Customer Reviews:
Condensed Capitalism.......2001-04-02
To understand capitalism, read the Wealth of Nations. But, to really understand it, as well as the other ideas of Adam Smith, read his essential works. This book allows the reader to fully grasp the concepts of capitalism and get a clear picture of how and why it works. Thankfully, Heilbronner did not dilute the works of Smith, he just condensed them for the modern day reader. With this book you can cut through the jargon and see the real points that Smith was trying to get across.
A Great Introduction to Adam Smith's Ideas.......2000-02-26
After reading Heilbroner's The Worldly Philosophers, I decided to read Smith's Wealth of Nations, but found myself daunted by the length and language of the book. Then I discovered Heilbroner's Essential Adam Smith and was hooked. The book offers the essential parts of Wealth of Nations, as well as a good sampling of some of his other works. As a result, I have not only read the entire Wealth several times, but have also read everything by and about Smith that I can find. Heilbroner's book is a good way to get to the heart of Smith's thinking, but, like me, you will probably find yourself wanting to learn more about the man, his ideas, and his life. Enjoy!
Average customer rating:
- Graphic SF Reader
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- Solid Era of X-Men in Affordable Format
- Asgardian adventures, mutant massacres, and more Chris Claremont classics!
- Essential a Dissapointment
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Essential X-Men, Vol. 6 (Marvel Essentials)
Chris Claremont ,
Barry Windsor-Smith ,
Louise Simonson ,
Walter Simonson ,
John Romita Jr. ,
Rick Leonardi ,
June Brigman ,
Bret Blevins ,
Alan Davis ,
Art Adams ,
Terry Shoemaker ,
Walt Simonson ,
Jackson Guice , and
John Bogdanove
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
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Binding: Paperback
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Essential X-Men, Vol. 2 (Marvel Essentials)
ASIN: 078511727X |
Book Description
"Mutant" means "change," and there was plenty of that when the Uncanny X-Men counted down to the Marvel Mutant Massacre, beginning with the trial of Magneto! Rachel Summers became Phoenix and the Brotherhood became Freedom Force! Lady Deathstrike became a cyborg, Moonstar a Valkyrie, Colossus a killer, and Psylocke an X-Man! And Sabretooth first set his clawed foot into the X-Universe alongside his fellow Marauders! Guest-starring the original X-Factor, Power Pack and Thor! Gods, Morlocks, talking frogs and more! Collects Uncanny X-Men #199-213, New Mutants Special Edition #1, X-Men Annual #9, X-Factor #9-10, New Mutants #46, Thor #373-374 and Power Pack #27.
Customer Reviews:
Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-03
This includes the classic Mutant Massacre, and some great Barry Windsor Smith stuff. A team of mutant assassins is hired to slaughter the Morlocks living in the tunnels after the city. Most of them fall, but they manage to get word to the X-Men, and their absentee leader, Storm. The X-Men come to help, at great cost to themselves. There is also an appearance by Thor.
Graphic Novel junkie.......2007-07-31
Ok, ok, I should say comic book junkie, because that's what they were called when I first started reading them some decades ago. This whole series of Essential X-men books are a fun read unless you get bogged down in details. I never did, I just enjoyed reading them. This is a great book. Enjoy
Solid Era of X-Men in Affordable Format.......2006-02-24
I love this "phone book" format - I remember reading these and have since sold mucgh of my collection. This book gives me the opprtunity to enjiy those issues in one setting! Only way to improve this is to add color and better paper but that's not the point - this is made for people who love to read comics!
Asgardian adventures, mutant massacres, and more Chris Claremont classics!.......2005-10-04
I can thank the X-Men for my present love of Marvel comics. When I was ten, the superlative X-Men animated series premiered on Fox and my good friend Nick offered to share with me his almost exclusively X-Men comic collection (which was begun by his father in the late 70's). I wasn't able to collect many comics myself until I discovered the Essential series five years ago and made the Essential X-Men #1 my first purchase. Also, as a casual moviegoer, I am even more thankful that the X-Men movie of 2000 was such a hit and opened the door for all of the Marvel-licensed movies that followed (which have a way of begetting even more Essentials). Frankly, I think that Chris Claremont's revival of the X-Men is probably the most deserving title to be reprinted in its entirety. It seems that Marvel agrees because we now have six Essential X-Men's (the second since the release of the second movie) and I'm just as pleased as punch.
