The Auditor: An Instructional Novella

Book Description

This unique book reaches beyond the abstract theory presented in most standard textbooks to portray the principles and practices of Auditing as they are actually applied in the workplace. The novella—which forms a single, on-going, fictional case study meant to supplement a text—traces the professional life of Jack Butler, graduate of Farwestern University and current CPA As readers progress, they share with Jack, his clients, and colleagues various aspects of a typical career in public accounting—aspects students will most likely encounter during their own careers.

Customer Reviews:

Good Information for New Auditors.......2006-06-22

This is a nice resource for audit students or new auditors. I doubt it would be entertaining for most others. The book was written as an "instructional novella" for students and it offers some good information on public accounting audit careers.

The story follows the career of a fictional auditor in a large, fictional firm in Oakland, California. He goes through various typical experiences to give students insight into what public accounting and auditing is really like. This is the type of information that is hard for students to come by. The story follows the career of a star, and may create an overly optimistic impression of what an audit career might be like. But the author also throws in some of the negatives. The narrator is asked by both managers and clients to makes some questionable moves, and he and others suffer from the grind of being over-worked, and even outside of the expected busy season. He also points out that pay is not quite in balance with the level of work and responsibility.

I think this book would have been better if it didn't focus on a fast-rising star. The narrator made partner at age 32, after nine years, which seems pretty fast to me. The book does offer some good information and helps new auditors know some of what is coming, but I wouldn't expect most careers to follow this path. However, I would still recommend it for anyone who is considering a career in public accounting.

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Money, Financial Markets and Economic Activity
Norman E. Cameron
Manufacturer: Addison Wesley Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Finance | Accounting & Finance | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0201186705

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Yale University. Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics. Monograph

Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Money & Monetary Policy | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Banks & Banking | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006VUFWG

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Money Financial Markets and Economic Activity
Norman E. Cameron
Manufacturer: Addison Wesley Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OOK0NE

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Money, Financial Markets and Economic Activity
Norman E. Cameron Ilan Vardi
Manufacturer: Longman Higher Education
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OOKN2W

Book Description

Fate and Prediction of Environmental Chemicals in Soils, Plants, and Aquatic Systems focuses on the chemical persistence and ecotoxicological behavior of pesticides in soil, water, and plants. The book examines recent developments in research on various substances and relays information regarding transport, adsorption, absorption, accumulation, degradation, biological effects, toxicity to aquatic organisms, air pollution, exposure, and risk estimation. Leading international scientists present their advances in analytical methodology and instrumentation in the fields of agrochemicals and environmental chemistry. This useful review of data, methods, and principles will benefit environmental researchers, managers, biologists, chemists, pharmacologists, and others interested in assessing the potential for contamination of soil, air, water, and plants.

Book Description

In-depth, comprehensive coverage of the Earth's solid phase with more than 50% new and revised material. This one-volume Encyclopedia provides a comprehensive treatment of the geological sciences and of the essential materials, processes, compositions, and physical characteristics of the solid part of the Earth's system. It includes both theoretical and practical information on such topics as mineralogy, petrology, historical and surficial geology, geochemistry, geophysics, paleontology, and soil science. A vital source of information for professionals, educators, and students, this updated Second Edition includes 520 alphabetically arranged articles, 650 halftones and line drawings, cross-references to related topics, and a 4500-entry analytical index.

McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of the Geological Sciences

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McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of the Geological Sciences
McGraw-Hill PublishingSybil P. Parker
Manufacturer: Mcgraw-Hill (Tx)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OFQEAG

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Mcgraw-hill Encyclopedia Of The Geological Sciences
Daniel N. Lapedes
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OFQ21C

Book Description

Market: Students and researchers in vacuum and surface science, microscopy, and semiconductor physics. This definitive work was based on four lectures presented at Harvard University in 1958. When it was written, field emission was one of the few techniques available for surface studies and the attainment of ultra-high vacuum was a little-known art. Though more sophisticated treatments have since been developed, Gomer's pioneering work remains valid to this day.

