Last Minute Estate Planning (Last Minute)

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The Handbook of Model Job Descriptions
Barry Cushway
Manufacturer: Kogan Page
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Human Resources & Personnel Management | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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Similar Items:

Job Description Handbook

HR Answer Book, The: An Indispensable Guide for Managers and Human Resources Professionals

The Compensation Handbook

Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures

96 Great Interview Questions to Ask Before You Hire

ASIN: 0749445629

Book Description

Job descriptions are essential for recruitment, job evaluation, performance appraisal, training and development, and in grievance and disciplinary cases. This handbook is a comprehensive resource to help managers construct individualized job descriptions, with helpful advice on how to analyze jobs. It presents hundreds of ready-to-use descriptions and features a unique "job description builder" with templates for constructing original job descriptions.

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Handbook of Model Job Descriptions
Barry Cushway
Manufacturer: Kogan Page
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K3R7SA

Model department policy statements with job descriptions for hospitals (Administrative manuals for health care institutions)

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Model department policy statements with job descriptions for hospitals (Administrative manuals for health care institutions)
Frank D Murphy
Manufacturer: distributed by Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0816121990

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Model personnel manual
Thomas Orville Harris
Manufacturer: American Health Care Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Retirement Planning | Aging Parents | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006WQ6X2

A model volunteer handbook: (including lots of other helpful stuff, like forms, letters, evaluation, help, legal things, job descriptions, etc.)

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A model volunteer handbook: (including lots of other helpful stuff, like forms, letters, evaluation, help, legal things, job descriptions, etc.)
Bill Wittich
Manufacturer: Knowledge Transfer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006RGIOE

Book Description

This Handbook will assist you in developing your own volunteer handbook by supplying a model to follow and adapt to your organization's needs. The Handbook contains 40 policies that you might want to include in your handbook plus a complete sample handbook as a guide. A large reference section includes publications, organizations and websites to help you as you write your volunteer handbook.

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Interesting

Well written, badly illustrated

Fascinating book on how we learned to measure the universe

Measuring the Universe

Measuring the Age and Size of the Universe

The Birth of Time: How Astronomers Measured the Age of the Universe
John Gribbin
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Cosmology | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books
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Cosmology | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books
Cosmology | Astronomy | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Stardust: Supernovae and Life -- The Cosmic Connection

Almost Everyone's Guide to Science: The Universe, Life and Everything (Yale Nota Bene)

In Search of the Big Bang: The Life and Death of the Universe

In Search of Schrödinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality

The Origins of the Future: Ten Questions for the Next Ten Years

ASIN: 0300089147

Book Description

How old is the universe? This engrossing book recounts how scientists have achieved the definitive answer to one of the great scientific mysteries of our time. Research astronomer John Gribbin tells the story of the struggle to determine the age of the universe and offers an insider's view of the thrilling breakthrough of the 1990s, when Hubble Space Telescope data revealed that the universe is between 13 and 16 billion years old—older by at least one billion years than the oldest stars.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting.......2005-09-14

This book is quite interesting compared to many other books on science I have looked at. The book builds on itself with each chapter. The first part of the book is about the earth and how we learned it's age/size. The rest of the book describes, in thourough detail, how scientists were able to find the age of the universe through various means. Gribbin does a great job captivating the reader with a sense of importance behind each scientific discovery.

The only bad part about this novel is the fact that Gribbin often times explains theories that I can not begin to comprehend. Astronomy is relatively new to me, yet Gribbin will often go out on a tangent explaining how something works. There were a few times where I would not be able to understand anything because Gribbin, as one reviewer pointed out, did not put diagrams in his novel.

Pick this novel up if you really want to comprehend how much time has gone into pin-pointing the age of the universe.

Well written, badly illustrated.......2005-05-17

All-in-all an excellent and well written book that is enthralling and informative for anybody interested in modern astronomy and cosmology. However, I must agree with the previous reviewer, Mr. Michael Wischmeyer, that it sorely lacks in the illustration department. Indeed, I shared that reviewers particular frustration with Gribbin's description of the HR Diagram.

