Product Description
A renowned scholar on the Gospel of Mark, Rhoads utilizes a variety of methods to plumb the depths of this earliest story of Jesus. From new forms of literary criticism, social-scientific explorations, and reader-response criticism, Rhoads brings fresh insights to Gospel studies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Reading Mark, the narative
interesting take on how the gospel is written in its time as a drama would be today to capture the audienceof its era. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a hardcover set that helps readers understand the historical and cultural background of the books of the New Testament. Brimming with lavish, full color photos and graphics, each book will walk you verse by verse through the books of the New Testament. ... Read more

Product Description
This new European edition of the best-selling US text offers clear and practical coverage of financial markets and corporate strategy, across the current international context. Features of this edition include: increased mathematical rigour and new mathematical appendices; coverage of European institutions, markets and systems; and, discussion and comparision of international markets and global capital markets. European and international examples provided throughout the book, anchoring the theory to real-world practice ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Countless of typos..
I won't touch almost all of the topics in the other posts of this rating (they are almost all 100% correct)... but one.

The amount of typos and other mistakes in this text is appalling. I don't think the authors did any of the customization on the European edition. This has got to be the (embarrassing) work of one of their (most untalented) students..

and it's boring...

gave it +1 star - it's got the perfect dimensions as a door stopper.

Good Material But Pretty Dry
Not a book for the casual reader or the beginner.It's a great reference for advanced corporate finance but it's a little difficult to understand.

Good for shelf reference, bad for class
I bought this for a corporate financial policy at the Ross School of Business (Michigan).I read through the assigned chapters during the first couple of classes, but a lot of it was directly overlapping what we talked about in class.It is a good book with easy to understand explanations.If the choice was to use it as a shelf reference it is definitely a buy. I know I will use it after I graduate at my next job.However, if the purpose is just to read it for class and you have a good professor or strong grasp on the material, it is just extra money down the drain.

Complete Waste of Time
I rarely write reviews, but feel compelled to do so with this book so that I might prevent other people from wasting their time as I have. A lot of people have criticised this book for its lack of more sophisticated material. Putting that aside, the book is very poor on the things it does cover.

This book is written in a very confusing style. There is no didactic elegance and it is hard to acquire a clear understanding of the subject matter. The writers seem to assume that their readers have no understanding of statistics. Consequently, they present results without proofs or even solid mathematical intution. The net result is that the reader is left utterly confused.

Regardless of your grasp of maths, this book will leave you confused. Stay away.

Unnecessarily Complex
Author devotes 2 pages to mathematically prove & philosophically justify that a manager should chose the highest NPV project before chosing the next highest NPV project.Such logic continues ad infinitum throughout the 800+ page text.Time for 3rd Ed. ... Read more

Product Description

Interested in iPhone development? Want to learn more? Whether you’re a self-taught iPhone development genius or have just made your way through the pages of Beginning iPhone 3 Development, we have the perfect book for you.

Customer Reviews (17)

A Solid Book with a few flaws
I have been searching for a quality iPhone Development book for beginners. There are lots of books on iPhone development available, but it is VERY difficult to find something for real beginners. Obective-C is not HTML and it takes real effort to understand iPhone development. To that end, this book has been somewhat helpful. It does build gradually, introducing more and more complex tasks and does a pretty good job of explaining it along the way. The problem I found is that some of the exercises are spot on and work perfectly, while others fall flat and there is no life boat. The forum associated with the book is active but dated and responses spotty. I think the problem here is that the pace of development is so rapid with the iPhone (iOS3 last year, iOS4 this year) that the authors are so busy writing the next book that they don't have time to assist with the current edition and the editors are not checking the code carefully enough before hitting the print button on the presses.

As readers we are anxious to devour good material in order to learn, but the bane of many software books is that the code is not checked as well as the grammar and we are left to work through it or give up. This is a solid book and helpful in many ways, but there are a few flaws that can trip you up. Apress should pay a little more attention to making sure all the code works!

it worth the pain
it worth the painreally a book to get deeper in the world of iphone programing

The aPress iPhone 3 Dev book series is fantastic
This is the 3rd book that I have purchased from the Dave Mark & Jeff LaMarche series. One of the best series. If you are serious about wanting to develop for the iOS platform, these books are high value as instructional tools *and* references. Combine it with a book on Cocoa Programming (Hillegass for example) and you should be off to the races.

Don't forget to use the associated website for even more value.

And always great service, timely delivery, and competitive pricing from Amazon.

A worthy Sequel
This is truly a worthy sequel to "Beginning iPhone Development" and a must have for your iPhone development library. The book has a nice writing style that is very approachable. I just had the pleasure of meeting the authors at WWDC 2010. These are dedicated talented guys doing great work.

I especially like the coverage of Core Data and Networking (Bonjour). There are a never ending array of topics subsystems in iPhone development. This book does an excellent job of covering a number of them. It will help you move to the next level.

Great job!

DJK

Kind of Disappointed
I am huge fan of Apress and both of the authors who contributed to this book.I read" Beginning iPhone 3 Development" which is a reference I go to regularly.All that being said I must say this. I am not trying to be the one person who rates a book poorly without a valid reason.I was very interested in this book because of the Core Data section.While working through the book I noticed numerous bugs and contacted the author.I did get a response which said they had been having numerous problems.I was told that I would get a response and the error would be fixed.Well it is months later, have not received a follow up email (I understand people are busy but I did send a quick follow up with no response), have tested the updated code and the bugs are not fixed and the support site has numerous comments about bugs with responses.So to make a long story short I really don't feel comfortable with Core Data.I did learn a lot about it but I would definately feel uncomfortable implementing it in an app.The second half of the book is great and goes over numerous parts of the SDK.Again I really love Apress but find it disappointing that the section on Core Data had problems and the development community has been left without a solution.If you are looking for a book on Core Data I would not recommend this book.If you are interested in exploring parts of the SDK that are covered in Part II, I highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Product Description
When you’ve lost everything, the only thing left is vengeance.

