Understanding 4-5 Year Olds (Understanding Your Child (Jessica Kingsley Publishers))

Product Description

What does it feel like to be 4 years old? Your 4 year old is now a very sociable person, with intense friendships, up one moment and down the next according to health and spirits, open to play-acting and nightmares. "Understanding Your 4 Year Old" deals with the dramatic developments from the fourth to the fifth birthday. Written to appeal to parents, grandparents and family friends, this book outlines the lively world of the child of four.

Book Description

soft cover
54 pages
120+ full color photographs

The book that started it all for this accomplished master in the field of scale modeling, this publication is currently in its eighth printing. This amazing book takes us into the tricks and techniques that Francois Verlinden developed himself when there were few others to look to for guidance and inspiration. The book begins by showing us that there are no true secrets to beautiful results in scale modeling, but rather careful attention to proven techniques that work. Francois is universally known in the hobby industry for his own particular style and attention to balance in color, contrasts, and highlights. Beautiful photography by the author brings his work to life in these pages, filled with well over 50 military models and dioramas of every conceivable description. An inspirational piece of work, this book belongs in the collection of every artist, modeler, and military enthusiast.

Customer Reviews:

Good for ideas.......2000-03-28

This is Verlinden's first book on dioramas, and it includes quite a lot of them. Each diorama gets, on the average, a couple of photos (the photography is top notch), and a brief description of the used kits.

Do not look for detailed building information here; the book only includes a few too short text pages at the beginning. The emphasis is on pictures, which provide plenty of ideas for your own dioramas.

The Verlinden Way Volume 1 - Military Models and Dioramas
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The Verlinden Way Volume 1 - Military Models and Dioramas
Francois Verlinden
Manufacturer: Verlinden Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J4XLHG

Book Description

Book Description

Double Down is a true story, a terrifying roller-coaster ride deep into the heart of two men, and into the world of floating Gulf Coast casinos. When both of their parents died within a short time of each other, the writers Frederick and Steven Barthelme, both professors of English in Mississippi, inherited a goodly sum of money. What followed was a binge during which they gambled away their entire fortune-and more. And then, in a cruel twist of fate, they were charged with cheating at the tables.

Told with a mixture of sadness and wry humor, and with a compelling look at the physical aura of gambling-the feel of the cards, the smell of the crowd, the sounds of the tables-Double Down is a reflection on the lure of challenging the odds, the attraction of stepping into the void. A cautionary tale (the brothers were eventually exonerated), it is a book that, once read, will never be forgotten.

Customer Reviews:

A must read!!!.......2004-10-09

Excellent! A wonderfully entertaining story, beautifully told. The only problem, I wish it had gone another 100 pages! This is one of those stories you wish someone would develop into a screenplay for a movie!
Final thoughts: BUY THIS BOOK! You wont be disappointed!

Of Nepotism and Naivete.......2004-06-06

First, the obvious: neither Barthelme brother would have cushy college-teaching jobs had not their eldest brother, Donald, been a trendy post-modernist icon. The younger brother, Steven B., has managed to publish exactly one (1) book of short stories; Rick, the larger, plumper one, has some sort of gossamer reputation among those who like trailer-park fiction. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of better writers with better qualifications who would kill and maim with gleeful abandon for jobs at Southern Mississippi -- and who would devote themselves to those jobs, and to their students, rather than run off two or three times a week to squander Daddy's money at the blackjack tables [disclaimer: the undersigned thinks she is one of those "better writers"]. That said, this slender volume does indeed fascinate: I read it straight through in five hours, and so will most readers of a literary bent. The brothers B. have in fact done me a service, one years of shrink visits and antidepressants have failed to do -- in one stroke, they have made me glad, glad, glad that I abandoned the academy, failed to obtain a Ph.D., and find myself teaching high school English thirty years after my Iowa fiction MFA. Theirs is a cautionary tale, of what may happen to smart people with minimal reality contact and few, if any, day-to-day responsibilities. The cavernous lack of common-sense knowledge they display in their forays to the Gulf Coast casinos would be inconceivable to anyone who's punched a clock or handled an insurance claim. They are actually surprised to find that casinos have a corporate identity! Gee, they thought those people were their friends ... gahh! As for the dead father they apparently despised, I felt sorry for D. Barthelme Sr. His hard work, his habits of deep thinking and attention to detail, become monstrosities in the ham-hands of his two youngest sons, who in fifty-plus years on this planet have not managed to obtain perspective one. The book is good -- the descriptions of gambling's intoxications, the minute processing of each foolish and silly and self-deluding thought as it arises, are executed with consummate skill -- and yet one can't help concluding, as the memoir shrinks down upon itself into a puddle of anticlimax, that six months or so in prison would have been good for these men, taught them a painful life-lesson or two. Crucial to an understanding of the brothers' plight is the fact that neither Barthelme bothered to have children, thus giving themselves the right to be babies forever. They are not so much perpetual adolescents as they are pre-pubescent (wife and girlfriend notwithstanding), mired forever in Fiftiesland where, if you want to be a cowboy, you just put on the hat and yell, "Bang-bang!" They are not intellectual -- or accomplished -- enough for the ivory-tower defense they so quickly assume; what they are, are second- and third-tier journeymen blessed with a famous name and a glib ability to sling the relativist Crisco. While one may end up wishing Barthelme Sr., who unlike his sons appeared to be able to distinguish right from wrong, had willed his inheritance somewhere else, this reviewer is grateful for the folly of his heirs. A job at Southern Mississippi may be gravy, but that thin gruel isn't nourishing. Real life is the real meat.

