Are You Normal About Money?

Are You Normal About Money?
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Are You Normal About Money?
Bernice Kanner
Manufacturer: Bloomberg Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0739420895

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Are you normal about money

Are You Normal about Money?

Manufacturer: MJF
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 1567315852

Customer Reviews:

Are you normal about money.......2005-03-11

A treasure trove of fascinating statistics. This is entertaining, humorous, and informative peek into the darkest corners of America's pocketbooks and wallets (where 72% of us keep our bills in denominational order). Drawing on exclusive Bloomberg surveys and other industry sources, marketing diva Bernice Kanner shows us how we really think and feel about investing, saving, insurance, credit cards, bills, taxes, buying a home, gambling, jobs, shopping, retirement, tipping, and many other money matters. Conversation starters include:

-More than half of all college students expect to be millionaires by age 40

-44% of people reuse tinfoil

-For $1 million, 65% of those polled would live on a deserted island for 1 yr; for $10 million, one in 14 of us would commit murder.

-Each of us has, on average, between $30 & $50 worth of coins at home. That's more than $7 billion in change sitting idle across the country

This book is filled w/hundreds of fun facts and interesting tidbits.

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Are You Normal About Money? -
Bernice Kanner -
Manufacturer: Barnes Publishing -
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000P10RM0

Are You Normal About Money?: Do You Behave Like Everyone Else?

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The crazy things people do with their hard earned money.
A simply fascinating read for its quintessential insights
Hurray! I'm normal!

Are You Normal About Money?: Do You Behave Like Everyone Else?
Bernice Kanner
Manufacturer: Bloomberg Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1576600874

Book Description

With more Americans than ever investing in the stock market, has money become more important than sex? Is money the real obsession of our time?

This book offers a charming and whimsical look at how we think about and behave with money -- our attitudes and idiosyncrasies about every aspect of our finances, from the way we organize money to how we save it, invest it, spend it, agonize over it, cheat for it, and use it as a badge. Kanner pulls together a myriad of surveys, statistics, and factoids to reveal our very personal relationship to money. Sometimes surprising, sometimes hilarious, the results are riveting.

Did you know that 25 percent of us would abandon all our friends for $10 million? If you're like most people, you store your paper currency in rigid order -- from singles to larger denominations. More than half of us would rather talk about a friend's marital problems than his or her shaky finances.

This book also reveals our approach to the fiscal fundamentals -- when we first start handling money (by age 16 most people have a checking account), whether we pay our credit card balances in full (49 percent do), and whether we pay our taxes voluntarily (83 percent do, according to the IRS).

But the most intriguing revelations are those we say under our breath -- how we really feel and act and what money means to us.

Customer Reviews:

The crazy things people do with their hard earned money........2004-04-20

For the past 13 years, my work as a financial consultant has given me the good fortune to work with so many inspired and curious individual investors and their families. I'm constantly amazed by what people admit they've done with their important money decisions.

In this book, people will find comfort in the fact that they are not alone in the confusing world of personal finance. I read this book with a huge grin on my face as I was reminded of countless interactions with clients at one of the nations busiest financial service firms. At times however, I couldn't help focusing, not on the question posed by the title, "Are you normal about money?", but by the survey's findings about people who are considered in the minority about their decisions.

What do the few know that the masses do not? For example, the writer posed the question to those surveyed: "Do you plan on working after retirement?" Sixty-four percent say "yes". Work after retirement? Is that right? Well, I guess that is a good thing, because according to the book, only 23% have individual retirement accounts. And of those who do have them, seven times as many favor regular IRAs over Roth IRA's. With the current projections on the Social Security system, it would certainly pay to be ab-normal here, and in other instances throughout the book. Most experts and the overwhelming number of my clients who have significant IRA's, Roth IRA's especially, will admit that they feel much better prepared than the have-not's in this area.

Unfortunately, a majority of the US population that is without retirement savings. I guess it is no wonder that 21% of Americans, according to this book, would swallow a worm for $200. Would you?

