Tax Policy Lessons for Ldcs and Eastern Europe (Occasional Papers (International Center for Economic Growth))

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Mortgage Banking, published by Mortgage Bankers Association of America on November 1, 2003. The length of the article is 877 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: Origination business models keep adapting.(Broker Business)
Author: Howard Schneider
Publication: Mortgage Banking (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 1, 2003
Publisher: Mortgage Bankers Association of America
Volume: 64 Issue: 2 Page: 90(1)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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My Beautiful Laundrette: The British Film Guide 9 (Turner Classic Movies British Film Guides)
Christine Geraghty
Manufacturer: I. B. Tauris
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 185043414X
Release Date: 2004-12-23

Book Description

Described by Stuart Hall as "one of the most riveting and important films produced by a black writer in recent years," My Beautiful Laundrette was a significant production for its director Stephen Frears and its writer Hanif Kureshi. Christine Geraghty considers it a crossover film: between television and cinema, realism and fantasy, and as an independent film targeting a popular audience. She deftly shows how it has remained an important and timely film in the 1990s and early 2000s, and her exploration of the film itself is an original and entertaining achievement.

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Phoney Baloney?

Smokescreen: A True Adventure

Phoney baloney

Quintessential reading if you like this genre...

Loaded

Smokescreen: A True Adventure
Robert Sabbag
Manufacturer: Canongate U.S.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Snowblind: A Brief Career in the Cocaine Trade

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ASIN: 1841953792

Amazon.com

This is a story from the long-ago days of Colombian marijuana smuggling--long ago, because most of the pot now smoked in the United States is grown domestically, and the top narcotics import from Colombia is cocaine. Author Robert Sabbag tells the tale of Allen Long, who got involved in this unsavory business in the 1970s because he wanted to provide high-quality cannabis for his buddies and also for the sheer adventure of it. Some readers will find Long a disconcerting protagonist--he's a drug smuggler, after all--though it may appeal to advocates of drug legalization and readers of High Times. Sabbag essentially romanticizes Long's activities, such as when he writes about the "rather consoling absence of gunplay" that marked the business of marijuana smuggling in its primitive past. The storytelling is adequate, but parts of Loaded are plainly padded. Here's a bit of sample dialogue: "This is really great pot." "You like that?" "I don't think I've ever smoked anything better." A better and more hardheaded book on Colombian drug smuggling is Mark Bowden's Killing Pablo. --John Miller

Book Description

Do you think you have the balls it would take to risk your life for a million dollars?" Allen Long certainly did. Balls like a bull elephant's -- with charisma and cunning in the same large measure. But he needed to know that those around him could handle pressure. After all, they'd be violating Colombian and U.S. airspace in a dilapidated DC-3 and landing on jungle mud-tracks in bandit country. They'd have to avoid detection by America's most tooled-up law enforcement agencies and remain wired and vigilant at all times. They'd be pioneering dope smugglers -- doing it with aplomb and panache like no one else. Their leader, the irrepressible Long, was interested in only the best, Colombian Santa Marta Gold, the Beluga caviar of marijuana. He and his merry band of smugglers were responsible for upping the quality and quantity of weed smoked in North America for several halcyon years in the early '70s. And they did so in the most outrageous and remarkable fashion. From the writer of the drug-smuggling classic Snowblind comes a true story more hair-raising, high-octane, and heart-pounding than any fictional adventure thriller, as he relates the high times and fast living of America's greatest marijuana smuggler. Take a seat. And hang on for the ride of your life. "Sabbag is an incisive reporter and a stylish class-A writer.... Smokescreen will undoubtedly keep your pulse racing and adrenaline pumping." -- The Times (London) "Smokescreen is funny as well as scary. It will be enjoyed by readers who have never even shared a reefer." -- The Sunday Telegraph "Sabbag has a wonderful ear for dialogue and Long has some wonderfully outlandish yarns to spin ... extremely entertaining." -- The Observer "This guy Sabbag is a whip-song writer." -- Hunter S. Thompson "Mr. Sabbag is a first-rate writer." -- The New Yorker "An extremely rare cut of dry wit, poetry, rock-hard fact and relentless insight." -- Rolling Stone