A story of loss.......2004-06-02

Double Down is a terrific book about loss. Frederick and Steve Barthelme are brothers who moved to Mississippi to become college professors. They come from a very close knit family, and when it is unwoven from the death of their Mother and Father, a gambling addiction is triggered. Steve and Frederick become regulars at The Grand, a local casino, and they start going at least once a week and spending the whole night there all the way into early morning. After blowing all of their inheritance from their parents, they are acussed of cheating. They were indicted and charged with a felony, and forever kicked out of their favorite casino. This didn't stop their gambling addiction, however it did slow it down. They make fewer trips, to another casino and are less intense gamblers.

The book was well written and for the most part it kept my attention. Some parts they seemed to ramble off about their parents and family, and it gets slow. The accounts of their gambling binges keep you wanting more. They know they should stop, but keep throwing their money in anyway. I recommend this to everyone who is intrested in gambling.

Double Down.......2004-05-18

Double Down, a book about two brothers who discover the world of gambling, has the suspense and drama needed for a good gambling story. The two brothers, who happen to be respectable college professors, move down South to Mississippi to be around their parents. The family, which has drifted apart through the years, has come together for their parent's final years. Soon after their dad die's, the inheritance money starts burning a hole in the brother's pockets. Riverboat gambling puts out the fire. The wild ride lasts for two years, until the Casino accuses them of cheating. Through it all, the brother's learn about themselves, family, and why people do the things they do.

Good story poorly told.......2004-03-13

An interesting book for anyone who's ever been addicted, especially to gambling. This work has a major weakness, the lack of an ending, satisfactory or otherwise. The idea that gambling addicts could spend as much time at the casinos as they say they did and not shortchange their employer and students, doesn't ring true. Also, there is no indication that either brother kept a detailed diary during their gambling sprees. The details, amounts, conversations, they supposedly recall for the book are suspect. Still, Double Down is a decent read. The brothers, however, were about the easiest pickings ever to enter a den of gambling. They learned surprisingly little about how to gamble. There is a bookshelf full of better books on the gambling life than this one. For example,Anthony Holden's Big Deal, Andy Bellin's Poker Nation, Jesse May's Shut Up and Deal, Ben Mezrich's Bring Down the House.

Book Description

Of all the places and events in this nation's history, Gettysburg may well be the name best known to Americans. In Beneath a Northern Sky, eminent Civil War historian Steven E. Woodworth offers a balanced and thorough overview of the entire battle, its drama, and its meaning. From Lee's decision to take his heretofore successful Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac and into Pennsylvania to the withdrawal of the battle-battered Confederate's back across the river into Virginia, Woodworth paints a vivid picture of this pivotal campaign. Instead of focusing on only one aspect of the Gettysburg Campaign as most other books do, Beneath a Northern Sky tells the tale of the entire battle in a richly detailed but swiftly moving narrative. This new approach to a defining battle is sure to fascinate Civil War buffs and all those interested in the rich history of the United States.

