the excitement that permeated Yankee Stadium. Great books engage, entertain, and teach. They're like a friend that's always there for you. This is a great book.

The beauty of this book is the fact that the author Harvey Frommer, and publisher Stewart, Tabori and Chang have captured amazing fan memories and pictures and added them to this coffee table release.

The photography in this book is unparalleled and I have never seen so many amazing shots of the world's most famous baseball stadium. When you read the back cover there are endorsements from George F. Will, Regis Philbin and Nolan Ryan to name a few. As a matter of full disclosure I have a few stories in this book as well. I love the shot of Roger Maris that takes up two pages and the shot of Bob Sheppard, the legendary PA announcer who to be honest doesn't have a lot of pictures out there. He wrote the foreword in this soon to be classic.

I almost fell over when I saw myself listed in the glossary and because I am a "CO" my listing came before the great Jerry Coleman.

When you hit the first chapter and see the original shots of this baseball palace it's amazing to me that the author has quotes from Yankee skipper Miller Huggins about his player Babe Ruth!

Fans will learn that the Yankees actually started out in the Polo Grounds until their stadium was built. I love the pictures of fans sitting there in hats, suits and coats. I always wonder when was active wear created? What about blue jeans?

There are some stunning team pictures in this book and the one of the 20-something Yanks is worth $400,000!

This book leaves no stone unturned as it goes through the decades of this storied franchise in amazing detail. Fans who consider themselves Yankee experts can learn from this book.

The Joe DiMaggio chalkboard shot that states "44 Equals Record" is brilliant and his record 56 is cataloged game-by-game, pitcher-by-pitcher and that's a record that may never be broken. What stands out here is he generally faced just one pitcher per game and now a player would face 2-3 every game.

The famous 1955 Jackie Robinson steal of home plate against the Yankees in the World Series is in there and I have seen this play many times. I have to disagree with Yogi Berra who states to this day that Robinson was out, to me it looked like he got his foot in there just before the tag. My parents were Brooklyn Dodgers' fans and they were certainly happy when they beat the Yankees that one time!

I love the Mike Piazza picture from the 2000 Subway World Series when Roger Clemens threw a piece of a splintered bat at the Mets catcher. What a picture and I am honored that my mention of this was used.

In the chapter "Stadiumology" (hey we never thought of that one) the facts about the famous stadium are staggering! The irony about two of the nine no-no's that were pitched at the stadium makes me laugh since Dwight Gooden and David Cone are the pitchers that I am speaking about. The Mets just closed Shea Stadium without having one of their starters accomplishing that feat.

This book will remain in my personal collection until the end of time and all baseball fans will be interested in this one. Sadly when the stadium is torn down all that will remain will be memories and this book.

Harvey Frommer's "Remembering Yankee Stadium," captures the very essence of everything good and great about baseball. It is so vibrant and real that you can smell the delicious and pungent aroma of hot dogs and beer in the Bronx. Every base was magnificently covered!

Well it was the book that took 86 years in the making but Harvey Frommer's Remembering Yankee Stadium: An Oral and Narrative History of "The House That Ruth Built" has finally hit the shelves. While most of the Yankee Stadium tributes hit shelves in the spring, it was only fitting that RYS waited until now to become a Fall Classic. Yes Bomber Buddies it was well worth the wait. My initial reaction was that the official release had better photos than this fantastic release but after closer review RYS beats any Yankee Book out there hands down. You go deeper than the aerial view of a packed stadium or the cars lined up in the once vacant Bronx on Opening Day 1923. Every picture in this book triggers off a string of memories. You get up close and dirty with everything from Derek Jeter diving head first into the stands to the ground breaking at the new stadium himself. The 9-11 photos can make you tear up all over again. Mickey Mantle, his swing never looked so sweet.



Who better to write and compile a tribute to an icon such as Yankee Stadium than renowned baseball/Yankee author Harvey Frommer? Frommer makes great use of every Yankee and baseball player he either wrote about or met over his illustrious career. Who else can have a forward written by the Voice of Yankee Stadium, Bob Sheppard? If I have to explain who he is you are reading the wrong book, but Harvey explains who he is as well as his son Paul (Sheppard).
The body of the book like any good Yankee History book is the life of Yankee Stadium from 1923 through today. What makes RYS different is that the glue holding or bridging these stories together is made up of what Harvey Frommer refers to as the voices. The voices are players, celebrities, broadcasters, writers or fans just like you and me. He has documented the people's memories and used them to personalize the history. By doing this it brought out memories in my mind that I haven't thought about in years. As a matter a fact BehindtheBombers.com is proud to have four of us fans who had their voices heard (and sent forth). Sharing their Yankee memories from BTB were Dan "Knuckles" McCourt, Gary "Lefteroo" Lefkowitz, Sue Tucker and myself. It was an honor being interview for such a strong tribute to "the cathedral in Da Bronx".