Customer Reviews:

Phoney Baloney? .......2007-09-06

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but that doesn't mean everyone has to like other people's opinions everytime. Robert Sabbag is Hot Property and by far one of the best journalist type writer working these days. His account of the "Mari-Jane" Trade is nothing short of spectacular. As much as certain segments of the population might want to criticize all things involving drugs, it is still quite obvious that these stories are highly (and I stress "highly") connected with american culture and also the world. This book is fun to read and captures a period of time where the individuals of this great country attempted and many more times than not, succeeded, in transporting large quantities of "Weed" via sea or air and then selling most of it at a large profit. The curse, of course, is that harder drugs were widely accepted later and consumed by societies around the world and of course, what at first began as a free enterprise later got ugly and I am not getting into it. For the earlier years of the smuggling "craze" Smokescreen does a fine job and Robert Sabbag either by first hand or second hand knowledge captures an entire period with a specially acute sense of humor. For that I give it a 5 star rating, anything less would be "uncivilized".

Smokescreen: A True Adventure.......2006-11-10

This was by far the best book I have ever read. Every time I picked it up I read at least three chapters. I felt like I was really there and that I had actually met the characters. The author gives great detail but in a way that does not at all bore you. This is an excellent book and I highly recommend it!!!

Phoney baloney.......2005-09-25

Looks like Robert Sabbag couldn't let his sucess with Snowblind be. This book just sucks. I know Allen Long and his story is true, the smuggling, the four years as someones maid in prison but Robert Sabbag just got sloppy with this one. He tried to take a mediocre story and make it into something interesting; didn't work.

Quintessential reading if you like this genre..........2005-03-05

The author Robert Sabbag has this scene nailed down. I thought I had read, or maybe even lived it all. No sir. This book "jacks it up" to new levels of adreneline pumping. These characters had balls. Big ones. And it is really fun to read about people like that.

The opening, where a DC-3 is barely making it to the Columbian border at sunrise after a few days of flight is second to none. One of the best and tightest openings to any book I have ever read. Where is the movie???

Thank you, Mr. Sabbag

Loaded.......2004-09-24

I guess they changed the title of this book at some point -- the copy I got from the library was called "Loaded, A Misadventure In the Marijuana Trade". At any rate, forget any tepid reviews by "professional" reviewers who somehow feel this story wasn't quite up to their literary standards. The book is just a flat out great read and had me laughing out loud many times. A hilarious but cautionary tale with a serious ending, the adventures of pot smuggler Allen Long are so far out there that you know they must be true. Any baby boomer who did time in the counter culture of the 60s and 70s, or who is familiar with the drug culture of that era will get a big kick out of this book, and I'd think many younger readers would enjoy it as well.

Allen Long was a man of immense ability, ambition and personal charm, as well as a natural leader... who also loved to smoke the best pot he could find. He probably would have been successful in any field but some people need to take the road less travelled. Long was the man responsible for Columbian marijuana coming to the US (millions of tons of it). I got the impression that he was as much a crusader for marijuana as he was in it for the money, at least in the beginning. The first part of the book is almost like a Cheech & Chong screenplay, with multi-million dollar deals and hair-raising scenarios being improvised by people who stay as stoned-out as possible at all times; but by the end the gangsters have moved in, the trade has turned to cocaine, and the intial hippie-capitalist spirit has vanished, to be replaced with cutthroat competition, greed and violence. Long never has the heart to become a gangster and is eventually squeezed out of the business by the more ruthless and hungry Latin Americans. It's a look at a particular part of era that hasn't often been told, and certainly never told in such a thoroughly entertaining manner. Thumbs up all the way.

Customer Reviews:

like his others but kinda stray.......2000-04-04

this is a pretty safe book also but it seems like(to me) that he kinda went astray with it a little,it's all pretty much common knowledge and I recomend his other books before this one.but you should have this one for you magickal library anyhow.

