Bentley Reviews

This is a complete book for the Saab 900, but I have found parts that are seriously wrong - i.e. The firing order of the spark plug wires on the distributor - it seems to have an image from the 8 valve engine - not the 16 valve. There are some interesting pages, but fortunately I had a Chilton Imported Car book around or my 900 might still be in the driveway. It might be better a reference book if it were about $10 less...

This book is a must-have for any Saab owner who even thinks about doing any repair or maintenance work. More complete than other publisher's manuals. The one drawback, and I think this is common in an book of this type, is when you see the words "assembly is the opposite of disassembly" instead of a step by step procedure. But, this book contains info, specs, step-by-step directions, wiring diagrams, photos and drawings, etc for anything you'd need to do to your saab, except possibly rebuilding the tranny!

PS - The reviewer from Villanova, PA commented: "The firing order of the spark plug wires on the distributor - it seems to have an image from the 8 valve engine - not the 16 valve." I'd like to point out that this book is INTENDED for the 8-valve version of the classic 900, NOT the 16-valve versions - as the name implies. Thus, this diagram is correct. Bently publishes a DIFFERENT version of this book for the 16-valve cars, that has the correct diagram for those cars.

This is the best and easiest Saab repair book. This has easy to read wiring diagrams post 85. This gem stays in my car all the time. Just in case.

I wasn't impressed with this book. There were definitely a few comments that really struck home, but they were few and far between.

It is difficult for people experiencing depression to describe how bad it really is. This kind of depression is not merely a feeling down in the dumps, or, a blue feeling, but something verging on a psychic catastrophe of the highest order. One of the worst things about depression is the isolation felt, and, that other people (usually our family and friends), who have not experienced depression, don't understand. You wouldn't want them to! There's some comfort here.

Mr. Mays has written a very literary account of his experience. He obviously enjoyed writing it - the language is so rich and poetic - it is a great pleasure to read in its own right. Although his experience is very personal, there are commonalities of experience shared by all people who suffer. The pure miracle of reading this account is how he articulates these commonalities, coming as close to describing the experience and process as I have ever read. I can find something of my experience with depression here and that's no small thing.

Average Reader Review: Number of Reviews: 1

1. In the Jaws of the Black Dogs By: Waleska from Alberta As a psychology major, I was fascinated by this account of one man's life-long struggle with depression. While I do not necessarily think his experience is representative of depressives in general, I appreciated the way in which May displayed them, with all the vulnerability and courage that entails. I also found relief in the fact that he did not offer a quick fix, as so many psychology authors attempt to do. If you are interested in more literature dealing with mental disorders, I strong recommend a short story by Charlotte Gilman, called The Yellow Wallpaper.

This is a well written and informative book on Elizabeth Bentley and the ex-communist witnesses of the Red Scare period of the 1940s (and 1950s). Based on a rather narrow base of primary sources, while Olmsted appears to believe most of Bentley's fingering of communists, spies or otherwise, there is much still problematic in her story. She does not make the case that the "spies" posed any real threat to the security and stability of the country in the 1930s or during World War II, although some certainly existed and shared information, nuclear and otherwise, with the Soviety Union. Olmsted describes a most unstable woman, whose veracity is certainly questionable. And she underscores that spying ended with Bentley's public revelations at the end of World War II, long before the "McCarthy" Red Scare period of the early 1950s, as other historians have recently argued.

I was amazed that this book would be such a delight to read. Initially, the historical research is well narrated, maintaining the suspense, danger, and the confusion behind the real life espionage of Elizabeth Bentley. Kathryn Olmsted displays an enjoyable interest in the vocabulary of the time, and is not shy to weave a moral into the story, as lasciviousness trumps cleverness. This book is a great resource on the fascinating history of the puzzle called the "Red Scare". As the Russians open their archives, the truth can be sought from a new light. Kathryn Olmsted pieces together Elizabeth Bentley's life, exaggerations, and manipulations in the sordid web of spies testifying against spies amidst political ambition and posturing of J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI. Honestly, I couldn’t put the book down.

Red Spy Queen: A Biography of Elizabeth Bentley
By Kathryn S. Olmsted
University of North Carolina Press, 2002

Reviewed by Kenneth R. Kahn

"Either the government attacks you or they put you on the payroll" Chris Warnock

The long trail of bread crumbs leading to American communists acting as Soviet agents inside the U.S. government and the beginnings of the red scare in the 1950s leads to one woman--Elizabeth Bentley.

