Business Continuity Planning: Protecting Your Organization's Life (Best Practices Series (Boca Raton, Fla.).)

Book Description

Once considered a luxury, a business continuity plan has become a necessity. Many companies are required to have one by law. Others have implemented them to protect themselves from liability, and some have adopted them after a disaster or after a near miss. Whatever your reason, the right continuity plan is essential to your organization. Business Continuity Planning: Protecting Your Organization's Life explains how to evaluate your current plan for completeness, create an effective plan if you don't have one, and ensure it remains up-to-date. From fires, floods, and power outages to hackers and software problems, companies need to protect against a variety of threats. Business Continuity Planning: Protecting Your Organization's Life takes a best practices approach to provide a comprehensive continuity solution. It details how to build a plan to handle business disruptions, keep vital operations up and running, and prevent losses that occur when business is crippled or security is compromised.

Customer Reviews:

Very Tactical.......2001-01-19

In this book, some authors describe about same themes. It would be better if the editor had made the staff in the better order. But the staff is very tactical. So if you have clear aims, the book will be a rich resource.

Book Description

This textbook provides an accessible theoretical analysis of the organizational impact of information technologies. It seeks to examine and comment upon the myriad ways in which actors, organizations, and environments are represented through these technologies. Contemporary threats to organizational form and stability are considered alongside the potential that information technologies offer to both exacerbate and overcome them. It examines, amongst others, issues surrounding the material and symbolic aspects of information systems; risk and prediction; systems implementation and systems success; knowledge management practices; accountability and other management practices; computerized modelling; and the virtual organization. To this end it deploys a number of different theoretical lenses including: DT systems theory DT social constructivism DT labour process theory DT post-structuralism DT actor network theory These offer complementary and contrasting insights into the computerization of managerial work. In order to ensure that the book is both relevant and approachable to students from a range of backgrounds these theories are applied to real examples of the development and implementation of information systems. This combination fosters practical knowledge that is theoretically informed. The book thus aims to bridge the gap between the abstractions of current theories of organization and the grounded material that forms the bulk of Information Systems literature. It thus offers a novel way into the ongoing debates surrounding technological change and the perennial problems of managerial control. It has been designed to support theoretically informed Information and Technology courses at the advanced undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and will also be of interest to academics in the fields of Management, Information Technology, Sociological, and Cultural studies.

Book Description

In the 1980s and 1990s, green manure/cover crop (GMCC) systems became a popular agricultural technology in research and development efforts for smallholder tropical and subtropical farmers. However, few syntheses of these experiences have been conducted. This volume of case studies contributes to bridging this gap by reviewing field-level experiences with these systems.

Twelve case studies are included. Eleven of them describe experiences from Latin America (4 cases), Africa (6 cases) and Asia (1 case) and the twelfth case reports on the development of a GMCC systems database. Two concluding chapters, `Learning from the Case Studies' and `Future Perspectives', build upon the cases.

The systems described are diverse. Some systems have been spontaneously adopted by farmers, while others have been introduced to the farmers through diffusion efforts. Some of the cases reviewed describe small, localized efforts while others report on large-scale, well-known ones, such as the combination of GMCCs and conservation tillage in Santa Catarina, Brazil, the maize-Mucuna system in northern Honduras, and the improved fallow systems in Eastern Zambia. Most experiences include both development and research aspects and to the extent possible the cases integrate these two. Discussion of the strengths and shortcomings of the systems and efforts is frank, and the goal is to learn from these experiences to benefit future efforts.

It is expected that both researchers and development practitioners and students of tropical farming systems and soil management will find this volume of case studies useful.A

Book Description

This one-semester text is designed for an upper-level majors course. Vertebrates features a unique emphasis on function and evolution of vertebrates, complete anatomical detail, and excellent pedagogy. Vertebrate groups are organized phylogenetically, and their systems discussed within such a context. Morphology is foremost, but the author has developed and integrated an understanding of function and evolution into the discussion of anatomy of the various systems.