Customer Reviews:

Short and to the Point, but. . . ........2006-08-30

If you really want to know about the Battle of Gettysburg, pick the following authors: Trudeau, Coddington, and Sears--not Woodworth. They provide much more detail of the battle and give a much more complex perspective.

However, for those readers who want a short and to the point introduction to the battle, this book serves a useful purpose. Its brevity serves a positive function--even as it means that this cannot be a definitive book on the great battle. Key issues are described; the author writes well. There is not a whole lot here that is new; the standard anecdotes are retold--albeit nicely.

Still, for the Civil War novice who would like an accessible and easy read on Gettysburg, this book can do the trick.

No insight and no valid analysis.......2004-04-17

In my opinion, I believe that Woodworth's treatment of this great campaign is best described as "a book with no soul." There are some well-known facts, but, more importantly, there are omission of many, many other facts that would (not surprisingly) undermine the author's numerous "traditional" assertions.

Furthermore, the author's comments in the text and in the Bibliographical Essay that deal with trying to puff up his friends/colleagues while at the same time trying to discount/demean others not part of the author's "circle," are laughable and transparent. In the end, I believe that this book offers no furthering of knowledge and only reinforces some disproven myths about Gettysburg.

For a good general read on Gettysburg, I believe that Glenn Tucker's "High Tide at Gettysburg" is far, far superior to Woodworth's.

good quick book.......2003-11-05

Woodworth's Beneath A Northern Sky is an excellent book that gets to the point quickly, but keeps you well informed of the strategies and tactics used during this campaign. For those of you who are sick of reading long, drawn out books on Gettysburg that just say the same thing over and over, Beneath a Northern Sky is an excellent book that is a short, but well written book on the Civil War battle that everyone and their mother knows about.

Disappointing.......2003-08-20

Beneath a Northern Sky was disappointing. While it is certainly very hard to write anything new about the Gettysburg Campaign, this book seemed to go out of its way to repeat every "strange coincidence" or "old Chestnut" about the battle. Almost every story told in the book was one I had learned in 1965 when I became a very precocious expert on the Civil War. Ginny Wade being shot just after learning that her fiancee had been killed, Culp coming home to die on Culp Hill, Col O'Rourke's comments before helping to save little round top, the Church Service for the Irish Brigade, the old Chestnut that most of the Union Generals were incompetent... and so forth.

It also had other problems... brought about I suspect by a desire to keep the book short. For example, in the last few pages its lists many of the "arguments" raised for the South's problems as the "death" of Conf. General Pender. And in fact, Pender did die of his wounds several days after the battle. But you wouldn't know it from THIS book. It mentions that he was wounded, and then the next time he is mentioned is as "dead" in the assessment of the battle. It would have only taken a line or two to mention that Pender received wounds which resulted in his death on July 18th -- and it would have made things clearer.

I would recomend, instead, reading Noah Trudeau's Gettysburg: A Test of Courage, which I found to be more readable and with less omissions.

Beneath a Northern Sky: a Short History of the Gettysburg Campaign.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Southern History
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Beneath a Northern Sky: a Short History of the Gettysburg Campaign.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Southern History
David Dixon
Manufacturer: Southern Historical Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0009GPRJ4
Release Date: 2005-08-01

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Southern History, published by Southern Historical Association on November 1, 2004. The length of the article is 558 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Beneath a Northern Sky: a Short History of the Gettysburg Campaign.(Book Review)
Author: David Dixon
Publication: Journal of Southern History (Refereed)
Date: November 1, 2004
Publisher: Southern Historical Association
Volume: 70 Issue: 4 Page: 934(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Beneath a Northern Sky: A Short History of the Gettysburg Campaign (The American Crisis Series, No. 12)

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Beneath a Northern Sky: A Short History of the Gettysburg Campaign (The American Crisis Series, No. 12)
Steven E. Woodworth
Manufacturer: S R Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000QY8LXI

Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought
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Well-written

Stunning, compelling, and important

Stunning, compelling, and important

A must-read

Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought
Jonathan Rauch
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Civil Rights & Liberties | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Freedom & Security | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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The Shadow University: The Betrayal Of Liberty On America's Campuses

Restoring Free Speech and Liberty on Campus (Independent Studies in Political Economy)

The Future and Its Enemies : The Growing Conflict Over Creativity, Enterprise, and Progress

Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist

ASIN: 0226705765

Book Description

Tracing attacks on free speech from Plato's Republic to America's campuses and newsrooms, Jonathan Rauch provides an engaging and provocative attack on those who would limit free thought by restricting free speech. Rauch explores how the system for producing knowledge works in a liberal society, and why it has now become the object of a powerful ideological attack. Moving beyond the First Amendment, he defends the morality, rather than the legality, of an intellectual regime that relies on unfettered and often hurtful criticism. Kindly Inquisitors is a refreshing and vibrant essay, casting a provocative light on the raging debates over political correctness and multiculturalism.