There are so many enjoyable stories in this collection that I'd better just get right to them. Cyclops duels a still de-powered Storm for the right to lead the X-Men. The child who will one day become the time-hopping warrior Cable is born. Mystique's Brotherhood of Mutants receives a pardon for their acts of terrorism by serving under the U.S. government as the Freedom Force (it makes you wonder if our government would let an al-Qaeda agent work for the CIA). Fans of Wolverine are bound to love seeing their favorite Canuck go claw-to-claw with Lady Deathstrike and Sabretooth in their X-Men comic debuts. In the latest Hellfire Club appearance, we learn that the preferred ensemble of the discerning depraved mutant plutocrat can include headbands and bandito masks in addition to double-breasted suits, powdered wigs and lingerie. Also, a recurring villain, who twice before survived a vivisection from Wolverine, suffers a heart attack in the heat of battle and dies (I found it to be a "comedy = tragedy + time" kind of moment). My personal favorite story would be issue #200, the Trial of Magneto. A repentant Erik Magnus Lehnsherr goes on the stand in front of an international tribunal to answer for his crimes against humanity while the X-Men scramble to stop the attacks made by a radical band of mutants called Fenris who (allegedly) want to free Magneto by force. The issue is a great balance of blistering comic book action and realistic characterization and emotion, plus it expertly ties in the events from an important past issue, and it makes for the most interesting courtroom drama from Marvel that I have read (and I've read all three Essential Daredevils).
One of the greater complaints about the fifth Essential X-Men is the amount of plot threads connected to other series that don't get presented or resolved in the pages of the book, and I'm afraid that's still the case here. It's an unfortunate but understandable drawback of reading these stories in reprints two decades after the fact. At this time in comicdom, all roads pretty much lead to (and from) the X-Men, and so more crossovers were featured in this series to get the recent bandwagon-jumpers to invest in other series. Therefore, some stories can't help but feel a little broken. For example, take the sudden arrivals of Spiral and Psylocke. I know who they are and where they came from thanks to outside sources, but you won't learn that from these issues since it's never mentioned. This book also contains a small fraction of the Secret Wars II crossover issues, so only some of the Beyonder's shenanigans on Earth are recorded. However, in what is perhaps an attempt by the publisher to stave off some of the inter-series mystery, non-X-Men books are included for the first time in an Essential X-Men for two great crossovers.
Exhibit A: X-Men in Asgard. Although the ninth X-Men Annual is well remembered for sending the merry mutants into the fabled land of Norse mythology, the saga actually began in a New Mutants Special Edition. This book is included, all 64 pages of it! After reading it, I felt that, if it had been omitted, I would have accepted the X-Men's sudden quest to free Storm from Loki's fiendish plan and the unexplained transformation of some of the New Mutants (into valkyries and fairies and the like) as par for the course. Not to mention that the Special raises as many questions as it answers. Why is Storm babysitting the X-Kids on the island of Cyprus when she was last seen starving and alone in the Serengeti a couple of issues back? Why is Karma, who was pronounced dead back in the fourth Essential X-Men, now alive and morbidly obese? Regardless, I still enjoyed this story and am happy to have read it, since it wouldn't otherwise be in an Essential volume until the Essential New Mutants #2 (and don't ask me when the first one will even come out).
Exhibit B: the Mutant Massacre. The first crossover that brought all of Marvel's mutant titles together (and Power Pack and Thor, apparently), the Mutant Massacre famously came about because readers weren't becoming enamored with the homely, sewer-dwelling Morlocks, despite their multiple across-the-board appearances. Therefore, author Chris Claremont rolled up his sleeves, crafted a new villain team called the Marauders, and sent them down into the Morlock tunnels to waste anything that moved. A previous reviewer commented that there was little point in offering the entire Mutant Massacre in B&W when it has long been available as its own trade paperback in color. While I agree to a point (I've owned the TPB myself for over a year), I feel that the Massacre was an event that greatly affected the X-Men world and that the entire sordid affair belongs in the X-Men reprint series so that any level of reader can understand it.
