Westerns Books

If I could give this book three and a half stars, I'd rather do that, because the rating truly falls between "It's OK and I liked it."

The main reason for this less-than-steller rating is that the book effectively makes an interesting subject boring. Another reviewer from Barnes and Noble remarked that, though they loved history, they detested this book. That about sums up my sentiment. History had long been one of my favorite subjects, yet I found myself slogging through this book--while others held me spellbound. Of course, if your prof assigns this book, you really have no choice; the author does cover the ENTIRE history of western civ (from the homo erectus to Bush's Iraq war), but in a certain way.

In this book, emphasis is placed on MODERN history, specifically the nineteenth century and the various wars of the twentieth century. Pre-history through the collapse of the Roman Empire is covered--but those subjects only get seven chapters, or less than 25% of the book's length (of 29 chapters). Before chapter seven is even finished, the author moves on to early Christianity and "the dark ages." The Middle Age period continues until chapter 11.

From chapter twelve on, the author focuses more on THEMES than time periods, though he tries to present these themes in appropriate chonological order. For a simple breakdown of the chapters:

1--First Civilizations
2--Ancient Near East
3--Greeks
4--Hellenistic World
5--Roman Republic
6--Roman Empire
7--Medieval World
8--Early Middle Ages 750-1000
9--Growth: High Middle Ages
10--Rise of Kingdoms
11--Crisis: Later Middle Ages
12--Renaissance
13--Reformation
14--World Exploration 1500-1800
15--Search for Order: 1600's
16--Scientific Revolution
17--"Enlightenment"
18--Wars and Social Change: 1700's
19--Revolution--French and American Revolutions
20--Industrial Revolution
21--More Revolution and Romanticism 1815-50
22--Nationalism and Realism 1850-71
23--"Age of Progress" 1871-94
24--Anxiety and Imperialism 1894-1914
25--World War I 1914-1918
26--Between the Wars 1919-39
27--World War II
28--the Cold War
29--Modern World Since 1973

As you can see, a full third of the book is devoted to the past 200 years, so there is clearly a modern history focus. My biggest critism of this book is that is author is much more concerned with themes than presenting the information in a logical way. For instance, the Reformation of the 1500's is covered in chapter 13, but world travel (which began in the 1400's) is covered in the NEXT chapter! When the author turns his attention to modern times, he's all over the place, going from Watergate to 9/11 and then going back and covering the stuff in between.

To be fair, a survey course like the ENTIRE history of western civ is lot of information. However, I've seen this task much better handled by other (more organized) authors. Hopefully, you will be assigned one of THEIR books!

This book is an excellent resource for preparing for the Western Civ. CLEP exam. There is a website for the book that has review games and excercises (including my favorite flashcards) for each chapter. My daugher used this book in her freshman year of high school and enjoyed it a lot. She passed the exam with a 67! I recommend using REA's guides as well for the CLEP.

this book is packed with info.. it's the longer version of "a brief history" and how your prof. has so much info..that's not showing up in your shorter text (if you're getting the brief version) it has a lot of pics..and maps..and is easy to read.. very informative ..text book

Dr. Dielman was a professor of mine. The book is well organized and useful for all people on all levels.

excellent book: This is a successful attempt to make the complicated statistics much easier to grasp and use. includes output from various softwares like MINITAB, EXCEL, SAS...

only cautions are:
1. Doesn't go into Mathematically details involved.
2. One should consider that the title reads "a second course...".

For my class, the professor assigned Kleinbaum et al's textbook rather than this one. As I mentioned in my review for that book, it was so confusing and poorly organized. Luckily, I found this book in the library and used it instead and ended up a lot less confused in class than my classmates who were trying to understand the Kleinbaum book. Dielman's book is very well organized and laid out. It doesn't have colorful bells and whistles since it's a fairly upper level book, but it does have a very user-friendly layout. Furthermore, the formulas are never presented without an accompanying explanation in plain English and examples of how and when to use them. Another thing I really like about this book is that it gives thorough directions on how to do a lot of the analyses on some common statistical packages. Many of the instructions are accompanied by screenshots. They're at the end of each chapter rather than interspersed in the text, which makes them easy to find. This is actually becoming a great SAS manual for me.

For anyone struggling with the Kleinbaum book, or for any instructor considering using the Kleinbaum book, I would highly recommend this one instead.

I have bought Dr. Dielman's Applied Regression 4e textbook in Taiwan) for preparing my MBA thesis regarding the interaction effects. Given the widespread use of commercially available packages, this book provided considerately coverage on ALL computer packages about the field of regression work.

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.

