Triumph Reviews

I found this book at a Library Sale. I provides an insight into the life and times of Rome at the time of about 50 AD and interweves Christ's story into the life of Rome. The book is written from the voice of a Roman Knight and is his autobiography. Insight is provided on the Roman Senate, Emperors Claudius and Nero. I wish I could obtain the other books in this series. In our fast paced lives, we often neglect religion and faith. This book shows the how important religion and faith are to us without being preachy

One of my favorite novels by this wonderful author. If you liked the Egyptian you will also like The Roman. In the line of I, Claudius. A great lesson in both history and Fiction.

Being in high school was never like this for me! I played sports but was never recruited from any colleges, much less a top ten Division I school. It's amazing to learn about what these kids go through while being recruited to play at that level. The story of Nicole Louden is the story of very bright and motivated young women making her way through her inner-city high school basketball career and the recruiting process.

This book is also a comment about the challenges that kids in America face today. Nicole grew up around kids selling drugs, gangs and violence. Without her families strong support it's unlikely that she would have excelled as she did, both academically and athletically. Zagoria does a great job following Nicole and documenting all the details of the recruiting process. If have ever been interested in what it takes to play college sports, and the process of getting there this book is a fun page-turner.

The author does a terrific job chronicling the journey of a young girl whose dream it is to play Division I college basketball and then the WNBA. The book takes you through the struggles, the victories, and everything in-between about a high school female basketball player attempting to beat some very long odds. Growing up in a violent, poverty stricken, drug-infested New Jersey neighborhood, SHE GOT HANDLE describes how an extremely ambitious girl uses her enormous basketball talents, overwhelming support from her family, and terrific smarts to get an athletic scholarship from a top educational university.

The sport of track and field has only a limited audience in the U.S. American athletes typically receive recognition only after setting a world record or winning an Olympic gold medal. Steve Scott, America's top miler throughout the 1980s, did neither. In his book, The Miler, Scott writes of a running career in which he unquestionably was America's best miler (his U.S. record of 3:47.69, set in 1982, still stands), and certainly one of the world's best (10 consecutive years ranked among the world's top 10 milers by Track & Field News). Yet without a world record or Olympic gold medal to his credit, Scott remained virtually unknown outside the small U.S. track and field community. The Miler traces Scott's reluctant beginnings as a high school runner, his development into a national-class competitor in college, and his emergence as a world-class racer. Along the way we're treated to profiles of Scott's leading international competitors, all icons in the history of the mile: John Walker, Eamonn Coghlan, Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett and Said Aouita. Scott beat them all, but not in either of the two races -- the '84 or '88 Olympics -- which would have brought him the recognition and financial rewards that accompany a gold medal. The Miler is not simply a book about running. Scott details the struggles he faced to support his wife and kids early in his career, when track and field was still regarded as an "amateur" sport. Scott also writes frankly of the toll the nomadic career of a track and field athlete exacted upon his marriage. Although it probably was cathartic for Scott to write these passages, it is uncomfortable for even a dedicated track & field fan to read. Despite this, I admire Scott for his willingness to write something other than the puff pieces that frequently pass for the biographies of famous athletes. He deals frankly with some of track and fields' unsavory elements -- unscrupulous meet promoters, under-the-table payments, agents, drugs, stars avoiding races with potential rivals, and track's governing bodies -- and isn't afraid of putting himself in the middle of situations that don't frame him in the best light. In fact, perhaps in an effort to balance his career's many triumphs, he frequently seems to come down too hard on himself. He writes extensively of his failures at the Olympics, but covers the race in which he set the American record for the mile in a few paragraphs. He takes great pride in having run more sub-4 minute miles (136) than any miler in history, but dwells more on how another runner, John Walker, beat him to the "media friendly" 100th sub-4 mile goal. I would have liked to have read more of his numerous triumphs, and less of his real or perceived shortcomings. Scott also write of the challenge of, and eventual triumph over, his most formidable opponent: cancer. The story of his recovery from testicular cancer and return to competition demonstrates that sheer force of will, more than physical ability, is the true mark of a champion. The Miler certainly will appeal to fans of track & field. But it should also find a wider audience among those who are curious as to the challenges, costs and rewards that come to those who strive for world class status in any field. For in The Miler Scott shows himself to be a winner not only on the track, but also in the ongoing race called life.