That's about all I have to tell about the Essential X-Men 6. I'd say that it's required reading for any true X-aficionado, and still a very entertaining read for anyone. As a longtime fan, I can say that the only thing that would make me happier is a second Essential for the original `60's X-Men. Until then, face front, true believers!
Essential a Dissapointment.......2005-09-21
I love the essential volumes, started since the first Spider-Man volume all those years ago, 8 years I think. I love readin the classic X-Men stories from Claremont and collect those great tpb's featuring the great crossovers. My complaint is I bought this for the X-Men stories not the crossover stories. If you want to read about the Mutant Massacre, go buy the tpb in color, especially since it was just re-released and readily available. Extremely and essential dissapointed in this volume. Marvel don't make this mistake again, we're buying it for the X-Men issues, and those issues only. Think about it money wise that if the person really wants to see how the Mutant Massacre turned out they will shell out the money to buy the tpb itself. Way to lose some money.
Average customer rating:
- Graphic SF Reader
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- It's already lucky number seven for Marvel's merry mutants!
- Solid eighties X-Men!
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Essential X-Men, Vol. 7 (Marvel Essentials)
Chris Claremont ,
Barry Windsor-Smith ,
Alan Davis ,
Jackson Guice ,
Marc Silvestri ,
Bret Blevins ,
Kerry Gammill ,
Rick Leonardi ,
Art Adams , and
Jon Bogdanove
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
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ASIN: 0785120556 |
Book Description
In the wake of the Marauders' Mutant Massacre, the X-Men go mobile to plan their next move - but recruiting Dazzler and Havok brings them even more catastrophe! And with a teammate's life on the line, the mutant marvels are forced to fight the Fantastic Four and seek the genius of Doctor Doom! Another elite X-saga of the eighties concludes with the world-shaking Fall of the Mutants! Plus: the introduction of... the X-Babies!? The cosmic power of... Wolverine!? Featuring Sabretooth, the Juggernaut, Mystique, Captain Britain and more! Collects Uncanny X-Men #214-228; Annuals #10-11; Fantastic Four Vs. The X-Men #1-4.
Customer Reviews:
Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-03
The team is in a bad way after the Mutant Massacre, and has to do some recruiting, so we get Longshot, who is a lot of fun, and Dazzler, who isn't. The X-Men decide to go on the move to make themselves less of a target, and move their injured comrades to a safe location.
Mojo and the X-babies appear here, and that is a lot of fun. The whole Freedom Force thing at the end is where the franchise starts to lose its way, I think, but this is still an excellent deal.
Graphic Novel junkie.......2007-07-31
Ok, ok, I should say comic book junkie, because that's what they were called when I first started reading them some decades ago. This whole series of Essential X-men books are a fun read unless you get bogged down in details. I never did, I just enjoyed reading them. This is a great book. Enjoy
It's already lucky number seven for Marvel's merry mutants!.......2006-05-31
I am both amazed and incredibly pleased to have seven volumes of Chris Claremont's X-Men Essentialized already (plus two of the Silver Age X-Men, but I'll talk about that in a later review). I now have a virtual library, a nearly complete collection of one of Marvel's most storied franchises, all for much less cost than what I used to spend to fuel my video game habit back in the Sega Genesis era. Thanks to the rapid release of these comprehensive and inexpensive tomes, this is perhaps the best time to make classic comics a hobby. Anyway, that's enough praise for the Essentials as a whole, now for my praise of just the Essential X-Men #7.