There is also a section what he calls Stadiumology, where he gives stats like all time Yankee attendance, Plaques in Monument Park and when they were dedicated, the all time Yankee Broadcasters, Stadium Firsts and much, much more.



This is all topped off by one of my favorite, yet minor sections of the book is where the author takes a number and associates it with a player or record or some sort of stat. For example he mentions the 1½ is for the number on the late opera singer Robert Merrill. Who version of the Star Spangled Banner was played at the stadium for as long as I can remember and often sung live by the singer/fan himself. Even for the number 28 which he associates to Thurman Munson's rookie number.



This book was truly a labor of love, both on the parts of every fan or player he interviewed and especially of Mr. Frommer himself. Will there ever be another stadium that will demand the documentation that Yankee Stadium has gained respect for? Probably not, with Remembering Yankee Stadium on your bookshelf, Yankee Stadium will live on for decades to come. This book is so good I could have filled it with clichés. My Yankee Cap is tipped to Harvey Frommer who has outdone himself once again.

I recieved this book for an Art History class and it has all kinds of information in it. Pictures, drawlings, artifacts, it has it all. It is a great book if you want to learn more about art. I would suggest it highly.

This textbook was so well written and put together, that I'm going to take the course that deals with the second volume. The pictures of artwork were amazing.

Good book with a lot of images and art knowledge. Good for reading to understanding more about art.

Napoleon has invaded England. Using tactics recommended by his dragon-advisor, and providing dragons with far more rights than those enjoyed by English dragons, Napoleon demoralizes the English army, outmarches and outfights them, and forces them to flee to Scotland. Meanwhile, one of England's top officers has been condemned to death for treason for his part in bringing a cure to the disease that threatened to wipe out Europe's dragon population (and at the same time eliminate the threat of Napoleon's invasion). Without Captain Laurence, and his dragon Temeraire, England seems to have no hope.

Inspired by the example of Chinese dragons, Temeraire intends to have dragons recognized as people, with rights to pay, freedom, votes, and to make their own decisions. Napoleon's invasion gives Temeraire far more bargaining power than he'd held before--his corps of wild dragons and dragons retired to stud just might be strong enough to hold Napoleon's invading hordes off. Still, England dare never admit it made a mistake in condemning Laurence--indeed, by their own standards, they acted properly, although Laurence couldn't have made any other decision.

Author Naomi Novik continues her look at the Napoleonic Wars from viewpoint of a world with dragons. With Temeraire's help, the English do their best to turn England into a smaller, but still deadly version of Napoleon's long march back from Moscow, in the face of growing resistance and bitter cold. English control of the seas means that Napoleon cannot bring in food for his growing armies, and Temeraire's irregulars manage to make life miserable (and short) for Napoleon's foraging parties.

Novik manages to make Napoleon look pretty good. He's quick to adapt new tactics, even if these are suggested by others, he's open to granting dragons the kind of rights Temeraire has no hope of achieving through the English government, and he's honorable to his opponents. In contrast, the English attempt to introduce a plague that would largely destroy a continent's worth of sapient creatures, including those owned by her own allies, demand that Laurence save their cause with no thought that his doing so might commute his sentence, and continue to think of dragons as a kind of beast rather than as intelligent beings--ignoring all evidence to the contrary. Temeraire and Laurence are the protagonists, but I find myself pulling for Napoleon.

I thought the book continued the excellent pace, and turned some ideas on its head, making England more like Russia for Napoleon. As for the rest of the spoilers, you'll have to read it yourself.

The first few books in the series were great, and volume four seemed to be a peak. This fifth installment is perhaps not as good, but still enjoyable and interesting. The war finally hits England, and Lawrence and Temeraire struggle through their own difficulties during the melee. We see a lot of the dragons here as Temeraire makes some headway with fighting for dragon rights, and the over-all story of the series moves on as the Napoleonic war swings right across Britain and back again.