This was a thought provocing and very enjoyable read. Although it isn't "action packed" or anything, that isn't the point. The author's naration tells the tale of his philosophical journey cross country with his son on his motorcyle. Not only was this book inspirational, but provides new insight in terms of how one sees the world around them. A must read!

I re-read this book after about 15 years and enjoyed it just as much as the first time, but I got something different out of it this time too.

This book has a great calming effect on me. It's so interesting on so many subjects, and so accesssible. This is such a relevent read.

Despite the high brow reviews by self proclaiming philosophers and intellectuals who think this is a book about philosophy, it is not. It is also not a "how to" manual on maintaining a motorcycles.
This is a book about overcoming intellectualism and becoming whole. If you are contemplating reading this book please disregard the reviewers who flex their imaginary philosophical and intellectual muscle and just read it. Yes, there will be parts that seem to endlessly pursue some thought or idea but by the end of this book you will be very glad and satisfied you read it.
...of course if you have ever ridden a motorcycle, experienced the landscapes temperature changes, sounds and elements and/or struggled with and beat mental illness this book will take on a special dimension.

Reading it is like catching a bug between your teeth at 70 miles an hour. Surprise at first, then comprehension. A belated thanks to Mr. Pirsig for weaving philosophy, science, engineering, and fatherhood, into an insightful and compelling read.

I agree with many of the other one-star reviews, this is actually the worst book I have ever read, out of thousands read, in my entire life. The worst book designation goes to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance because it is extremely, extremely, over-rated. I found it to be one of the most self-absorbed, self-pitying, whining complaints I had ever been exposed to - and I know about those, because I'm a former junior high school teacher.

Not only did it not contain any philosophical insights whatsoever, the book is just plain boring and badly written. The only book I have ever thrown in the garbage can - it's just rubbish, and that's where it belongs. I'm sure the author is a fine human being. I just think he wrote a very, very, bad book. Please don't waste your time on this book.

It was in fairly good condition and I got it at a reasonable amount of time. :)

I WAS SENT THE WRONG BOOK.

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT TEXT BOOK.

I have been teaching English at the post-secondary level for seven years, and this is one of the best textbooks I have come across. Mary Ellen Guffey's explanations are straightforward, and her examples are relevant and easy to understand. In addition, there are multiple ways that students can practice on the Web or in their textbooks. This book has been invaluable to me and my students.

If you speak English, it does not mean that you do it right. This book guides you from the basic to more complex language structures, with a great deal of exercises to practice what you have learned. Besides, at the end of every chapter you can do a self-test in order to measure your performance, since the answers are included at the appendix.

Excellent for non-native English speakers. I give it 5 stars.

Assigned book for my graduate classes @ Peru State College. Covers fundamentals of Organizational Development, with numerous real-world cases for review and disection.

It was in great condition. The book was a hell of a lot cheaper than if I bought it at school. I was amazed that I could also pay by check. I am disappointed though that now Amazon will not accept checks any more. I was really looking forward to using them again for purchasing the rest of my books. But the book was impecable =)

The book arrived quickly and in great shape - just as advertised. Very easy transaction. Thank you!

I couldn't believe how quickly I received my book! I order these for class and sometimes I'm a little leary about placing an order because I had a bad experience once. Thank goodness that was not the case this time. Thank you.

This is a graduate text book that is long-winded, overly-wordy self-serving brochure for why we should all become Organizational Development Practitioners. The authors spend the first three chapters justifying the existence of the profession as if they were insecure about their relevance in the corporate world. It prattles on about how OD professionals work in teams and how they should structure their own private contracts. It even whines that being an OD practitioner is stressful. Find me a professional job that isn't stressful.

I saw this guy on EWTN espousing his revisionist propaganda. Illuminating only for its psychological revelations about the author and his attempt rehabilitate the Catholic Church's doctrinal contribution to the darkest ages of mankind. I mean come on, the scientific and industrial revolutions were a product of the intellectual freedoms born out of the Reformation. Give it a rest, the truth shall set you free.

False pride
The author performs no meaningful in-depth analysis of current or historical contexts and events, applying instead personal opinion. He violently massages the facts in order to portray an overwhelmingly favorable picture, thus encouraging pride in place of humility.

Bad science
Wittingly or not, the author attempts to manipulate the reader with what he calls reason, which in reality is nothing more than tempering with logic and producing faulty conclusions in matters where logic probably should not be used at all. While doing this, he contradicts himself on so many occasions, that reading the book becomes an exercise in self discipline.

Arrogance
Worst of all, the author explicitly states that, according to aforementioned "reasoning", no religion, philosophy, nothing other than Catholic Christianity is capable of producing a civilized society. This arrogant point of view is expressed so many times and in so many ways, that it seemingly becomes the unproven thesis of the book, which brings us back to bad science.

