Westerns Books

OK, this book is not too bad. A fairly easy read and it is well written. Plenty of great ideas.

I found this texbook to be very useful. I used it for a graduate leadership seminar and I was very pleased with the way Richard Daft organized and wrote the book. Anyone seeking to better understand leadership would benefit tremendously from reading this book.

This textbook is written in very clear and simple language. Very easy to understand.

I'm using this book for a graduate course. It is very readable and has lots of interesting side articles included. The many evaluations it provides provide a quick way to see new perspectives on your leadership style. It provides a broad view of leadership theories, styles, followership, culture, etc. I have taken another graduate course that uses Dr. Daft's Management book. There are many overlapping topics between the two books as expected. There is also a website associated with the book which has some good resources including PowerPoint slides. My only complaint is the price seems high for a non-hardbound book.

This book gives you the truth. If you ever wanted to start any business, read this book carefully. The topics are informative and give great business fundamentals and a foundation of what to expect. I would say it is like a MBA crash course.

Great shape, quick shipping. Too expensive, but that is what this product normally runs unfortuantly. Overall good experience

Good overview on what you need to consider before you start your own business.

I am using this book for a online college curse and the book it's great! It provide many tools like the textbook's website to help you to understand the material and exams online. In general, I like the little cases that are update and motivate you to keep reading.
If this book by itself can help you to develop you own Small Business, it worth.

It is good and it has a lot of tips to be succesfull in your business. It is easy to read and understand and it has many web sites addreses.

First, I really enjoyed this book. I believe Tuchman did a masterful job of giving life to the people and events that led to WWI. This book is well worth reading, but only for what it is: half-history, half-literature.

This is not the place to start if you want to understand what led to WWI. The author does have a distinct anti-German bias that glosses over most of the complexities that influenced Germany's actions. Given when the book was written, this bias is understandable, but it does affect its historical value. Moreover, Serbia and the Hapsburgs are essentially footnotes in this book when in reality, they are essential for understanding the causes of the war. When you ignore Serbia and Austro-Hungary, well, all you're left with is Germany acting like a belligerent punk under the hand of the man-child Wilhelm II.

Also, Tuchman definitely prefers some individuals over others. For example, she gives Sir French pretty short-shrift in comparison to Lord Kitchener when in reality, there was more than enough incompetence to go around (not that I would have done any better than they).

I do whole-heartedly recommend this book, but only as a halfway step from history to fiction, perhaps sandwiched between A World Undone and All Quiet on the Western Front.

I didn't even bother to finish this book because, although i tried to read it and fell asleep on pretty much every other page, the writing was convoluted and stuffy, the "action" (was there any?) was slow, and I just couldn't bring myself to care about anything this author had to say. A unanimous vote by the AP Euro class I was forced to "read" this for took the book off the reading list for next year's class...although we would have loved to make the following classes suffer the same way we did, we simply could not bring ourselves to stuff this ridiculous book down any other poor students' throats.

Mr. M......You were a cool teacher, but I don't know if I can ever forgive you for letting this haunt my entire summer.

The Guns of August is an easy to read and flowing history of the early days of World War I. The author does a great job a bringing you up to speed with the state of mind for each of the major players in the early days of the war. The book then moves more or less chronologically through the eve of Marne in great detail. I also like that the author does not take sides. For example, she presents the horrific treatment of Belgium civilians in a matter of fact way but still drives home the terribleness of those actions. The only deficiency (unless this missed it in the notes and sources) is the lack of complete translations for the large number of French phrases used in the book; some of the more obscure are translated but not all. A good English-French dictionary comes in handy.

There is absolutely a reason for this book to be regarded as a classic. Actually, there are lots of reasons. Tuchman's writing is informative, yet intimate. She tells you what you need to know to understand the topic at hand then goes on to supply more information that you didn't need but adds to your appreciation. All this without the book ever bogging down, unlike the war. Possibly, a big part of this is the topic she chose to cover from WWI, the first month. That was when armies marched, counter-marched and fought instead of slogging through mud for years.
Tuchman covers the cuases for war in ways as good as any I've read. It's a hard topic, but she addresses it very well. Every topic in the book is covered well.
This book is a must read for anyone interested in the Great War. It's also a must read to get some understanding of how the folly of man makes war more horrofic, if that's possible. It's just a good read if you're looking for something for the beach.

In The Guns of August, Barbara Tuchman successfully brings to life the political climate of the early 20th century, how the great European powers of the time had been planning for war with their rivals for very nearly a century, since the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Each country had a different war plan, but all of them were more or less variations on a theme - our glorious soldiers will be mobilized, will take the field against our enemies, will crush our enemies in battle, then will march triumphantly into the enemy's capital city!

