Dictionary Reviews

Bescherelle is by far your best friend while learning the intricacies of the French language. I've studied French at the best immersion program in the country, and they continue to recommend purchasing this book - in French, of course.

I purchased this book while in France last fall. I also own 501 French verbs, which I love, but this book is great because it helps you conjugate any and all verbs. Plus, it all fits into one neat little volume. It's helpful that the instructions are in French because you learn some good vocabulary as you go along. If you also own Bescherelle La Grammaire and L'orthographe, you have a great French reference selection in a fraction of the space taken up by other books!

I was introduced to the Bescherelle series by someone at work, and on my last trip to Paris, bought it for my own grammatical sanity. It categorizes the verbs into three groups, and conjugates a great number of verbs to justify the categorization. Afterwards there's a section on each group, explaining how the verb used, and identifies the exception cases.

This is a great educational tool for all those studying in french.

This is an amazingly thorough reference that should be on the bookshelf of every banker and MBA student. Barrons does a very thorough job.

I found it wanting in only one area. Some of the newer products like total return swaps and credit derivatives whiched surged in volume last year aren't covered.

I highly recommend: "Credit Derivatives" by Tavakoli if you need more on these important banking products.

Working in an IT company catering to bankers I bought this book to help understand their lingo. I have to say it hasn't disappointed yet. It is also very up to date the latest IT/banking terms. If you were to read all the definitions in this book you would probably know more than you banker. A great reference. Buy it!

This can almost be considered an inexpensive textbook. It not only defines, but explains the terms in a simple, easy to understand format. Although in dictionary form, it consistently relates the terms to one another so the reader will understand how the concepts interwind. Includes financial and banking terms.

This book is not read in the way we usually read dictionaries. It is a new kind of dictionary. When using a traditional dictionary, we already 'know' what it is we're going to find: a definition for one word that provides synonyms and antonyms to clarify our understanding.

By creating distinctions between words, Danish Ahmed has jumped to a new and unique way of creating introspection and understanding into our own lives, feelings and decisions. Unlike a usual dictionary, you won't know what you will discover or what will happen to you, until you read the chapter. What you read will impact one or more areas in your life, be it relationship, work, family, etc.

There are approximately 40 distinctions in this first volume. The chapters are short. Reading a chapter to start or end your day, is often the impetus to get a clearer picture of some unresolved area of your life. Each chapter helps you to complete, be at peace, and move forward somewhere in your life where you're currently stopped. The irony and magic of the book, is that often, you don't realize that you were stopped in that area, and I for one, am very grateful for Danish Ahmed's insightful discoveries, and powerful delivery. Highly recommended.

Danish Ahmed has a firm grasp of language, and uses this discerning skill to examine the meaning of words inherent in our daily communications that we often take for granted. And in doing so Danish shines a torch of understanding, of wisdom even, on the great significance words have in shaping our perceptions, our attitudes and our lives. Highly recommended.

This is a book that grabs your attention from the first page and won't let you set it back down again until you are finished. It forces you to examine yourself and the way you communicate. You may not agree with every distinction, yet it forces you to look at the possible differences and think about them from a different perspective. This book has the potential to change your work relationships, your daily interactions with people and even your love life; all you have to do is read the book and try to incorporate the distinctions into your communications. A must read!

Obviously someone who wishes to give a first name to a child is not the most likely person to consult this very learned tome: for those people P. Hanks and F. Hodges's *Dictionary of First Names* (also published by Oxford) is the appropriate book (though David Pickering's *Penguin Dictionary of First Names* is also very good). Obviously, if the first name you have in mind is also a surname, then this reference tool, too, is likely to be useful.

The amount of work that has gone into this volume is daunting, particularly when it comes to the mention of early sources in which names have been found. Some of that material is perhaps more of interest to the specialist than the general user, but in any case it is valuable. The Introduction, on names generally, is extremely informative and interesting.

For myself, I most often need to know what a surname might mean (most of them do have meaning), and I suspect that this is what others, too, frequently want to know. For example, are those many Australians who have the surname *Smyth* in effect carrying the surname *Smith*? Yes, indeed: the *y* is merely a spelling variant, which many welcome because it suggests a name other than *Smith* (though quite a few people called *Smyth* don't themselves know that *Smyth*= *Smith*!).