Book Description

Mac users everywhere--even those who know nothing about programming--are discovering the value of the latest version of AppleScript, Apple's vastly improved scripting language for Mac OS X Tiger. And with this new edition of the top-selling AppleScript: The Definitive Guide, anyone, regardless of your level of experience, can learn to use AppleScript to make your Mac time more efficient and more enjoyable by automating repetitive tasks, customizing applications, and even controlling complex workflows.

Fully revised and updated--and with more and better examples than ever--AppleScript: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition explores AppleScript 1.10 from the ground up. You will learn how AppleScript works and how to use it in a variety of contexts: in everyday scripts to process automation, in CGI scripts for developing applications in Cocoa, or in combination with other scripting languages like Perl and Ruby.

AppleScript has shipped with every Mac since System 7 in 1991, and its ease of use and English-friendly dialect are highly appealing to most Mac fans. Novices, developers, and everyone in between who wants to know how, where, and why to use AppleScript will find AppleScript: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition to be the most complete source on the subject available. It's as perfect for beginners who want to write their first script as it is for experienced users who need a definitive reference close at hand.

AppleScript: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition begins with a relevant and useful AppleScript overview and then gets quickly to the language itself; when you have a good handle on that, you get to see AppleScript in action, and learn how to put it into action for you. An entirely new chapter shows developers how to make your Mac applications scriptable, and how to give them that Mac OS X look and feel with AppleScript Studio. Thorough appendixes deliver additional tools and resources you won't find anywhere else. Reviewed and approved by Apple, this indispensable guide carries the ADC (Apple Developer Connection) logo.

Customer Reviews:

A book to be read again and again -- or not at all!.......2007-05-09

No, don't start with "AppleScript: The Definitive Guide." Although I was highly motivated, diligent, and intelligent (if I may say so), Neuburg's exigent, articulate, and idiosyncratic "guide" defeated me, and I had to buy and work all the exercises in another book (Kochan's "Beginning Applescript") to obtain the background needed to appreciate this one.
The highly praised chapter in the first edition about conquering FrameMaker has been moved to an Appendix in the 2nd Edition, but since Neuberg sends the reader there on page 75, it is still useful and timely. It would have been more useful had he chosen a scriptable application that is on every Macintosh, or one, at least, that is shipped with Tiger, so that readers could follow his adventure rather than simply read about it. The worst that would have happened is that a newer modification of the application might have come out, in which case, as with FrameMaker, the reader could read about, but not experience, the process.
'Introductory' books in the liberal arts ("The Discarded Image" by C.S. Lewis comes to mind) are larded with quotations in Greek, Latin, French, and German, not to mention others. In exactly the same spirit, Neuburg shifts shamelessly from AppleScript to Perl, especially, but also to Unix, Objective-C, Python, and JavaScript, not to mention others. If you can't follow such examples -- he tells you that is all right -- you get the point that AppleScript is compatible with these and more, and he has the chutzpah to mention his own JavaScript book if that is your deficiency.
The effectiveness of good programming books diminishes as you move away from the computer. Programming is learnt at the keyboard, not in the lecture hall. That said, this book has an astonishing amount to offer to someone perusing it in an easy chair and mulling things over, rather than trying a succession of incorrect guesses at the keyboard. Kochan's book taught me, quickly and easily, how to move a Finder window around the screen, but when I decided that the window I wanted to move was the one holding the AppleScript program, Kochan left me without a clue. The "Oh, yeah" that finally got it moving occurred to me over a sausage biscuit in a fast food place with Neuburg's book in front of me. He didn't tell me what to do, but his dictionary exposition got me to where I could figure it out for myself.
As other reviewers have pointed out, Neuburg's emphases are upon the obscure, the contradictory, and the difficult. To explain these, he has not bothered with the obvious, the consistent, and the easy. They do not interest him, and he pays us the high (too high) compliment of implying that the obvious, the easy, and the consistent need not be explained at all.
If you wish to learn AppleScript and must learn it on your own, begin with a book (Kochan's, for example) that will make you reasonably competent in a hurry (three months, in my case). Then, when you have discovered that AppleScript is not as easy as you thought, you are ready for Neuburg to confirm your worst suspicions about its intricacies, devastate your casual assumptions about obvious solutions, and give you pride in beginning to learn AppleScript.
If you buy this book, you must read it several times, or you will not learn much of what it has to say.