The text is a messy collection of every and any argument for ultimate superiority of the Catholic, which in itself is both heresy and non-scientific. I can not believe a true Catholic or a scientist can write something like this.

You can't read this book without thinking of the famous Monty Python scene from Monty Python's Life Of Brian - The Immaculate Edition where the People's front of Judea inadvertently lists every improvement that the Roman have ever brought to their land. This would be a great modern description of the politically correct view of the history which would like to forget all of the contributions of the church in everything from Science to Law to ethics, education and even the preservation and copying of books via the monks.

These facts are stubborn things and Mr. Woods wastes no time diving in showing over and over again how things that we take for granted have their base in Catholic belief and practice and the actions of faithful Catholics in particular and the church in general. The list is very long and the presentation is a celebration of the Civilization that these faithful catholics helped build and the results that all of us enjoy today without a thought.

The best way to understand where you are is to understand where you have been. This book does that job very well.

A great and badly needed volume. Beautiful cover artwork.
I wish I could donate scores of this book to our high schools and colleges in the U.S. where the decidedly skewed Protestant and Atheist version of history is being taught. Basically little or nothing good existed before the frenzied cries of Sola Scriptura! in the 16th century using the Bible - a document assembled by the Catholic Church as the center piece of this new man made tradition.
One wonders how an institution so evil and corrupt could last almost 2000 years and be the largest and universally (catholic) dispersed Christian group on the planet? Luther, Calvin and company's spiritual children have been around for 500 years and look at how many denominations have formed from that mindset and those splits and yet more splits
Catholicism and it's echoes surround us every day in our legal system, architecture, agriculture, art, literature etc.
Somehow Mendel (the father of genetics) was left out of this volume but another great companion piece to this book is "Catholic Churchmen and Science" by James J. Walsh.
Thank you for the research and enlightenment.
We as Christians and a Church have typically taken the stance that we are called to be Christlike and transform the World with no publicity sought or given for most of what we do. The unfortunate reality is that we live in a World which deals out a great deal of "noise" and erroneous facts, so intelligent rebuttals like this are needed to educate those willing to seek out the fullness of Truth.

Woods has written a book which is generally excellent.He demonstrates that the Catholic Church has been at the center of positive developments in the sciences,arts,architecture,education,law,and ethics over the centuries.One minor complaint is Woods' decision not to explicitly connect Galileo(discussed on pp.69-74) and Kepler(discussed on pp.110-113).Woods gaves the impression that each worked in isolation from the other. In fact ,both Kepler and Galileo closely followed the work of the other.There was a good deal of correspondence between the two.Galileo's mistake,then,is to have not taken Kepler's work more seriously than he did,especially since Kepler's work was directly based on the generally accepted observations made by Kepler's instructor,Tycho Brahe (not Tyco,p.268).
The major problem in the book appears in chapter 8.First, Murray Rothbard is not a great Twentieth Century economist.Murray Rothbard is a great Twentieth Century Libertarian-Austrian economist.Second,the 16th and 17th Century Spanish "Late" Scholastic philosophers cited repeatedly by Woods throughout chapter 8 are not in the same class as the 13th century great Scholastics of the School of Paris(1200-1350 AD).NONE of the ECONOMIC discussions of St.Albert the Great,St.Thomas Aquinas,and Duns Scotus are referred to anywhere in chapter 8.This creates a severe problem for the potential reader who will not realize that the question Woods is dealing with had already been analyzed in detail by the Great 13th Century Scholastics. Albert the Great,Thomas Aquinas,and Scotus had all agreed that the fair and just price was the price determined in the market place at the particular time that the transaction between the buyer and the seller was proposed .However,there were 3 very important qualifications that the latter, minor,Spanish Scholastics failed miseribly to comprehend.The market price is NOT a fair and just price if there is any compulsion,coercion,or uncertainty existing at the time the transaction took place.The standard " Lemon Problem " discussion of asymmetric information ,taught in all basic microeconomiic courses, impacts falls directly into the uncertainty(partial uncertainty)category.The negotiated or agreed upon price of a good carried out under conditions of asymmetric information is NOT a just and fair exchange.

Only John Maynard Keynes and Adam Smith,both of whom are considered the greatest two economists of all time,except by Libertarians, understood the nature of the original arguments put forth by the School of Paris Scholastics .Keynes makes it quite clear on pp.351-352 of his General Theory (1936)that the 13th Century Scholastics had a very good intuitive understanding of the differences between making decisions under risk versus making decisions under uncertainty and/or ignorance.Smith's position [See Wealth of Nations,pp.290-340,Modern Library(Cannan)edition] is practically the same as the positions on the rate of interest,usury laws,and speculation held by the 13th century Scholastics ,but rejected by the 16th and 17th century Spanish Scholastics.Woods needs to totally rewrite this chapter(chapter 8) of his book.It is an intellectual mess that detracts from the rest of the book.