Book Description

Ever notice there seems to be an award show for just about everything? And that everyone who wins is rich, beautiful, and brilliant? Good-looking, intelligent winners are everywhere. The Duh Awards is for the rest of us. These awards are handed out to the not-so-smart, the underworked, overpaid, the wacky, weird, and downright stupid. It's about time!

Chapters include such ridiculousness as: Boss of the Year and Other Slave Driver Awards; Champion Scoffers, Scorners, Insulters, and Other All-Star Wise Guys; and Only in Hollywood-The Anti-Oscars. Here are just a few hilarious excerpts:

The Know-a-Little, Talk-a-Lot Society presents the Anti-Expert Awards:

In 1931 President Herbert Hoover somehow missed the impact of the Great Depression when he offered this solution: "If someone could get off a good joke every ten days, I think our troubles would be over."

Winning Mind Games: All-Star Shockers, Psych-Outs, and Gross Champs:

During the halftime show of the 2004 Super Bowl, singer Justin Timberlake removed part of singer Janet Jackson's shirt to reveal one of her star breasts on national TV. This upset viewers who had tuned in to watch rapper Nelly grab his crotch.

The Spin Awards for Fooling Most of the People Enough of the Time:

In 2003 Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told the press: "As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns-the ones we don't know we don't know."

Fenster's previous works have sold over 80,000 copies.

Customer Reviews:

Lame.......2006-10-13

I bought this because it was on sale. Today is 10-13-06, so i have been through most of it. I have had 2 laughs and about 4 chuckles from the 280 or so days I have been reading it. This calendar is very dull and boring.

Average customer rating:

Excellent Book - A Must for FDR Students

Good book on FDR's Espionage

Awesome achievement

"Fly on the Wall" History of Amazing Time

"Magic"

Roosevelt's Secret War: FDR and World War II Espionage
Joseph E. Persico
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
Intelligence & Espionage | Military | History | Subjects | Books
General | World War II | Military | History | Subjects | Books
Home Front | World War II | Military | History | Subjects | Books
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A Man Called Intrepid

ASIN: 0375761268
Release Date: 2002-10-22

Amazon.com

Joseph E. Persico presents FDR as one of America's great spymasters. "Few leaders were better adapted temperamentally to espionage than Franklin Roosevelt," writes Persico, author of Nuremberg and Colin Powell's autobiographical collaborator. "FDR compartmentalized information, misled associates, manipulated people, conducted intrigues, used private lines of communication, scattered responsibility, duplicated assignments, provoked rivalries, held the cards while showing few, and left few fingerprints." He was a kind of principled Machiavellian who hoped to achieve several clear ends, such as getting the United States into the Second World War, even though most of the public wanted nothing to do with it (before Pearl Harbor). FDR then pursued these goals with the fervor of an opportunist: "the devious route to a desirable goal; inconstant behavior directed toward constant ends; the warship hiding behind a smoke screen but steered by a moral compass."

A good example of this is his relationship with the celebrated aviator Charles Lindbergh. Roosevelt asked J. Edgar Hoover to keep tabs on Lindbergh because he was a critic of the administration, and FDR suspected he was a closeted Nazi (not true, but perhaps an understandable opinion). Roosevelt's Secret War reveals how FDR created a huge intelligence operation and then ran it--he "built espionage into the structure of American government," says Persico. There were plenty of successes (Roosevelt knew about Hitler's plans to invade Russia before they did it), but also failings: Soviet agents burrowed into FDR's administration at the highest levels. One of the best sections of the book addresses a perennial question: Did FDR know the Japanese were about to bomb Pearl Harbor and let them do it because he believed the sneak attack would propel the public into supporting war against the Axis powers? Persico argues that FDR didn't know: "The clues seem to lead to that conclusion like lights on a well-marked runway." He makes a convincing case that "Pearl Harbor was a catastrophe, not a conspiracy." Roosevelt's Secret War is a unique contribution to our understanding of FDR--no other book treats America's longest-serving president as a spymaster--and it will appeal to readers interested in the Second World War and the cloak-and-dagger world of espionage. --John Miller

Book Description

Despite all that has already been written on Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Joseph Persico has uncovered a hitherto overlooked dimension of FDR's wartime leadership: his involvement in intelligence and espionage operations.