Excellent book, but even better with Amazon or O'Reilly "search".......2007-04-08

Matt Neuburg's AppleScript book is an excellent overview of AppleScript. Alas, it is limited, as all such books are, by AppleScript's peculiar nature.

The problem is that AppleScript is primarily useful when it interacts with scriptable Applications; this means that many important commands one may think of as belonging to AppleScript belong to Applications instead [2]. If you working to extend an existing script, and decide to research a command in the excellent book index Matt built himself [1], you'll often be frustrated. The command, you see, belongs to the Application, not to AppleScript.

On the other hand, there's a good chance Matt used in the command in one or more examples. In the absence of a companion book entitled "AppleScript for Applications" [3] you'd like to find those examples. Alas, that's where you want a full text search engine.

The good news is, there are two. The even better news is that O'Reilly could make their engine much more visible and useful, with advantages for everyone.

Consider the case of the 'Duplicate' command, which is supported by iTunes (among others) and the Finder (in slightly different ways, no doubt). When I tried Amazon's "search within the book" I discovered several illuminating references. Similarly, O'Reilly allows one to search within the book as a promotion for its Safari eBook library.

The Safari search works well, but they don't want to give away too much for free. You can only read a snippet of information in the search results. A snippet that doesn't, currently, include the page or section number. If you click further you get to the 'buy safari' screen, but you also get to see the section number. Now, you can return to the book and read the information.

O'Reilly could make all of us (and themselves) happy by keeping Safari just as closed as it is today, but merely adding a section reference to the search results they freely expose already.

Here's the win-win for O'Reilly, Matt, Amazon and us:

1. Include the section reference in the initial search results screen.
2. Promote the search facility in every published O'Reilly book and explain how to use it on the O'Reilly book page.
3. If need be, request readers register to obtain this service. O'Reilly doesn't do spam, but they can suggest email subscriptions, RSS feeds, etc during the registration process.

Let us count the wins:

1. Matt's book is suddenly a better book. Readers get more value from it. They use it more. They like it and O'Reilly more.

2. O'Reilly gets ongoing visits from its customers.

3. O'Reilly gets free, regular, promotion of Safari services.

4. Amazon sells more books.

5. O'Reilly does not reduce the value of Safari, they enhance it by introducing users to it without giving it away.

It's a win-win for everyone. I just hope someone at O'Reilly can see the profit in it for them.

john

[1] In my real life I'm a knowledge representation/informatics geek. I have a lot of respect for the unrecognized intellectual labor that goes into producing a truly excellent index. In this case Matt did the work himself!

[2] Many applications may use the same string to refer to somewhat similar functions with slightly different syntax and semantics. This "ontologic dilemma" is a kind of uncontrolled overloading, and it makes AppleScript very challenging to use.

[3] If Matt decides to sell an "AppleScript for Applications" as a Tidbits eBook I'll pay for mine in advance!

Not helpful to a beginner.......2007-02-19

It seems like key pieces of information have been left out of this book, which is very atypical for any of the Definitive Guide series from O'Reilly, and of O'Reilly books in general. I picked up this book because it was the most recently published on the topic, and I'm still confused even after reading it. The first three chapters were on very basic subjects such as why you would want to use Applescript in general, where you would want to use it, and basic concepts. Next, part two is all about the syntax of Applescript, piece by piece. This is all very nice, and it probably is complete and correct, but it is like handing someone a maintenance manual on a washing machine who has never seen one before. Now that I know how to fix a broken one, what do I do with the actual machine itself? Part 3, "Applescript in Action", at first looked promising, but actually it just tells you how to fine tune your applications and shows some advanced features without ever really showing you specific problems that Applescript could solve and then solving them using the language. This is probably a good reference for someone who already is an experienced Applescript programmer, but I didn't find it helpful. I've ordered "Beginning Applescript" by Kochan to try to get some more remedial help on the subject. Hopefully, between these two books I can really learn Applescript, rather than just dabbling in it, which is what I've been doing for some time.