Near the end of Steve Scott's autobiography he talks about running in the National Cross Country Championships in Montana. (There are pictures of the race in the book.) It was 4 degrees and snowy. Scott was past his prime as one of the great milers in the world. He didn't need to run this race; few world class milers run serious 10K Cross Country at any time let alone in their declining years. But Steve Scott loves to run; he loves to train very hard and run very fast. He finished 10th that day, not far behind distance greats like Todd Williams and Pat Porter, and just a few seconds away from qualifying as a member of the U.S. team for the World Cross Country Championships. Afterwards he overheard a couple of young runners talking. One said, in obvious surprise: "Did you see Steve Scott finished 10th? I thought he'd retired." His friend responded, "I thought he was dead." Well, Steve Scott ain't dead folks, and I'll bet wherever he is right now, he's still running far and fast. Scott's autobiography has been out for two years now, and it hasn't caught on the way many of the books on jogging have. But it should! Serious runners will love it, and even joggers will be fascinated by its honesty and by the character - in both senses of that word - that Scott reveals. Jim Ryun remains the legendary American miler, but he would have been 30 meters behind Scott in their best races. Ryun gave up the sport in his early 20s because he couldn't handle the pressure; Scott raced at the highest levels for close to twenty years. Scott clearly loves running! He loves being really fit and training hard. With the help of Marc Bloom, the longtime dedicated chronicler of Cross Country and Track, Scott helps us understand that love. He was "Pre" (Prefontaine) without the sharp edges. He deserves to be better known and more honored. But even if that never happens, no one can ever take away what he accomplished. The numbers - 3:47.69, and 136 sub-4:00s - will stand for as long as runners circle thae track for four laps.

I found this book to be a good outline for handling a crisis. It gets slow sometimes in describing the events the author was involved in but overall the message and points are sound. I struggled a little since he is a Clintonite, having served with Slick Willie and he talks and teaches of integrity while at the same time loving Bubba ... but that doesnt take away from the job hes done at FEMA or the lessons he is passing along. Good book.

James Witt is the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In "Stronger in the Broken Places" he takes his knowledge and experiences and develops a plan for dealing with disaster. His experience has taught him that there are four critical times when you can deal with an emergency. The first is to anticipate it as a possibility and prepare for it. The second is once you understand it you can make plans to prevent it or mitigate its effects. The third is when and how you respond to the emergency. And the last opportunity is during the recovery phase.

"Stronger in the Broken Places" clearly explains how businesses, communities, or even individuals can work through a potential crisis. Thorough in its coverage of crisis management, it starts with examining your company's values since everything you do will have to be based on your company value system and priorities. From there it follows a logical progression through communication, changing priorities, identifying strengths, keeping employees encouraged and functioning well during a disaster, re-evaluating the plan, etc. One of the best texts on managing through a major crisis, it is filled with multiple examples from real life that make it a truly educational read while driving home the important points. A recommended read for business leaders and others who may be involved in crisis management.

If you've ever seen the "punk" magicians, Penn and Teller, you know that a lot of their act is about showing you how the trick is done, then, as a topper, finishing the trick in some new way that takes the trick to some new level of mystification. TECHNOLOGY AS MAGIC is a lot like that, but this final topper is your own recognition that you've been a mark and a sucker, and that you will continue to be a mark and a sucker until you turn off the TV, throw away the paper, and start spreading the word about empty incantationsof the government, media, and marketers that have robbed us of clarity in thinking and blurred our moral sensibilities.

If you've ever had to write administrative tripe and felt queasy doing so, if you've ever had to devise an apologia to convince management to proceed with some new action system and knew all along that you were only supplying a rationale to make the powers-that-be breathe easier, if you've ever had to generalize about a heterogenous population -- for instance, turning them into a "target market" knowing full well that everything you're saying is a lie and is based on the most abusive forms of instrumental rationalism, and only perpetuates the pseudo-sociology, pseudo-psychology, pseudo-statistics, and pseudo-trends of the media and the "research" that justifies their colonization of yet another group of consumers, this book offers a clear structure for thinking through how you got to such an impasse.