All is not lost. May I recommend that anybody thinking of reading Gribbin's book first turn to Donald Goldsmith's book "Einstein's Greatest Blunder...". I only discovered I had this book on my bookshelf immediately after completing Gibbin's book. I had been mislead by its title (which is applling) and had not bothered to open it. It poses the same basic question as "The Birth of Time" but was written a few years before Gribbin's book and sets the scene admirably. Goldsmith's book is not at all about what its title implies but is about the same problem covered in Gribbin's book, i.e. the age of the universe, and includes the well needed diagrams and a lot of prequel discussion of other related issues - e.g. a much simpler description of how the Cepheid distance measure works. Unfortunately, Goldsmith's book does seem to be hindered by a fair few typos, especially in relating the text to specific figures, but with a little thought it is possible to see what is meant.

I strongly recommend these two books as companions but begin with Goldsmith's first to avoid those "oh, that's what Gribbin was talking about!" moments I experienced when reading it after having completed "Birth of Time".

Goldsmith's book truly poses the question of the age of the universe (and a few others beside) before the answer was known and gives a good explanation about what exactly underlies the question. After reading Goldsmith you will simply have to read Gribbin for the answer to this one question posed in Goldsmith's book.

Gribbin provides the history behind the solving of the problem of the age of the universe and describes the actual solution and his own part played in its derivation. And that is probably where the rub lies: Gribbin's personal involvement adds a definite spark of passion but it probably clouds him to providing some explanations that are required by the outsider. Although he often refers to his other books for background in certain issues I am not convinced they cover the full spectrum required by this book. Also, it is not fair to expect the reader to own Gribbin's entire library of publications - although this is not a bad idea.

Yet again, an excellent book from John Gribbin!

Fascinating book on how we learned to measure the universe.......2004-08-03

John Gribbin is a treasure. He not only has the ability to explain complex scientific concepts to general readers (like me), but he can also explain the controversies surrounding them in a way that the reader can appreciate what issue caused each alternative to arise and what needs to be resolved between them. This wonderful book takes on the topic the techniques used by astronomers to measure the age of the Universe.

Deciding the age of the Universe is not simple, nor is measuring the motion and distance of stars and galaxies. It is fascinating to read how the present conclusions were derived and the role wonderful technology, such as the Hubble telescope, played in opening new areas of the sky to our understanding.

The book has some black and white pictures that do add to the reading of the book, but there are books with truly amazing images from Hubble that are also available.

I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Measuring the Universe.......2004-05-03

Overall. I like the book. It had some short comings, and I get to those, but it did make approachable some of what astronomers do and how they do it. The book is basically a historical narrative of the science of astronomy and cosmology, and how they are continuously striving to answer some basic questions: How old is the Earth and consequently the Universe?; What is the nature of that Universe?

In this regard, the book does very well. It introduces historical figures, what they did, how they did it, who they influenced, and a few interesting side trips to historical oddities that later proved prescient. There are historically significant people, and people significant only to the field in the book. The book however, is not so much about people as the questions asked (fundamentally remaining unchanged), the answers each generation uncovered (constantly changing with new insight and new precision of the fundamental technology), and the politics of the scientific community.

The author makes approachable aspects of the theories of Einstein, Newton, Quantum Mechanics, the inner workings of stars and how this influenced astronomy. This is were the author is strongest.

The weak areas are primarily in the paucity if figures, diagrams, and pictures to highlight and illustrate key techniques, theories, and technologies.

What impressed me the most is how the science of astronomy and cosmology are built on estimates, built on assumptions, tied to just a few laws of nature or knowns. The answers the participants in the field devine from their work is constantly being refined as the estimates and assumptions are better understood or tossed out.

Measuring the Age and Size of the Universe.......2004-02-21

Questions about the age of the universe are tightly coupled to understanding the size and structure of the universe. John Gribbin, a research astronomer as well as a popular writer, tells the story of how astronomers and physicists gradually recognized that the universe was both very large and very old.