Invaders from another world have used demonic technology to raise an unholy conquering army of the living dead. These “necros” destroyed Jubal Slate’s home and everyone he loved. Now the only thing that matters to Slate is payback. No matter how far he has to go or how many undead warriors he must slaughter, Slate and his motley band of followers will stop at nothing to end the reign of the aliens.
... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1980, the first edition of THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE PSYCHIC, coauthored by David Marks and the late Richard Kammann, received rave reviews and quickly became a benchmark for skeptical analysis of the field of parapsychology.

This edition, completely updated and expanded by David Marks, is a thorough refutation of the claims of serious parapsychologists such as Russell Targ, Harold Puthoff, Edwin C. May, the late Charles Honorton, Rupert Sheldrake, and Jessica Utts, including exciting new material concerning the major paranormal claims of the twentieth century.

After twenty-five years devoted to intense studies of Uri Geller, remote viewing, the ganzfeld, and other paranormal claims--and in spite of an insatiable public appetite for all things supernatural--Marks finds that the evidence for psychic phenomena hasn't changed all that much, nor has its credibility.

Included in this fascinating book is a discussion of why so many people today are prone to accept the reality of psychic phenomena, astrology, UFOs, palmistry, biorhythms, dowsing, and other popular beliefs.Not just a book for professionals in the social sciences, this second edition of THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE PSYCHIC will appeal to anyone interested in the investigation of psychic claims. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

My site contains better arguments
Dear all,
Don't be fooled by the one-sidedness of books like this.To hear the best arguments presented by the supporters of Parapsychology, check out my acclaimed article "Debunking Pseudo-Skeptical Arguments Against Paranormal and Psychic Phenomena" which refutes 30 of these pseudo-skeptics' claims point-by-point with reason, logic, and facts.[...]
Hope it helps all you truth seekers out there.

Regards,
Winston

"You'll find what you desire"
I agree with the reviewer who called it a "bogus treatise." I read this book after personally witnessing a remote viewing experiment (documented on my website). I did not read the whole book, only chapters 1-7 and 16 (I wasn't interested in debunking Uri Geller). Chapter 3 begins with a Robert Browning quote "...you'll find what you desire", I assume targeted at "believers" in the paranormal. But it equally applies to the authors. In their "replication" of Targ's remote viewing experiments the authors selected as the viewers a few students and a housewife who "believed themselves to be psychic to some degree." Of course, they did not believe in the existence of the phenomena they were testing -- otherwise they might have allowed themselves to make the assumption that it might require someone who practices. If you were testing "exceptional athletic abilities" would you select a subject who played softball once a year and "believed he was athletic to some degree" or would you select a professional athlete?For remote viewing, you could select members of the Hawaii Remote Viewers' Guild, for example.Their intent was not to study the phenomena using an open-minded scientific approach, but to "debunk" it - in the typical sarcastic style.

A Bogus Treatise
Like most skeptics, Kammann and Marks pretend objectivity, when their real mission is to debunk every aspect of the field of parapsychology. For instance, they have zero belief on any level in the possibility of such things as telepathy and remote viewing. For them, it is not possible, so they set out to simply prove this assumption. Yet, simple physics allows for the possibility of some form of thought transference. Just as energy in the form of thoughts transfers from one part of the brain to another part via the neurotransmitters, why wouldn't it be possible for the corresponding molecular frequency to be picked up by another brain? The evidence for telepathy between twins or during dreams is overwhelming, but they ignore it all. See, for instance, Dream Telepathy by Ulmann, Krippner and Vaughan. So, in their attempts to pretend objectivity, Marks and Kammann really set out with the key goal of trying to debunk Uri Geller. They use as their proofphotographs that are so blurred that it is impossible to see what the photographs are of, yet these, they assert "prove" that Geller is a fake. It is shameful. Try reading Charles Panati's The Geller Papers if you want the truth about how Mr. Geller did in physics laboratories across the globe.The problem with these types of skeptics is that they live in the mutual admiration society world without realizing that they are not true skeptics but rather narrow thinkers who wall off any chance of discovering anything of value by chanting Groucho Marx' famous credo: "What ever it is, I'm against it!"

Very informative and funny too
I agree with another reviewer that this book is useful even for the staunch believer in ESP. It is a very entertaining reading which is not often the case (I found Martin Gardner`s books rather boring and sometimes arrogant). The two authors are never arrogant. I particularly loved the last chapters that show how common "non-scientific" thinking is among said scientific communities. He gives some examples then concerning psychiatry and medicine. If you remember the Uri Geller craze you will enjoy the opening chapters also.

A critical look at psychic phenomena and human nature
If you're a firm believer in psychic abilities, you may find this book's skeptical stance to be a little disheartening.Read it anyway!It's loaded with useful and fascinating information.

Psychology of the Psychic is a fair and honest look at mentalists, psychics, clairvoyants, "spoonbenders", and others who claim paranormal talents.

Of particular interest to me were the techniques that showmen and charlatans use to convince others of their abilities, and how those techniques may be inadvertently used by those who believe they have experienced psychic phenomena.

If you're a believer, this book will allow you to separate the wheat from the chaff, and identify the outright frauds.

If you're a non-believer, this book will show you why so many people have faith in the paranormal, and will give you lots of ammunition when Aunt Bertha tells you about the marvelous new psychic she's been consulting (and handing over her checkbook to).

