Dictionary Reviews

I'm reading this book from beginning to end, and I must say it is very interesting. It has improved my understanding of Japanese people and how they think in general; why Japanese often tend to respond to situations the way they do, differences between the Japanese' way of thinking and the western etc.

Highly recommended; I'm glad I chose to buy this book.

Is there a more comprehensive and well laid out guide into how the Japanese think and, more importantly, what their emotional turn on and off buttons are than this? The book should, however, be read more as a guide to Japanese root words, idioms, and philosophical expressions. For instance, WA meaning HOLY HARMONY is not commonly used. It would be like saying BENE means GOOD in English when it is a root for many words that have something to do with good - like benevolent, benefit, benediction ect... . But WA can be found in HEIWA (peace) and WAFU (Japanese style) amoung others. The book is full of stereo-types, both good and bad, which should not be taken too seriously or read like a Bible. Japan is a complex country undergoing constant change and it is full a wide variety of individuals with varied interests and talents and prejudices. But the book contains some general insights that one can explore on their own and judge for oneself whether they agree or not with it. Some of the expressions are not popularly used and if one were to say them to Joe Yamamoto on the street they would have no clue what you were talking about. But again, however, the roots, or part of what is being said in the book, can be found in other expressions. You would need the help of a native speaker to truly make good use of this book, a dictionary would do some good.

I find that many Japanese people I know are interested in the expressions contained in the book, as they are deep and abstract in nature, important, but not always thought about. I find it lends to people helping me learn Japanese as they also have something interesting to explore, and many Japanese enjoy talking to me about these terms and ideas. It serves as a great ice breaker.

If you are just interested in the world of ideas, or how language helps formulate or reflect those ideas and the sources by which they came, then the book could serve as something of value and interest. Again, is there a better book?

The book gives a Japanese expression, or word, and then discuses, in English, the significance of it and how it reflects the Japanese psyche and sometimes how it can be found in other words. The author writes in a mature style and has a world of knowledge and experience about and in Japan.

This is more than just a bible of nutrition, it's a bible and a dictionary! Anything you have ever wanted to know about nutrition and ingredients and recipes, ANYTHING!

I confess I'm biased in my review. My mother, Barbara Deskins, is one of the authors. She and Jean Anderson did a wonderful job putting together a reference book for anything nutrition. Whenever anyone asks a question pertaining to foods or nutrition, I tell them to check the Nutrition Bible. Everybody should have a copy!

This book sets the standard for reference works on regional artists. Anyone interested in art of the period will enjoy it immensely. There are articles that help define the art movements of the day and wonderful information on over 500 artists - many of them can only be found here. I use this book as a tool in collecting, and any serious collector should not be without it. Have one in your home, your office, and your car (for those finds at estate sales). With this book Oregon artists have come into their own. In addition it is a beautiful book just to browse.

Oregon Painters: The First Hundred Years is the definitive book on the history of art in Oregon. Ginny Allen and Josie Klevit have written a resource book that goes beyond the genre. It sets a new standard to which all future books on this subject will be held to. As useful as any dictionary for looking up general information it also entertains the reader with biographies of the painters that run from brief and factual to lengthy and colorful. A generous selection of color plates makes this book a feast for the eyes as well. This book belongs in the librarey of gallery owners, art collectors, historians and anybody with the slightest interest in the Pacific Northwest or art in general.

Stone does not make the assumption, as so many writers about Oriental rugs do, that he knows what the reader wants. Instead, he provides an exhaustive, impartial spectrum of places, conditions, qualities, methods, and types affiliated with Oriental rugs, from earliest known times to the present. Stone manages to keep his work from being dull by interlarding it with astringent observations and keeping his entries brutally essential. Whoever did the layout of this work deserves kudos, too-- it is easy to access, each entry is set off from the others so as to be memorable to those of us who are visual, and there is generous, attractive use of clearly-labeled graphics. I genuinely appreciate this matrix-like, non-linear expert treatment of Oriental rugs, and find myself reading it up like a novel. The only thing I have found lacking so far is an entry on arbash.