Some of the reviews on Amazon are very negative, and I wish I could disagree with most of what they are saying. The story is not as strong as some of the other volumes, leaving it feeling a bit like an "inbetweener" novel. Fans of books 1-4 will still enjoy it, and it's a worthwhile read.

VERY ENJOYABLE BOOK AS ALL THE ONES BEFORE IT HAS PROVEN. ARRIVED PROMPTLY
AND IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK HIGHLY TO EVERYONE THAT ENJOYS SCIENCE FICTION. D.SHERRILL

I've enjoyed all of Novik's Temeraire novels, but I think she's fallen int a trap of her own making. By creating a period piece set in a fantasy universe version of the Penninsular War, she's inviting comparison to books like Cornwell's Sharpe series, Forester's Hornblower, and O'Brian's Aubrey, among others.

These books take real, historical situations and inject fictional characters and events. They also tell fairly action-oriented stories that, while self-contained, lead us through the history of the time.

Novik's trap is that she isn't willing to tell a self-contained story. Oh, each book, including War of Eagles, does tell a story, but she appears to be posing more questions for future books than answering them within this one. I found Victory of Eagles enjoyable, but ultimately unsatisfying. I want to find out more about the characters of Novik's world, and what's going on there, and I want to anticipate enjoying the next book in the series BECAUSE of these characters and situations, not because the author has left me hanging.

Yes, I would recommend this book, and the entire series, to anyone who asks, but I would like to see Novik more confidently tell stories knowing she doesn't have to hold back to keep her audience for the next novel.

I absolutely loved this book. I had to read it for my class, but I wanted to read it again the second I got done. It was the first book that I read that I got emotional about. I really recommend this book.

my book came today, and it looked perfect EXCEPT the top right corner had signs of wear and possible usage. Along the whole top on the back half, it's black and some of the pages are worn down like maybe it touched a sander for a second. Overall great book great shipping, just slight damage!

This book was amongst one of the very best books i have ever read. I honestly must say this books looks so well into the boys lives. The Choosen is amazingly insightful and Chaim Potok just has an amazing way with words. If you're looking for a book that will keep you drawn into the story, this is it. You will want to read it a million times.

The Chosen is a book that will, not only produce a full, rich, exhilarating experience, but stays with you for quite some time. There can be no doubt that this book, along with its author have reached the pinnacle of the literary world and achieved what few books can: Masterpiece. The book is set in Brooklyn and the premis is of two young boys who have traveled very different roads, who have seen life through very different views, come together at a baseball game where these two unlikely souls form a close friendship that lasts a life-time and shapes their path toward manhood. The time is set just prior to WWII and Reuven and Danny are Orthodox Jews who will capture your hearts as Chaim Potok pens his masterpiece. This is definetly one book that should find a home on everyone's must read list.

Amazon displays links, editorial descriptions and user reviews for the actual mass market paperback on the web page for the Bloom's Guide. Basically, the Amazon web page for the Bloom's Guide is selling Harold Bloom's in-depth, college level analysis of the book, not the book itself.

Yet, the identical information shown on this product page is displayed on the mass market Chaim Potok book pages - there is no distinction that these are two different books.

This was very misleading to my 15 year old high school student who needed the actual book for a school assignment and we purchased the Bloom version by accident. Bloom's analysis is of no use to her as it is over her head and won't help her achieve what her assignment entails.

Very disappointed in Amazon - I hope they fix this.

I recognize and agree that Lattimore's translations of "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" are the MOST TRUE to Homer and Ancient Greek we have ever seen.

Two minor examples: he uses long verse lines (like Homer), maintains Homer's sentence structure and he keeps and repeats all the Epitaphs exactly as they appear in Homer.

Lattimore's choice of words and sentence organization can sometimes seem jumbled and complicated and his manner/style somewhat archaic, it is because Lattimore is showing how Homer "sounds" in English as if you were translating it directly and perfectly from the Greek. That is Lattimore's aim, to render Homer as EXACTLY as possible. For this I am grateful...he has helped many to develop a more scholarly aptitude.

This aside,

I give it 3 stars because I find that his translation is not condusive to reading. Lattimore's 1950's American English is out of date and the story moves excessively slow. I often find Lattimore's Homer stodgy, hard, complicated, and often boring!