A terrific, thorough book, with solid research presented in an easy-to-read and enjoyable manner. ... Read more

Product Description

General editor Lloyd J. Ogilvie brings together a team of skilled and exceptional communicators to blend sound scholarship with life-related illustrations.

The design for the Preacher's Commentary gives the reader an overall outline of each book of the Bible. Following the introduction, which reveals the author's approach and salient background on the book, each chapter of the commentary provides the Scripture to be exposited. The New King James Bible has been chosen for the Preacher's Commentary because it combines with integrity the beauty of language, underlying Hebrew and Greek textual basis, and thought-flow of the 1611 King James Version, while replacing obsolete verb forms and other archaisms with their everyday contemporary counterparts for greater readability. Reverence for God is preserved in the capitalization of all pronouns referring to the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit. Readers who are more comfortable with another translation can readily find the parallel passage by means of the chapter and verse reference at the end of each passage being exposited. The paragraphs of exposition combine fresh insights to the Scripture, application, rich illustrative material, and innovative ways of utilizing the vibrant truth for his or her own life and for the challenge of communicating it with vigor and vitality.

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

The Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Afr
I am writing in response to the one review by a reader from Staten Island. As I have read the previous editions of this book and several books by these authors I'm a bit upset with the review that is displayed... Especially since it is a review for the WRONG BOOK. Azzie Layachi which the reviewer cites as being "absent minded" IS NOT one of the authors of this book. Please take care to make sure reviews are correct and correspond to the book that is actually in review. Such negligence gives wrongful insight to others looking to purchase this book. Both Reich and Long are well know for their expertise, and their books have long been used in academia. For others to see a one star review due to the carelessness of one reader is unfortunate and unacceptable. (please note the four star review is from reading the previous editions- I have not yet read this one but it was on route to purchasing that I stumbled upon said incorrect review.)

Layachi is at is again!
This book is an updated version of a previously released book which I already rated as completely awful. I totaly dislike thsi book for many reasons, I feel Layachi is trying to push an agenda through thsi book. It is dry and boring, It serves no other use that to be used to hold a door in St. John's University Hallway open. Brought to you from the absent minded professor Azzie Layachi, a man that can't teach Poli Sci to say the least, but publishes books that are better used for toliet paper. Like in the previous editions he rambles for chapters about north Africa and how the US is treating it, well Mr. Layachi ask yourself what can I do to improve my books (and teaching) instead of lashing out with your anti-US sentiment. I think we should give up before the next 5th Edition comes into the works? I say get a refrence book on the region it will serve you better. ... Read more

Product Description
Mark Twain's unsettling imagination and passionate curiosity roamed far and wide—racing across microscopic worlds and interstellar voids, leaping ahead to fearful futures, and speculating on dazzling inventions to come. Tales of Wonder features some of the most notable but little-known science fiction available, penned by the famed American humorist and writer. With characteristic wit and acuity, Twain embarks on an epic journey into a drop of water, catches a glimpse of an invisible man, reveals a generation-starship-type world in the heart of a drifting iceberg, and imagines futuristic devices of instantaneous communication such as the "phrenophone" and "telelectroscope."

Twain pioneered the use of time travel to the past in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. As for the future, he envisioned a radical utopia of absolute suffrage and future histories in which a global theocracy holds sway or a monarchy rules America. This entertaining and absorbing collection of tales reminds us that the former steamboat pilot dreamed about the stars, anticipated and dreaded the future, and above all was continually surprised and enchanted by the world around him.

Mark Twain (1835–1910) was the author of such classics as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as well as many short stories, including those appearing in the recent collection, How Nancy Jackson Married Kate Wilson and Other Tales of Rebellious Girls and Daring Young Women (Nebraska 2001). David Ketterer is an emeritus professor of English at Concordia University in Montreal and an honorary research fellow in the Department of English at the University of Liverpool. He is the author of numerous books, including Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy and Imprisoned in a Tesseract: The Life and Work of James Blish. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A real surprise for me
I knew Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, but that was all I would have associated with Mark Twain and Science Fiction. Then this book, from the wonderful Bison Frontiers of Imagination series, caught my eye. I try to purchase any of the Bison books that are available inexpensively and seem interesting.

Anyway, combine predictions of future Utopias (think H.G. Wells) with Twain's populism and wit, add in some extrapolated technologies (a la Verne), and you have the beginnings of a picture. This is actually the second reminder than Twain is far more than Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, and the riverboat captain. While I was living in Hawaii I had the good fortune to see mention of Twain's visit and read the wonderful Mark Twain in Hawaii. ... Read more

Product Description
Mark Twain's unsettling imagination and passionate curiosity roamed far and wide—racing across microscopic worlds and interstellar voids, leaping ahead to fearful futures, and speculating on dazzling inventions to come. Tales of Wonder features some of the most notable but little-known science fiction available, penned by the famed American humorist and writer. With characteristic wit and acuity, Twain embarks on an epic journey into a drop of water, catches a glimpse of an invisible man, reveals a generation-starship-type world in the heart of a drifting iceberg, and imagines futuristic devices of instantaneous communication such as the "phrenophone" and "telelectroscope."

Twain pioneered the use of time travel to the past in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. As for the future, he envisioned a radical utopia of absolute suffrage and future histories in which a global theocracy holds sway or a monarchy rules America. This entertaining and absorbing collection of tales reminds us that the former steamboat pilot dreamed about the stars, anticipated and dreaded the future, and above all was continually surprised and enchanted by the world around him.