In the rug world there is almost a constant competition of scholarship. Very rarely does one person so dominate his field as to be the indisputable authority. One of those rare exceptions is Peter Stone. One rug restoration expert told me that there will never be another major book on rug repair in my life time because "Oriental Carpet Repair" by Peter Stone says it all. Stone's new book the "Oriental Rug Lexicon" may well exceed "Oriental Carpet Repair" as a scholarly triumph. If you are at all serious about collecting or if your rugs are anything more than floor coverings to you, you need this book.

The Definative Guide To Rugs, Carpets, and Trappings What Stone has done is to make one large dictionary of rug terms. He has identified and defined them in an interesting and informative manner. As soon as I received the Lexicon I decided to put it to use. The first job was to decipher a page of notes I had made on dyes and dye sources used in oriental carpets that someone had given me. To have a source where I can double check the difference between a flavenol and a luteolin is invaluable. Other questions are solved just as easily such as what is a Medici Mamaluk versus a regular Mamaluk. Rug books have so many alternate spellings that it is nice to have a source that confirms that a Khorjin, Kharjin, Khordjin, and a Khurdzhin, are all the same thing. The book is designed like a dictionary and it is easy to look up individual words. It is not designed to be read cover to cover but as I spot-checked the definitions I found some thing interesting and fun on virtually every page. As long as I am mentioning spot-checking let me say that I spotted no errors. If, indeed, there are no errors, inaccuracies or mistakes, I will be astounded. There is to be found a wealth of rug terms with all the common alternative spellings including some that I have not encountered until now. All in all, it is an amazing resource.

The layout of the book is superb. It is packed with informati! on without being crowded. There are many more color pictures than I would have expected with a book of this type and there is an abundance of helpful sketches and line art to illustrate and illuminate Stone's points. Just this week a good friend who has a world class rug collection told me I "have" to buy three books if I want to keep up with things. The total for all three is over $1000 US. I mention this only to make the point that at a list price of $29.95 (US currency for softcover edition, $60 for hardcover edition) Stone's book is about as close to free we are likely to see for a serious rug book. Let me sum up my opinion in just three words: BUY THIS BOOK!

Too bad Book IV is out of print; however, books I through III are still extant. Recently, I decided to rediscover my high school Latin I-IV. Having no current clues to available texts, I browsed many bookstores, reading many reviews on and offline. Ms Hines' straightforward methodology begins with the first lesson and never flinches throughout all three texts. Essentials of grammar are prerequisite since there are no conversational approaches to Latin; however, the author massages the student not with boring drills, but marvellous examples, never losing sight of Our Latin Heritage. Miss Donahue, my first Latin teacher, would surely be proud of these classic texts. To round out your fourth year, try Jenney's as an alternate.

Our Latin Heritage (Book III) continues to offer a traditional, "old school" approach to Latin 3 in which Cicero's four orations against Catiline form the backbone of the text. An extensive, complete review of basic Latin morphology, syntax and vocabulary introduces the text. This ten-unit review features continuous readings adapted from Sallust's Catiline together with form drills, sentence-level Latin composition, and Latin-to-English sentence exercises. Well-organized syntax and morphology charts, an important element throughout the Hines' Our Latin Heritage series complements this comphrensive, introductory review.

Before the four Orations against Catiline are presented, section two of the book offers an introduction to Roman government, law and oratory in the time of Cicero as well as pertinent biographical details of Cicero's life and literary output. Section three, then, brings on the four orations against Catiline, the oration for the Manilian Law, For Archias, and a selection of other Ciceronian works from De Republica to the Tusculans, all carefully glossed with notes appropriate to the intermediate learner of Latin. As usual, the text concludes with morphology charts, a good syntax summary and a full Latin-English glossary and a somewhat shorter English-Latin glossary.