Rich Steves gives the best advice you can get on travel in Europe. He was right on the money with all that he suggested as far as rooms, price and what to see. We loved this book! We took it with us to Germany, Switzerland and Denmark. While doing a walking tour of the quaint little town of Bacharach, Germany, we saw a young girl walking along with the SAME BOOK! She had the same kind of praises we had. We plan to buy the next version for our next European trip.

This book was very helpful with lots of useful tips on travel through Europe. We took the advice on several of the hotels and were very pleased with the recommendations.

Ricke Steves always gives excellent advice to the budget traveler. His advice is comprehensive and and at times humorous.

Rick Steves' does a great job taking you to the hot spots and off the beaten path. Has a ton of info on each area (ie phone numbers, addresses, names, etc).

If Rick Steves has a book for your destination(s), then do yourself a favor - buy it. You do not need any other guide for your trip. We've just returned from a trip through much of western Europe (London, Paris, Milan, Florence, Venice, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona and Brugge) and this guide was indispensable.

We avoided long lines to visit museums in Venice and Florence, lived in great local hotels and dined in non-touristy and cheap restaurants serving amazing local food. We also had Frommer's with us at the beginning of the trip but we threw it half way through the trip - it was too bulky and did not add any value to our experience.

Rick Steve's conversational style is non-intimidating and makes for a much more interesting read compared to the cut-and-dry, facts only style of other guides. All guides will have some out of date information but this guide is very current. In fact, a tour-guide with a company in Rome that is recommended by Rick Steves' told us that while other publishers just call them every year to verify that they are still in business, only Rick Steves' company actually sends someone to take part in the tours to make sure that the experience is still consistent with the description in the book.

This book is a must have for your Europe trip.

I've purchased several landscaping books recently, and this is by far my favorite. There are hundreds of pictures for inspiration, so I often flip through it when I'm feeling bored. The organizational style is very user-friendly, which makes it easy to find ideas for specific landscaping projects. I really like the lists they include of their favorite types of plants for certain settings (broken down by region and specific use). The garden plans are very nice; however, they don't include dimensions, which would be extremely helpful. Overall a very valuable household resource. It also makes an excellent housewarming gift.

This book has a host of sensible ideas for gardens and outdoor living spaces. Totally suitable for New Zealand lifestyle and climate.

This book has some really good ideas for gardening and landscaping in the desert. Anyone who lives in the desert knows what a challenge it is to grow a beautiful garden AND be a good steward of the limited, precious resources. The only negative comment is that the garden examples are mostly from California. It would be more helpful to me if there were more examples and discussion on high desert gardening in places like Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The best garden book overall. A smart book. Creative. Great pics. VERY Comprensive. Wish Id bought hardback.Complete. Very readable. Projects are suberb. Voluminous. A must for every serious gardener.

Famous Landscape Architect Thomas Church once wrote: " Landscaping is logical, down-to-earth and aimed at making your plot of ground produce what you want and need from it."

The original bestseller, "Sunset Western Garden Book" is one of the best encyclopedia and is the "Bible" of Western Gardening. I am very happy to read its companion, "Sunset Western Landscaping Book." This new addition to the Sunset family is a great attempt in covering the design aspect of landscaping. It covers topography, climate, lifestyle, plants, and environment. It starts with the purpose, design and planning of gardens, microclimates, seasons, soils, understanding of site, Western garden styles, the process from plan to reality, and gardens in different regions of the West. It continues to explore the use of various garden structures (arbors, decks, fences, fireplaces, gazebos, kitchens, paths, patios, steps, walls, etc) and garden plants (trees, shrubs, vines, perennials, annuals, bulbs, herbs, fruits and vegetables, ornamental grasses, wild flowers, and succulents, etc) in landscaping. It also discusses finishing touches (lighting, containers, birdhouses, garden art, water features, etc), regional problems and solutions, materials and techniques, and landscape plans.

I like the color landscape plans in "Sunset Western Landscaping Book." I can tell Fiona Gilsenan and Kathleen Norris Brenzel and their team put in a lot of effort in creating and selecting the plans. They also have good, professionally trained eyes. The colors of the plans are harmonious and pleasant. They can be used as good samples for selecting colors for landscape presentation plans.

"Sunset Western Landscaping Book" has 416 pages and many color interior photographs. It is a fine companion to "Sunset Western Garden Book" and a must-have for personal, professional, academic, and community library Gardening & Landscaping reference collections.