Mark Twain (1835–1910) was the author of such classics as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as well as many short stories, including those appearing in the recent collection, How Nancy Jackson Married Kate Wilson and Other Tales of Rebellious Girls and Daring Young Women (Nebraska 2001). David Ketterer is an emeritus professor of English at Concordia University in Montreal and an honorary research fellow in the Department of English at the University of Liverpool. He is the author of numerous books, including Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy and Imprisoned in a Tesseract: The Life and Work of James Blish. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A real surprise for me
I knew Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, but that was all I would have associated with Mark Twain and Science Fiction. Then this book, from the wonderful Bison Frontiers of Imagination series, caught my eye. I try to purchase any of the Bison books that are available inexpensively and seem interesting.

Anyway, combine predictions of future Utopias (think H.G. Wells) with Twain's populism and wit, add in some extrapolated technologies (a la Verne), and you have the beginnings of a picture. This is actually the second reminder than Twain is far more than Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, and the riverboat captain. While I was living in Hawaii I had the good fortune to see mention of Twain's visit and read the wonderful Mark Twain in Hawaii. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (12)

A sanity-saver and phenomenal reference
I've recently been transitioning from WinCE and Linux driver to Vista/Win7 drivers and middleware, and while there's a ton of information online chasing down accurate data when you have a deadline can be fairly daunting.

I'd heard good buzz about this book so I hit Amazon and grabbed a copy. And, after having it next to my workstation for 2 weeks, I can say that in my opinion this is the best-organized, most complete, and accessible book on Windows internals and architecture I've ever found.I have yet to run into an issue in my real-world work that I couldn't get some insight on in this book, typically inside a few minutes.For someone in the trenches as a contractor, where I never know what kind of curve I'll get thrown, this book is worth it's weight in Tums.. erm.. gold.

The only thing I'd wish for is more info on the Windows Driver Framework, but that's an entire book on it's own, I guess, and this thing is already hefty enough.

Great book - must have for all Windows Pro's!
Got my personal copy after reading book online and in a library. This is a "must have" book for anybody, who wants to become the Windows "Pro".

A gift from the software gods
The authors have taken an extremely complex subject and cut it up into little bit-size pieces. Laid out, a huge, complex system is there to take in as small chunks of manageable topics.

The authors know their subject, and don't try to impress you with their knowledge. Also, they are unbiased about the topic. No operating system is perfect, but after reading the book, at least you'll know why things don't work properly. (For example, why does the OS hang if you put in a blank DVD?)

There is an awful lot of meat in this book. Some topics you'll want to skip, some you'll want to memorize: but it will put you at the front of the pack, because so much of what you learn is vital to being the best IT professional you can be.

Excellent, just excellent.

must read for all windows professional
I am a C++ programmer on windows. Seriously this is a must read book.
If you want to be a master on windows, you should read this book.

Amazing Reference
The knowledge contained in this book is staggering. If you want a complete understanding of any component of Windows there is no better reference.Every Windows programmer should have this book on their bookshelf. ... Read more

Product Description
"Mark is good-natured. He finds the best in most things. To explain more would be too much. These are just pictures that Mark can do." Photographer David Bailey is famously a bit more mercurial than the assistant of his title--a massive social force in the 1960s world of Twiggy, Catherine Deneuve, the Beatles and the Who, and a model for the lead in Blow Up. But while he is a master in his medium, he readily accepts that photography is technologically-driven and democratic, and that many family compositions have been taken millions of times, varying only in the identities of their subjects. Bailey also takes such snapshots, images with unusual ease and freedom for him but unusual weight for their ilk. In compiling them, he observed that they seem so easy that even Mark, his assistant, could make them, and the quip became his title. Which is not to say that he doesn't value these photos very highly: Asked to name his best picture in a recent interview, he answered, "Snaps of my kids." ... Read more

Product Description
This book, Engineering Our Digital Future, plus a broad spectrum of supplemental materials, classroom technology, and a comprehensive instructor training program—work in concert to motivate users to learn about the infinite possibilities of technology and engineering in today's world. Developed by a national team led by Southern Methodist University and Texas Instruments, this book is the first of its kind in the country.Chapter topics include:The World of Modern Engineering; Creating Digital Music; Making Digital Images; Math You Can See; Digitizing the World; Coding Information for Storage and Secrecy; Communicating with Ones and Zeros; Networks from the Telegraph to the Internet; and The Big Picture.A new outlook into the possibilities of technology and engineering for beginner engineers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent book
I think it is a great book.DSP education has suffered by not having this level of material presented and understood before diving into the blizzard of equations that characterises most peoples first exposure to DSP education.Also, its goal of reaching high school students is filling the need of providing a basic literacy in the digital nature of daily life that is sorely needed.

The presentation is clear.It uses aspects of technology that touch peoples lives, so they aren't remote or unapproachable.I think it is very positive in promoting electronics as an area where females as well as males can be comfortable participating.The topic areas were selected to peak interest, the first step toward learning.And although the book intended to lay basic groundwork, it does it with a clear eye toward paving the way to more advanced investigations, and strikes good compromises about the depth to go into, so that introductions are made to techniques that will be major themes in later study.

It is also an attractive book.It is colorful and inviting.

I disagree with another reviewer that it is has hype for engineering.It is compelling and elicits enthusiasm.How can that be a flaw in a textbook?!

Interesting Approach
This book is the outcome of a collaboration called "The Infinity Project" between Southern Methodist University, the government and Texas Instruments. It is intended to be an interesting introduction to current leading-edge digital technologies. For vehicles it uses digital music (a digital band), digital images (acquiring an image, and a robot eye), digital multimedia records (a digital yearbook and a digital backpack, or personal data assistant), digital transmission, and network design. There is a web site at http://www.infinity-project.org/.

The strong point of this collection of projects is its design orientation. It begins with a distinction between scientists (creators of explanation) and engineers (creators of solutions for needs). It presents math and physics just-in-time, as parts of design problems and illustrates (with fair success) a common paradigm for pursuing such problems.