A simply fascinating read for its quintessential insights.......2003-04-19

Are You Normal About Money? by Bernice Kanner is an amusing quiz book drawn from bloomberg.com surveys, and Madison Avenue industry sources, about the general population's views (on average) toward a variety of money matters. Presenting a host of ethical and philosophical money-related questions alongside statistics reflecting how people have answered, from "Would you have sex for money?" (60% no, 6.7% yes, 20.4% it depends on who with) to "Ever contribute to political campaigns?" (two-thirds of us never do), Are You Normal About Money? is a simply fascinating read for its quintessential insights about average human nature when confronting money and money management issues.

Hurray! I'm normal!.......2001-11-11

Hurray! I'm normal! Just when I thought some of my spending habits and monetary practices were unique to me alone, I find myself right up there with the other 43%, or 72%, or 80% of the country. Bernice Kanner has written a fascinating, funny, and may I add highly informative guide to how people spend and consider their money. It is fun to read, and I'll probably give it as a gift to those who appreciate the facts behind the myths about money -starting with my daughter who, at 13, is already lobbying for her own charge account.

Are You Normal About Money? - Do You Behave Like Everyone Else? Copy Display

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Are You Normal About Money? - Do You Behave Like Everyone Else? Copy Display
Bernice Kanner
Manufacturer: Bloomberg Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

The long-closed stock market of South Korea opened its doors to foreign investors in January 1992. Due to the success of the Korean economy during the past two decades, the country provides many new and exciting opportunities for foreign investors. This is the first book published in the United States that provides a comprehensive coverage of the Korean securities market. In addition to the structure and trading system of the Korean securities market, the other topics covered range from the Korean economy to a performance analysis of the stock market during the past ten years. The book starts with a discussion of the economic development of South Korea since 1962, which gives an overall picture of the history and current status of the Korean economy. A historical review of the Korean securities market is the next topic, followed by in-depth coverage of administration, laws and taxes, and the trading system of the Korean securities market. A financial analysis of the listed companies and descriptive comments on each industry are provided in chapters 9, 16, and 17. Some miscellaneous topics are covered in the later chapters. These topics include the over-the-counter market, securities financing, securities investment trust, and investment advisory business.

Book Description

At an 1887 council when his people were told to learn farming in the semidesert region east of the Wind River Mountains, the Shosone chief Washakie exploded with "God damn a potato!" His instincts were all against the cultivation of semiarid land. The relationship between the buffalo hunter and the potato eater–between indigenous peoples and industrial empire–is the basic theme of the studies in The Struggle for the Land. As the editor, Paul A. Olson, points out in his introduction, the theme is as old as the biblical battle between the descendents of Nimrod, the city dweller, and of Abraham, the pastoralist. But the environmental cost of developing the world's semiarid regions is a new and urgent concern. Soil erosion, the loss of lands to dams, the pollution of once productive regions through mining, and the destruction of native food plants have everywhere decreased the quality of life for indigenous peoples, who have been forced to adopt the Western agricultural practices, property concepts, and economic institutions that created the environmental crisis.

The eleven chapters in this collection look at the industrial and indigenous relationships in the lands of the North American Plains Indians, the Australian Aborigines, the Kazakhs in the USSR, the Maasai in Kenya, and several groups in southern Africa, and Alaskan and Lapp (Saami) native peoples. Representing a broad range of disciplines, including anthropology, history, ecology, and agricultural science, the contributors are John W. Bennett, Anatoly Khazanov, Russel L. Barsh, Gary C. Anders, Robson Silitshena, Peter Iverson, Patrick Morris, Annette Hamilton, J. Baird Callicott, O. Douglas Schwarz, and Solomon Bekure and Ishmael Ole Pasha. They recommend realistic solutions for the problems facing people who have essentially been disenfranchised by Western-style developmentof their native semiarid lands.