A great book for intermediate or advanced users..........2007-02-13

I'm frankly surprised by some of the reviews which suggest this is a great beginner's book... I really don't think so. It covers a lot of conceptual material which isn't going to help you figure out how to write a basic applescript function. In my opinion, this is a book for moderately experienced scripters who would like to know the inner workings of Applescript, and the critical little items that can cause a script to fail. It provides excellent insight into script objects, recursion, polymorphism, parenting, variable scope, closure, objects, targets/nested targets, references, dereferencing, raw appleevents, and other advanced topics. If you need a book to teach basic programming, I'd recomment Hanaan Rosenthal's book instead. Buy this one after you've finished that one.

Great for top-to-bottom understanding.......2007-02-09

Matt Neuburg has written a great text. It's easy to read and understand, and it's great a for a thorough understanding of the language. The first section of the book doesn't discuss code very much; moreso the practical application for the language in a real-world environment. The second section delves right into code, giving practical examples and helpful tips. After reading the first two chapters of the second section, I was writing simple programs to control applications. Great book for a beginning AppleScript programmer; even better book for a person completely new to programming.

Book Description

Who are the most influential military figures of all time? In The Macmillan Dictionary of Military Biography you will find over 500 of the leaders and soldiers who helped shape human history. From around 3500 B.C. (roughly the beginning of recorded history) to the present, nothing has been more costly in money, resources, effort, pain and life than war, and here you will find the stories of the men (and one woman, Joan of Arc) whose actions influenced the lives of those around them.Learn more about great rulers like Henry II, perhaps the greatest king of England, who warred successfully against France, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Learn more about great strategists such as the 1st Duke of Marlborough and his victory at Blenheim, or Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, whose handling of the attack at Gallipoli helped him to later overthrow the Ottoman Empire. And with the books American focus, find out more about some of the great military figures of Americas history, from Joseph Brants role in the French and Indian Wars to Omar Bradleys successful innovations in World War II.Each entry includes with a concise statement of the subjects significance to military history, biographical and military overviews, and an essay that presents a miniature portrait of the subjects character and weighs his significance in history.This series of military biographies illuminates the many conflicts that have influenced ancient and modern history, and provides an invaluable and entertaining resource for military enthusiasts and historians alike.

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World history

Masterful. This one's for the discerning reader

The structures of empires from Greece to present.

Of Warriors and Captive

A good intro to the history of empires

Peoples and Empires: A Short History of European Migration, Exploration, and Conquest, from Greece to the Present (Modern Library Chronicles)
Anthony Pagden
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0812967615
Release Date: 2003-01-07

Book Description

Written by one of the world’s foremost historians of human migration, Peoples and Empires is the story of the great European empires—the Roman, the Spanish, the French, the British—and their colonies, and the back-and-forth between “us” and “them,” culture and nature, civilization and barbarism, the center and the periphery. It’s the history of how conquerors justified conquest, and how colonists and the colonized changed each other beyond all recognition.

Customer Reviews:

World history.......2005-12-03

Pagden is a professor at UCLA, and this is a sort book from the Modern Library Chronicles series, meant for the general reader or undergraduate class. The book covers the entire history of European conquest and empire, and the concomitant migration of peoples, from Greece to the 20th century. He shows the great continuity of thought and practice over these thousands of years regarding the motives for empire in Europe. One such concept is the idea of the civilizing mission of the European powers, "which relied upon a widely accepted vision of a universal human nature and a universal law of human evolution." (138) Another continuity was the belief that commerce led to peace and would bring an end to international conflict. His epilogue, written after 9-11, deals with the 'clash of civilizations' between Islam and the 'West' and look briefly at Islamic political theory and Muslim empires. This section is not as strong as the rest of the book, for here he seems to be charting ground he doesn't know as well, and though he does show some differences between Islamic Empires and Western, Christian Empires, it is obviously an afterthought that doesn't really fit in with his general argument. But on the whole I found this book greatly illuminating and well written, and plan on using it in my dissertation when I discuss whether the Soviet Union was an empire or not. I believe this book will help me substantiate my argument that yes, it was.