Customer Reviews:

Your own history is inside........2006-03-16

Your own history is inside, not in simple easy words, so you will have to read, study and you will see how evolution creates so many variations of the vertebrate body plan. Good for teachers and students of general biology, zoology, comparative anatomy and evolution. Darwin would have read this book very happy.

Good improvement from last edition.......2002-08-07

This is the book that I used to teach comparative vertebrate anatomy. The previous major flaw of the book was the many inaccuracies in the figures. However many of these appear to be changed. All in all this book is a good book to reference to for a variety of questions about vertebrates. Not the easiest of books to wade through for a beginner but Kardong for the most part does a good job in explanations and descriptions for a book of this level

A very good text, but...........2001-11-25

I've used Kadong from the first edition and admire much about the text. As another reviewer commented, one has to be deliberate about the organization or the first time reader might feel as if he were going in circles. However, the single greatest shortcoming of this comparative anatomy text is the chapter on muscles which is inadequate and confusing unless one has already studied this subject. Kardong simply fails to provide an arganized description of trunk and appendicular muscles of the primary vertebrate models. The begining student would be well advised to turn to Walker, Kent or Romer for this topic.

I took the Comparative Anatomy class from Kardong........2001-02-17

I took the class from which this book was written for. When I took the comparative anatomy class from Kardong he was giving us photocopies from his work in progress and still had editors notes and omissions on the papers. Just from reading all those photocopies, I couldn't wait for this book to come out. I recieved my B.S. in Zoology before this book ever came out and when I recieved my first copy, I was elated. If your serious about zoology, this is a good book for you. However, this book is not for light reading or the beginning zoology student.

Vertebrate morphology supreme.......2000-11-27

This university textbook on vertebrate morphology is clearly written and is actually suitable for the general reader with no experience in the subject. Basic concepts such as morphological concepts, phylogeny, paleontology and evolution are discussed at the start of the book. A good overview is presented regarding theories of chordate emergence. Early vertebrates are then presented, starting with a reconstruction of a conodont animal. Chapters on biological design (ie, what adaptations are actually possible) and embryology then follow. Chapters describing and comparing organ systems in various vertebrates then follow, and include the integument (ie, skin), skeletal system, muscular system, respiratory system, circulatory system, digestive system, urogenital system, endocrine system, nervous system and sensory organs.

Hemoglobin Function in Vertebrates: Molecular Adaptation in Extreme and Temperate Environments

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Hemoglobin Function in Vertebrates: Molecular Adaptation in Extreme and Temperate Environments

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Biochemistry | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Anatomy | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Pathophysiology | Basic Science | Medicine | Subjects | Books

Hematology | Internal Medicine | Medicine | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 8847001072

Book Description

This volume comprises selected contributions by internationally renowned researchers and represents the state-of-the-art in the field of hemoglobin function in vertebrates living in extreme and temperate environments. The topics have been covered from several viewpoints, including protein chemistry, molecular biology, and evolution. All the contributions chosen for publication focus on phenotypic and genetic adaptations to changing environmental conditions and on gene expression and regulation. The book provides the reader with an update in this field, which is presently enjoying a true renaissance following developments in recent years of powerful methodologies such as site-directed mutagenesis and discoveries of new roles, for example, as oxygen sensors and in nitric oxide metabolism.

Vertebrates: Comparative Anatomy, Function, Evolution 4th Edition

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Vertebrates: Comparative Anatomy, Function, Evolution 4th Edition
Kenneth Kardong
Manufacturer: Tata McGraw Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0070607508

Product Description

PAPERBACK INTERNATIONAL EDITION Textbook. Printing and illustrations are in black and white. Contents are the same as the hardcover.

Vertebrates: Comparative Anatomy, Function, Evolution

Average customer rating:

Vertebrates: Comparative Anatomy, Function, Evolution
Kenneth Kardong
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill College
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OG870K

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding Book.......2006-03-16

I would like to say that I am extremely happy with this book. The pictures are huge and are printed on extremely high quality glossy paper. I would recommend this book to everyone that lives in Florida or is considering moving here.