We all know today that the universe is immense, that the Milky Way is one of many galaxies, the age of the universe is measured in billions of years, and it began with a big bang. This fundamental understanding is actually quite new. In 1920 the scientific community was deeply divided over whether the Milky Way was essentially the entire universe or whether other large galaxies existed. The age of the universe was significantly underestimated. The Big Bang Theory was first considered seriously in the 1940s.

The Birth of Time is a 200-page detailed look at how this remarkable story unfolded. Gribbin writes well and his explanations are quite lucid. We learn not only about major breakthroughs, but we also explore blind alleys and dead ends. It is an exciting, intriguing story, one that definitely warrants reading.

Nonetheless, this book has one major drawback. Gribbin fails to use explanatory drawings or graphs. For example, he describes the Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram entirely in words. We laboriously read: So in a diagram (a kind of graph) where the brightness of each star (its absolute brightness, after allowing for how far away it is) is plotted against its colour, all hydrogen-burning stars lie along a single band in the diagram, a band which is called the main sequence, running roughly diagonally from top left to bottom right.

Likewise, without any diagrams or graphs, or equations, Gribbin discusses parallax measurements, the redshift-distance relation, Hubble's Constant, gravitational lensing, spectral lines, and the Cepheid period-luminosity relation. (There were eight black and white full page astronomical photos that were indeed helpful.)

I hope John Gribbin updates his work to include recent findings regarding dark matter and dark energy, and the now highly precise age (13.7 billion years) assigned to the universe.

I reviewed the 2000 edition published by Universities Press.

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The Birth of Time: How Astronomers Measured the Age of the Universe
John R. Gribbin
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORT1AY

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The Birth of Time: How Astronomers Measured the Age of the Universe
John R. Gribbin
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OSH4U2

Book Description

Helps kids discover the scientific principles behind things that bounce, mix, stick, and otherwise react in chemical ways.

Customer Reviews:

A great simplistic approach to the concepts of chemistry!.......2003-05-13

As a biochemist turned stay-at-home mom, this book has proven to be great fun and a great asset. I have used it to share my career with my children, the preschool class, and the Girl Scout troop. It is an excellent resource for parents and teachers. Answering a simple question, each experiment is presented on a single page with sketches accompanying each step. Dr. Heidi not only introduces mixing, but also separations which is equally important in laboratory detective work. The kids loved turning orange juice into orange soda!

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Fun with Mixing and Chemistry
Donna L. Goodman Heidi Gold-Dworkin
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OFNVUM

Book Description

While the basic pattern of hominid evolution is well documented, the recent evolutionary history of homo sapiens is less clear. Application of molecular genetics techniques has great potential for resolving issues over this period, but as the complexity of such data increases, the quantitative methods used for its analysis are becoming more important. This phase is also one of the richest for biological and behavioural evidence derived from both fossils and archaeology. The book will contain expository and state-of-the-art research contributions from experts in these diverse areas, covering data and its interpretation, and experimental and analytical techniques.

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At the Crossroads of Infinities
E. I. Parnov
Manufacturer: Mir Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000M5BN9A

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At the crossroads of infinities
Eremeĭ Iudovich Parnov
Manufacturer: Mir Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Science | Subjects | Books
Cosmology | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007AEH4I

Book Description

"At the Crossroads of Infinities" is a story about the struggle of ideas out of which the modern physical picture of the world was born. Can anything move faster than light? Is the universe finite or infinite? Is time reversible? What lies at the basis of the realities which we perceive as space, time or matter? These are the questions taken up in this book. And more, for it also tells of the roads of knowledge, of the way man has probed the mysteries of the infinitely large and infinitely small, yet at root integral world.

Book Description

Forensic expert "Cat" Ferry has a stellar reputation until a panic attack paralyzes her at a New Orleans murder scene. Praying the attack is a one-time event, she continues working, but when the same killer strikes again -- raising fears that a serial killer is at large -- Cat blacks out over the victim's mutilated corpse. Suspended from the FBI task force, Cat returns to her hometown of Natchez, Mississippi, to regroup. Though her colleagues know her as a world-class forensic odontologist, Cat lives a secret life. Plagued by nightmares, and deeply involved with a married homicide detective, Cat holds herself together with iron nerves and alcohol, using her work as a substitute for life. But her family's secluded antebellum estate provides no sanctuary. When some of Cat's forensic chemicals are spilled in her childhood bedroom, two bloody footprints are revealed. This discovery sets in motion a quest to piece together Cat's past -- buried memories that could tie her father's murder to the grisly deaths occurring in New Orleans in the present. For only by finding this remorseless killer can Cat save her sanity -- and her life.