Masterful. This one's for the discerning reader.......2004-11-22

Anthropologists seem to have debated and for now settled that the human race originated somewhere in the interiors of Africa and over the next few millions of years trekked their way to the farthest inhabitable corners of earth, successfully transitioning from nomadic hunter-gatherers to civilized settlers. These initial migrations delivered the firm broad base for human race to thrive upon spawning off diverse civilizations and cultures in their wake, without which all of us would still be hanging around in the African wilderness and arguable picking berries and shrubs for a living.

However, in this rather long and protracted development, it's the proceedings over the last 3000 years or so that has dictated for better or for worse the transformation of the human society from relatively small and local settlements to large nation states and empires. Never before had we humans thought of ourselves in terms of an overriding racial, religious or national identity, or found it important to have a common and binding rules and regulations to govern such monolithic entities. With the notion of race and religion came theories of supremacy and the need for bringing more and more of the non-conformers into the benevolent folds of civilization. One recurring theme of these 3000 years has been the European White man's quest to explore and wherever possible subjugate other geographies. And this is the theme of Anthony Pagden's book tiled "Peoples and Empires".

The author sets forth the leitmotif succinctly in the introduction and proceeds to discuss the subject over 10 masterfully crafted chapters, each one dedicated to deliberations on one pivotal event in human history. Beginning with Alexander's conquests and successive Greeko-Roman efforts at empire building, Pagden examines the raison detre for European nation states and empires, explorations into the orient and the unknown world and the purported justifications offered for these enterprises by those who fuelled them and the indelible effect these had on the current world order. With due consideration perhaps to the massive scope of the subject matter and in view of the fact his primary audience would be the educated non-expert, the author (wisely) glosses over large tracts of the intervening years. Those pages thus saved are however effectively devoted to debate the socio-political aspects of these events. Pagden's is by far the best "Independent third party perspective" that was ever presented to me on tricky subjects such as racial supremacy theories, colonial excursions, and the strife between the worlds dominant religions. His arguments are convincing, pithy and supported by well-researched and documented references. He is nothing short of magisterial while dealing with the shameful scourge of slavery. The only shortcomings of the book seems to be the total eclipse of the eastern hemisphere in the narrative, the eastern hemisphere being broached upon just as a backdrop for the colonial enterprises. However, the author seems partly justified in this, considering that the Chinese, Indian and Far-eastern societies remained largely self-contained, inert and did little to significantly alter the political landscape beyond their own domestic boundaries. More so, since this is a book dedicated to the study of European migration exploration and conquest.

If you have been reasonably well initiated into world history and would appreciate someone presenting the whole conundrum in perspective, look no further and dig in for a rewarding time.

The structures of empires from Greece to present........2004-08-14

For such a difficult subject, Pagden does a good job of creating a readable book detailing the rise and fall of European Empires. From Alexander the Great, and the Roman Empire to the decline of the British Empire, Pagden details the rise of these empires and why they fell. In the end, it was the weakness of the colonizers along with the rise of nationalism which spurred the end of all empires. Pagden also details that some of the early empires were not racially divided, but with the rise of science and some of the new European nation states, racism along with slavery reared its ugly head. Commerce and the search for raw materials spurred on the exploitation of these colonies, and reduced the natives to subject status.
This is a nice theory book about why empires came about. It gives a lot of information in a few short pages.