Surprisingly informative, and "fabulous" photos.......2005-12-12

My kids and I went on a kick of reading reptile books at a difficulty level similar to this one. After a week of going through various titles, I was surprised to learn more about alligators from the short section in this book than I had learned from all the previous stuff we had read together! Ditto for cottonmouths, and other reptiles.

The photographs are superb, and there are enough pictures of each species to give a true feel for what it looks like instead of a single profile view of each.

the perfect resource for your children.......2003-12-16

we LIVE in central florida and my nature loving kids are constantly bringing home wildlife. the vivid accurate photos in this book allow them to ID their living treasures with confidence. (then they get additional info from the internet). the book is also full of useful info, and conservation topics.

Must have for FL relos.......2003-04-03

This book was given to me when I relocated to Florida, and I have thanked my benefactor many times over. Living in Florida means living with and respecting the wild critters, who are part of the beauty of this wonderful state. The colorful photos make it easy to identify the animals who slither through my new world and give me valuable information about which ones I should admire from afar.

Just wonderful!.......2002-08-21

If it's slithering, clawing or hopping around your Florida yard you'll find it in this book. The photographs are very well detailed for easy identification. I also recommend Florida's Fabulous Insects for other creepy crawlies.

Florida's Fabulous Reptiles & Amphibians

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Florida's Fabulous Reptiles & Amphibians
Pete Carmichael
Manufacturer: World Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SKI1JE

Book Description

When beloved Alabama football coach Gene Stallings's son was born with Down syndrome and a serious heart defect, doctors predicted he wouldn't live to see his first birthday and urged Coach Stallings and his wife to institutionalize him.But for Gene and Ruth Ann that was not an option.--Johnny quickly won the hearts and adoration of the Stallings family and everyone who took the time to know him, and, proving the doctors wrong by living a full life, he has become a vital and important part of his father's life and career.With intimate glimpses of family life and thrilling football anecdotes, Another Season is brimming with poignant lessons about defying the odds and finding joy in every moment.

Customer Reviews:

Good reading.......2007-08-10

I really enjoyed this book. A very moving story involving a father's love and football. You can't get any better than that! Great summer reading!

Another Season.......2006-08-17

I live in alabama and even kind of like alabama football so when we had to read it for summer reading i thought i would like it...i absolutly hated it!!! You could so tell it wasn't written by a pro writer i mean it jumped around from different dates and although i loved how inspirational it was with johnny gene stallings seemed kind of self centered and every time the family was happy moved. i hated how there was no time line and years would pass and then he would go every minute of the next day. i thought it was good how they were so religous and i liked reading it but it is not a book i would really reccomend to anybody just because there are more inspirational books and just better books!! Luv Ya!!

Rich, moving, honest...a life-changing read .......2006-08-09

There are a lot of great books out there you can read and be entertained in the process. A few of those books will even linger in your memory for awhile after you've finished them. It's more rare to read a book that really touches your heart and mind and provokes a change in your life.

ANOTHER SEASON is one of those very extraordinary books that takes hold of the reader's attention in a powerful way that transcends language. It's certainly a great read--at times, even very enjoyable, as Coach Stallings describes various triumphs on the football field. But, at times, it's also painful, and painfully honest...maybe even gut-wrenching. One admires Coach Stallings for his candor and vulnerability; one envies the deep love between he and his son, John Mark.

Through it all, we get a moving portrait of a caring, honorable, courageous family and get a glimpse into a father-son relationship that sets an example of what any father or son could hope for in terms of love, devotion, faithfulness, and friendship. John Mark Stallings is a heroic young man born with Down Syndrome. He has defied all odds, surviving and living with it, and touching millions of lives in the process. This young man has taught so many people how to live a life filled with meaning, purpose, and love, just like his famous daddy.

This story is personal to me in many ways: I have a close relative who has lived with a particular developmental challenge ever since her birth, and we love her dearly--she adds great richness to our family, despite her difficulties. It's also personal to me because I am a life-long Alabama Crimson Tide football fan, and I lived in Alabama during that glorious 1992-1993 National Championship season. I can tell you that everybody in our state, no matter what football team they followed, was and is a big fan of Mr. John Mark Stallings.