The only real competition for this solid, third-year school text is Jenny's Third Year Latin, which is similar in format but lacks Hines' introductory review. From the perspective of a traditional Latin teacher, who instructs students who require more review than I would wish, Our Latin Heritage seemed the best choice for Latin 3.

As a history Student at a secular University, this is a decent book to begin to get direction for research. It is well written and easy to read.

If you're looking for a good reference book for Catholic history, this is it! But beware this isn't a substitute for the Catholic Encyclopedia by a long shot. Bunson pacts in an fantastic amount of info into the 900 pages, and it's a great addition to any person library or Catechism class.

Very user friendly. A comprehensive, concise reference that is easy to read and understand. An essential part of the OSV reference series.

In the _Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar_, Pulleyblank provides a much-needed, well, "outline" of the grammar of the Chinese classics. My favorite aspect of this book is its extensive examples, which help the reader of classic texts bridge the gap between the orderly world of grammar books and the always-disorderly world of actual texts.

Of course, one can always wish for more, e.g., I might hope for more on the usages of the various "prepositional" particles. Nevertheless, this is by far the best book of this sort I have seen (in a number of years of working with classical Chinese), and a vital aid to the student of classical Chinese.

I have been studying the Classical Chinese language for one year now and have been suffering through several inadequate grammar references. This wonderful book is the first comprehensive treatment of the grammar of the ancient form of Chinese used by the great philosophers like Confucius and Mencius. It uses modern grammar terminology and examples from the Classics to systematize this very complex language. Bravo.. Mr. Pulleyblank. You have strided through a field in which many have feared to tred! Anthony Barbieri-Low Harvard University Regional Studies:East Asia Program

The Oxford Albanian-English Dictionary is an example what a serious lexicographer can achieve when he puts all his knowledge and energy in his work.

The features of the dictionary:

- it covers indeed very large vocabullary and gives almost-complete coverage of the language
- makes extensive use of grammar, stylistic etc. notes
- there is plenty idioms, examples of use, colloquial and slang expressions
- for many words it lists not only the dictionary form, but derived forms as well if they cannot be easily figured from the dictionary form(which occurs in Albanian quite frequently)
- there is a sketch of Albanian grammar in the beginning of the dictionary
- it contains also a "back dictionary" which lists all possible two(sometimes three) letter combinations that can occur at the end of Albanian words and gives for them grammatical values that these letters can represent(eg. masculine definite accusative-nominative or 2nd person of present tense etc.)
- there is a list which lists orthographical and phonetical pecularities of non-Standard Albanian and their equivalents in the Standard Albanian. Many words deemed "non-Standard" are included into the dictionary.

Although I am a real beginner in Albanian and some days ago I litteraly didn't know a single word of this language, yet with the help of this dictionary I was able to find out the sense of several short poems in Albanian!

How can it buy a person from Macedonia Leonard Newmark's Dictionary. How can we pay it. E-mail:Sali-f117@usa.net

Everything that you wanted to know or needed to know about African American Literature is contained in this eight hundred page volume. This comprehensive volume covers the historical and cultural contexts of African American literature that has been too long neglected.

Oxford's Companion encompasses the traditional genres of poetry, fiction and drama but goes beyond them. It gives the same analysis to special genres such as Slave Narratives, Oratory, Folk Literature, etc. that you don't normally find in reference works of this kind. These special features and others give this book a unique spot in reference works of literature.

From the moment I got this volume in my hands, I couldn't put it down. Its numerous essays, brief biographies and analysis of the various hues of African American Literature was overwhelming and enjoyable. A referance guide such as this should be in every home. It is user friendly, informative and entertaining. Most of all it will give you a deeper appreciation of the vast types of African American literature produced throughout the years.

I purchased this anthology to assist me in my African-American literature class. This book has given me great insight about the literature of African-Americans. Not only does it give great details about the many authors, but it also explains the nature of their many works. I strongly recommend this book to anyone taking an African-American literature course - regardless of the time period.