Of Warriors and Captive.......2004-01-31

A concise, readable account, not just of empires and immigration patterns, but of the sweep of world history in general. I would be hard put to imagine how one could do as much as Mr. Pagden has done in as few pages. It includes a chronology of key events, and a description of central historical figures. This is a great book to read prior to or in conjunction with more in-depth surveys of world history. Pagden notes some watershed transformations including, (1) the empire of Charles V and its maritime reach, (2) the role of the Netherlands both within Europe and in the Asia-Pacific arena, (3) slavery and its long history from 1444 to approximately 1870, (4) the "scientific" justification for colonization and/or indirect rule from mid-18th to early 20th century, and (5) the current view of empires today, which negates the distinction, held somewhere in the West (and in China and Japan as well) since the Greek polis, of citizens and barbarians. Mr. Pagden has given us a fast, smooth and informative trip through a central facet of global, historical evolution.

A good intro to the history of empires.......2003-08-31

Writing the history of empires in about 200 pages is, to say the least, tricky. But Anthony Pagden, a professor at UCLA, aimed at doing just that and has ended up with a splendid overview of the history of empires.

The book starts with Alexander the Great and ends with the European Union and globalization, analyzing how the concept and practice of empire has evolved over the years. And, as is rarely the case with other narratives, the author discusses both European and non-European empires (to be more precise, he explains how non-European empires differed and why they do not deserve proportional mention).

Surely, the book's brevity can be irritating: often, the reader may seek additional details or even references. But, Professor Pagden has done a masterful job at writing succinctly and covering, with few words, elaborate topics without sacrificing depth or insight. I am not sure if it is possible to write a world history of this magnitude in such a short book -- but if such a history had to be written, the result should look much like this book.

Average customer rating:
People and Empires: A Short History of European Migration, Exploration, and Conquest, from Greece to the Present (Unabridged) [Modern Library Chronicles]
Anthony Pagden
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B000ANSOH8

Average customer rating:
Peoples and Empires: A Short History of European Migration, Exploration, and Conquest from Greece to the Present
Anthony Pagden
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MBXEQY

Average customer rating:

Interesting, but badly paced and somewhat boring.

Entertaining little history of medicine

Enjoyable and informative

A quick and unsettling read

The Basis for Western Medicine

Blood and Guts: A Short History of Medicine
Roy Porter
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0393325695

Book Description

"Chock-full of astonishing facts and fascinating illustrations."—Booklist

An eminently readable, entertaining romp through the history of our vain and valiant efforts to heal ourselves. Mankind's battle to stay alive and healthy for as long as possible is our oldest, most universal struggle. With his characteristic wit and vastly informed historical scope, Roy Porter examines the war fought between disease and doctors on the battleground of the flesh from ancient times to the present. He explores the many ingenious ways in which we have attempted to overcome disease through the ages: the changing role of doctors, from ancient healers, apothecaries, and blood-letters to today's professionals; the array of drugs, from Ayurvedic remedies to the launch of Viagra; the advances in surgery, from amputations performed by barbers without anesthetic to today's sophisticated transplants; and the transformation of hospitals from Christian places of convalescence to modern medical powerhouses. Cleverly illustrated with historic line drawings, the chronic ailments of humanity provide vivid anecdotes for Porter's enlightening story of medicine's efforts to prevail over a formidable and ever-changing adversary.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting, but badly paced and somewhat boring........2005-08-17

This book provides a short history of medicine within Western civilization over the past two millenia. The text is arranged semi-chronologically, with each chapter focusing on a different topic within medicine. Topics that are covered include the hospital, medical equipment, drugs, surgery, health care organizations and delivery, and of course, plagues. The style of the text alternates between text-book, comedic commentary, and newspaper editorial, all of which was dry to read, suitable for someone who likes english sitcoms. The author used very few tables or charts, so there is a paucity of numerical data. Likewise, dates and places are not always mentioned upfront, and the chapters lack abstracts or concluding summaries. In short, this book is meant to be read cover to cover on the beach or by the pool, but is not appropriate for someone really wanting to learn about this topic. The facts presented are interesting, making this book worth reading, but better texts can be found.