My favorites are still Stanley Lombardo's (Prosaic Verse) and E.V. Rieu's (Novel-like Prose) versions. Both full of fire-like Excitement, shimmering Beauty and monumental Drama.

I always recommend having 2 or 3 different versions of Homer on shelf, Lattimore is always on mine...not for reading enjoyment though but only for comparing.

Thanks

Having been a very lazy student in high school, I'm sure I was assigned to read the Iliad or Odyssey, but never did. A recent trip to Crete, and to the ruins of the Bronze Age Minoan civilization inspired me to read Homer. Considering the comments of reviewers who read the Iliad under duress as students, I'm glad that I read it on my own account.

Why read the Iliad? For one thing, it's where Western literature begins. The Minoans had writing, but their language is undeciphered. The Mycenaean Greeks adapted the Minoan writing system, and their language has been identified as an early form of Greek, but if they ever wrote any extended works, none have been discovered. That means that Homer and Hesiod, who are generally thought to have lived in the 8th Century B.C., are the earliest surviving literature in Europe. Homer is assumed to predate Hesiod. The themes of the Iliad - fate and free will, for instance - have been dealt with by writers through the ages, and continue now.

Homer's works represent the transition point where the legends and traditions transmitted orally since time inmemorial are first recorded in writing. The settings of the Iliad and the Odyssey are in Bronze Age Mycenaean Greece, and many of the traditional legends which serve as a basis for the stories undoubtedly date back far into prehistory. The style and contents of the Iliad have many elements which undoubtedly come directly from the oral traditions, most notably the Iliad is written in verse. These, as Lattimore explains in his introduction, are tools which the narrator uses (a) to memorize the tale, and (b) to help to help the listener follow along. A lot of elements are repeated, especially the epithets (my favorite is "Thersites of the endless speech") and descriptions of repeated events like religious ceremonies or the death of a warrior ("his armor clattered about him"). Reading it, it can seem a bit repetitive at times, but keep in mind that this is an epic composed long before it was transcribed to written language.

This is by no means easy reading, and it is quite long (485 pages). Things are usually developed very slowly. The plot of the story is actually fairly simple. Lattimore starts the book with a 50 page introduction, which is very helpful in explaining how the Iliad works. In the beginning of the introduction he gives a summary of the story which takes less than one page, but you would be missing the entire point by reading the "cliff notes". To give you an example, there is a description of Achileus' shield which takes up 4 pages, and which is an absolute highlight of the book. Patroclos's funeral is also detailed at length, giving a fascinating look at the culture in pre-Classical Greece (you can't be sure how much is from the Mycenaean Bronze Age, and how much is from the Iron Age Dark Ages, when Homer lived).

A lot of time is given to the interaction of the various gods and immortal beings with mere mortals. This is one of the most interesting aspects of the book. These gods are hardly impartial, loving, or "above things". They all have competing stakes in the outcomes of the war, and scheme and deceive humans and one another to affect the outcomes for their favorite mortals.

Not having read any other translation of the Iliad, I really can't comment on the relative merrits of Lattimore's translation compared to others. Lattimore's goal is to be as true to the original Greek sentence structure and the original meter of the verse. Since English and Ancient Greek have very different grammatical structures, this inevitably results in some convoluted sentences at times. Unlike some other translations, this one remains pretty faithful to the original Greek names, rather than the Roman ones (Zeus and Ares vs. Jupiter and Mars, etc.). This attempt to be faithful to the original is why I ultimately chose to read this translation. I really wanted to get into the spirit of the times, as much as possible.

BTW on the web you can listed to a recitation of the "Iliad" in ancient Greek by Prof. Stanley Lombardo, who also did a translation. I can't understand anything, but it sounds great, and you can really appreciate the musicality of the poem.

"The Iliad" is my all time favorite single piece of literature (even though I am a Shakespeare scholar), so I did not buy this copy to read "The Iliad" for the first time, but because my nearly forty-year-old and much read/much loved 1970 copy was genuinely falling apart (despite repairs with both packing and duct tape at two separate points in the past). So I bought it to read again and hopefully to last another forty years. The Lattimore translation is to me by far the best translation of the "The Iliad," readable, dramatic, accurate, and very, very beautiful. I recently also re-read the good and serviceable Rouse translation, and it's excellent--in fact for first time readers, I would probably recommend it since it's easier for new readers, especially younger ones, because of the simpler prose translation. However, I compared passage after passage and found the Lattimore to have many times the poetic POWER! "The Iliad" is after all a POEM, and Lattimore shows us the power of that gorgeous poetry even now three-thousand years later.