"Fiercely argued. . . . What sets his study apart is his attempt to situate recent developments in a long-range historical perspective and to defend the system of free intellectual inquiry as a socially productive method of channeling prejudice."—Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

"Like no other, this book restates the core of our freedom and demonstrates how great, and disregarded, the peril to that freedom has become."—Joseph Coates, Chicago Tribune

"The philosophical defense of free speech and free thought that seems to have been forgotten. . . . A powerful argument."—Diane Ravitch, Wall Street Journal

Customer Reviews:

Well-written.......2002-12-13

An excellent book on the value of open inquiry and the threats it faces. I would also recommend Carl Sagan's "The Demon-Haunted World" for a related perspective on scientific vs. unscientific reasoning.

Stunning, compelling, and important.......2002-05-05

This book is superb. A well-written, exhaustively researched treatise on the philosophy of "liberal science" and a look at the attacks made on that philosophy by (mostly) well-meaning advocates of inclusion, equality, and civil discourse.

I'm somewhat at a loss to try and describe how important I think this book is. I rarely comment on books I've ordered, but I feel that EVERY educated person should read this book and understand the reasons why an open, critical, unfettered exchange of ideas is of central importance to civilization and to the progress of human knowledge.

Read this book. You'll be glad you did.

Stunning, compelling, and important.......2002-05-05

Read this book. You'll be glad you did.

A must-read.......1999-03-07

For all those who think that the demands of "creation-sciencists" merely for an equal hearing with evolutionary theorists in science class are fair and reasonable, for all those who believe that people who say offensive and hurtful things in universities and elsewhere deserve to be silenced for the common good, or for all those who are convinced that potentially destructive and divisive ideas (such as homophobia, sexism or Holocaust-denial) should be surpressed to make our society more civil and inclusive, this book is for you. For it will show you, lucidly and elegantly, why you are wrong. Our way forward is through what Rauch calls the "liberal scientific" enterprise, the greatest gift of the Enlightenment, not through demands for the excision or surpression of what many consider dangerous or offensive ideas. That, Rauch, shows is the shortcut from modern democracy to a sort of middle-age regulated despotism. The ideas are stimulating in the extreme, the writing exemplary in its clarity, passion and lucidity, and the message about as important as you can get. A must-read, especially for anyone living or working in a university environment.

Kindly Inquisitors : The New Attacks on Free Thought

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Kindly Inquisitors : The New Attacks on Free Thought
Jonathan Rauch
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OPMVVM

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KINDLY INQUISITORS. The New Attacks on Free Thought.
Jonathan: Rauch
Manufacturer: Pan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000W2VJT2

Book Description

As humans continue to encroach into natural habitats, and conservation efforts restore wildlife to areas where they have been absent, contact between humans and wild animals is growing. Some species, even the endangered, can have serious impacts on human lives and livelihoods. Tigers kill people, elephants destroy crops and African wild dogs devastate sheep herds left unattended. This book presents a variety of solutions to human-wildlife conflicts, including novel and traditional farming practices, controlled hunting and tourism, as well as the development of local and national conservation policies.

Download Description

Human-wildlife conflict is a major issue in conservation. As people encroach into natural habitats, and as conservation efforts restore wildlife to areas where they may have been absent for generations, contact between people and wild animals is growing. Some species, even the beautiful and endangered, can have serious impacts on human lives and livelihoods. Tigers kill people, elephants destroy crops and African wild dogs devastate sheep herds left unattended. Historically, people have responded to these threats by killing wildlife wherever possible, and this has led to the endangerment of many species that are difficult neighbours. The urgent need to conserve such species, however, demands coexistence of people and endangered wildlife. This book presents a variety of solutions to human-wildlife conflicts, including novel and traditional farming practices, offsetting the costs of wildlife damage through hunting and tourism, and the development of local and national policies.

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