The Struggle for the Land: Indigenous Insight and Industrial Empires in the Semiarid World. (book reviews): An article from: Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

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The Struggle for the Land: Indigenous Insight and Industrial Empires in the Semiarid World. (book reviews): An article from: Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
H.E. Dregne
Manufacturer: Soil & Water Conservation Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0009211SE
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, published by Soil & Water Conservation Society on January 1, 1994. The length of the article is 484 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: The Struggle for the Land: Indigenous Insight and Industrial Empires in the Semiarid World. (book reviews)
Author: H.E. Dregne
Publication: Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 1994
Publisher: Soil & Water Conservation Society
Volume: v49 Issue: n1 Page: p54(1)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Customer Reviews:

No regrets........2002-10-22

Revealing autobiography of the scientist who transformed the world by synthesizing the Pill.
"I have no regrets that the Pill has contributed to the sexual revolution of our time and perhaps expedited it, because most of those changes in sexual mores would have happened anyway."

Djerassi give us an incisive picture of his personal life. But the biggest part of this book tells the intriguing story of the synthesizing of the Pill and the problems to prove that there were only minor side-effects: a battle with the FDA. A good lesson for every scientist.
He is perhaps too harsh for the environmental fundamentalist. But he remarks among other things that "... in general, life in the modern industrial world has not contributed to increased death from cancer", and that "99.9 percent of all pesticides consumed by humans are derived not from synthetics but rather from the plants themselves".
Also interesting is the story of the Pugwash Conference, whose altruistic goal was corrupted by a struggle between the cold war warriors.
His biggest confession "At heart, I'm still a gambler."
Excellent work, not only for scientists.

Prevailing over life's circumstances.......2000-06-28

To read from the works of Carl Djerassi is to sample the mind of a creative genius the breadth of whose life activities spans scientific research to writing fiction and plays. His autobiography is best read in the context of some of his other works. This review of his autobiography will reference two of his works of fiction, The Bourbaki Gambit, and NO.

These books will never be on the best seller lists. Yet it precisely because of this that they should be read by scientists and engineers as food for thought. These books grew on me. By the time that I had finished them, I had experienced compelling plot lines. More importantly I had experienced the emotions of scientists at the beginnings and ends of their careers. Is Djerassi, at an age where many are spending their days playing golf or reliving their pasts, using science in fiction as metaphor for his own career? Is not the promise of the medical advances of the last several decades the time and the vitality to explore new horizons and to boldly embark on a new career, rather than to ride quietly into the sunset? If nothing else, these works celebrate creative solutions to how one manages one's career throughout one's life.

The Bourbaki Gambit has Max Weiss, professor of chemistry at Princeton University, being forced into a retirement that he neither wants nor is prepared for. Stunned at a sudden loss of all that has been his life, Max considers others in his predicament and hatches a plan to show that retirement age does not mean the end of contributions. The plan? Nothing less than to jointly make a fabulous scientific discovery, and publish it as a sole, fictitious author. Does the plan work? Read the book.

If this was all you read, you might be tempted to say that this is the swan song of an old professor, but NO takes us to the other end of the spectrum. The device for this book is the molecule nitric oxide, which is active in many physiological processes. Specifically this book is a fictionalized account of the development and commercialization of a predecessor to Viagra. urialism. In the end, both husband and wife fulfill their careers by going full circle.

To better understand these works as metaphors for a scientific career, you must read Dieresis's autobiography. The rather cumbersome title, The Pill, Pygmy Chimps, and Degas' Horse, prepares the reader for what comes -- a highly readable journey through a series of defining events in his life. Question: is it better to read the fiction first, or the autobiography? Clearly this is a man the power of whose ideas transcends science or literature. Approach the autobiography as an insight into his mind. From persecution in 1930's Vienna as a teenager; to dealing with the provincial culture of the Mid West at the outset of World War II; to performing world class chemical synthesis from an isolated setting in Mexico in the early 1950's (activities which led to the synthesis of compounds that ultimately became the oral contraceptive); Carl Djerassi defined his surroundings. Lesser individuals may have been victims of their circumstances, but Carl Djerassi took his surroundings and prevailed. This is the message of this autobiography.