Roosevelt's Secret War is crowded with remarkable revelations:
-FDR wanted to bomb Tokyo before Pearl Harbor
-A defector from Hitler's inner circle reported directly to the Oval Office
-Roosevelt knew before any other world leader of Hitler's plan to invade Russia
-Roosevelt and Churchill concealed a disaster costing hundreds of British soldiers' lives in order to protect Ultra, the British codebreaking secret
-An unwitting Japanese diplomat provided the President with a direct pipeline into Hitler's councils

Roosevelt's Secret War also describes how much FDR had been told--before the Holocaust--about the coming fate of Europe's Jews. And Persico also provides a definitive answer to the perennial question Did FDR know in advance about the attack on Pearl Harbor?

By temperament and character, no American president was better suited for secret warfare than FDR. He manipulated, compartmentalized, dissembled, and misled, demonstrating a spymaster's talent for intrigue. He once remarked, "I never let my right hand know what my left hand does." Not only did Roosevelt create America's first central intelligence agency, the OSS, under "Wild Bill" Donovan, but he ran spy rings directly from the Oval Office, enlisting well-placed socialite friends.

FDR was also spied against. Roosevelt's Secret War presents evidence that the Soviet Union had a source inside the Roosevelt White House; that British agents fed FDR total fabrications to draw the United States into war; and that Roosevelt, by yielding to Churchill's demand that British scientists be allowed to work on the Manhattan Project, enabled the secrets of the bomb to be stolen. And these are only a few of the scores of revelations in this constantly surprising story of Roosevelt's hidden role in World War II.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Book - A Must for FDR Students.......2006-07-16

Love him or hate him, it's hard to name a 20th century president who was more influential or emblematic than FDR. And he failed at many things, too.

Perhaps his greatest failing, though, was in having no forewarning of the catastrophic attack on Pearl Harbor. Persico wisely starts this book on that scene.

What we identify is Roosevelt's inescapably charismatic leadership foundering on rocks of personal association and overconfidence in "people like me." Roosevelt was at his best in a multipartisan approach to leadership, but when it came to intelligence, he fell prey to an understandable temptation to surround himself with "like-minded people." He also chose to ignore some key messages, for reasons which are still not completely clear.

Some recently-revealed information resources this book greatly. I thank my good friend Rob for loaning me this absorbing and well-written lesson in leadership.

Good book on FDR's Espionage.......2006-01-04

There are many other great reviews already about this book so I will just add a few comments that I do not see addressed anywhere else. Persico's numerous comments on FDR's great interest in geography are an important aspect few historians have considered when writing about FDR. Roosevelt had an excellent grasp of not only maps but geographical features of all parts of the world. This knowledge would suit him well during World War II in understanding troop movements in both Europe and the Pacific.

However, as the other reviews have stated, the majority of this book could be gleaned from other histories on FDR. Specifically, David Reynolds's excellent "From Munich to Pearl Harbor". Overall though Persico's work is well researched and written. It is a great introduction for those who want to learn more about espionage and U.S. intelligence services during World War II.

Awesome achievement.......2004-07-21

Sometimes a work of history is so thoroughly researched, so rich in detail, so comprehensive and so lucidly presented as to be considered art.
Such is Joseph Perisco's, "Roosevelt's Secret War." For anyone interested in FDR, World War II or wartime espionage this book is a must.
Perisco is an unabashed fan of FDR. Some readers will doubtless take issue with the author's interpretations of a few of the more controversial aspects of the war as handled by FDR. But while generally lauding Roosevelt, Perisco always gives voice to the president's critics. Perisco is most forceful in his refuting the claims that FDR had foreknowledge of the Pearl Harbor attacks successfully attacking both the reasoning and assertions of revisionists.
One tends to be persuaded by Perisco simply because he brings so much information to his arguments.
The author also fleshes out all manner of other significant supporting players. The scandalized Sumner Welles, pal Vincent Astor, ally Winston Churchill, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, controversial OSS director Bill Donovan to name but a few.
One of Perisco's greatest achievements is to present all the incidents, events and characters (replete with anecdotes) in all their complexity in such an entertaining read. Indeed therein may lay the secret: all the complexity, the maneuvering, the machinations are spiced by the entertaining characters who carried them out, whether dashing or bumbling whether through ingenuity or sheer luck.
Most of all this is the story of an extraordinary man who found himself president of a country during its worse economic/social crisis and the world's biggest war. Perisco reveals everything from how "that man" (as he was sometimes called) handled foreign heads of states to what he liked for breakfast.
FDR was intrigued by espionage and the attendant spies and secrets but his uses and interests in this area quickly changed from a hobby played at with Astor, to an operational necessity worked at with Donovan.
This book gives much for historians and the casual reader to contemplate and debate. This includes such issues as what FDR knew and could have done about the Holocaust; the Japanese internment; FDR-Stalin relations and dealings and how they might have contributed to the Cold War.
But there can be no debate about this: "Roosevelt's Secret War" will enhance any readers knowledge of FDR and broaden their understanding of the United States in World War II. Also unarguable is that this is a fascinating, entertaining read.