Weak points of the collection are wordiness, some repetition, and a lack of justification or qualification of some general remarks. For example, a "nine-step" design algorithm is proposed with inadequate development or discussion.

Excessive enthusiasm leads to some annoying hype to support engineering. An example of the book's myopia regarding creativity is a discussion of a design problem to "create a digital system that can produce award-winning movies from scratch by simply using a few suggestive keywords typed in by a user". This project sees creativity in the design of the system, but not in creating a movie -all you have to do is "paint by numbers" using a huge inventory of snipets. Other professions also may feel minimized.

Overall, the book provides a nice feel for engineering, and for the use of math in solving engineering problems. It clearly shows the inquiring nature of creativity and the extension of common sense to penetrate complex issues. The ideas of constraints and trade-offs are made clear.

This book appears aimed at precocious high-school students or at first-year engineering courses either forengineers or for those that want a flavor of what engineering is. The authors have not explicitly stated their target audience, but the infinity web site suggests "high school and early college engineering curriculum". ... Read more

Product Description
With his phenomenal photographs of the five great predators of the African bush—lions, cheetahs, leopards, hyenas, and crocodiles—Mark Ross takes the reader on a wild safari. He shares his unparalleled knowledge and in-depth insight into the morphology, behaviors, daily activities, and livelihoods of the large carnivores that prowl the plains, woodlands, and rivers of Africa.

Along with a removable, fold-out guide containing a predator “cheat sheet” of various traits and statistics as well as tips on how to best observe and photograph the animals, Predator overflows with information that both enlightens the reader and dispels popular misconceptions. Compelling and sometimes violent, Ross’s text and images capture the true life-and-death scenarios that are played out every day against the backdrop of the magnificent African landscape. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Best photos ever!
This book was very informative about what to bring and expect on a safari. So much so that we went on a African Safari with the author Mark Ross this past summer. It was the trip of a lifetime and Mark Ross is brillant. It was truly the best trip ever.

Masterpiece
Normally books on African predators are full of pictures with little text or the reverse. This book contains an excellent balance of both, wonderful photographs illustrating a very interestingly written text. I was very struck with the quality of the writing and how easy it was to navigate the book.
I was also pleased that the author is so knowledgeable about the habits of these animals, that he was able to debunk some of the more popular myths about the species.
The photography was first rate.... I was extermely pleased with my acquisition.

informative book with great pictures
I originally purchased this book after skimming it in a store (the pictures sold me). However, after reading it I think it's likely one of the best books out there about African predators and would be really useful if one is planning a safari in Africa.The book is geared towards someone that is going on safari as it covers many aspects of the animal; all of which help to give the observer a better understanding of what they are seeing.Despite this leaning towards future observers the book would be interesting to anyone that is fascinated by the animals featured in it (leopards, cheetahs, lions, hyenas, and crocodiles).If you are like me and watch every show on TV about African predators (that was made within the last 7 years) then the book probably does not contain much that you have not heard before, but if you only have seen a few shows or done a little bit of reading then the book will contain some new information.If you are an African predator junkie then the pictures alone will make the purchase worth it.I also have to mention how well the book is organized and written.It's starts off with a typical day/s for the animal then goes into some of the biology and anatomy and then goes into behavior of the animal; all of which is very useful in understanding the animal and even more so if you are going to observe the animal in the wild.Also, in the reading useful tips are made about how to find and identify the predators.I only have two complaints. First, there is nothing about the African wild dog.I am assuming that this is due to their rarity and most people do not encounter them on safari.Second, I would like the book to have been longer (it's about 205 pages), but being realistic the book is a great deal (I would have easily paid over $40 for it) and if it wasn't such a good book 200 pages would have been way more than enough.

Overall, I don't think National Geographic could have done a better job.If you want an informative book that is realistic and contains some great realistic photos get this book.If you don't care about the reading and you want a book that just has pictures of the major African animals then consider "On This Earth: Photographs from East Africa" by Nick Brandt (I've looked at and liked both but bought "Predator....").

Another great read.
A great book for all to read who have either been or considering doing a safari in Africa.
I have made 2 trips to Africa, 8 weeks each time and found this book informative, you learn things you never actually stopped to notice or even think about!
Enjoy the read! ... Read more

Product Description
The first retrospective look at the work of a master with exclusive art and interviews! Best known for his work on Ghost Rider, The Black Panther, MoonKnight, and Vampirella, Mark Texeira is famed for his remarkable oil paintings, illustrations, and talent for storytelling. The Art of Mark Texeira explores the development of this renowned artist, from his tough inner-city youth, to his inspiring junior high art teacher, to his days at Manhattan's Art and Design High, to his years of study with Max Ginsburg, Irwin Greenberg, and David Leffel, and beyond. More than 150 images showcase Texeira's work in movies, albums, books, comics, and more. Dynamic and powerful, Texeira's art leaps from the pages of this first retrospective, packed with never-before-seen art and interviews with the artist himself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A glimpse of his best work...

Looking at the thumbnails on the last pages we can find around 10 pieces of work which should have been included throughout the book, and I'm sure those are not the only ones. What a shame.


SPECIFICS:
Page Count: 128
Number of images: 115
Small images: 30
Half page images: 34
Full page images: 49
2-page spreads: 2
BW images: 52

TEXT:
Next are the chapter's names and an estimated number of pages with text for each one. The text is often accompanied by small images:

About Mark Texeira: 3 pages
The portrait of an artist: 14 pages
Tex's got your comics: 20 pages
Art tips from Tex: 7 pages
Ode to the age of benefactors: 10 pages
The great escape: 6 pages
Partial list of work: 8 pages
About the authors: 1 page

There are also 2 pages with Photographs

ART:
5 images: 5 stars
33 images: 4 stars
68 images: 3 stars
9 images: 2 stars
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Overall:3Stars

Not impressed by the artwork in this book
Wow. I'm glad that I saw this book in a Barnes and Nobles BEFORE buying it on-line. Most of the artwork in this book is really poor. I'm no grand artist but man, the artwork in here just sucks. Mark's had some cool gems in his artistic career but if this book represents the "best of the best" then I'm really disappointed. ... Read more

Product Description

Experts survey the new media landscape and explore specificways in which Christians can expand their ministry effectivenessand advance their worldview with discernment and grace.