The Mutant Massacre had just abated, leaving Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Shadowcat critically injured and giving the team incentive to hold a recruitment drive. The first new member, Longshot, is probably the most unlikely and, in my opinion, poorest choice. I guess he had to go somewhere after his inaugural mini-series, but the fact remains that he's not a mutant, nor does he really believe in Xavier's dream (he doesn't really believe in much except the wonders of naïve childlike amusement). However, the team had a majority of female members and he's cute, so he stayed. Even so, his "good luck" inducing ability made me remember the similarly empowered Shamrock and wonder why she didn't get an offer (She hasn't seen much screen time since the Contest of Champions. She needs to eat too, you know!). This volume also sees the long-awaited arrival of Dazzler to the ranks of the X-Men after her disco-drenched solo series concluded (she gets a less Donna Summer-y outfit as well). Finally, Cyclops' brother Havok gets an invitation to officially join the X-club at long last. Some say he's little different from his brother, except for a lack of stylish eyewear, but with Scotty heading X-Factor, there was no better time to bring Alex into the fold.
Now that the introductions are out of the way, let's go straight to the action! In the book's opening story, the extra-dimensional media mogul Mojo hopes to bring the X-Men under his control by de-aging them all into toddlers (Don't ask. Most of Mojo's plans tend to be weird for the sake of being weird). This forces the suddenly senior New Mutants to play the grown-up superhero role and save Jim Henson's Mutant Babies. I don't know about you, but between this and the Asgard-centric Annual from the last volume, I'm suddenly in the mood for an Essential New Mutants #1. Then the re-adultified Storm and Wolverine take on a trio of superhuman WWII vets who are thrill-killing particularly churlish members of the Me Generation. About that time, during a visit to Muir Island in Scotland, the rookie Dazzler convinces herself to tackle the Juggernaut single-handedly (a harrowing example of disco music's detrimental effect on our nation's youth). The eleventh X-Men Annual gets off to a rough start with a bizarre challenge by a god-like MacGuffin named Horde (Why call him Horde? There's only one of him. Legion was at least four people), but it ends with a strong message about foregoing personal pleasures in service of ideals greater than yourselves, which to me is what these stories are all about.
However, it became obvious to me as I read further why the mid-80's are so often referred to as the era when the X-Men series had started to leave its glory days behind. When Mr. Sinister was finally revealed as the mastermind behind the heinous Mutant Massacre, he came across as nothing more than yet another fanged albino criminal genius (and while I already harped on another comic book villain's sobriquet, c'mon, Mr. Sinister? Why not just name him Baron von Ruthless?). During a drawn-out aimless brawl in San Francisco between the X-Men (joined by Cyclops' jilted spouse Madeline Pryor) and the Marauders (joined by the malign mindbender Malice), I imagined that readers of the original series started to realize at about this time that it would be years before Claremont would think of a more rational explanation for the Massacre than "It's not like anyone liked the Morlocks, anyway". The aforementioned WWII fighters stretch their fifteen minutes of fame a little too thin when they sign on with Mystique's Freedom Force (OK, one more time. One of those guys can run really fast, so you decide to call him Super-Sabre? Are all the good names taken, is that it?). Lastly, this volume includes the noteworthy Fall of the Mutants storyline in which our heroes sacrifice everything (ie. Everybody Dies!) to stop the Adversary, a chaos fiend in full stereotypical Indian chief regalia. While I'm happy that the set-up to this tale involves Storm finally giving up her inexplicable mohawked street punk persona and becoming the Wind-Rider again, once all is said and done, I feel that this overblown epic can basically be summed up as "the X-Men vs. one of the Village People".
Still, I can't allow myself to talk about the X-Men and end on a sour note. That's why I've saved my favorite piece for last: the X-Men/Fantastic Four mini-series. This four-parter was an unexpected treat, especially since the X-Men/Alpha Flight two-parter was omitted in a previous volume. In this story, Storm petitions Reed Richards to prevent Shadowcat's slowly-phasing-out-of-existence malady. Unfortunately, the FF are too embroiled in their own affairs to help, especially after evidence surfaces about Reed's downright inconsiderate ulterior motives regarding their fateful spaceflight. Therefore, the X-Men take their business elsewhere and answer an offer from the arguably comparable and definitely malevolent scientific genius of Dr. Doom. But did Reed really intend to use his teammates as guinea pigs in his dangerous experiment, and why is Earth's greatest arch-villain so eager to assist the same outcast mutants that he's openly opposed in the past? Once I found out the answers I liked what I saw, and I was most impressed by how spot on the characterizations were between the FF and Doom. I don't know how many opportunities Chris Claremont had to pen Marvel's First Family, but he really showed a knack for it. I might pick up this book later on just to reread this little gem. Let's just keep our fingers crossed for the inclusion of the X-Men/Avengers mini in the next volume.