Long before the revelations of the Venona cables, Elizabeth Bentley, variously described as a spinster, neurotic, alcoholic, sexual adventuress, communist spy and FBI informant, was transmitting secrets to the Soviet Union on everything imaginable.

Elizabeth Bentley, born of New England parents, was a historic anomaly, a footnote in the history of the cold war and American communism. She brought her American character and applied it to her dealings with both Soviet agents and fellow American communists. She was one of those figures whose lifestyle intertwined with her actions and how she is portrayed by history is a direct result of this interaction.

Bentley, having followed a long, tortured and circuitous route to the FBI's field office in New Haven, Connecticut in 1945, remade American politics and led to the exposure of the top communists in America.

One of the primary themes, and intriguing concepts behind this book, is that it exposes a heretofore, seemingly unimportant person in early cold war history. Bentley's life and roller coaster like adventures stand in stark contrast to her personal appearance. Deemed by the press, 'the blond spy queen' she hardly seems to me a seductress. She seems a plain, ordinary woman by today's standards. Yet, her appearance and demeanor were pivotal to her story as a Soviet agent.

Elizabeth told her story of communist espionage activity before various congressional committees and testified as a government witness in the Rosenberg case. She managed to talk "McCall's" magazine into serializing her autobiography titled, "Out of Bondage." At first, they were leery of the former communist turned FBI informant until they spoke to FBI P.R. man Lou Nichols who gave the Bureau's approval. Amongst the lies she purported to McCalls was her self-description characterized in the headline of the June 1951 installment, "I Joined the Red Underground with the Man I Loved." In the article, she described herself as an ingenuous "college girl" despite the fact she was thirty when she met him.

In the curious case of Elizabeth Bentley, where twists and turns are the norm, as a government witness, Bentley had access to the protection of the government. In a little-known incident, the 20th century's prime mover and fixer, the infamous, gay, red-baiting Roy Cohn, came to her assistance after a beating by her live-in lover, John Wright. According to Olmsted, documented by Nicholas Von Hoffman in his seminal work, "Citizen Cohn" and an FBI memorandum dated May 13, 1952 contained in the FBI's file on Gregory Silvermaster, 65-14603-4417, Cohn told the FBI that Bentley's beating was, "the most serious problem he had faced since coming into the United States Attorney's office." As a chief witness in the William Remington case, the beating could, "ruin her career as a lecturer" (FBI memorandum from Agent Cleveland to SAC Alan Belmont, May 8, 1952, Bentley file, 134-135, no. serial), and could, "endanger the Brothman and Rosenberg convictions." The author writes, "Cohn told Elizabeth to entice Wright to New York under false pretenses. When he arrived, he was hit with the full force of the U.S. government. FBI agents whisked him to a meeting with two prosecutors and Special Agent John Danahy. U.S. Attorney Myles Lane told Wright "to get out of Bentley's life or else." He left Bentley alone.

On May 29, 1952, Elizabeth appeared before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee investigating Owen Lattimore and the Institute of Pacific Relations. McCarthy accused Lattimore of being a "top Russian spy." The Institute of Pacific Relations was accused of front activities, particularly aiding and abetting the "fall" of China.

As the anti-communist spotlight faded, so did Elizabeth's fortunes. In her later life, she taught classes at a reform school, publishing the school newspaper and avoiding the public spotlight. On November 18, 1963, at the age of fifty-five, she entered Grace New Haven Community Hospital. She was officially diagnosed with abdominal cancer but actually suffered from chronic alcoholism from years of self-abuse.

"Red Spy Queen" is an interesting, sad, twisted tale of one woman's political journey from fascism to communism to anti-communism and the human toll of political activism. It is an excellent read, an important story of a sad footnote in the history of the early cold war and that uniquely American obsession---anti-communism.

This book is up to Bentleys usual excellant standards but contains information supplied by VW that is incomplete or misleading. Since these books are mostly composed of information sourced from the official factory publications the credit for the flawed information rests with VW.

For example:

The procedure to replace a headlamp bulb is incorrect but is the same as the information supplied in the owners manual. The book tells you to move a release lever upward and then remove the headlight case to replace the light bulb.