A recent Pew Study reports that only 2% of America's twelvemillion bloggers claim "religion, spirituality or faith" as theirmain topic. This leaves a great mission field in cyberspace, saycontributors to The New Media Frontier, because the latestforms of communication present so many opportunities to promote thecause of Christ in other topics and fields. Before blindlyjumping in, however, Christians need to weigh the possibilitiesagainst the consequences, and then proceed with the practicaldiscernment and grace this book provides.

With a foreword by national radio host Hugh Hewitt-who has beenat the forefront of the new media movement among Christians-editorsRoger Overton and John Mark Reynolds (along with an impressive listof other new media experts) survey the current landscape andexplore specific areas in which God's people can creatively expandtheir reach to a lost world. By stressing the urgency for Christianinvolvement, unearthing the dangers, and advising readers on how touse this media with different audiences, this book equips believersto advance, demonstrate, and utilize the Christian worldview inthis exciting realm.

Customer Reviews (13)

Christian ministry and new media
In October 2005 the first annual GodBlogCon conference (now called the Christian Web Conference) was held at Biola University, a gathering for Christian bloggers and other participants various forms of new media ministry. Out of that conference came this book, which contains chapters contributed by a number of different bloggers.

The topics covered range from how to start a blog, audio podcast or video podcast, to blogging on particular topics such as theology, apologetics, academic subjects, politics, bioethics and social justice. Chapters I found of particular interest included David Wayne's chapter on theological blogging, Fred Sanders's chapter on academics and new media, Jason Baker's chapter on virtual classrooms, and Stephen Shields's chapter on social justice, social relief and new media.

I usually try to avoid books which contain chapters contributed by different authors because I tend to get bogged down by the variability of content and themes within the book. This book was no exception, and it took me a long time to get through it. Although I am very interested in blogging and vlogging, most of the content failed to capture my imagination. I found Brian Bailey's "The Blogging Church" much more helpful.

Five stars for what it is, but only two for what I expected it to be
This is a very BASIC book.If you have experience at all with teh interwebz, you will not learn much new.Nonetheless, there are some insights, both good and poor, that are springboards for discussion.I will be using this book as part of a presentation on Christians and Social Networking and will will those insights of both categories as talking points.What I disliked was the constant assumption that "in person" is inherently better than the electronic medium.Have we ever met the Apostle Paul?Perhaps it is my sensitivity to the self-righteous attitude of some Christians to internet fellowship as second-class, but that tone left a bad taste in my mouth.Maybe I am just used to be being on the bleeding edge, but I find it somewhat hard to believe that the Christian community is so Luddite that such a basic book is necessary.And the Amish don't care about new media.

The New Media Frontier - a good primer
The New media Frontier serves both as a primer on the use of internet technology for churches and ministry, but also as a collection of thoughts looking to the present and future to discuss ways in which churches, ministries, and missions have been and will be shaped by the use of technology.

The first section of the book focuses on the `primer' element.The contributors offer overview and reflections on `new media' and the church, as well as beginner's guides to using blogs and other web technologies (video, podcasts, etc.) in a ministry setting.Much of this basic information was presented with few assumptions, and for those who aren't tech-savvy it could be a great resource to understand the "hows and whys" of new technology and media.

The discussions in the second half move beyond the basics into discussions of how new media has, can, and will affect churches, pastors, and ministries in the coming years.These chapters range from discussions of `cyber communities' centered around blogs, using new media in teaching situations, seeing Facebook as a tool for pastoral counseling, and how new media will shape the church's forays into issues like bioethics and social justice.

I appreciated the discussion that is represented in The New Media Frontier.It felt odd to read these thoughts on pages, because so many of them seemed like conversations that would be at home on blogs and websites - and many of them probably started out that way.In this sense, the book represents a particular moment in time - a moment when many churches have begun to consider how technology affects their ministry but have not yet fully embrace the opportunities provided by new media.This book can be a great resource for those who have yet to commit to the possibilities presented by new technologies and a launching point for conversations about how they will allow the new media frontier to shape the future of their ministries.

A Guide To The New Media For The Church
Is it possible to communicate the fullness of the ever changing, ever expansive category of "New Media", using a book? That is just what John Mark Reynalds & Roger Overton attempt to do, as they bring together some of the best voices from the Christian movement in New Media. The results are a fascinating and informative book, that for now is a complete and relevant guide to the things Christian media creators should know and should care about.

The book is written by a team of well-researched writers, who speak from experience. It begins especially well, and explains the history and the relevancy of the New Media from a Judeo-Christian worldview. From there it continues to build the case for Christians to learn to use the new forums of communication now open to us.

The points it raises are fascinating, and to the point. Each question is handled well, and nothing is simply dismissed or glossed over.
It explains why Christians should err on the side of liberty when it comes to the new media, and at the same time explores the pitfalls and weaknesses in the New Media movement.
The communication style of each writer is easy to read, but very well researched and full of information. I found myself highlighting and marking sections of the book to come back to. There possibly couldn't be a better resource available for the Christian interested and/or involved in producing for a new generation highly attuned to the ever changing world of media. The author brings out this quote that; "as long as Liberty prevails, a chance for more entrepreneurial activity in information distribution will exist."
The incredible tools that the New Media bring to the table will need to be defended, for freedoms sake. True Christianity has and will do well under the microscope of free information access.