I love Greek mythology, so this sparked my interest. I had to read it for college and struggled through the first portion of it since it dealt with every man who was dying on the field. A brief description was given for each man. These were not the main characters so I didn't really care, but the teacher said it was to show that the nameless fighters each had their hopes and dreams in life. Maybe so, but if all that was taken out, it would have been more interesting faster. I'm the kind of reader who likes to get to the point.

However, after skimming through those details, I was delighted to find the overall storyline to be worth the time to read it. It was fascinating to read about the Greek gods and goddesses manipulating the Trojan War, so the war was more about the gods fighting each other and humans happened to be pawns in it. If you're familiar with Greek mythology, you'll love this because the gods had such distinct and colorful personalities that show up here.

I know Achilles was the hero, but I liked Hector the most, for he was a good father and husband. I won't spoil the ending but Homer did a great job of pointing out that good men can come from both sides of a war.

I used the W. H. D. Rouse translation.

One of our first war novels: the Achains and their allies send a great multitude of ships laden with armored warriors carrying bows, spears, and swords; divisions of horse drawn chariots rumble there way into the ranks of the Trojans and their allies laying siege to Troy. The Trojans counter-attack with a push all the way to the ships. And as we read, these gains and losses continue throughout the story. There is a short truce to mourn the dead and recoup, then the battle rages on only in our minds.

It flows like a song. Lucid, with wonderful imagery and symbolism's. Homer, with Rouses' help, bring out the details of battle and personalize each warrior: we learn he has a wife, a family, and a life elsewhere, after he has been cut in two and stripped of his armor. Men are slaughtered with an indifference, as if they were mere cattle. I found it hard to follow the extensive list of characters. I believe some of the realism was lost to modernization. I also found the knowledge Homer had of the human anatomy surprising. The footnotes were helpful. Better than Odyssey.

It is interesting to note: the gods control man, and man controls the gods. The two interact with each other; the gods send down their wrath and protections upon their favored nation. The gods are no different than the humans they try to control, except for their immortality. Hades is where all mortals go unto death. The parallels to the Bible are evident, with connotations of God. It can be hard to grasp.......a story that is 2,700 years old.

Wish you well
Scott

This world is full of so much short term thinking that we've devolved into a society reduced to expediency and bottom lines. In this powerful and clear book, Judy Estrin lifts our eyes and shows us a vision of how we can get back to the ingenuity, creativity, and fresh thinking that has propelled true progress. It's a really brilliant book filled with clear thinking that is sure to inspire anyone who reads it. Estrin mercifully avoids the kind of "insider" jargon that often obscures the meaning in books written by brilliant people. Instead, in approachable language, she lays out a path that all our leaders would be wise to follow. Whether you are a solo operator or you manage a huge enterprise, this book has so many "aha" moments you can't help but take away game-changing ideas. You finish the book knowing you have been in the presence of someone terribly wise whose advice you should follow. I have recommended this book to just about everyone I know because it is guaranteed to give the reader a fresh perspective and a wonderful sense of hope for our future.

"Closing the Innovation Gap" reads wonderfully -- so well, that I was able to finish reading this book in one weekend! The author has a chatty style that makes me think I am hearing the author speak the words on the page. More importantly, there is a serious message here, one we need to heed. The United States must decided it can afford to support and sustain innovation, an engine that drives the economy.

Prof. Richard N. Zare
Department of Chemistry
Stanford University

Judy Estrin's book is like her - thoughtful, direct and authentic. The message is hard - that America has lost its innovation edge, and that it will take the careful balancing of many factors in the Innovation Ecosystem to regain it - but well worth reading and understanding. I like the fact that this book works at many levels and can be read in different combinations of chapters depending on if you are a businessperson, policymaker, educator, or simple citizen. It is an easy read about deep topics and well worth the time.

If I fully understand Judy Estrin's key points (and I may not), there are at least two "gaps" that need to be reduced, if not closed: between where innovation in the US once was and where it is now as well as between where innovation in the US is now and where it could (and should) be. One of the important - and most useful -- terms on her book is "innovation ecosystem." In an Introduction that really should be read 2-3 times before embarking on the first of eight chapters, Estrin observes that "Biological ecosystems that sustain life are models for the organizations, people, and forces that enable innovation. Life flourishes because of a dynamic interaction between communities of living organisms and their environment...In Innovation Ecosystems, the collaborative organisms include scientists, product developers, businesspeople, service providers, and customers, all of whom participate in one or more of three communities: research, development, and application. Ongoing- sustainable innovation results from interactions between [and among] these communities at an organizational, national, and global level."