Download Description

Forensic expert "Cat" Ferry has a stellar reputation until a panic attack paralyzes her at a New Orleans murder scene. Praying the attack is a one-time event, she continues working, but when the same killer strikes again -- raising fears that a serial killer is at large -- Cat blacks out over the victim's mutilated corpse. Suspended from the FBI task force, Cat returns to her hometown to regroup. Though her colleagues know her as a world-class forensic odontologist, Cat lives a secret life. Plagued by nightmares, and deeply involved with a married homicide detective, Cat holds herself together with iron nerves and alcohol, using her work as a substitute for life. When some of Cat's forensic chemicals are spilled in her childhood bedroom, two bloody footprints are revealed. This discovery sets in motion a quest to piece together Cat's past -- buried memories that could tie her father's murder to the grisly deaths occurring in New Orleans in the present. For only by finding this remorseless killer can Cat save her sanity -- and her life.

Customer Reviews:

Terrific!.......2007-10-10

This tops my list of Greg's stuff. I enjoyed the story so much and could not find a good place to stop ever. I think I zipped through this one in about 4 or 5 days and it's pretty long.

un-be-lievable!.......2007-06-17

What a waste of paper. You can read this book quickly just by reading five, then skipping ten all the way through the book. The premise is shaky. The heroine kooky. The deaths so numerous that you really won't miss anything by not reading all of it. And the teeth gimmick doesn't work at all.

Oh, and we get a "romance" thrown in.

The book is a literary dumpster.

more miles of iles.......2007-05-07

See Turning Angel review. Greg Iles can write. Boy can he write.

MUST READ!.......2007-04-14

This is the first Greg Isles book that I have read, and I plan on buying every one! He is a wonderful author. I could not put this book down! It is one of the best books that I have read in a LONG TIME!!!

Great Read.......2007-03-11

This was my 1st impulse buy, now I am a new fan, I liked this book and could not stop reading. This is a great buy. Page turner bite the nails.
I just started to buy all of Giles's books but so far I haven't gone wrong with any.

5 ELIZABETH GEORGE Books - 1) - A Traitor to Memory / 2) - With No One as Witness (Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers Novels) / 3) - In the Presence of the Enemy / 4) - For the Sake of Elena / 5) - Payment in Blood (Unboxed Set of Fiction Books)

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5 ELIZABETH GEORGE Books - 1) - A Traitor to Memory / 2) - With No One as Witness (Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers Novels) / 3) - In the Presence of the Enemy / 4) - For the Sake of Elena / 5) - Payment in Blood (Unboxed Set of Fiction Books)
Elizabeth George , and Elisabeth George
Manufacturer: various
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VY7U3U

Product Description

5 ELIZABETH GEORGE Books - 1) - A Traitor to Memory / 2) - With No One as Witness (Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers Novels) / 3) - In the Presence of the Enemy / 4) - For the Sake of Elena / 5) - Payment in Blood, (Unboxed Set of Books), in either Hard or Softcover, (See Seller Condition Comments), Shipped in one package to save on shipping costs.

Book Description

Today more than ever, international headlines are dominated by dispatches from the many dictatorships that still dot the globe. Although Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been deposed, North Korea's Kim Jong-il continues to attract attention on the world stage; at the same time, other dictatorships, led by royal families, military juntas, and single political parties, persist in repressing and brutalizing their citizens without ever attracting anything like Saddam's or Kim Jong-il's level of international attention.