"Fly on the Wall" History of Amazing Time.......2004-05-11

Joseph Perisco's entertaining history of FDR and the birth of the American intelligence infrastructure is a must-read for any fan of WWII history or presidential history.

Adopting almost a Bob Woodward fly-on-the-wall style, Perisco combines incredible research with an eye for the intriguing detail to tell an amazing story. For younger Americans who have always lived in a world where the CIA/FBI/Pentagon/Other Sinister Government Agency combo was the top secret snatcher and spy grabber, it will be hugely entertaining to learn about how recently the American intelligence network was virtually non-existent. Can it be true that a guiding principle of intelligence was "A gentleman does not read another gentleman's mail"?!?! Astoundingly, yes.

Perisco's thesis, that FDR was perfectly suited for the birth of this network, is ably supported by Perisco's research and a bit of arm-chair psychoanalysis. To Perisco, FDR was a titanic personality at a time when giants strode the earth -- Stalin, Churchill, even "Wild Bill" Donovan, an American intelligence agent with his own agenda and the energy of fifteen men. FDR, restricted in the use of his body, used an astoundingly sharp mind and a practical streak a mile wide to bring about the creation of the American intelligence network while guiding America through the precarious pre-war years.

Perisco is a hugely entertaining writer, and while "RSW" is a dense book, it is very readable.

The only problem this book has is that, for all its readability and research, it has taken on a massive subject and one is always left with the impression that there must have been more to it than Perisco lets on. While not quite crossing over into hero-worship in its near-veneration of FDR, one suspects that a few different stories may be told about this era and this subject, and they would be somewhat different than Perisco's.

Perhaps my favorite section of the book is Perisco's pointed response to the allegations that FDR knew about Pearl Harbor in advance. By using a combination of historical evidence as well as his fundamental understanding of FDR, Perisco convincingly debunks this theory.

Through it all, FDR comes across as a very human, if very talented, figure, and Perisco's description of FDR's sudden decline would justify the entire book by itself -- fortunately, it doesn't have to.

"Magic".......2004-02-08

Well not being much of a history buff, I read this just the same and learned a great deal about Roosevelt. His actions led to many break throughs which are still being highly used by goverment departments today. I found the book went into more than just the spy games, but also into who hates who. I would say its like a soap opera but with a historic twist. I strongly feel that the book is well worth the read.

Roosevelt's Secret War, FDR and World War II Espionage

Average customer rating:

Excellent story of WW II espionage

Roosevelt's Secret War, FDR and World War II Espionage
Joseph E. Persico
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J18CZA

Customer Reviews:

Excellent story of WW II espionage.......2007-05-05

I first cut my teeth on this subject with William Stevenson's "A Man called Intrepid." That left me wanting more information about espionage during WW II and that led me to this book. Had I read this one first I probably never would have gone on to the Stevenson book. Persico is a far superior writer to Stevenson and includes far more tales of the formation of MI-6 and the OSS. He also deals with FDR's penchant for hip-pocket intelligence operations, using trusted friends, business associates, chronies and the like. FDR was the consumate spymaster. If you are into real life espionage stories and the part they played in the history of WW II this is the book for you.

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Roosevelt's Secret War - Fdr And World War Ii Espionage
Joseph E. Persico
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K1PZBS

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The S &P phenomena is real...