Now back to the question -- which to read first. Read the fiction first. Technologists can enjoy these as stories that speak to them. An engineer nearing retirement will immediately bond with Max Weiss, who struggles with the complexities of retirement. A young technologist, one contemplating entrepreneurship, or a dual career couple will find kinship with the protagonists in NO as they struggle with pursuing their visions. Then read the autobiography. What makes the stories so good is that he is writing from experience. The young technologists in NO, working in Israel, could be the young Djerassi working in Mexico City. Max Weiss could be Djerassi at a Gordon Conference poking fun at priority at any cost mentality of some scientists. And the ever cool Diana Doyle-Ditmus represents the ideal for an intellectually and physically active senior lifestyle.

These books, read either as a set or individually, can be an inspiration to technologists at any point in their career.

Book Description

Long-term migration is one of the most important factors in the formation of cultural identities in the modern world. Immigrant communities are usually studied in the context of the country people have migrated to; Katy Gardner, however, looks at the neglected `sending' side of the equation. In the sending communities, out-migration has become a central economic and social resource - the route to social, as well as physical, mobility, transforming those who gain access to it. Dr Gardner examines the cultural context and effects of the long-term migration from Bangladesh to Britain and the Middle East, drawing on her fieldwork in the Sylhet district,an area of exceptional migration. Major aspects of Bangledeshi life such as land, family structure, marriage and religion - all of which have been affected by the heavy out-migration - are covered in detail, and the transformation of the social structure is mapped. In focusing on local ideology, this book shows how local cultural meanings are constantly negotiated and contested by different groups in the context of rapid economic change. At the heart of this important contribution to the anthropology of migration is a presentation of the dynamic nature of migration and the concomitant possibility of self-transformation it holds for migrant cultures.

Book Description

Since their development in the 1990s, it has been discovered that dilute nitrides have intriguing properties that are not only distinct from those of conventional semiconductor materials, but also are conducive to various applications in optoelectronics and photonics. The book examines these applications and presents a broad and in-depth look at the basic electronic and optical properties of diluted nitrides.

The aim of Physics and Applications of Dilute Nitrides is to provides graduate students, researchers and engineers with a comprehensive overview of the present knowledge and future perspectives of dilute nitrides.

Co-authored by a group of leading scientists in the field, this book brings the reader up to speed on the development and current state of dilute nitride applications, as well as the technologies to be developed in the near future.

Book Description

Nick knew better than to buy a boat, but that didn't stop him. He bought a boat because Claire-Anne wanted it, needed it, dreamed about it, went electric with excitement when she talked about it. And Claire-Anne was very beautiful when she was excited. A good humored romp. J.P. Valdury has the inside line on wine, women, and boat owner's blues.

HELL'S GATE: The Battle of the Cherkassy Pocket January to February 1944
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Hell's Gate

Outstanding History

The Telling of a Desperate Struggle

Fascinating Account Of A Little Known Battle

Great history

HELL'S GATE: The Battle of the Cherkassy Pocket January to February 1944
Douglas Nash
Manufacturer: RZM Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Ukraine | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
General | World War II | Military | History | Subjects | Books
Russia | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0965758435

Book Description

Virtually unknown in the English-speaking world, the Battle of Cherkassy (also known as the Korsun Pocket) still stirs controversy in both the former Soviet Union and in Germany. It was at Cherkassy where the last German offensive strength in the Ukraine was drained away. Hell's Gate is a riveting hour by hour and day by day account of this desperate struggle analyzed on a tactical level through maps and military transcripts, as well as on a personal level, through the words of the enlisted men and officers were there.