In this fascinating, eye-opening read, New York Times bestselling author David Wallechinsky offers in-depth portraits of each of the twenty worst dictators -- and the governments they head -- currently in power: exposing their crimes, and revealing their strange personalities and mysterious backgrounds. Tyrants also reveals the extent that foreign corporations and governments support these tyrants despite their policies.

Timely and provocative, crafted with the popular touch that has made Wallechinsky a bestselling author, Tyrants will awaken you to the criminal regimes of the present -- and pose challenging questions about America's role in curbing (or promoting) their power in the future.

The Tyrant Hall of Shame includes:

Kim Jong-il/North Korea
Hu Jintao/China
Seyed Ali Khamenei/Iran
King Abdullah/Saudi Arabia
Muammar al-Qaddafi/Libya
Omar al-Bashir/Sudan
Islam Karimov/Uzbekistan
Saparmurat Niyazov/Turkmenistan
Fidel Castro/Cuba

Customer Reviews:

Well Researched Study Of International Tyrants.......2007-05-06

This book includes a wealth of information not only about well known dictators such as North Korea's Kim Jong-il and Cuba's Fidel Castro. But also lesser known despots in countries like Swaziland and Turkmenistan.

Yet it is not just some simply written "list." Instead each chapter provides an ample historical background that explains the circumstances that led to a dictatorial form of government. In most cases, the current dictator is not just an individual aberration. But rather a continuation of the country's long history of authoritarian rule, as in the cases of China and Saudi Arabia.

George W Bush does receieve his own "special section." But the author makes it very clear that he is not an actual dictator. Instead Wallechinsky makes a compelling case that Bush has taken dangerous steps, such as the so-called "Patriot Act," to take away our cherished American freedoms. Furthemore, the Bush administration lied to the American public in order to justify the war in Iraq, authorized the use of torture against prisoners of war and has threatened America's historically successful system of check and balances by expanding the power of the executive branch at the expense of the judical and legislative branches of government. To me these are all abuses of power that are highly worthy of condemnation.

Wallechinsky comes across more as a champion of civil liberties than a stereotypically "big government" type liberal. His list also includes the Communist dictators of China, Laos, North Korea and elsewhere, so clearly there is no "left wing agenda" in play. Rather Wallechinsky's purpose is to criticize tyranny and the lack of democratic freedoms wherever they exist and this book is worth reading by any person that values freedom and democracy, including both liberals and conservatives.

Great Book.......2007-01-25

I always enoyed this authors 10 worst dictators list published annually in PARADE magazine; so when his book came out I picked it up. Very interesting read. With every dictator the author is sure to give a history of the country so we can understand how the political and economic climate of these countries allow people like these to rise to power. This book sheds light on not only the obvious dictators from countries like North Korea and Sudan, but also the less known ones out of countries like Syria and Burma. The addition of Bush is an interesting choice. He is not even close to being as evil as any of the others on the list; but he has instituted policies that take away the rights of his own citizens. The addition of Hugo Chavez would have been a good. Overall, this book is a good read.

Would have given more stars but..........2007-01-24

I really enjoyed this book whose author writes the very well done Book of Lists series. He does a very good job at profiling some very obscure dictators whose name rarely appear in any western media but whose unfortunate people are forced to live daily under their oppression. I did have some issue with his naming of George Bush as a 21st century dictator. While not in any way a Bush fan I am reminded of the old remark of judge someone by the company they keep and it seems Wallechinsky wants us to think that Bush is the same level as Bashir in Syria, the head of Sudan or Eriteria? And that Putin, Chavez and the Vietnamese are superior?

I don't buy his argument as it is presented. It lacks context and that hurts the ending of a great book!

An interesting idea.......2006-12-05

This is a good list, not entirely fair but good. Islam Karimazov of Uzbekistan is not a fair contender. Neither is Hue Jintao, but the rest are mostly good picks. It was important that this book include the Saudi government, which gets away with so many terrible things, running a 5th century inquisition like state, ignored by the world for its human rights abuses. It is important also to put Mr. Bashir, the genocidist who runs the SUdan on here, who also seems to be ignored when people condemn the nebulous 'janjaweed' rather than the man at the top, like condemning the Whermacht and not Hitler. Mugabe, Qadaffi, Castro, all good ones. There are undoubtedly a number of small fish that are missed, but that is fine. This book helps to show just how dictatorship is the offspring of terrible utopian ideas such as communism(North Korea, Cuba), African fascism(Mugabe) and Islamism(Saudi) as well as arab nationalism(Syria, Libya).