If you try this on an actual vehicle you will find the lever seems stuck in the down position. If you force it up you will break it off. The book and owners manual do not mention that there is a checked plastic slot just to one side of the lever that must be pushed in to release the lever.

The book and manual additionally do not mention that there is also a wire safety catch forward of the headlight assembly that must be released before the headlight assembly can be moved out of the car to service.

Also this book applies only to the 1998 and 1999 vehicles. The warning to disconnect the battery before performing any work relating to vehicle wireing should be heeded but if the system voltage drops to zero the computers on the car will need to be reset and many of these functions cannot be reset by the owner. There are significant changes in the electronic controls on the year 2000 vehicles. In year 2000 models sold in North America they may not start even with the correct key inserted because a part of the anti-theft system is triggered by a dead battery and must be reset at the dealer before it can be started.

I own a 1.8L Turbo Beetle and was disappointed to find that this book DOES NOT cover the 1.8L Turbo Models. I informed Amazon that their title is incorrect but I guess their not going to change it.

This manual contains a lot of bona-fide VW technical information. It is clearly laid out, well illustrated and a must-have for all New Beetle owners. Save yourself a great deal of time and effort - go buy the book!

-Kenny

This is probably the best available book for people (like me) who are in search of a literary agent. It consists of short, just the facts ma'am, listings with all the basic data, e.g., name, address, name of the contact person(s), listing of recent sales, whether or not you'll get hit up for a fee, etc. This book's big weakness is, not surprisingly, that its compilers take the agents' side rather than the writers' side, which means that the info tends to be very bland. Another big weakness is that many prominent agencies (e.g., The Wylie Agency, the Endeavor Agency, and a number of others) are not listed at all, because they asked to be left out, in order to minimize the number of incoming submissions.

I was very excited about finding and using this book. I queried several agents listed. Agents that seemed to be looking for my work, judging by the description. I followed the excellent suggestions on submitting queries.No problem with the book. The sequel to this book should be why agents don't respond to queries. I included SASE's every time, wrote legible, direct, well-written queries. For eleven agents I queried, only three responded. The title for the sequel should be "How To Contact Rude Arrogant Agents Without Having To Be An Already Existing Bestselling Author." Thanks.

Good book with lots of information. Not a heavy read, but best read by serious students.
Lots of historical info about the people and times that Augustine lived in.
One example was the description of a Goth leader who threatened Africa. The Goth's ships were wrecked in a storm. The followers of this leader diverted a river's flow, buried the guy in the river bed, and then let the river run back in the original bed. Then all the people who had worked to divert the flow were killed in order to keep the site a secret.
Lots of good insight into St Augustine and his views about common place things in life.
Overall a good book. Short, only about 170 pages. A couple of drawings and maps at the back help the reader understand the geography of the Mediteranean/North Africa area.

Bentley-Taylor's book is short [166 pages of text] and easy to read. It includes a plentiful supply of short quotations from Augustine, tells the story of his life and gives an introduction to his writings. It is written from an evangelical point of view, but the author's theological perspective is not intrusive.

In the course of telling the story, he mentions lots of names of people from Augustine's times who modern readers will not be familiar with. This may be necessary, but it would be helpful if he had told us a little more about some of these people, as on occasion, the story seems to be little more than a string of names.

The author is not afraid to tell us where he thinks Augustine made mistakes. He is also fairly generous with him, and explains that many of Augustine's quirky ideas [to us today] are a product of his times.

I highly recommend the book as a simple introduction to one of the most important people in Christian history.

This was written more for a professioanl mechanic than a weekender like myself. Many of the instructions are vague and omit critical intermediate steps. On the other hand other areas seem to be written for the weekendeer, referring some repairs to a "qualified profesional".

I much prefer the Haynes manuals. They are based on a complete teardown and describe some of the less intuitive procedures in better detail.

The wiring diagrams included in the book are however worth the price of the book alone. I recommend this book, but you might want to supplement it with other more detailed manuals.
Anyway, if you own a Z3 you will likely use this a lot. The Z3's reliability leaves much to be desired and you will need all the help you can get.

Essential Guide for the Z3 DIY owner. Information, however, pertains largely to left hand drive models. For enthusiasts, model modifications by year a boon to know. Hard Binding would have made the book more lasting, especially in a workshop environment.