If you are new to the realm of online media and blogging, this is a great start, but without mentioning up and coming and widely popular twitter and spending so much time on the awful Youtube, rather than the more relevant and high quality sites for video available [...]I wonder how long this book will last before needing to be republished?
Of course that is the point... Technology changes, and the old media can only take the church so far before we are irrelevant.

I work in producing media that falls into both the old media and new media categories, and I found this book to be extremely relevant to the questions I had in trying to navigate the expansive waters of the internet revolutions aftermath. Great discussions will come from reading this book, and I imagine most of them will be communicated, like this review, via the New Media.

Shepherd Ahlers
Intern, City on a Hill Productions

A what, why and how book of leveraging online media for the Gospel
The New Media Frontier is an amazing book for anyone that realizes the millions of people that are far from God that won't be reached by "traditional" methods of sharing the Gospel. As well as those wanting to utilize social media/ blogging / podcasting / twitter to grow people outside the 4 walls of the church. This book not only shares the why we should use online media for reaching out, but also shares alot of the how to aspects as well. I would say that I am an above average techy kinda guy, and I was surprised at how much I gleaned from the writers. It was a great surprise when I was half way though the book and read a chapter by Rhett Smith, a great guy I met at the Echo conference in Dallas last month. All in all I would say this book is a must have for anyone that is wanting to extend their reach ! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (5)

A Tough Read
Graham Chapman was a talented, funny, complex man who had his demons. That's why I thought his autobiography (along with four co-authors) would provide some additional insight into the man. It did but at quite a cost. Parts of it are written in a Python-esque manner where the reader feels as if he is reading a script for a MP episode: footnotes, footnotes for the footnotes........tedious, to say the least.

If you're looking for an informative but tiring read, I highly recommend this book.

intercourse the penguin!
when i bid on the book from a dude from england on ebay, i thought i knew exactly what the book was gonna be about. well, i learned a lot more about my 2nd fave python (1st is eric idle) than i thought i would. i learned a lot about graham from watching monty python several times over the years, reading short biographies on websites, and seeing a few other movies he has appeared in. when i read this book, i learned a lot more about him than i ever could from watching him and reading facts about him that people have gathered, and that is learning about how he truely felt throughout the more difficult times of his life. with all the information i learned about the late graham chapman, what i knew before was only a small fraction of what i know today. this book is the best book i have ever read, and i actually got really into it too, and im not a big fan of reading. this book was hard for me to put down, and graham chapman is surely one of the greatest people in my eyes. like he once said before, "i hope i have achieved something lasting." this book is so great, and you wont regret purchasing it. i highly recomend it.

For Monty Python fans
Having just finished A Liar's Autobiography by Graham Chapman, I can tell you that Monty Python fans will love it. Not only did it offer humerous accounts of the author's life before Python, but it was often very touching as well. We learn about Chapman's journey through medical school and his struggle with drugs and alcohol, as well as his realization and acceptance of his homosexuality. The reader will also learn about his family, friends, travel experiences and good times during the many Monty Python tours, films and television episodes. Enjoy!

adds new meaning to the term 'splunge'
Obviously, Monty Python fans will want to read it, but aside from that, this is one of the most entertaining biographies I've read. Although the least successful of the Pythons in terms of solo career, Chapman may well have had the most interesting life - doctor, homosexual, alcoholic, mountaineer. By turns hilarious, angry, sad, and very silly.

The True Python
The title of this highly amusing book is both informative and misleading. Informative firstly because the "liar" part refers to Chapman tendency to drift of into fantasy land and relate stories from Bigglesbooks and other bizarre episodes as if they were part of his life. Misleading secondly because usually autobiographies are written by thesubject - whereas for this one much of the writing was done by three otherswith the occasional footnote by the author (if that makes any sense).Butthat aside this is a highly enjoyable read as well as being painfullypoignant and also thought-provoking.There is little doubt that Chapmanwas one of the great comic geniuses of our time, and this is a book thatwell represents his playful insanity. ... Read more

Product Description
National parks like Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Glacier preserve some of this country's most cherished wilderness landscapes. While visions of pristine, uninhabited nature led to the creation of these parks, they also inspired policies of Indian removal. By contrasting the native histories of these places with the links between Indian policy developments and preservationist efforts, this work examines the complex origins of the national parks and the troubling consequences of the American wilderness ideal. The first study to place national park history within the context of the early reservation era, it details the ways that national parks developed into one of the most important arenas of contention between native peoples and non-Indians in the twentieth century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A depressing perspective on the history of US national parks
This book examines how the National Park Service removed Indians from their traditional lands while constructing the idea of "wilderness" in the national parks.This idea differs from the original idea of wilderness, which encompassed vast spaces inhabited by both Indians and wildlife.Once white Americans came to think of "wilderness" as "devoid of people," the Indians had to go.

Spence demonstrates this claim with respect to three parks, Glacier, Yellowstone, and Yosemite.Yosemite poses an interesting contrast to the other two, in that Native Americans continued to live in the Valley until the end of 1996 - - though most were gone several decades before then.By having some variation in the cases, Spence gets more leverage out of this story than Philip Burnham's "Indian Country, God's Country," though Burnham covers more tribes and parks.

By grounding the story in a larger narrative about the conception of wilderness, Spence also makes this story *matter* in ways that Burnham does not - - Burnham's book became a familiar litany of injustices, while Spence's makes sense of the injustices beyond simply complaining about them.This gives him a stronger foundation on which to think about issues that Burnham struggles with, such as finding alternative roles for indigenous people in protected areas in developing countries, or the role of Native Alaskans in Alaskan national parks and preserves.