The inclusion of Bush must be to incite talk or to hype the book because it is obviously a sham, since every leader in the world is clearly conducting policies not different from the American presidents. After all if Bush is on there, where is Putin, Hugo Chavez, Mubarek and Musharref? So while it is funny and for some people self fulfilling to include George Bush, it is disingenous and infantile.

Seth J. Frantzman

Bush a Special Case?.......2006-11-23

This book would be a mere afterthought were it not for the 21st member on the list: GW Bush is entered not as a tyrant, but as a special case.

Most of the other tyrants listed, arguably would be on any list of the World's worse. Yet, even when the author's slightly left-leaning politics (which creeps in from time-to-time) are discounted, he makes a rather convincing if not compelling case for eventually adding Bush to this infamous list.

As Wallechinsky so carefully points out, the Cheney/Bush foreign policy, in addition to being ill-thought out and poorly executed, is also unilateralist and based on greasing the wheels of the military-industrial complex -- a collusion that Ike forewarned us about in his farewell address. It seems that under Cheney/Bush that collusion has not only come to fruition, but is thriving and flourishing at the great expense of American democracy and at the expense of human rights and peace in the world.

With Cheney as Bush's alter ego, he sits on his throne presiding over the Senate -- and some think that there he is also the de facto President -- grinning like a Chestershire cat all the way to bank with his share of Halliburton's nearly $2 Billion from war profiteering. This bounty is the fruit of what Cheney and Bush single-handily contrived. The Iraq war, as he points out is a war that failed by design. It is this kind of callous cynicism that caused the author to place Bush on the list.

Similarly, Mr. Wallechinsky believes also that the Bush war on terrorism is just evidence of a larger pretext being played out. The war is little more than a playground for corporate greed, corruption, and war profiteering. The war on terrorism is just another fear-based excuse for all kinds of human rights violations; political power plays, and a novel way of unleashing right wing religious morality and ideology onto the American people, writ large.

For a piece basically designed to give summaries of the bio of these tyrants, this one is surprisingly robust. The author discusses in amazing detail the Bush involvement in subjects such as the arbitrary arrest and detention of both U.S. and non-U.S. citizens, denial of fair public trials, and torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and punishment of prisoners.

Moreover, and this is an important point, the author implies that Bush may have purposely skirted signing America up to the International Court of Justice and did so apparently with considerable forethought and malice - realizing that he and Chaney might one day find themselves as defendants before it.

Although, I am not big on Bush bashing, this addition of Bush to the list as the 21st worse tyrant was a stroke of genius and has considerable merit. Five stars for adding Bush to the list and making it believable.

Tyrants: The World's 20 Worst Living Dictators.

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Tyrants: The World's 20 Worst Living Dictators.
David. Wallechinsky
Manufacturer: Regan Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000TBBWDY

Book Description

Mountain people don't know everything at birth. They have to learn. And sometimes the learning process is very tough. Mistakes were made along the way. That is where they use their common sense.

Book Description

This book rescues the man from the myth, to show that he was a man and not a monster.

Customer Reviews:

An Uneven and Disappointing Biography.......2002-08-08

...In preparation for the writing of a long article about Nero, I have read several biographies of the emperor, in particular Griffin, Grant, Weigall, Shotter, Walter and Warmington. I have also collected many articles from journals to get additional points of view - and I must note that Mr. Holland does not list a single article in his bibliography. It is clear that the author is deeply interested in ancient history but he falls short of his goal to rewrite the history of the maligned Nero. Despite some excellent insights the discussion remains stuck in relating the ancient sources without asking questions. What I took for a bold look at Nero turned out to be pretty much what others have said before, only they have done it much clearer.