Jacques Ellul, who I haven't read but now feel I must based on Stivers' description of his synopsis of the three historical eras, is the guiding spirit behind TECHNOLOGY AS MAGIC. Showing how magic has always been with us from prehistory through to the present day, Stivers using his basic model to show how the magic of numbers and images have supplanted critical thinking in our time. The only shortcoming, perhaps, is Stiver's using statistics to demonstrate some of his points. And one of his major points is that statistics is the favorite instrument of administrative magic. But other than that, this an inisightful, bracing work which deserves wide readership.

Among other tricks, plastic words -- the empty incantations of administrative magic -- are herein revealed. Use them vigorously, use them prolifically, and you will go far! Also revealed the basic structure of all advertising communications (based on Neil Postman's insights): discontent => contentment => ecstasy. Indeed in the wrong hands this books is a gold mine of strategies for the cynical and unscrupulous in media, government, and business, as it clearly explains how all of this bogus magic works. But will they be more dangerous if they know what they're doing? Probably. Because then their cynicism will be all the more complete, they will be all the more dangerous. We can only hope Stivers' pungent, stinging prose and death(-state) defying criticism is strong enough to scare them off!

This book illuminates a half dozen crucial trends in the contemporary world: Technology, Corporate Management fads, New age thought patterns, Self improvement programs, and (most trenchantly) the form and content of Electronic Mass Media, by showing how they fit into a new 'magical' way of thinking about reality. Stivers finds our acceptance of technological, cybernetic change destructive to genuine scientific, humanistic, and ethical thought and action. He explains this acceptance as the results of a series of successful manipulations of public opinion, feeling, and the shaping of the self in the modern-techno world. His main claim -- that while technology obviously 'works', and accomplishes certain practical tasks marvelously, its main contribution to the modern world -- and its main attraction for people -- is the magical qualities that people are learning to impute to it. Nature as a sacred powerful milieu has been replaced by Technology as our sacred powerful milieu.

Stivers is most heavily influenced by Jacques Ellul, and his great contribution is to carry Ellul's terrific insights forward and bring them right up to the present wild techno-ride we are on. I expect this book to be of great help to me in my teaching on Computers & Society, and it has already helped me put into better perspective several themes I have been working on.

I think this book is a first-rate primer fo those persons wanting a good, not-too-intense look at our most successful Presidents and how they made their second-terms memorable.To give it 5 stars, for me, would require a longer, more detailed book, but Mr. Zacher's breezy style, succinctness and eye for the most important facts, will serve most readers well.

We are the Grandchildren of Mr.Zacher. We are only 11 and 9 but his book is a great book. It was metioned by President Clinton during the 96' election. Trail and Triumph is the first book about 2nd term presidents. Our Grandfather appered on CNN, CSpan Book Notes, and The Today Show. This book explains history clearly.

From what I've read of Joyce Carol Oate's fiction, it appears she has a predilection for wading into and exploring the darker shadows of her character's consciousness (and she's good at it too), but every once in awhile she'll dive head first into the deep end; hypothetically exploring the thoughts of a full blown psychotic. This book is similar to her 1995 novel, "Zombie" in that we enter the twisted perspective of a psychopathic murderer from the get go and therefore the narrative is a choppy, turbulent ride as the reader travels along strange digressions and bizarre rationalizations and beliefs. There is very little outside objective background storytelling, as in psycho murderer novels like Thomas Harris' "Red Dragon". While the story of Bobbie Gotterson is fiction, it's pretty safe to assume Oates was inspired by nutty, Chucky Manson and his adventures in L.A. during the late sixties, just as I suspect "Zombie" was inspired by Milwaukee serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. If you enjoyed "Zombie", or think perhaps it would be interesting to spend time with the thoughts of a murderous psychopath, you may wish to check this book out. A minor (non-psychotic) digression: Joyce Carol Oates has written numerous novels, countless short stories, essays, poetry, and I've even heard a few plays here and there. Stephen King mentioned he gets called prolific but he says it has more to do with the visibility of his work and, for example, Oates leaves him in the dust. In an interesting book, "Pieces of Work", showing rough drafts by various authors and poets, Oates rewrites her short story at least five times, and rewrites the beginning at least four times. On top of all this she is a professor at Princeton. The ultimate Joyce Carol Oates mystery should be titled, "How does this person manage to write so much?"