Does this dictionary reveal what one wants to know? It does, but not always in the handiest way possible. It has an entry *Smye, Smythe*, but not one for *Smyth*: one needs to know something about the early stages of the language to realise that if *Smythe* is an early form of *Smith*, then so is *Smyth* likely to be, and if one then turns to *Smith* one will find *Smyth* there. So not everyone will necessarily immediately discover the material searched for - but most people are likely to do so eventually. All in all , I recommend the book heartily, and use it often. - Joost Daalder, Professor of English, Flinders University (South Australia)

The Dictionary of English Surnames is wonderful -- tons of information about surnames both common and rare, with many dated examples of early spellings. Sources are always given. This is an excellent resource for anyone interested in the origin of English surnames, especially re-enactors and others interested in names that would have existed in the late medieval/Renaissance period. Since the examples are dated, it is easy to find names from a particular time.

Dictionary of English Surnames is a very complete book that lists many many English Surnames, and it tells of certain ancestors of the name and where they came from, and what the surname means. It is a very helpful resource for amateur geneologists, or just someone fascinated by the Last Name. THe beginning of the books tells about Surnames and how they came to be etc etc. It is very fascinating and the authors do a very good job at explaining things. Great source...get it!

GASTAS CASI NADA Y TE ENTRETIENE LA HISTORIA...
ME ENCANTO

que nuestros hijos HAN APRENDIDO MUCHO MÁS INGLÉS CON ESTE LIBRO QUE EN LA CARÍSIMA ESCUELA DONDE LOS TENEMOS..
El método es muy especia, porque se lee como una historia, tiene ortografía en inglés, pronunciación fonética y traducción al español...

pero la verdad es que los libros de inglés de Maribel son de tanta calidad que cada uno de ellos bien merece un reconocimiento...
Y este, no es la excepción:
ESPLÉNDIDO !

This phrasebook was used as a "textbook" by a Japanese student who tutored me in Japanese before a recent trip to Japan. It contained many helpful phrases for a lot of situations you will encounter when traveling in Japan. I consider this critical for "survival Japanese"--contrary to what you may have heard, everyone does NOT speak English. I used this book in talking to cab drivers, making a train reservation, ordering food, asking directions, making purchases. I gave this four stars instead of five because this lacks some elements you need to be understood. The biggest one is knowing how the Japanese accent words. Also missing was the discussion of the differences in using different numbers for different objects. I was able to "fill in the gaps" from my tutor and the Pimsleur Japanese tapes. All in all, a great reference book for travelers.

This book was exactly what I needed to navigate japan beyond Tokyo. I was on business for 6 days in NE Japan, and was able to frequently use this book to help me get around. English may be common in Tokyo, but outside it is much less so.

I have been living in Japan for over two years now and this thing is still in my back pocket (albeit a bit ratty now).

I have invested tons in pocket dictionaries and phrasebooks. I don't even bother to carry anything else with me now.

Even though my Japanese can get me through a conversation, I still have trouble, and that's where this book comes in.

Excellent organization, and the fact that it's written in both romanized characters, so you can read it, and Japanese characters, so they can read it, is a Godsend.

I have copied pages from it for my Japanese students who were taking a trip to the states.

I could go on and on, but this little book has been a life saver. Easily the best 10 bucks I've ever spent.

Extremely useful if you have no Japanese, and still quite handy even if you do. Even has a section on hitting on people!

The high standards of 'Chambers' is well-pronounced in this "Chambers Dictionary of Science and Technology". It is a know-all single-volume asset. Information is ubiquitous. Every aspect of science and technology received adequate attention. They are comprehensive and up-to-date: just be ready to go the distance.
One outstanding side-attraction here, is how the author mapped out in chronological order, all the important discoveries which made science the delight that it is today. In the same vein, several technological inventions were elaborated.
This is by every means, a high-quality lexicon. The only blame I hold against it is that it is not as definition-rich as the "McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Science and Technical Terms". But, I must mention that its listed price is only one-third of McGraw-Hill's. It is also more adherent to SI units than the McGraw-Hill's.