A Missing Link Discovered

Adaptation and revival

Free of Catholic rule, Conversos reJudaize in Amsterdam.

Double Prize winner!

Hebrews of the Portuguese Nation: Conversos and Community in Early Modern Amsterdam (The Modern Jewish Experience)
Miriam Bodian
Manufacturer: Indiana University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
Portugal | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
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The Abyss of Despair (Judaica Series (Transaction Books).)

ASIN: 0253213517

Customer Reviews:

The S &P phenomena is real..........2007-09-03

Bodian is a scholar, that has weighed the options of the sellability of books vs. insight into history, in this well chronicled book. The difference between the two is that, history can tend to be on the dry side when sticking to facts and reality. Vs. the other which, capitalizes on hype, therefore, diminishing the overall thoroughness of the scholarship.
Bodian's insight into the phenomena of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish conditions is right on. The Spanish and Portuguese Jews ( S&P Jews) are a particular substrata of Sephardim that suffered a unrelenting persecution from the Catholic Church, otherwise known as: El Santo Oficio de la Inqusicion, The Spanish Inquisition.
Many have tried to put this phenomena, The Jewishness of Crypto-Jews into perspective. Not only is it difficult, on a scholarly level,i.e., to provide a understanding to this aberration of Judaic history. But, the very phenomena of this tragedy, is stained with frustration. On behalf of the mainstream Jewish populace, when addressing the religious status of these isolated people.( I believe that their are political power issues at hand) And the Returness themselves, who want to be accounted as fully Jewish, and rightly so!
Yes, their are provisions made in Judaism for Anusim (forced ones). However, doubt always lingers when people come out from nowhere ( so it seems), and declares...I am Jewish. When, in all sincerity, they all but diapered from the radar of Rabbinical Judaism (in the eyes of some of the Rabbis). But in fact, they have in their hearts been living under religiously oppressive realities, trying to keep the flame of their Jewish souls intact, by whatever means possible. The S&P Jews, have always had to suffer with this stigma. This stigma, lends itself to have to prove one's worthiness( being Jewish) and personhood(dignity) within Jewish circles. This happened then and it happens now. This religious radar, is not the barometer, that constitutes, who is a Jew and who is not a Jew. The barometer is the halacha which lends itself useful to all Anusim irregardless of circumstances or time.
If you follow the literature of today, in regards to this very issue, there are many examples that might sway one to believe that the S&P phenomena is a tragedy of the past. This is not to so, but, in fact the contrary is true. The provisions that are given in the halacha regarding Anusim, are there not only to prove present events, but to guarantee the future ones too, irregardless of their geographical location or time.
Although, Bodian never tampers with this volatile halachic subject, she does present the Ba'alim teshuvah (returnees to G-D's commandments) as suffering internal as well as external pressures given all the difficulties presented in separation from mainstream or rabbinic Judaism. These difficulties are expressed here in Bodain's book very well. It is presented in as, a matter of fact, manner as possible. Which lends itself ultimately, as more credible, rather than the normal patronising, that most scholars tend to gravitate too.
In all, this book is without a doubt a scholarly look at a very fragmented, but integral part of Judaism that needs to be understood rather than dismissed. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

A Missing Link Discovered.......2001-08-24

A Missing Link Discovered

Certainly, any true history such as that written by Miriam Bodian is worthy of much more than five stars. . Professor Bodian chooses not the former when she describes and clearly illustrates the fact that the Ashkenazim (German “Jewry”) were not accepted by The Nation…the “Hebrew Nation”…Iberian Jewry. .... This book is highly recommended for all those of the Hebrew Nation, and for the Ashkenazim, or for anyone interested in Jewry. I also highly recommend it for Christians who would like to establish a sound base insofar as understanding what REALLY went on just before and during the periods when “Jews” started coming to the Americas. Few understand that the first synagogue in New Amsterdam (NYC) was of the Iberian peoples’, the Ashkenazim not arriving till wayyyy late in the game. Professor Bodian’s book, within my Hebrew National Community is about the best thing since apple pie…or shall I say, “empanadas de manzana.” It’s highly recommended for ALL.