Contrary to appearances that suggest that the American Ecosystem is stable and secure, Estrin asserts, "we are rapidly losing our advantage." Who are "we"? America, of course, but the
"we" could also refer to the reader and her or his associates in the same organization or to everyone on Earth. So it can be argued that, in fact, there are three (rather than two) "gaps" to be reduced, if not closed, and the third exists on a global basis. That is, there is an innovation gap between what is now being achieved worldwide, and, what could be achieved if communication, cooperation, and (most important of all) collaboration between and among nations were more effective and productive.

Others have their own reasons for holding this book in such high regard. Here are three of mine. First, Estrin makes it crystal clear early on and frequently thereafter that she does not have all the right answers. One of her objectives, rather, is to raise many of what she considers to be the right questions about innovation initiatives in research, development, and application, then to provide her own answer to each. Questions such as these:

1. What is a healthy Innovation Ecosystem?
2. How to establish one? How to sustain it?
3. Meanwhile, how to accommodate immediate and short-term needs?
4. What is "green-thumb leadership" and why is it essential to sustainable innovation?
5. What will an "enormous global transformation require"?

As indicated earlier, Estrin provides her own responses to these and other questions, supplemented by real-world examples of noteworthy initiatives at companies such as Pixar, FedEx, Cisco Systems, Genomic Health, eBay, Apple Computer, Google, Intel, and Procter & Gamble.

I also appreciate the fact that Estrin conducted in-depth interviews of more than 100 of the most important authorities in the field of innovation, then included hundreds of observations and opinions from those interviewed. Here's one of several that caught my eye:

"We have no formal procedure. No one has ever had to write a proposal. Anyone can propose a new project or project area at any time. First, we're in brainstorming mode, when all you have to do is build the idea. Then we get critical and evaluate the idea along several dimensions, like risk-reward ratios and how much technology headroom there is. If we do it, will anybody care? If something looks like it's in the sweet spot, and resource requirements are reasonable, we say `Yeh, go do it.'" Peter Hart, Ricoh Innovation Group; group senior vice president, Ricoh Company (Page 121)

These specifics are important to serving Estrin's purposes. Although she offers or cites numerous theories and hypotheses, she is a tireless empiricist as she focuses on what is and isn't happening as well as a relentless pragmatist who is determined to know what does and doesn't work...and to understand why.

Here's the third of several reasons that I hold this review in such high regard. In the eighth and final chapter, she shifts her attention to "Next-Generation Innovators" and the importance, now, of improving the development of young minds. She poses four questions "about the future of education," offers brief comments on the issues each question raises, and then suggests that to find the best answers to these questions, "we will need to try a variety of approaches, ensuring that we collect the right data to assess and adapt while not stifling learning by applying metrics of questionable value. Agreeing with the ancient African proverb that "it takes a village to raise a child," Estrin notes that education does not begin and end in the classroom. "Young people's attitudes are profoundly influenced by the culture at large, and there, too, forces working against the development of future generations of innovators are in play." Quite true.

Perhaps if we view Earth as a "village" rather than as a planet, and perhaps if we can somehow tackle various challenges together, global collaboration can achieve and then sustain an Innovation Ecosystem within which there will continue to be necessary changes "at both disruptive and incremental levels" and meanwhile remember that "failure can be just another step toward success" and that if everyone involved is determined "to honestly self-assess and learn from every experience." Judy Estrin offers a bold vision in this book, to be sure, but also offers a wealth of information and insights to make that reality for us, perhaps, but certainly for generations to come.

Judy Estrin has done a terrific job of tackling a difficult subject and making it digestible without `dumbing down' the issues or the proposed solutions. I also found it a very enjoyable read (although of course it is not a feel-good subject.) Ms. Estrin makes compelling points about the need to improve our educational system as well as fund basic research, bringing in relevant data and results of prior initiatives, as well as weaving in commentary from scores of other highly respected and knowledgeable people. This book is a wake-up call for America, with ideas for both bottom-up as well as top-down action. Highly recommended.