Perhaps never before had belligerent nations gone to war with such hubris and ignorance of the true horrors of war. Many of the powers assumed that the upcoming war would be waged much as the Crimean War and the Franco-Prussian wars had been fought, where gallant sweeping cavaly charges would be the order of the day. The power of the machine gun and the development of accurate, rapid-firing artillery would render all previous battle tactics obsolete overnight.

However, in the first month of this terrible new war, the warring generals couldn't adjust to these new facts. They kept sending thousands upon thousands of men to their deaths in the months before trench warfare became commonplace. The disastrous Battle of the Frontiers (which appears in very few history books in comparison to the Somme and Verdun) is told in heartbreaking detail on how the brightly-clad French soldiers (with their blue coats and bright red pants) marched into the muzzles of German machine guns and died, by the hundreds and thousands, because their commanding generals couldn't comprehend the new, much deadlier, face of war.

Band of Brothers is the kind of stories I used to hear from my father and uncles of their experiences in World War Two. Stephen Ambrose has a particular talent for making the reader feel all the emotions these very brave men went through. I read the book before I saw the HBO mini-series, and I bought the autdo book for when I am traveling. I never want to forget, and I hope the country never forgets what these citizen soldiers did to change the world we live in.

This book defines what it means to be an American Soldier. It's a story of victory, defeat, good times and hellish times. It's not just a war story; it's a story of the human spirit. I recommend those of you who typically distance yourselves away from war stories to make an exception. This story is at times exciting, at times heart warming and at times tear jerking. I love it and I can't wait to read Major Winter's memoirs when the book arrives.

Firstly, I find it staggering that 319 people have given this book a 5 star rating. Granted, if you didn't have much of a background in reading military history then you could be forgiven for thinking that this book is an accurate portrayal of the 506th and the war in North-West Europe in general. However, for those readers who have read more than one book, Ambrose's book will show itself as poorly-reaserched and relying heavily on oral history which is fraught with dangers and pitfalls (most of which feature heavily in 'Band of Brothers').

Having also read Ambrose's 'Pegasus Bridge', it is clear that he favoured oral history over true, in-depth research. The book is essentially the collected memories of a small selection of WWII veterans from E Company, 506th Parachute Infantry of the 101st Airborne Division, attempting to tell the tale of combat operations in the 1944 - 45 period.

The star of the show is Richard (Dick) Winters. One soon sees that Ambrose holds Winters in the highest esteem, some of which is justified given Winters combat record and the success rate that Easy Coy had under his command. However, the way in which Ambrose denigrates anyone who might take the shine of Winter's star is quite appalling. There are a number of interviews and quotes from other company members, but it Winters who is the central character and his recollections which move the book along.

As previously mentioned, Ambrose loves oral history, which given that the book was written decades after the described events leads to an endless chain of mistakes, errors and statements bordering on the defamatory! For example (and one of my personal bugbears), Ambrose repeatedly describes the German mortars as "80mm", whereas in fact they had an "81mm" calibre - nit picky perhaps, but it is this kind of detail that separates the so-so historians from the truly excellent historians. And what's with every tank being called a "Tiger"? In John Keegan's excellent "Encyclopedia of War War II", it is noted that only 1350 PzKfw VI 'Tiger' I Auf E tanks were produced during the entire war - the way Ambrose writes it appears that E Coy fought the entire 1350 of them!!

And that's not all. The Battle of Bulge would appear to have been fought and won solely by the 101st Airborne...whereas in fact the U.S. 9th and 10th Armoured Divisions were the backbone of the Bastogne defence. Nor were there a "dozen crack German armored and infantry divisions", there were elements of five b-grade divisions attacking the Bastogne pocket. Individually, these errors may seem minor, but collectively it indicates a poorly researched narrative, that brings the accurate parts in doubt as well.

There is also the problem of defamatory statements, gross generalisations and unforgivable omissions. From the first moment when you meet Winters, everyone in a command position above him is attacked, no one is spared. Lt Sobel - LtC Strayer - Col Sink - MajGen Taylor. But the most vicious attacks are saved for Lt (later Capt) Sobel, who was E Coy's first commander and widely credited with instilling the discipline that made Easy an excellent fighting unit. Sobel, among other things, is labelled a petty tyrant and an interesting turn of phrase is used to describe Sobel's feet and his penchant for saying Hi Ho Silver! But Winters continues his attacks on just about everyone he can set his sights: the British, the Lieutenants under his command, but most disturbing of all is the casual way he dismissses the Air Force crews based in England as being "slobs" - ignoring the fact that they were dying in their hundreds over Germany on a daily basis (over 500 in the 1943 raid against the ball-bearing factories around the town of Schweinfurt is but one example).