A recent Associated Press report in the Miami Herald reinforces the timeliness of this book. A new shuttle director is leading the change to the NASA environment to insure that workers aren't afraid to voice recommendations or be proactive. The Columbia accident investigators blasted the agency for use of autocratic management methods that created a culture where workers were to afraid to raise issues.

Unfortunately, it required the replacement of the two top leaders to set this required change in motion. The new program manager was selected because he can nurture and develop a team. Current and past leaders have looked back and now recognize that a slow destructive change took place over the past 20 years.

For those who have experienced or witnessed the fallout caused by this type of negative environment and would like to deal with root causes, this book offers very practical methods to lead needed change efforts.

This book is both a very interesting historical review of organization dynamics and an effective "how to" for modern organization leadership. It successfully weaves a pragmatic connection between physical and social sciences that is easily understood. The book references many popular, recently published books that cover a wide range of related topics (e.g. cosmology, history, organization theory, fiction).

The prologue sets the tone with a account of Issac Newton as a successful general manager that proceeds to a historical review beginning with prehistoric clans as the first organization unit to early philisophical and scientific beliefs. Each chapter highlights the study of organization dynamics during succeding historical era's.

The reason Newton was used to begin the book becomes obvious with Bentley's linkage of physics to a model for organization effectiveness. This "common sense" theory passes the basic scientific method and practical application test. He also challenges readers to test the theory.

One of the most interesting chapters includes 5 CEO case studies that demonstrate many basic organization leadership applications (e.g. Citigroup,Pfizer). These highly successful executives have not applied any current highly popular methods but stick to a few fundamentals. They reinforce the organization effectiveness model that most readers can easily apply and test.

This is an interesting non fiction "page turner" that those interested in history and what makes organizations work will enjoy!

As indicated, I have mixed sentiments about this book. The story is engaging enough, and Kessler delivers it in a readable, comfortable manner. However, it often seems as if she is acting more as an apologist for Bentley, rather than giving a fully candid evaluation.
Bentley's career as teacher, communist, spy, and FBI informant is enticing and worth investigating, but there are some irritating flaws. Most prominent is the lack of footnotes; there is an endnote page, but no numbers in the narrative that correspond with it. There is also the unnerving sense that something is constantly amiss. For all her organizational skill, and apparent value to the Soviet spy network, Bentley is repeatedly duped, manipulated, and outright naive. The author never adequately resolves this paradox, and thus somewhat undermines its historical credibility. In fact, she ( Bentley) almost never seems to understand the implications of her actions, and is striking for appearing so intellectually shallow. Indeed , not very clever at all.
Despite these limitations, it is entertaining, but should be read with the cautionary anteenae in place.

The subject of the book is hard to understand, even with all the facts laid out so admirably. Kessler's writing style commands attention without getting in the way of the facts, but those facts are so twisting that at times even the most diligent student of history may be confused. That's a small quible, however, in an overarching work of vigor and suspense. Well worth a read.

This revised edition of "Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology" is comprehensive, clinically relevant, and fairly up-to-date. It has a good coverage (for degree students), although that advanced researchers may need something more extensive. Its ability to correlate biochemical terms and data is appreciated. But with just over 17,000 definitions, its listed price is a bit on the high side. Buyers could get a better illustrated, more voluminous Biochem dictionary at that price.

As someone involved in biochemical research, I spend loads of time reading a variety of life science journals. Just keeping up with the latest research is hard enough, but as my areas of interest become ever larger and intermeshed with other disciplines such as medicine and physics, I've found myself delving into this book more and more. But the pace of research is also a problem for a book like this, because to remain useful, new editions cannot appear fast enough to keep up with the latest batch of techniques, genes and proteins. Ultimately an Internet version of this book that gets updated on a regular basis would be the most useful. Never the less, once you get in the habit of using this dictionary, you'll want to keep it nearby when you're browsing the life science literature. Is this book good value? I think it's expensive compared to all other books, but well priced for an academic textbook. I find that using this book is still more rapid and direct than browsing the web for the definition of a word I don't know, and the brief definition given in this book is a good starting point for hunting down more detailed information.

Great for Science majors, all the definitions or words you used to know but can't remember from class to class. Very thorough. much better than a textbook glossary.