This is a very interesting account of a maniac's life, from his birth to his life of unspeakable crime, showing his inner and outer struggles, first person account. I like how it really gets into his mind and how the reader grows to feel for him. Some may find it a little disturbing, but worthwhile reader, especially for Joyce Carol Oates fans.

As an owner of a GT-6, any reference book is helpful. This one is very complete except for the lack of more color pictures. I think one of the interesting things about these cars is there isn't a single source for answers. You have to search for "nuggets" of information. This book is a real "find" for anyone needing information on the Spitfire and GT-6 models. Enjoy.

I found this book to be, over all, very informative. Lots of detailed photos (though almost all are monochrome, other than a few in the middle of the book). One should keep in mind, though, that the cars pictured are UK-spec only, there are NO US-spec cars pictured, so it is really only of interest for exterior/some interior originality here in the US. It would be nice if more charts were included, such as interior/exterior color schemes, etc. Overall, though, for any Spitfire owner, this is a must have!

This book is a must have for parents of childrens with tourette syndrome. It certainly proved we are not alone in the daily struggles we and our familys face. Although this can be a depressing book at times, it does go to show that with an incredible amount of patience and knowledge, you can handle anything.

this book is about a mom of a boy with servere tourettes. I t is excellent written she is real able to convey her pain and also her hope for her children. A must read for all intrested or avected by tourettes. the last chapter is by young ryan himself it is also vey intrsting.

Though smaller and less ambitious than most of Branden's other works (such as the brilliant Art of Living Consciously), two women I know have reacted very favorably to this book, which suggests to me that it could be a useful primer on Branden's approach.

The book's modest size (and attractive cover art, I should add) may be an advantage in this regard. While intellectual purists might still prefer a tome, many people prefer a small book with essentialized information. A Woman's Self-Esteem is a good example in this regard.

Most of the book's chapters are expanded versions of articles Branden published in New Woman magazine in the early 90s. While many of the book's themes will of course apply to men as well as women, Branden's primary focus is on the challenges facing women: How to embrace their own strengths when doing so may not be fashionable, how to be assertive in a job or in a relationship, how to keep appropriate boundaries.

As with his other books on self-esteem, Branden devotes the first several chapters to summarizing his overall theory, and I found these to be among his most elegant summaries ever. Although I personally enjoyed the book as a whole, one mild disappointment for me was the chapter on "Embracing Our Strengths." Here Branden addresses the difficulty some women experience in finding the will and inspiration to assert their own intelligence and individuality. He addresses a number of helpful issues in this regard, but fails to mention the powerful function of good art. Since he is well aware of the role of art in inspiring heroic behavior, I found this omission puzzling.

Ayn Rand admirers will find interesting the last chapter of the book, which is a reprint of Branden's essay "Was Ayn Rand a Feminist?" from the anthology Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand (co-edited by Chris Sciabarra and Mimi Gladstein). Branden concludes the essay: "Where did Ayn Rand stand with respect to feminism (a term she never liked)? A feminism that sees woman at her best as a heroic figure will find support and validation in Rand's writings. A feminism that defines woman as victim and man as her evil oppressor will see Rand as the enemy -- because Rand sees woman not as weak but as strong, and because Rand sees romantic love between man and woman as an expression and celebration of their esteem for each other as well as their esteem for themselves."

One major yardstick for judging a book such as this one is the extent to which is encourages people (and women in particular) who might never do so to think deeply and clearly about the role of self-esteem in their own life. It seems to me the book will be very useful in this regard.

I gave this book to my daughter who had been struggling with a relationship. Because she's only 18 years old I thought I was taking a long shot. Branden's books had completely changed my own life, but they've all been intellectually thrilling to read, and sometimes teenagers are superstitious about being intellectually thrilled. Not my daughter. To my surprise. She took to this book like a duck to water, and it changed her life. No one's books, that I know of, make bigger IMMEDIATE differences in a person's life than Nathaniel Branden's. He is a national treasure.