Another personal gripe is the generalisations and omissions. Two particularly important ones come to mind as I type this. Private Gurth and Private Blyth. In the book, Private Gurth is dismissed in one line as man who after the war became a drunk and no-body every heard from him again. Yes, Gurth became an alcholic and struggled with this disease for many, many years before he finally beat it. In the later years of his life he attended many reunions (due to this generalisation Gurth receives no mention at all in the mini-series, which is shameful). Even more shameful is the treatment that Private Blyth receives both in the book and the mini-series. Blyth is treated as a coward and shirker. Almost one entire episode of the mini-series is dedicated to perpetuating this outragerous myth. The mini-series has Blyth wounded by a German sniper and then subsequently dying of his wounds. Yet the real story is that Blyth not only survived the war, but went on to have a very successful military career, with many promotions and service medals. To portray him as a coward is quite unforgivable.

Ambrose's book is simply not up to the task of providing a balanced and detailed history of the American Paratrooper during World War II, his biased and distorted story detracts more than enhances what the Band of Brothers legend was all about.

One of those books; I can't seem to put down. I'm thankful I have watched the movie, Band of Brothers, for I could "picture" everything that was happening though all these pages. This Regiment was truly remarkably determined and proud to be a participant in this long relentless war. How do you understand anything, unless you were there and have gone through all the circumstances? There are so many things we don't realize or understand and this book almost took you there to see what they had to experience. To be so proud and honored is an understatement for men like these and for all of our Military.

Anthony Bates couldn't have said it better. It's shocking that so many readers out there just gobble up Ambrose's "feel good history" as unquestionable fact, when in reality what Ambrose writes little more than entertainment for ignorant readers. Everything Bate's mentions is true...the fact that other less fabled, yet equally brave and crucial formations that served in Bastogne get ignored by Ambrose is shameful. Also, his knowledge of the German Army in all of his writings is down right pathetic and revolves more around old 'folk lore' than any type of dedicated research. Ambrose does know how write an compelling story, I'll give him that...although there is a lot of better academic history out there, and it is not very hard to find.

My stats professor used the 2nd edition of this text for my MBA statistics class. It's a very readable book that explains the topics clearly and simply. You can almost teach yourself the material from the book without need of a professor. I recently re-read portions of the book for another class and found it easy to pick up the topics again. I wish that all of my texts were this well written. If you need a great book on statistics, then this is the one.

My experience was great, I got the book I needed at a great price and got it quickly!!

it's a text book. i needed it for class. if you need it for class too, then i'm sure it'll work out great.

I was very pleased with the service and quality of my purchase. He was professional and efficient.

This book is an excellent source for the wroks of philosophers beginning with Plato and going on to all the other greats of Western Philosophy. Although I am only on the writings of Aristotle, I am enjoying the book and find that the footnotes provide some much-needed explanantions in parts. Further, the price I got this book for was much lower than what my college bookstore was asking for.

Cahn's text was a requirement for a historical-introduction to philosophy class that I had. Cahn has included much relevant material from key philosophers from Plato and on. I highly recommened this book over Pojman.

This anthology is by far the best anthology of its kind. If you love ancient and medieval philosophy the way I do, it is possible to teach an entire semester "intro. to phil." course out of Plato, Aristotle, Sextus, Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Maimon, Ockham, Gerson, and the Stoa.
This book could also support a whole early moderns course, as it features full texts of MEDITATIONS ON FIRST PHILOSOPHY, ETHICS, MONADOLOGY, AN ENQUIRY CONCERNING HUMAN UNDERSTANDING, and DIALOGUES CONCERNING NATURAL RELIGION. This great text also contains a well-selected excerpt from Kant's KrV.
If you are a philosophy instructor who loves great texts, and if you teach an historical approach to intro., this text is your choice. This servicable anthology is priced reasonably enough that it can also serve as a primary-source reference for thematic courses. Thanks to Hackett for this gem. This text is also ideal as the core text for a one-trimester course. I have even used this book once for a one-semester ethics course!

I must confess my review is about the third edition, but it got me through understanding many a dry philosophical lecture. The book encompasses many of the great philosophical minds of in western history - the usual Greek medley plus other greats such as Locke, Descartes, Spinoza.
Each set of highlighted works is prefaced by a small biography.
If current western philosophical college curricula is anything to go by this book brings the relevant philosophers together in one place and thus forms a vital part of any student's bookshelf.

I never received the study guide I ordered. I emailed the seller twice and did not receive a response.

The exams had many similar questions that were provided in this study guide. This guide also summarized the important things from each chapter, but the text book was still needed to get an A.

I thought that the delivery time could have been a little sooner because it took a week and i paid for expedited shipping. I needed it for school but I got along without it. The book was in great condition and it was exactly what I needed. The price was great. For this book and the other book that it came with, the school was charging $175.00 so i got a great deal. i am definitely buying my books from amazon again.