I just received this book, and have skimmed to locate items in my particular field of interest -- I am a military historian for fun and (very little) profit.

As I peruse favorite topics, I find it quite impressive. It's pretty comprehensive considering it has to include some trendy topics such as gender and war, as well as more traditional subjects such as battles, campaigns & leaders. There are a number of surprisingly complete and helpful articles on more obscure battles (most run about 300-600 words) and good overviews on campaigns and wars. The length of each essay, or blurb seems appopriate to the complexity or importance of the particular topic.

Comparisons with other compendia are appropriate. Brassey's published a two-volume encyclopedia of military knowledge in the mid-90s, each containing about 1200 pages, the first covering biography and history, the second military theory, concepts and weapons systems. The Trevor Dupuy "Encyclopedia of Military History", whose fourth edition appeared in 1993, is set up in a chronological and geographical scheme and runs over 1600 pages. At 1048 pages the Oxford Companion embraces the themes contained in all those volumes plus sociological matters, literature, journalism, humor, and pop cultural topics.

An impressive group of contributors, all prominent in their specialties, provide ample information both for the novice and the professional wishing to jog his or her memory. Sidebar treatments (some running several pages) on Artillery, armored warfare, airpower, seapower,uniforms, rank and insignia, signals, etc. are very handy reviews of these topics.

I have a few quibbles with the suggestions for further reading. Perhaps some out of print classics focusing narrowly on their subject might have been more appropriate than the suggested recent books that covered the person, battle or campaign as a minor part of a general history; but this is a very minor drawback.

Thhis is a very handy reference indeed, and most importantly, a pleasure to browse.

As a writer, I am often interested in selecting a military example for a point I am making about business. Invariably, I have a hard time locating the facts to see if the examples I have in mind work for my purposes. Weeks of fruitless research have often followed from wanting a fairly minor example. Then, in editing, much rewriting occurs because the details were slightly off in the draft. With the Oxford Companion to Military History, those problems are now all behind me.

I began my investigation of the book by checking out every military history question I could ever remember having had for my writing. Sure enough, this volume contained enough information to have answered each and every one of my questions more than adquately. That was very impressive to me, and it made me decide to add this volume to my reference library. One of the many nice features of this book is that each listing also refers to the best full-length works on that subject, for those who want to get a lot of detail.

The book has more than 1300 entries, written by more than 150 specialists in these military subjects. The subjects are elaborated on by more than 70 detailed maps and 15 pages of diagrams. Each entry is in alphabetical order, with cross-references to more general and more specific topics.

The book focuses on land warfare, so air and naval warfare are in the book primarily to round out the picture on land. So you will find Billy Mitchell, but not the air raids on Ploesti during World War II.

As the editor points out, "There are dictionaries of battles, of military leaders, and even of military history. This is none of those things, although, in its way, it subsumes them all." The purpose is to provide "dependable information and thoughtful assessment for intelligent readers of many kinds . . . ." The book is also designed to be a "reliable and quick reference for scholars . . . ." The limit is that "no companion can claim to be comprehensive."

The subjects include battles, individuals, campaigns, wars, military concepts, weapons, uniforms, equipment, and wider issues (like the military in politics, gender in war, and casualties). I was impressed with the fineness of the detail for many fairly obscure references. Anyone but a military historian would rapidly add new knowledge from just scanning the listings.

Here are some sample listings I found while searching for answers to my old questions: Gulf War, battle of Thermopylae, Alexander the Great, essay on Strategy, Clausewitz, battle of Shiloh, battle of Stalingrad (with maps), Mau Mau uprising, Hundred Years War, siege of the Alamo, and diagrams of how to construct nuclear devices.

After you have a chance to become familiar with this important reference work, I suggest that you think about questions that we should ask about what humanity has learned from warfare. What lessons can be drawn from military examples?

Turn the history of swords into visions of better plowshares!