I won't even buy this book because in browsing the exerpt, I found a significant fallacy. The United States is NOT a democracy. It is a Republic. Big difference and one we should all understand. Go back and read your constitution...or better yet, learn the Pledge of Allegiance.

Syl Sobel has taken a complicated subject and made it understandable and interesting for the elementary school student. This book is easy to read, with short chapters and filled with a ton of information. It also includes a lot of fun facts that everyone will enjoy about different presidents, their wives and some of our more interesting elections. A wonderful resource with a glossary, index and bibliography.

This is an Awesome book about presidential Elections! The interesting facts are fascinating and are about things you never have heard of before. Syl Sobel is my neighbor. CHECK OUT HIS BOOK!

This is an educational and fun book that could not have come at a better time! My family and I have enjoyed reading about the complex election process, which the author explains in a clear and enjoyable style.

I must say that I find this work hard to properly describe in terms of how I feel about it. I think that it was a fascinating look at one man's experience in the Holocaust, but an equally important aspect is Art's interaction with his father during their conversations. This seems like an honest portrayal, especially since Art isn't afraid to include things that may make himself or his father look bad (he isn't always the most sympathetic son, at times a narrow-minded father). I think connecting the story of what happened then, and how it's effects are apparent for the rest of a person's life (although different people reacted in different ways) is interesting. The way this is written is especially effective, because it truly feels like Vladek is telling you his story first hand.
As for the artwork, although it isn't my favorite style, it seems to fit for this story. The simple, unpolished look is compatible with this story which is honest and raw. Finally, I would like to add that the second installment of this comic is darker, and more depressing and sad at times, but it is also quite powerful and once you read Maus I, you must (and will want to) read Maus II in order to feel any closure with the story.

One (two actually since there are two volumes) of the best submissions about the Holocaust which is designed to reach a broad audience. Maus and Maus II are written in the vernacular, personalizing the experiences of a camp survivor who is interviewed by his son. Excellent supplement to any Holocaust discussion.

When I included this and Maus 1 & Persepolis I was informed that they are not graphic novels and that I could not have one free. AMAZING! Of course after I asked for the distric manager's name/number there was a sudden change of heart BUT NOT a good instore experience from BORDERS at ALL. The GRAPHIC NOVEL is great. Borders are not.

In Maus II, Art Spiegelman continues his father's horrific story of persecution and imprisonment in Auschwitz during WWII. Mr. Spiegelman has an enviable talent for simple drawings that convey complex ideas and feelings. Scenes with his father seem all too real - both amusing and a bit sad. Great series, I'd recommend it to anyone.

At first glance, Maus might seem like yet another attempt to spin the genocide of the Jewish people into something demeaning. I have seen people turn and walk away from the selection because of that, and when I suggested this as required reading in a class it was initially met with hostile responses. Looking into the reading changed the way people saw the thing being constructed here, however, and by the time the class had finished they felt like I did about the book because they were more than taken. They were moved and then some.

Far from words like "stereotyping," Maus tells a story that people see as disarming at first by casting the Nazis as cats and the Jewish people as mice. This makes it seem like it is approachable in ways that humanity isn't, and it also brings about a medium that people of all ages can understand. While it might be painful for someone really young to read it can still be read by kids, and the story doesn't look like a history book at first glance so the "what" and the "why" can be seen with fresh eyes. This leads to being able to take in the characters for what they are; individuals with individual lives and not vast amounts of statistics that lost the ability to live because of a word like "holocaust" or "Nazi." To me that is one of the most important things that the book does because, amidst it all, we can see reflections of people we know. The book takes the time to painstakingly make sure we never lose sight of that; unlike other books it neither glorifies the terrible nor does it make the miniscule mundane. Here, everything matters and the results hurt. The first book take a lot of tie exploring this and the second book, here, furthers that by picking up the pieces and showing you what happens when suffering continues to dig its claws into the fabric of lives.
It works well at what it does and then some and makes me happy I could introduce both portions to people that would otherwise miss out on it.
This collection of two actually found my face streaked with tears and the conversations we had about the read garnered much of the same response.

Much can be said about Spiegelman's work and how the characterizations are explored but the reality of the book is that it takes a hard-to-approach subject and shows it to everyone willing to explore. This means that a society hardened to the plight of something that seems so far removed can feel the pulse of something too monstrous for description.
I highly recommend and utterly respect both volumes of this work and cannot give it enough praise.