This is an excellent book. Very well written, in plain simple English with no complicated concepts to try to wrap your mind around. This is the first book I've read by Lama Surya Das, but based on this one, it will not be my last.

Intended to be a guide to Tibetan Buddhism, it goes systematically and throughly through all the necessary practices and beliefs to enable the reader to make the changes to put themselves on the path to enlightenment. The book is written with humour and insight by a Westerner who has spent 35 years studying and teaching Buddhism.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone seeking to get a grasp on Buddhism from a Western perspective. This is not only a good book for a beginner, but also very complete. A good read.

Les Center

I naively bought this book after visiting Lama Surya Das's Dzogchen Center in Cambridge, MA (LSD was not there). I am now sorry that I spent my money on it. Somewhat new to Buddhism, I am in no position to evaluate the merits of the book's content--for all I know, it could be full of 100% accurate information, though, judging from some of the other reviews here, I doubt it. Still, there must be something of value here for the spiritual aspirant, right?

I did not have the patience to find out. I can only say that the writing style left me cold. I gamely endured about 100 pages of Surya Das's corny prose, hell-bent on getting my money's worth, until I could no longer stand the platitudes, vague questions, and saccharine proverbs. I can see why some call LSD's books "Dharma lite"--he reads like a brochure. A 400-page, Buddhist brochure. I recommend the reader skip over this one and check out any of the many excellent Buddhist authors out there, like Chogyam Trungpa, Pema Chodron, or Shunryu Suzuki. Anything but this, really.

I have had an interest in Buddhism for quite some time and have only recently begun to study and research. It is a daunting, but exciting task. In this time I have read many books on the subject. Some left me so confused I was ready to give up. The Buddha Within was a delight to read......clear, insightful, informative, humorous,but most of all it left me encouraged to continue practicing and studying. This last copy I purchased is for my sister, who has just started being curious about what I'm doing. It is a perfect book for her to start with. I am re-reading it for the second time. A definite must have in your book collection on Buddhism.

LOVED this book! Packed full of fabulous information, background, and intructional advice. One to read and re-read.

I heard about this book in a Revolver magazine article featuring Tommy Lee, it's one of his recommendations (don't let that deter you from it). It's an excellent read for anyone who's ever wanted to learn about Buddhism. If you have real intentions of adopting a spiritual practice, reading this book is a great way to start. It's written in terms that are understandable to young adults of at least slightly above average intelligence. It's incredibly thought provoking, and even mind-blowing at some points. He does throw in some obscure Buddhist terminology, which is a bit excessive, but that doesn't take away from the message he's sending.
If you're going through a tough time or seeking purpose in your life, read this book.

Whether your are an entrepreneur, VC or lawyer, THIS is the book that you must read. It's really everything that you need to navigate the entire startup ecosystem. I've been in the industry for over a decade and I still use it as a reference and encourage both entrepreneurs and lawyers to read alike. I also think it's a great resource for VCs sitting on boards to make sure they are complying with all the latest and greatest regulations.

Includes all important areas of law for the entrepreneur. Was most helpful for our incorporation. Good, short, to-the-point, comparisons of S-corp, C-corp, LLC, partnership, and sole proprietorship. Still covered all issues and is updated to late 2007. This is important because the tax-code changes frequently (last major update was in 2003), and small changes to corporate structure and court pratices happen every year. Better than "Structuring Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Entrepreneurial Transactions." Better than "Starting Your Own Business" by Stephen C. Harper. Better than searching for piecemeal information on websites like news.YCombinator.

Other important areas covered are Contracts & Lease, Operational Liability, and Intellectual Property. I will be using this book heavily for those areas as well.

A book that every entrepreneur should read. Read it before you start the company, it will help you a lot.

This book goes into great detail about all aspects of Business Law. Anyone who currently owns a business or is thinking about opening a business needs to read this book, or at least have it near by as a reference guide.

However, the book is certainly aimed at Corporate USA and those who are looking to start up a BIG business. If you are looking to open or currently own a Small Business, then there are better books on the market that are tailored more to your needs.

This book deserves to be on the shelf of every entrepreneur. The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law will take you on a virtual tour of the start-up process, and beyond, from the legal perspective. As experienced entrepreneurs understand, any business is a web of relationships, many of which are detailed in legal documents. This is the case for the relationship (establishment) of the entity with the state, relationships between co-founders, relationships between employees and the company, relationship between the company and its investors, suppliers, customers, etc. The legal foundation for all of these is clearly explained, and this book includes a wealth of practical information that will help any entrepreneur to work more efficiently and effectively with their legal counsel.

Steven K. Gold
Author, Entrepreneur's Notebook: Practical Advice for Starting a New Business Venture