RECOMMENDATION: I cannot say enough good about this book. It will appeal to a broad range of readership; certainly, football fans will enjoy it, but also families and friends who have faced similar challenges as the Stallings family has will find much encouragement and inspiration here. John Mark, you're our hero. We love you, buddy. God bless the Stallings family, and thanks, Coach, for this deeply moving book.

A solid -- if difficult -- story, told by a solid man.......2004-05-26

I received this book unexpectedly after making a donation to my alma mater, from which Coach Stallings' daughters also graduated. Until then, I didn't even know the story had been written. The book fascinated me from many angles -- as a teacher, as the sister of someone born with a congenital handicap (whose parents were likewise advised to put him in an institution), as a reader of this genre of literature, and most of all, as someone who as a kid knew and adored John Mark Stallings.

Many have commented on the way the author plainly tells his early disappointments, fears, and frustrations at having his only son be born with such apparent limitations. I, too, initially felt uncomfortable. However, I came to admire Mr. Stallings' willingness to expose to scorn the ideas that he had back in the 1960s and 70s, ideas that over the course of the book he does slowly show to have been mistaken. By the end of the book it is clear he realizes that people born with Down syndrome are far more capable and have a more meaningful life than was dreamed of at the time John Mark was born. The narrative also puts into perspective the origins of those ideas.

The end result is an honest portrait by an unfailingly honest man, and the book shows the strong and loving relationship between Johnny and his father today.

-- Andrea

A real-life story about football.......2000-01-03

This is an autobiography by a person who has had a highly successful career in college and pro football but knows the world does not start and end with sports. The raising of the Stallings' son Johnny, who has Down syndrome, is the real focus here. The two stories, football and family, are intertwined, as the authors never lose sight of the family even while describing the high and low points of Gene Stallings' coaching career. Indeed, Johnny as he grows shares in his father's work. The book gives insight into both the game and the people in it and in the Coach's family. These people are brought alive for the reader. It is the best book `about' football I have read.

4 Books by Various Authors: 1) Another Season: A Coach's Story of Raising an Exceptional Son / 2) The Brooke Ellison Story : One Mother, One Daughter, One Journey / 3) Nothing is Impossible: Reflections on a New Life / 4) Down Syndrome: the Facts (Unboxed Set of Books on Special Needs)

Average customer rating:

4 Books by Various Authors: 1) Another Season: A Coach's Story of Raising an Exceptional Son / 2) The Brooke Ellison Story : One Mother, One Daughter, One Journey / 3) Nothing is Impossible: Reflections on a New Life / 4) Down Syndrome: the Facts (Unboxed Set of Books on Special Needs)
Gene Stallings , Sally Cook , Jean Ellison , Brooke Ellison , Christopher Reeve , and Mark Selikowitz
Manufacturer: various
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000WM39F4

Product Description

4 Books by Various Authors: 1) Another Season: A Coach's Story of Raising an Exceptional Son / 2) The Brooke Ellison Story : One Mother, One Daughter, One Journey / 3) Nothing is Impossible: Reflections on a New Life / 4) Down Syndrome: the Facts (Unboxed Set of Books on Special Needs), in either Hard or Softcover, (See Seller Condition Comments), Shipped in one package to save on shipping costs.

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Another Season: A Coach's Story of Raising an Exceptional Son
Gene; Cook, Sally Stallings
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OUDSNW

Average customer rating:

A little hurried - better if she had slowed it down

Must read for to-be publishers

Outstanding and Extremely Helpful

Well worth the read

Very Beneficial Book

The Publishing Game: Bestseller in 30 Days (The Publishing Game)
Fern Reiss
Manufacturer: Peanut Butter and Jelly Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Publishing & Books | Reference | Subjects | Books
Journalism | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books
Writing Skills | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books
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Similar Items:

The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days (The Publishing Game)

The Publishing Game: Find an Agent in 30 Days (The Publishing Game)

Publicize Your Book: An Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book the Attention It Deserves

Dan Poynter's Self-Publishing Manual, 16th Edition: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book (Self Publishing Manual)

1001 Ways to Market Your Books, Sixth Edition (1001 Ways to Market Your Books: For Authors and Publishers)

ASIN: 1893290883

Book Description

Make Your Book a Bestseller. In 30 Days.