Sincerely,

Daniel Enriquez David

Adaptation and revival.......2000-05-29

This is a highly academic work of Miriam Bodian, Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies at Pennsylvania State University. With in-depth research, the author analyses a unique chapter in the history of Judaism: the return of Iberian "conversos" to rabbinical religion and the establishment of the Jewish community in Amsterdam. A remarkable account of the strength and perseverance of a "nation" which clings to its roots despite all adversities. This is cultural "Darwinism..."

Free of Catholic rule, Conversos reJudaize in Amsterdam........1999-06-25

In the last decade of the 16th and first decades of the 17th centuries, Spanish and Portuguese Conversos leave their homelands and come to Amsterdam seeking what author Miriam Bodian calls rejudaization, or what we, today, call conversion as a requirement for full participation in community life and benefits derived by being part of rabbinic Judaism. Affluent, educated, and willing to learn rabbinic Judaism, these Conversos are seeking to learn and to establish Jewish rituals and worship. For example, ex-Conversos seek religious aid from Uri Halevi, an Ashkenazi rabbi from Emden who establishs what is probably the first synagogue in Amsterdam in 1595. When Halevi starts circumcising Conversos, the Dutch authorities arrest him and charge him with circumcising adults who are presumably Conversos. However, Halevi is released and allowed to continue working with the Iberian ex-Conversos and with his help they are able to establish their own rituals by 1603. One of the early Conversos who arrives in Holland is Isaac Pinto. He is overjoyed at having been given the opportunity to practice Judaism, the religion of his Iberian ancestors. Pinto not only learns Judaism, he studies Hebrew and established a synagogue, which he finances in its entirety during his lifetime. Although few of the ex-Conversos have the financial means that Pinto had, they actively participate in the Jewish community life of Amsterdam. However, as the 17th century starts passing, a new type of Converso who views Judaism as a practical necessity begin arriving in Amsterdam. Often times, this group of Conversos wanted to participate in the life of the synagogue and receive the benefits derived from being part of the Jewish community, but had no desire to undergo circumcision. There are examples of uncircumcised Conversos who died in Amsterdam and their families wanted to bury them in the Jewish cemetery of Ouderkerk. The Mahamad (see definition) ruled that the dead Conversos had to be circumcised before they could be buried in Ouderkerk. "Denial of the right of burial [in the Jewish cemetery] was used by the Mahamad in Amsterdam, if not to encourage circumcision, to pressure a few of the émigrés to undergo formal conversion to Judaism. These were persons who unquestionably belonged to the `Nation' but, because of known female old Christian ancestors on their mother's side, were not Jewish according to rabbinical law, which held that Jewishness was transmitted through the mother". The Amsterdam Jewish community was very careful not to upset Spain or Portugal by actively promoting Judaism or openly protecting crypto-Jews on Spanish or Portuguese soil. This was because Amsterdam's ex-Conversos were heavily engaged in commerce as ship owners, diamond and spice traders, and many other activities related to commerce with the Spanish and Portuguese empires. Although the Amsterdam Jewish community probably did not openly help Crypto-Jews in Iberia, there is evidence that some of the many prayer books that were printed in Spanish and Portuguese in Amsterdam were sent to Spain and Portugal or their overseas possessions (Bodian page 199). The Amsterdam ex-Conversos strongly encouraged their friends and relatives in the Iberian Peninsula to leave before the Inquisition find them. The following exerts from letters written by the ex-Converso Abraham Idaña (Gaspar Mendez del Arroyo) to Conversos in Iberia illustrate the feelings of Amsterdam Jews in 1686: "The notion of serving God in one's heart, it is not enough. The law of Moses was given in order to be observed. It is a particularly grave sin to remain uncircumcised. One must flee to lands of freedom and be circumcised without delay. Nor should one delude oneself that good deeds can compensate for failure to observe the Law". The ex-Converso community in Amsterdam was always ready to help newly arrived Conversos who needed help to return to Judaism. If the community could not help the newly arrived Conversos in Amsterdam, the community would aid the new comers to find passage to the Ottoman empire, Italy, or even to the New World where more freedom could be found than in the Iberian Peninsula. Once the ex-Converso community established rabbinic Judaism they began observing Jewish precepts and prohibitions, developed over many centuries, which regulated and restricted relations between Jews and Gentiles. Regardless of this, there is evidence that some ex-Conversos men took lower-class gentile women, often maidservants, as mistresses. From 1600-1623, notarial records reveal instances of sexual relations between Portuguese Jews and gentile women (most of them were Dutch or Scandinavian). Even though it was illegal to have sexual relations between Jews and gentiles under Jewish and Dutch law, few of the ex-Conversos or their mistresses were prosecuted. Bodian tells us that to a degree the fathers of the illegitimate children provided for their support and that a group of fifteen Amsterdam Jewish merchants established a society called Dotar for the purpose of providing a dowry to orphans and poor girls descendants of the Portuguese Nation or Castilian Conversos. It is conceivable that many of the illegitimate daughters of ex-Conversos were eligible and obtained dowry to marry Jews. Eligibility to obtain a dowry was not only for Amsterdam's girls, but it was extended to girls who lived in the Iberian Peninsula, or other parts of Europe, the Ottoman empire, and the New World. Candidates had to prove eligibility by demonstrating that they were descendants of Conversos through either their paternal or maternal line. In order to find suitable candidates for dowries, the Amsterdam ex-Converso community established an elaborated network in many countries. It is possible that the dowry network extended its activity beyond determining eligibility for dowry. The Amsterdam ex-Converso community gained knowledge of rabbinic Judaism rapidly and by the 1630s they had produced their own rabbis and scholars, such as Menasseh ben Israel and Isaac Aboab da Fonseca. The community not only produced brilliant Jewish scholars but as a whole was very active in religious activity and its knowledge of Jewish traditions was adequate, if not brilliant (Bodian page 110). The ex-Converso community learned because of its perseverance to acieve rejudaization.