Entertaining little history of medicine.......2004-06-28

First of all, this book is an easy read. Now, don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean the book is not worth reading it, this means just that the author uses a lay language, not much profundity, and this is a short book (specially short for a history of medicine). Anyway, Porter's book treats every epoch in medicine history, if you don't intend to spend much time reading about medicine history, well, this is your book, it's complete, concise and comprehensibly.

Enjoyable and informative.......2004-01-21

I got this one because I love obscure history and it does not disappoint. Be warned the book is aptly named. It is gristly albeit fascinating. Starting with diseases and ending with modern medicine Porter takes you step by step chronologically through almost all aspects related to healing. He leaves no gall stone unturned (sorry.. couldn't help it.) He does at times get carried away with his terminology, but the book is surprisingly accessible. The author is able to convey the importance of discoveries by setting up what conditions were like before those discoveries were made. Notably some that we take for granted, like the finding and use of vitamins and antibiotics. Quick, enjoyable and well worth getting. This is something I look forward to reading again soon.

A quick and unsettling read.......2003-11-14

In a sense this is a "lite" version of the late Roy Porter's well-received history of medicine from 1997, entitled The Greatest Benefit to Mankind. He is also the editor of The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine (1996) and was until his death professor of social history at University College London.

But let's face it, the history of medicine has not been a pretty story, nor could it have been. Most of history's physicians were flailing about in the dark, the surgeons as sawbones and barbers performing crude amputations and such without the aid of either anaesthetics or disinfectants, the practitioners as faith healers and quacks, dispensing placebos or poisons often without knowing which was which. It wasn't until the late 19th century that the medical profession began to achieve some understanding of the real causes of illness and indeed understand how living things work and how and why they don't work. Porter recalls some of the controversies about the vivisection of cadavers, and arguments about the causes of infectious disease: an argument made difficult because of course the microbes could not be discerned until about the time of Pasteur.

Porter outlines this sobering story from the time of the Greeks to the present day in an objective and easily assimilated style. He organizes the material into eight chapters focusing on Disease, Doctors, The Body, The Laboratory, Therapies, Surgery, The Hospital, and Medicine in Modern Society. Along the way he delves into the politics (some sexual) and into the sociology of medicine around the globe. There are suggestions for Further Reading and an Index.

There are also about 40 rather appalling (some amusing) illustrations from previous centuries in this (for a change) accurately named little tome, showing the horrors of past medical practices. They enliven Porter's text, but you may need a magnifying glass to catch all the nuances--as though you might want to do that!--since some of the prints, while small enough to fit the page are not large enough for the unaided eye.

In short, this is a quick and unsettling read that may make the reader wonder about how future generations will view some of the medical procedures practiced today.

The Basis for Western Medicine.......2003-05-29

Porter provides a short, readable history of Western medicine in this soothingly small book. He uncovers the roots of the medical hegemony, clarifying historical origins of basic assumptions in modern medicine. The author's British perspective provides American students with needed background to understand that the modern concept of scientific, impersonal medicine is very recent indeed. Plenty of facts are woven into the text along with interesting historical prints. A pleasure to read.

Blood & Guts (A Short History of Medicine)

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Blood & Guts (A Short History of Medicine)

Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0965739716

Blood and Guts: A Short History of Medicine.(Book Review): An article from: The Historian

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Blood and Guts: A Short History of Medicine.(Book Review): An article from: The Historian
John S., Jr. Haller
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000B9DSK4
Release Date: 2005-09-03

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Historian, published by Thomson Gale on September 22, 2004. The length of the article is 528 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: Blood and Guts: A Short History of Medicine.(Book Review)
Author: John S., Jr. Haller
Publication: The Historian (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 22, 2004
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 66 Issue: 3 Page: 648(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

This book contains the papers presented at the Second International Conference on Ecosystems and Sustainable Development, which will be held in Lemnos, Greece, May 31-June 2, 1999. Conference participants included scientists, engineers, economists and professionals who are working in various areas of ecological research. The papers discuss recent work on the engineering and modeling of ecosystems and sustainable development.

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