Author? Just sold your book to a publisher? Want it to have a shelf life longer than cottage cheese? Publisher? Want to get those books out of your garage and into bookstores and libraries?

Make Your Move Now!

Learn how to:
* Be featured in national magazines
* Sell to corporations, book clubs, catalogs
* Be distributed through library approval plans
* Win a BookSense award
* Create a knock 'em dead print and broadcast publicity campaign
* Organize a profitable speaking tour
* Syndicate yourself
* Sell via an email newsletter

Play to Win!

Customer Reviews:

A little hurried - better if she had slowed it down.......2007-09-12

This is a good little book for giving you an OVERVIEW of different marketing strategies and ensuring that you don't miss a trick. However, I stress the word overview because that is all you are really going to get. I found myself wishing that the author had titled the book The Publishing Game: Bestseller in Six Months or even . . .in One Year.

It reminded me of a tour bus we were once on at Niagara Falls. We hit every attraction: American side, Canadian side, behind the falls, gift shops, etc., but we were positively rushed from site to site. At no point could we ask the bus driver to slow down, let us spend more time at a certain place, or enlighten us with further information, because he had a schedule to keep. Fern Reiss is by no means an amateur, and the theme of her book is packing a lot into 30 days, but I was left with the feeling that she wrote, edited, formatted, obtained the cover artwork and uploaded the book to the printers in 30 days also. Which is a shame, because she has a lot to share and I'm sure she could have gone into a great deal more detail.

Why I would recommend it: it's great as a checklist. Read it, make a chart of her step by step recommendations and mark them off as you complete each step. It will ensure that you don't forget anything along the way, even stuff you may already know.

What I didn't like about it: although she took great pains to include a lot of contact information (and even offers a free contact sheet at her website simply by subscribing - http://www.publishinggame.com/) much of the information was outdated. Four out of five of the links I tried no longer existed. I haven't tried her contact sheet yet, but I am assuming that as it is a more `fluid' medium that it is more current. I understand that this publisher uses traditional off-set printing to do print runs of 500, 1000 or more books. In certain instances she may wish to more seriously consider POD. It would allow her to update her text and reupload to the printers at a minimal cost and not eat 500 outdated books in the garage.

All in all, I don't list this as a `must have' for anyone getting into publishing, but it certainly doesn't hurt, if for no other reason than scaring off those less than serious by the summary of the sheer volume of marketing and organizational skills you have to have to even begin to compete.

As Fern Reiss also has several other books on the market about publishing in 30 days, finding an agent in 30 days, etc. I look forward to the day when she sits down, takes her time, and really delves into the publishing game from the very beginning to the very end. She could easily charge $40.00 or $50.00 for such a book (assuming it's more than 208 pages) and I, for one, would be willing to pay it.

As for her writing style, she's straight forward, easy to read with a nice, brisk tempo. The formatting was simple with plenty of margin and space between lines for writing in notes. A good, handy book made to be abused by notations, underlines, arrows and dog-ears.

Must read for to-be publishers.......2007-07-21

Years of book writing and publishing experience condensed in one book.If you are planning to publish your book, drop everything and get this book.

Kishore Dharmarajan
Author of Eightstorm: 8-Step Brainstorming for Innovative Managers

Outstanding and Extremely Helpful.......2006-08-25

This book is crammed with incredible resources and a step by step guide to marketing your book. When I received the book I read it beginning to end within 2 hours and could feel the excitement within me. I couldnt wait to get started with the suggestions and tips provided. Must Read for anyone marketing their book. Thanks Fern.

Author, Your Daily Walk with the Great Minds

Well worth the read.......2006-08-11

As a recently published first-time author, I highly recommend this book to people at any stage of the publishing process. To me, the best feature of the book is that it breaks down the often overwhelming idea of marketing a book into manageable chunks, some of which take only a few minutes at a time. In addition, the author's stories of her own moments of chutzpah (negotiating advertising rates, shipping terms, pitching her book to major corporations) are very inspirational and convey a "you can do it too" feeling.