Double Prize winner!.......1999-04-13

This book received the National Jewish Book Award (ceremony was in March 1999) from the Jewish Book Council for best achievement in Jewish History, as well as the Koret Foundation's $10,000 Koret Jewish Book Award for achievement in History (awarded April 1999)

Book Description

Ransford provides an introduction to the subject, concentrating on the important case of two dimensions, and emphasizing its links with complex analysis. This is reflected in the large number of applications, which include Picard's theorem, the Phragmén-Lindelöf principle, the Radó-Stout theorem, Lindelöf's theory of asymptotic values, the Riemann mapping theorem (including continuity at the boundary), the Koebe one-quarter theorem, Hilbert's lemniscate theorem, and the sharp quantitative form of Runge's theorem. In addition, there is a chapter on connections with functional analysis and dynamical systems, which shows how the theory can be applied to other parts of mathematics and gives a flavor of some recent research in the area.

Customer Reviews:

A solid book on potential theory .......2005-04-01

This book is a must-have for those who want to learn potential theory. Ransford has written an extensive book, containing a choice of classical material and exercises which make the reader understand theorems more at depth, just like a good book should. I am a gradstudent in complex analysis and this book has helped me get a good grip of potential theory in one variable.

After having (tried to) read several great but difficult classical books on the subject, I was recommended this one, and it has made potential theory accessible and understandable for me. After having read it I was ready for e.g. "Potential theory in modern function theory" by M.Tsuji.

In the preface of the book, Ransford expresses a wish that his book bridge the gap between "encyclopaedic treatises on the subject" and "excellent books on complex variables, each containing a useful chapter on potential theory, but which did not go nearly far enough". In my opinion he has succeeded.

Average customer rating:

Potential Theory in the Complex Plane.

Manufacturer: 0
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IBT3QS

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WILD LIFE CONSERVATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE Lectures Delivered Before the Forest School of Yale University 1914

Manufacturer: Yale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000F3QR9U

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Wild life conservation in theory and practice;: Lectures delivered before the Forest School of Yale University, 1914,
William Temple Hornaday
Manufacturer: Yale University Press; [etc., etc.]
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00085BQEQ

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Wild Life Conservation in Theory & Practice (Use and abuse of America's natural resources)
William T. Hornaday
Manufacturer: Ayer Co Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0405045107

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