Customer Reviews:

Hell's Gate.......2007-02-12

Expert writing on a relatively little-known albeit vital battle on the Eastern Front in 1944. Military History does not get any better than Mr. Nash's account of the battle of the Cherkassy pocket!

Outstanding History.......2007-01-30

Excellent book, with loads of anecdotes and personal accounts, at least for the German side. The book would have been even better if the author could have managed to obtain more Soviet first hand accounts as well, but even without them he does a good job of describing and assessing the Soviet side of the battle as well.

The Telling of a Desperate Struggle .......2007-01-27

"Hell's Gate" is a meticulously researched volume of a little known brutal winter battle on the Eastern Front during World War II. The writing is clear and unambiguous; the text is supplemented with many photographs, including previously unpublished photos made available to the author by participants of this battle.
There are some irritating production shortcomings, such as the occasional line dropping off at the bottom of a page and the seemingly inevitable misspellings throughout.
In all, I readily recommend this book.

Fascinating Account Of A Little Known Battle.......2007-01-27

If you want to know what war on the Eastern Front was like, there is not a better book available. The Battle of the Cherkassy Pocket takes place in early 1944 as the tide of war is turning against the German Army.

The author vividly details the progress of the battle. We get insight into the personalities of the military leaders on both sides. Liberal use of first hand experiences literally put the reader on the battlefield itself. The book also includes many striking photos taken during the battle.

The key story line is that of a surrounded German Army force. Having learned the hard lessons of Stalingrad, the Luftwaffe puts forth an incredible effort to try to keep the entrapped force resupplied until a breakout can be attempted. During the course of the battle, the author details the typical mistakes and miscommunications that so often take place during war. The Germans are suprised by the entrapment of their forces in the Cherkassy area having underestimated Soviet forces opposite them. Likewise, the Soviets find that even at this late point in the war, the German Army can still strike back effectively.

This book is highly recommended for anyone who wants to get a feel for the intensity of the war on the Eastern Front.

Great history .......2006-12-06

The book is well researched backed by the author's visit to the battlefield site. He interviews numeorus survivors(mostly German) of the battle. It is a pity that the Russians are not more forthcoming in allowing researchers access to their archives.
The only negative and I may be the only that thinks in this respect, is that I hate coffee table sized books.

The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991
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A Marxist Historian's Perspective

Marxist Propaganda

Biased, but not useless

The Age of Historical Insight

Insightful and Well Considered Text

The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991
Eric Hobsbawm
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

20th Century | World | History | Subjects | Books
General | World | History | Subjects | Books
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Age of Empire: 1875-1914

The Age of Capital: 1848-1875

The Age of Revolution: 1789-1848

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A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America

ASIN: 0679730052
Release Date: 1996-02-13

Book Description

Dividing the century into the Age of Catastrophe, 1914-1950, the Golden Age, 1950-1973, and the Landslide, 1973-1991, Hobsbawm marshals a vast array of data into a volume of unparalleled inclusiveness, vibrancy, and insight, a work that ranks with his classics The Age of Empire and The Age of Revolution. Includes 32 pages of photos.

Customer Reviews:

A Marxist Historian's Perspective.......2006-11-01

Eric Hobsbawm provides an interesting though biased overview of what he terms the "Short Twentieth Century." Hobsbawm's major strength seems to be in discussing the social and cultural changes over the course of the century. He is particularly thoughtful in chapters 10 and 11, The Social Revolution 1945-1990 and Cultural Revolution. His overview of the arts is also interesting. The chapter I found most compelling though was 18, Sorcerers and Apprentices-The Natural Sciences. Here he discusses the role of science in changing society in the 20th century. He does not just discuss what new technologies have been invented or new theories came into being, but also their social impact. Particularly, he focuses on the ambivalence that has developed about technology and science; especially as technical and scientific fields become more specialised and harder for the layman to follow. This chapter is definitely worth reading.
Hobsbawm does have his flaws though. The book seems to assume a basic knowledge of the years 1914-1991 and, as such, he does not really discuss "events." This book is very much a broad overview. He also seems to have a poor grasp of geopolitics. Essentially, he feels that the United States are to blame for all the world's problems during the Cold War. Also, he seems to skim over atrocities or wrongdoings committed by communist regimes. It is not that he seems to be unaware of them, he just sidesteps the issue. He also goes out of his way to show how Communism has nothing in common with Fascism, which brings to mind this phrase : he "doth protest too much, methinks."
Overall, an interesting read, though I would suggest borrowing the book from the library or a friend before buying it, unless history with a Marxist slant is your thing.