I also read and enjoyed John Kremer's "1001 Ways to Market Your Books," and I think that "Bestseller in 30 Days" is a bit more appealing because it is so easy to envision yourself successfully applying the techniques that the author suggests. Kremer's book is much (much!) longer and covers a wider range of topics, but as a first-time author it is hard to start breaking down the information into the most important first steps. Fern Reiss' book does this for you, by giving you 30 concrete items to focus on. Her website is also filled with (free) helpful information. A+!!

-Corinne McKay, author of "How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator"

Very Beneficial Book.......2006-08-05

This book was recommended to me by an author named John Albrecht Jr. He stated that this book was a great reference book to use when marketing my book, and he was NOT lying. There was so much information that I could use in regards to my novel, regardless of how much I'd done already. Even the bestselling author can refer to this book, just to see what it is that their publisher or literary agent may do or may not be doing, or what they can do to increase sales even more. This book gives contact information, prices, and a checklist of small tasks to do on a daily basis to keep your book in the public eye. When I found things in this novel that I'd already done with my own, I was content to know I was moving in the right direction. There were SO many things that I didn't even think to do, but are SO obvious to increase sales. During the time that I followed instructions for this book, I started generating mysterious sales, outside of the usual family and friends. For a self-published author, this is imperative, considering they are normally pegged as having books only sold to people in immediate relationships.
The only thing that I didn't like in the book was that there were so many references to paid sites when helping with marketing. It seemed rather obvious to me that if someone is trying hard enough to market their own book that they would get a book like this, then they must want to avoid paying someone else to do it. With all the sites that charged fees, they may as well pay a marketing expert. Besides that, the book was impressive.

Average customer rating:

Forget Johnny Depp. This is the real thing.

Interesting read, but ...

Excellent Overview

Nice read but battles descriptions slightly short

Good read, poor history

To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World (P.S.)
Arthur Herman
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Naval | Military | History | Subjects | Books
General | World | History | Subjects | Books
General | England | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It

Nelson's Trafalgar: The Battle That Changed the World

Oblivion

The Little Friend

The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815

ASIN: 0060534257
Release Date: 2005-10-25

Book Description

To Rule the Waves tells the extraordinary story of how the British Royal Navy allowed one nation to rise to a level of power unprecedented in history. From the navy's beginnings under Henry VIII to the age of computer warfare and special ops, historian Arthur Herman tells the spellbinding tale of great battles at sea, heroic sailors, violent conflict, and personal tragedy -- of the way one mighty institution forged a nation, an empire, and a new world.

This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

Customer Reviews:

Forget Johnny Depp. This is the real thing........2007-10-08

Chapter 1, page 1, a hurricane in the Caribbean of 1568. The author casts us upon the pitching deck of the "Jesus", a leaking old tub commanded by John Hawkins. His approved mission for queen and country? Why, theft, of course. Take your dramamine and hang on, mates. You are on an unrelenting voyage that won't end until the Falklands War. Sure, some priggish reviewers can nibble away at Mr. Herman's occasional errors. Let it go! On a 400-year voyage there are bound to be a few minor errors. Frankly, the man writes well. This isn't your college history book. It's more like a compelling sea adventure. The author at his most insightful? Herman's description of Captain Bligh and the HMS Bounty mutiny, and the story of the rise of the complex Admiral Nelson should have been part of my MBA management class. Herman at his weakest? His description of Napoleon as a terrorist. Terrorist? A Corsican-born military dictator, yes, but a terrorist? No way. Herman describes John Paul Jones as a vengeful Scot, deprived of a Royal Navy midshipman's billet, who becomes a blood thirsty U.S. Navy captain. Provocative words, but an egregious misread of history. OK, both darts and laurels for Mr. Herman. My recomendation? Buy the book. Herman goes beyond the cold facts. He provides the elusive "Why" so often lacking when reading history. Nicely done.