I was particularly interested in what Mr. Holland had to say about the death of Agrippina, thinking he might have read the article by H. Dawson that seeks a different interpretation. No such luck: Mr. Holland gives us the story straight out of Tacitus without wondering if these events really happened. The story of Agrippina's murder is very theatrical and some doubts have been expressed as to if it was outright murder or did Nero's mother actually conspire against him? How could all of the events: the collapse of the boat, Agrippina's rescue by an oysterman, her traveling back to her miles some miles away in a litter (borrowed?), Agrippina's arrival home, sending a message to Nero, her murder and cremation all in the hours from sometime after midnight to dawn. There is plenty here for Mr. Holland to set the record straight about. Why then attempt to introduce the unsupportable suggestion that Nero was a masochist?

Mr. Holland often tries to rationalize events that other authors dismiss without giving good reasons. For example, he accepts Poppaea's nagging as one of the causes of Agrippina's murder where all other authors understand this as a transposition of Tacitus to better explain why Nero acted. Mr. Holland does have some good insight into Roman history, particularly in the administration of the empire. I do find that his comparison between Jesus and Nero in his introduction is misplaced. The details about Pontius Pilate and the birth of Christianity were a needlessly protracted discussion. The point was to discuss the Great Fire and how the Christians were chosen to be Nero's scapegoats. There also are some small outright errors in the text: Caligula's fourth (and final) wife was not younger but older by about 7 years, his brother Drusus was not exiled but imprisoned under the palace, there were attempts to force feed Agrippina the Elder and Aelia Patina was Claudius' second, not third wife. These may be picky little errors but they are numerous.

In providing an historical background Mr. Holland tends to go overboard. His summary of Caligula's reign provides more detail than necessary but he also cannot give a full discussion of the facts, particularly about Caligula's assassination. There are three versions of the assassination but Mr. Holland relates only one (the only agreement between the ancient sources is that Caligula was not mortally wounded by the first blow). The information about Caligula needed to be treated with less detail befitting his minor part in Nero's life.

I think this book is an opportunity missed. Having read the larger share of books about Nero, not one by itself answered all of my questions about Nero. Miriam Griffin's biography is the best but it is choppy and sometimes she provides no details about events. If one wants to read a serious biography about Nero, go to Griffin.

Nero was nice, but a Classical work or Hollywood potboiler?.......2002-07-18

This book certainly goes a long way to restoring the reputation of Nero. Ancient sources should always be questioned as to motive, perspective and subjectivity, and Richard Holland has done an excellent job in this respect considering his lack of formal qualifications in classical studies. He also seems to have a good grasp of Latin without any qualifications in this area. His use of statistics (persecution and proscription in peaceful reigns such as Augustus vs those of the reign of the much maligned Nero) also adds weight to his believable theory that the artistic Nero genuinely wanted to reign peacefully.

However, sometimes Holland has used a little too much supposition in challenging the ancient sources and to conveniently fill gaps where they are lacking. I am also a little skeptical of his many psychological theories, as I would be of anyone who had no qualifications in this tricky area. Mother/child relationships and the perspective of children in this era cannot be compared to today's and really shouldn't be attempted without minute scrutiny of ancient sources - all of which are hugely silent in this area and were written from the male viewpoint in a paternalistic society anyway.

Quite alarming is Holland's statement "sex in the head is always a mark of decadence" (p.155). It is not footnoted, and on a personal note I would like some back up on this psychological theory, as I'm sure would most of the general single population. The definition of decadence is moral and cultural decline, and from personal experience (as a single woman) keeping sex in my head stops my own moral decline into promiscuity and contributing to cultural decline by running off with my girlfriend's boyfriends/husbands. Obsessive voyeurism as a substitute for sex doesn't lay the foundation at all. Are we only supposed to think about sex when we are doing it, otherwise to be labelled decadent? I would have thought the opposite to be true.

On top of this I am still scratching my head in the reasoning of the juxtaposition of the presentation of the life and pyschological analysis of Jesus in comparison to Nero. When one remembers Holland's background in journalism it rather smells of sensationalism.