I've spent much of this review contrasting Spence with Burnham because they cover overlapping ground and appeared at roughly the same time.Both are worth reading, but I think Spence has the stronger overall book.

Good book, good idea, but....
I like the concept of writing about the conflict with the Indians that lived in the park. The problem is the information. I am a descendent of the original Indians of Yosemite and there is a problem. The defintion "Some of them are killers" for Yosemite was fabricated in 1978 and is not the original meaning of Yosemite. The real meaning was "The Killers" or "The Grizzlies" because the Miwoks were afraid of the Ahwahnees. It was Chief Bautista and Russio, who were helping the Mariposa Battalion, who coined that term "Yosemite" for the Indians in Yosemite Valley which they were afraid to enter. It is because the Miwoks were once enemies of Chief Tenaya and the Ahwahnees. 30 years Yosemite National Park Service hired a person named Craig Bates who was married to a Miwok woman and had a 1/2 Miwok son who created that new defintion. So it is increble that ONE person changed the meaning and defintion of one of the most important and well known parks in the whold world...and no one noticed. The Miwoks were actually the scouts and guides for James Savage and the Mariposa Battalion, but you would not know it because the information was controlled by the "Indian expert" at Yosemite, which causes wrong information to be written...like the actual defintion of Yosemite.

Good book, good idea, but....
I like the concept of writing about the conflict with the Indians that lived in the park. The problem is the information. I am a descendent of the original Indians of Yosemite and there is a problem. The defintion "Some of them are killers" for Yosemite was fabricated in 1978 and is not the original meaning of Yosemite. The real meaning was "The Killers" or "The Grizzlies" because the Miwoks were afraid of the Ahwahnees. It was Chief Bautista and Russio, who were helping the Mariposa Battalion, who coined that term "Yosemite" for the Indians in Yosemite Valley which they were afraid to enter. It is because the Miwoks were once enemies of Chief Tenaya and the Ahwahnees. 30 years Yosemite National Park Service hired a person named Craig Bates who was married to a Miwok woman and had a 1/2 Miwok son who created that new defintion. So it is increble that ONE person changed the meaning and defintion of one of the most important and well known parks in the whold world...and no one noticed. The Miwoks were actually the scouts and guides for James Savage and the Mariposa Battalion, but you would not know it because the information was controlled by the "Indian expert" at Yosemite, which causes wrong information to be written...like the actual defintion of Yosemite.

Yosemite established ties with the wrong tribe.
I like the book, but Yosemite NPS DID NOT establish ties with the original Native Americans. Instead Yosemite NPS established and hired Indians who moved into the park to work in the 1900s. Yosemite mistakenly now keeps ties with Yokuts and not with the original Yosemites Indians.

They Yosemite NPS has hired a park ethnologist who we believe does not have a degree, but was married to a Miwok woman. He has been re-writing the true history of the Indian people in Yosemite. Sad, but true.

Excellent case studies, great photographs and illustrations
In Dispossessing the Wilderness, Mark Spence, an Assistant Professor of History at Knox College, Illinois, delivers a well-researched volume on a chapter of American Indian history that has gone largely unnoticed. The book tells the story of the National Park Service removing American Indians so that the landscape in each park could be more "natural and fit the common perceptions of nature. The conception of wilderness without natives was so powerful that early preservationists dismissed or ignored evidence of native use and habitation. For instance, Yellowstone National Park management of the 1870s and 1880s felt that the Native American threatened game even when government surveys revealed game numbers were on the rise.

Most national parks expelled Indians early on in their history. Yosemite proved the anomaly in NPS-tribal relations. Unlike Yellowstone and Glacier, the native populations remained long after establishment of the park. Early park management felt Yosemite Indians had a moral right to stay. Tourists expected and enjoyed viewing Indians in their "natural" state. For nearly 20 years the park gloried in its Indian past by hosting an "Indian Field Days" festival. The Indians made a living from tourists by selling their wares and working for the NPS or its concessionaires. After relative peace with the Park Service for over 50 years, the native population became a victim of the growing sentiment that creating a "natural" setting in national parks meant excluding of natives. Yosemite management effectively forced the natives to vacate their ancestral village site and move to small cabins. The NPS exercised near dictatorial control over cabin residents. When each family left, its cabin was destroyed to prevent another family from laying claim on it. In effect, relocating the Indians to the cabins was a long term-plan to wield more control over the Indians and slowly expel them in a way that would not raise a fuss among Indian advocates. The plan succeeded when the last Indian families vacated the cabins in the 1960s. Fortunately the Yosemite Indians still have a presence in the park, in the form of an Indian cultural center on the site of the former cabins.

The book relates much of the same information as Robert Keller and Michael Turek's volume American Indians and National Parks, but more succinctly and with better visual aids. Mingled with the narrative are excellent photos, illustrations and maps with thorough explanations in their captions. One such illustration fully demonstrates the bad blood that existed between the Blackfeet and Glacier National Park administrators by depicting then NPS director Horace Albright kneeling within the boundaries of the park with sharp claws extended trying to grasp the Blackfeet reservation (97).

For a volume focusing on Native Americans' relationship with NPS management, it also contains other pertinent historical information on national parks. The book's scope is narrow - it only explains Indian-white relations in Yellowstone, Glacier and Yosemite national parks. This confined breadth has its advantages in a detailed story of Native American-park management relations in each park, but may leave the reader wanting more. The book's epilogue does contain a brief summary of Indian situations in Grand Canyon National Park, Death Valley National Park, and a few parks in Alaska. For further reading on other parks, those interested will need to turn to Keller and Turek's volume as well as Indian Country, God's Country by Philip Burnham and Inhabited Wilderness, by Theodore Catton.
... Read more