Marxist Propaganda.......2006-05-02

This book is written by an avowed Marxist, and as such, neglects to mention the horrors of Soviet Russia. Not only that, Ol' Eric discusses how horrible capitalism is, even though it was only because of capitalism that he was able to publish this waste of paper. He does not spend much time at all on World War II, and has the gall to called Richard Nixon a horrible president (which he was) without heaping abuse upon Stalin or any other Communists. The book also glosses over most historical events and goes for the "Big Picture" of history. I hated this book. Until I read it, I actually enjoyed learning about history. Now I am not so sure.

Biased, but not useless.......2006-04-11

I read this book here, in Brazil, some years ago.
At first, this book isn't an unbiased book.The author has marxists believes and he shows this, in this regular book.To example:
1-It doesn't tells nothing about the Germany's and very rich's money to marxists such as Lenin and Trotsky, to Soviet Revolution.
2-This book also has almost nothing, about the extermination of more then 150,000,000 people, by marxist between 1917 and 1991.
3-The Great Famine in China also has nothing in this book.
In other words, this book really is left's biased.
After all, this isn't a bad book.This book has many good informations, about XX Century.

The Age of Historical Insight.......2005-08-29

Eric Hobsbawm is one of the best historians I have read. I have read his entire series - Age of Revolution, Capital, Empire, and Extremes. Hobsbawm goes much beyond just recouting historical events. He relates them to other disciplines like Literature, Arts, Science (yes, science and technology), architecture, and many more aspects of life.
This series starts with the French Revolution and ends with the disintegration of Soviet Union. The vast canvas painted by Hobsbawm is truly insightful. This series is particularly helpful in understanding the birth of nation states, the evolution of democracy, and the traumatic finale in the middle of the last century. Hobsbawm open acceptance of a having a 'point of view' is indeed refreshing. His Marxian approach is helpful in making sense of the events of the last 2.5 centuries.
My most important learning from Hobsbawm is that if we do not learn from the past, we will not be able to handle the future. I strongly recommend all four books as required reading for anyone who wishes to understand how we got to this point in History.

Insightful and Well Considered Text.......2005-08-23

Hobesbawm is the master of looking at history in general terms, extrapolating general trends and terms in a way that are so obvious but generally overlooked by most mainstream historians. Like the fact that in the span of two generations a university education spread from less than 1% of the population of the Western industrialised countries to more than 40% of the population. In an even shorter period of time in 1930 1 in 4 people worked on a farm. Now 1 in 100 do. WIth a little reflection we can see the breakneck pace of the the speed of this short 20th Century (1914 - 1991).

Although the above may seem banal it has implications for the entire planet and is reflective of the changes in the way the world feeds itself to the way that industry organises itself around the processes of efficiency.

Hobesbawm also notes the reoccuring theme of the fate of what used to be called the industrial working class and how "class" as a term has become increasingly meaningless -- with modern well pampered industrialised union workers voting for Bush, because they have more in common with him than they do with with those in society who are truly powerless -- such as those comprising the unfortunate term -- the underclass. This is a constant bugbear for those who, clinging to traditional marxist interpretations, think that the underclass and the working class are and should be, one and same. It should also serve as pause for consideration for anyone who simply considers Hobesbawn a "Marxist Historian" -- he may be, but I never found a shred of evidence to butress this supposed self-evident truth.