In short, the seventh Essential X-Men isn't quite as well polished as the sixth installment, but true comic fans can do no wrong by snagging themselves a copy. In the mean time, I implore all the Marvelites out there to see the third X-Men movie (and judging by the box office receipts for the first four days, many of you already have) and be sure to STAY until after the closing credits! I think you'll be glad you did. Good day!
Solid eighties X-Men!.......2006-05-13
This collection contains issues #214 through #228 of the Uncanny X-Men, plus Annuals #10-11 and all four issues of the "X-Men versus Fantastic Four" limited series.
Looking back, there's a lot of quality content in these issues. Frankly, when these first came out, there was a feeling among comics fans that the X-Men were already past their prime. Old timers looked back to the days of Byrne and Cockrum wantingly, and let's be honest, Claremont had become a tad repetitive at times (how often had he used that first-person "The Name's Logan" monologue to begin an issue of X-Men by this point?). Still, knowing where the X-Men are at today, it's hard not to view these issues, in retrospect, as examples of a by-gone classic age of quality. These issues maybe weren't the "mountaintop" for the X-Men, but they weren't that far over the hill, either!
Book Description
Walter Wagner's book is a philosophical essay/treatise that searches for, and proposes, a moral basis for today's global economy. Wagner, a scholarly expert on the history of economic thought, builds his case from Adam Smith's theory of moral sentiments through to current thinking about the virtues and shortcomings of free market economics. He writes in the style and with the broad perspective of Robert Heilbroner, John Kenneth Galbraith, and Lester Thurow.
Unlike many critical authors, he accepts the core function of free market economics but believes that massive scientific and technological impacts dictate a revision of the ideologies that support public policy and private decision making. The book's overall vision embraces and describes a new moral framework, and the means of developing it, suitable for the emerging global economy.
Chapter 1: The Quest
I initiate an inquiry into how economics can contribute to our understanding of the nature and causes of the well-being of humanity, provide guidance to progress, and calculate the costs of change. Mine is a quest to comprehend how economies go right, how they go wrong, and how to figure out what policies to follow.
Chapter 2: Adam Smith's Footprints
The discipline of economics has arisen in the Western world out of both moral philosophizing and natural science as they flourished in the Enlightenment. Adam Smith, as a moral philosopher, focused these leading ideas of the eighteenth century on the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. In doing so he established the discipline of economics as a moral enterprise.
Chapter 3: Insights, Oversights, Illusions
In seeking to reconstruct a combined theory and philosophy of economics, it is essential to confront the problems of theory construction itself. Traditional economic theory provides insights but also neglects and even overlooks (oversights) imperative conditions upon which human well-being is dependent. This chapter explores these conundrums.
Chapter 4: Free Market Theory, Touchstone of Ideology
In Western market economies, the theory that stands behind the public philosophy and supports the ideology of capitalism is Adam Smith's free-market competitive economic theory. This chapter tells some of the story of the Smithian tradition as it exists today: the central ideas, its strong public appeal, its shortcomings and failures, the illusions it fosters.
Chapter 5: The Essential Economy and A Workable Market
The basic causes of the wealth of nations and well-being of individuals are the functioning elements of the Essential Economy. The managing mechanism is the "workable market." The Essential Economy is the first-order cause of the wealth of nations. It includes the fundamental technology-driven production processes. The private-property market system is the second-order cause of the wealth of nations. Both perform necessary functions.
Chapter 6: The Organizing Animal
Kenneth Boulding's three major modes by which all humans transact with each other in all functioning social systems—Threat mode, Exchange mode, and Integrative mode—can elucidate the relationships among the Essential Economy, workable markets, and moral appraisal.