A must book for any undergraduate or upper level Biology or Chemistry major. Having problems finding definitions in your textbooks? Are you resorting to Websters like I was, with minimal or no results, followed by a fruitless search over the internet? Your search is over. My daughter put this under my Christmas tree well before Christmas and I had a paper to write. I opened it early knowing that the answer to my problems was wrapped neatly under my own tree. She's ticked off, but she'll get over it and I'm breathing a sigh of relief. I have a virtual library of Biology, Botany, and Chemistry books and still have trouble finding some of the key definitions. It makes you want to "bop" those authors. This book was 4 for 4 right off the bat. I only wish I had this book much earlier in my studies. It would have saved me a lot of time and effort.

As a patent attorney, I am constantly faced with new technologies and a duty to utilize accurate terminology. I just bought my second copy of this book today so I would have one at work and one at home. I also purchased a copy for a friend's son who is in high school.

Get this book and make it a rule to look up terms that are new - you will be surprised how satisfying it is not to be intimidated by techno-speak.

This is definitely the book to study to get started on the road to reading books in French. The French history section is an account of successive rulers of France, and is very informative. All the 4 short stories by French authors are very interesting. The sidebar in this section, with the translation of difficult words is particularly useful. The dialog section is fairly easy, not very useful for any serious reading, but serves as a good refresher.

A graded reader for beginners. The vocabulary and (especially) the verb forms are strictly controlled. This makes it a good way to start noticing agreements, prepositions, and so on without running into a lot of unfamiliar grammar. The readings are fairly interesting too!

One of the best NTC lnguage books.

Whether you are studying French in a formal course or learning at home with CDs, this book is a GREAT resource for learning to read French. It is made up of three parts: a clever dialogue section to get you warmed up, then some interesting (really!)readings in French history, finally ending with French literature (slightly simplified & with a few translations in the margins). A person beginning French from ground zero, with no more than basic (subtitled French movie) knowledge, will find him/herself reading and understanding pages and pages of French after a few nights' read. Amazing! I'm ready to move on to France Soir or Le Figaro -- with the help of a decent dictionary bien sur!

Individuals interested in purchasing an American History book for the sole purpose of quickly researching a specific historical happening need to look no further. Scarcely illustrated, this is a fully encompassing text which provides a brief description of each event. Most descriptions range in length from one-quarter to one-half of a page. For example, it required less than two-hundred words to recount the assasssination of President Kennedy. Lengthy historical events such as the Vietnam War are also discussed in a concise manner. The Vietnam War required seven pages, including the full page map, to educate the reader. Those interested in an American History book that can be enjoyably read cover to cover must look elsewhere. Brief, fragmented event depictions cause the reader's attention to quickly wane. This book is being awarded four stars for its use as an encyclopedia.

The Encylopedia of American History is a wonderfully detailed and comprehensive reference book on almost everything to do with American history. Practically every conceivable aspect of America's history is within these pages; if you have a query concerning anything about the USA, then look no further than here. Neatly laid out in mainly chronological form, the book varies through subjects from politics, military, literature, science and many more. The biographies section contains brief biographies of over 400 influential Americans, from presidents and scientists to Stephen Spielberg. Whether you want to become a walking reference on American history, or are already familiar with the subject and require a reliable reference source, then this book is for you.

The Encyclopedia of American History by Richard B. Morris is an outstanding source of information for the student of history or the professional educator. It contains factual information for the consensus historian. It is not revisionist. I highly recommend this book.

This book is a definite must have for anyone interested in herbs. "Encyclopedia of Herbs and Their Uses" contains color photos of all entries (or at least all of the ones I have looked up so far), and also lists the different uses of each herb. I thought the layout of the book was very well planned, and I found that the book, in general, was very easy to use. This book meets my needs perfectly.

Best reference book I've ever read. Use this book whenever I see a plant I like and can't identify. Excellent pictorial and historical details. Wonderful tips for gardeners, herbalists and people who just love looking at plants.

If you have an interest in herbs this book is a must-have. It lists even the most obsure plants and gives each a very informative overview that includes both the historical and modern uses. -Linda Fry Kenzle, author of Gathering