Hobsbawm also points out the rise of the underclass has been in direct proportion with the rise of industrial and economic efficiency and the importance of knowledge-based industries. In what he calls the "Golden Age" (roughly from 1940 - 1970) industry was able to utilise almost any working person in some way or another. Scales of efficiency, globalisation and the microchip, have meant that the record low levels of unemployment of those times are a permanent thing of the past. There will alwayse be a permanent group of unemployable or under-employable people in our midst that will always be subject to the will of "market forces." Having lived in partly in both worlds I would strongly agree with him. The societal effects of this permanent group are less clear, and Hobesbawm does not pretend to know all the answers.

One person once recommended Paul Johnson's "Modern Times" as an antidote for Hobsbawm. While Johnson is a wonderful romp, his conclusions and observations and general historiography are totally different. Hobsbawn has trenchent and at times profound analysis on Man and his historical condition. Johnson comes up as a wonderful, yet clearly lightweight intellect.

The only thing I can cite as not meeting my expectations was the fact that Hobsbawn writes historiography and he is little tempted to delve in to anecdotal evidence -- he mainly cites scholarly studies solid historical first sources -- to build up a case to butress his mostly common sense arguments. This lack of anecdotal evidence, the mark of historians such as Barbara Tuchman, means that the text can be dense at times and there are, at times, too many profound thoughts to be digested in a single read. Therefore I had to balance the text with a lighter historical read. But that should not be interpreted as a weakness, it is however a good excuse to read the book yet again.

A major tour de force for any thinking person whatever their political stripe.

Age of Extremes, The : A History of the World, 1914-1991

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Age of Extremes, The : A History of the World, 1914-1991
Eric J. Hobsbawm
Manufacturer: Knopf Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KYSPK8

The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991

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The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991

Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000I30HA2

Book Description

Statistically Speaking presents a massive collection of quotations pertaining to probability and statistics. Some quotations are profound, others are wise, some are witty, but none are frivolous. Here you will find quotations from the most famous to the unknown. The book is designed to be entertaining and informative so that you can get a feel for the depth and breadth of statistics. The extensive author and subject indexes provide you with the perfect tools for locating quotations for practical use or pleasure, and you will soon enjoy discovering what others have said on topics ranging from actuaries to variability. Additionally, some quotations are illustrated by amusing cartoons. This book will be a handy reference for the scientific reader and the wider public interested in who has said what on statistics. Professionals, teachers, and students interested in statistics and probability will also benefit from the gems found in this book.

Customer Reviews:

delightful list of statistical quotes.......2001-06-27

This is an interesting book that has quotes from people in various disciplines that who are statistical experts or have used statistical information. The text includes the famous quote of Benjamin Disraeli and the modification by Mark Twain.

There are quotes from Shakespeare, Thomas Jefferson and even some famous statisticians like John Tukey, R. A. Fisher, Stephen Stigler and George Box. The quotes are arranged by topics that are listed in alphabetical order. The author and source are given. Sometimes the author is known but the source is unknown.

It appears to be well researched but I did find one error. Peter A. (Tony) Lachenbruch is listed as Peter Luchenbruch.

A nice and important feature of the book is the author index in the back. Each author has a list of topics for which he or she has quotes. The page numbers for theses quotes are given.

There is also an index of topics that lists each author and the page number of their quote under the topic. Ordering is alphabetical throughout.

Also, some cute and sometimes funny cartoons are interspersed throughout the book.

Book Description

From the Middle Ages to the present day legal instruments and management practices have been employed to control sand movement, build sand dykes and find uses for the "wastelands". The high natural values of dunes were largely ignored. In recent years a new European view has emerged, an approach that respects the value of dune systems to society as natural sea defenses, wildlife refuges and recreational areas. This volume addresses the key issues for coastal dune conservation in the early twenty-first century based on the shared experience of practical dune management in northwest Europe.

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