In spite of the aforesaid and the fact that the book wavers between a classical analytical biography and a novel on which to base a Hollywood script, Holland presents a very personal Nero who I enjoyed getting to know.

The Appendices Set the Tone.......2002-04-28

Nero: The Man Behind the Myth is certainly an entertaining book, can be easily summed up by reading the appendices.

As previously mentioned, Holland's work contradicts works of the Roman historians (Dio, Tacitus, Suetonious) by providing an alternative spin on Nero's doings, stating that the Roman historians had reasons to defame the fifth emperor, due to patronage or birth. Despite the fact that they are the primary sources, the author feels the need to explain the potential reasons behind their hostility in Appendix One: The Chief Literary Sources.

Perhaps the most telling part of the book is Appendix Two: Was Nero a Masochist, where Holland provides 21 points to why Nero was more likely a Masochist than a Sadist--weak willed and easily dominated by his freedmen and Mother. It cites that, towards the end of his life, he allowed himself to be steered towards his demise, appearing apathetic and not escaping abroad when he was at liberty...and that this makes him a masochist.

To those points, (1) Nero probably knew the end was near and was depressed at his impending demise, and (2) any ruler after Nero would certainly want him dead--and since the Roman emperor ruled most of the known world, there would be few places to hide for a man with so many enemies.

After reading the appendices, if the reader finishes reading the book, Holland goes on to explain away all of Nero's failings--he was led astray and domineered by his abusive and domineering mother (who he ultimately murdered after an ingenius and cruel "mousetrap" failed), he allowed himself to be ruled by his freedmen, why he persecuted Christians following the fire of Rome, which other historians speculate he ordered set, etc.

Holland's work, while amusing if the Roman historians (i.e. the chief literary sources) are read, is nothing more than an apologia for Nero. It is a good spin, but should be read with a grain of salt.

Who is right? History or Richard Holland?.......2001-05-14

As the dust-jacket says, the author of this book, Richard Holland, was a journalist for 25 years - he therefore isn't a historian. The dust-jacket also notes that this is Mr. Holland's first biographical work. As you read this book, these two aspects of the author become apparent. A good historian presents the facts, without bias. This is something Mr. Holland has not done here.

This book has a journalist's feel to it, in that it reads like the author is running a big 'scoop'. He has set himself the task of making Nero a really nice guy, who was misunderstood and totally maligned by history.

The problem is this - was Nero the Mr. Nice-Guy that Mr. Holland would have us believe? Sure, he tells the story of Nero murdering his mother, but most of the book reads like a magazine article, making excuses for the man history has labeled a monster. Obviously, Nero wasn't as bad as we are told by history, but was he as 'nice' as Mr. Holland thinks he was? The fact that the author is so convinced of Nero's innocence, and wants us to believe his theory so much, that the book ends up being a quite annoying. The book's formular is this - an episode from Nero's life is told, then the reasons why History is wrong, and why Nero didn't do 'such-and-such-a-thing' is explained in vast detail. This is what becomes annoying. Making excuses for a historical figure instead of telling their life story soon becomes boring.

Another curious thing I found about this book is that at the beginning of the book, Mr. Holland shoots down in flames Tacitus, Seutonius and Dio, the main Historians of the Roman period, and tells why they cannot be belived with regards to Nero's life. In the same chapter, he then demolishes the reputations of the Emperors Augustus and Claudius, explaining why History was wrong in its depiction of these 2 Emperors, who were really the monsters. But Mr. Holland uses Tacitus, Seutonius and Dio as evidence of Claudius' evil. If these Historians were correct about Augustus and Claudius, why were they wrong about Nero?

For anyone interested in Roman history, the best books are those written by historians, or rather, history-writers, not sensationalist journalists who think they are historians. Just compare this book with Dr. Michael Grant's excellent book on Nero, and even compare these two writer's styles, and see who makes the better author - the historian or the journalist.

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NERO: THE MAN BEHIND THE MYTH
Richard Holland
Manufacturer: Sutton Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LZBIZK

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Dawn: A Charleston Legend
Dawn Langley Simmons
Manufacturer: Wyrick & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OM1PJO

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