Interesting read, but ..........2007-06-14

An interesting read for the most part, and a lot of history fairly well organized. However, I can't understand the multi-page rant about the French Revolution and the "terrorist" Napoleon. What in the world got into Herman?

Excellent Overview.......2007-04-23

This is an excellent overview of the history of the Royal Navy from medieval times to the modern era. The book dispells a few myths along the way and makes a splendid read.

Nice read but battles descriptions slightly short.......2007-04-10

Saw this book off the shelf and decided to get it due to its interesting title. The book covers from San Juan de Ulloa right up to the Falklands War and beyond. Reading is straightforward and enjoyable. Content are generally well covered with both on-shore and off-shore history well described. However some battles are too skimpy on details whereas some like the San Juan are covered more.
Overall a good book for reading on the British Royal navy. For more details on any specific events will need to specifically hunt for some other books that are more dedicated.

Good read, poor history.......2007-03-30

Having been much taken with Arthur Herman's "How the Scots Invented the Modern World," I anticipated "To Rule the Waves" to be just as informative and illuminating. My disappointment, instead, was immense. The book is unquestionably well-written, and is a delight to read. But its flaws far outweigh its virtues.

There are numerous errors of fact--many recounted by other reviewers--which could have been avoided by doing more than the most superficial research. (Wellington's Army of the Peninsula was NOT armed with rifled muskets, only two regiments were, and Col. Shrapnel's spherical case shot was not a revolution in artillery which gave Wellington's army a tactical superiority over the French, by way of just one example.) Also missing is an examination of just how British sea power kept the Peninsular War going, not just by supplying the British army in Spain, but also by supplying the Spanish insurgents with guns and gold. It was that effort which kept the insurgency going, allowed Wellington's army to achieve its string of victories, and compelled Bonaparte to devote more than a quarter of his empire's resources to that one isolated corner of Europe.

More disturbing, however, is the sense that Herman was writing with the idea in mind that Adm. Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar were the climax of his story, and everything after that is merely tying up loose ends. It is in his analysis of the two World Wars where Herman genuinely fails. In the case of the First World War, he succumbs to presenting an already dated and disproven "conventional wisdom" regarding German strategy, giving G-Adm. Tirpitz credit for strategies which he never developed, let alone implemented. Herman's presentation of Jutland is superficial at best, and nowhere does he go into depth about the various German and British strategies (and strategic necessities) which brought about the battle. He also blames the Royal Navy for refusing to adopt a convoy system for merchant shipping until it was almost too late, when in truth it was the merchant fleet itself which resisted implementing it.

Herman's treatment of the Second World War is even sketchier--the reader gets the feeling that by now he's just trying to get this thing over with. There is no examination of how the naval war influenced the land campaigns, or of how the particular strengths and weaknesses of the Royal Navy from 1939 to 1945 often dictated how and where the Allies could and would fight. THE decisive campaign of the war--the Battle of the Atlantic--is dismissed in a handful of paragraphs, when in point of fact it had to be factored into every strategic decision the Allies made until well after D-Day.

Ultimately the problem is that the flaws in his analysis and conclusions regarding the World Wars at sea cause the reader to wonder about the validity of his earlier conclusions, causing the entire work to be thrown into doubt. There is almost a feeling that Herman devoted the lion's share of his research to the Royal Navy's history up to 1805, and after that he simply borrowed from his graduate students' work--and it shows.

Herman, Arthur. To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World.(Book Review) : An article from: Naval War College Review

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Herman, Arthur. To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World.(Book Review) : An article from: Naval War College Review
Paul William Garber
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from Naval War College Review, published by Thomson Gale on June 22, 2005. The length of the article is 653 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: Herman, Arthur. To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World.(Book Review)
Author: Paul William Garber
Publication: Naval War College Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 22, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 58 Issue: 3 Page: 152(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

TO RULE THE WAVES : HOW THE BRITISH NAVY SHAPED THE MODERN WORLD

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TO RULE THE WAVES : HOW THE BRITISH NAVY SHAPED THE MODERN WORLD
ARTHUR HERMAN
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEQERA

Average customer rating:

To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World
Arthur Herman
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KF6DC4

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