Chapter 7: Moral Sentiments and Economic Justice
Moral foundations differ among individuals and cultures. How can we find a basis for moral agreement and a sense of justice? It is the task of this chapter to explore further steps to develop a morality by which economic justice may be better perceived and more practically applied.
Chapter 8: The Meaning of Economic Progress
I contend that Western economies are materially, humanistically, and morally better than all others, past or present. This superiority is a product of progress which should be understood and perpetuated for the future well-being of all humanity. However, our understanding of modern complexities of progress is vague and is not well developed as moral guidance in the field of main core economics.
Chapter 9: Thinking About an Unknowable Future
Our major concern now is to develop strategy to cope with an uncertain future arising from progress and change. If we are to manage the prospects of progress and the pace, costs, and dangers of change, it is necessary to invent a vision of how to go about it. What strategies are we to follow about forming policies for an unknowable future?
Chapter 10: An Apollo Project for Humanitarian Economics
The proposed Apollo program's mission seeks to design a Humanitarian Research Institute that can construct a strategy for managing the pace of progress, including coping with the costs and dangers of change. The Institute must become a permanent means by which all nations identify the knowledge needed to provide humanity with practical moral guidance without the costs of change being more painful than its gains.
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Essential Principles of the Wealth of Nations (Reprints of Economic Classics)
John Gray
Manufacturer: A. M. Kelley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0678005044 |
Book Description
This first major Engish treatise on Physiocratic economic theory sets forth the principal doctrines of what Gray calls "the system of the Economists." He takes issue not only with Adam Smith's attribution of economic surplus to manufacture and trade as well as agriculture, but more especially with the contrary views on taxation of Arthur Young. Gray bolsters the position of proprietors in the physiocratic weltanschauung by designating them an essential class along with cultivators.
Book Description
This qualitative case study of an American manufacturing organization describes the barriers which limited its ability to receive maximum return on its investment for training and development resources invested in their human assets. Changing global economics have forced organizations to the realization that their competitive advantage lies in developing and tapping into their human assets or human capital. Professionals, managers, human resource development specialists, and academicians alike have developed theories supporting the systematic development of human assets to improve performance and achieve organizational business goals. This book examines how one organization, typically described as a High Performance Organization, attempted to put theory into application. Specifically, the book examines the concepts of needs assessment, systems theory, organization development, human capital theory, and performance improvement.
The results find a systemic failure in human asset development initiatives rooted in the failure to view the organization as a whole, systematically assess performance, and involve the entire organization in designing and implementing a holistic approach to improving performance and developing the organizations human assets. Specifically, inefficient organizational structure and lack of clearly defined business goals were significant barriers to the systematic development of their human assets.
Books:
- Financial Accounting in an Economic Context
- Funky Business: Talent Makes Capital Dance
- GAAP Guide Level A (2007)
- Getting It Right: Markets and Choices in a Free Society
- God Wants You to Be Rich
- Guardian Careers Guide: Accounting (Guardian Careers Guide)
- Harvard Business Review on Business and the Environment (A Harvard Business Review Paperback)
- Hispanos hablan más minutos por celulares: telefónicas ganan con usted: en promedio gastan 975 minutos al mes, pero no solamente eso, sino que hablan a ... usted, feliz, ¿no?: An article from: Semana
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Ain't No Rag: Feeedom, Family and the Flag
- The Company of Strangers
- Great Leap Forward / Harvard Design School Project on the City
- Mies In Berlin
- Occupancy Estimation and Modeling: Inferring Patterns and Dynamics of Species Occurrence
- The Art of Classroom Management: Building Equitable Learning Communitites, Second Edition
- Slow Dollar
- Sensing the 21st Century City: The Net City Close-up and Remote
- Many Masks: A Life of Frank Lloyd Wright
- A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs: Of Eastern and Central North America
The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great Economic Thinkers
The Passions and the Interests
Teachings from the Worldly Philosophy
Selected Writings
Capital: Volume 1: A Critique of Political Economy (Penguin Classics)
