Book Description
CIAO!, Sixth Edition continues to emphasize practical, communicative use of Italian, while teaching the four language skills and providing an enhanced introduction to Italian life and culture. The new edition is distinguished by greater coherence in the grammatical presentation, a more pervasive emphasis upon cultural realities, lexical streamlining, thorough updating, and more consistent support for the instructor through marginal annotations. With thematically based chapters that focus on the vibrant life of modern Italy and the country's rich cultural heritage, CIAO! provides the proven approach-known for its outstanding, easy-to-follow grammar presentation-and superior resources that students need to communicate in Italian with confidence and understanding. The book features a strong focus on spoken proficiency and cultural awareness, all woven into a dynamic presentation that makes it easy and fun to learn Italian.
Customer Reviews:
great quality.......2007-09-21
Book is in pristine condition BUT, didn't come with book code for the online Quia workbook.
Ciao.......2006-03-22
Unfortunately the CD does not seem to follow the text. Presentations on the CD are very limited and do not provide good practice for students. The Berlitz CDs are much better.
The book is very expensive for a language text. In updating the text through sequential editions, the authors have added very little to the topic, but have changed the pagination sufficiently to make it necessary for students to buy the latest edition. Thus increasing the cost for students without any significant improvements in the material.
In some places there are vignettes in Italian with no translation provided. Since some of the expressions are not in the vocabulary, this makes it difficult to understand, for example "Informazioni", page 86 in the 5th edition.
Good accompaniment for the textbook!.......2000-08-29
This lab manual is a great accompaniment for the textbook "Ciao"! I found that the exercises are very helpful. They emphasise the grammatical points made in the textbook very well. The only problem with it is that if you use it to teach yourself, and are not in a classroom situation, you can only do half of the exersises, as no tape or CD is included for the laboratory half of the book. I think it is still worth buying, inspite of this flaw!
What a help!.......2000-06-01
This workbook as tremendously helpful in supplementing the work from the textbook and classroom exercises. It brought together all the activities and lessons as an additional reinforcement. I would definitely recommend purchasing this workbook/lab manual.
Average customer rating:
- Wallander Works His Magic in Eastern Europe
- Average Police Procedural
- Not That Great: It Departs Too Far From Reality
- I have been a stranger in a strange land
- Story catches reality, but the reader is not for Mankell...
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The Dogs of Riga
Henning Mankell
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
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Faceless Killers
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The White Lioness
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The Fifth Woman (A Kurt Wallander Mystery)
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Sidetracked
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Firewall
ASIN: 1400031524
Release Date: 2004-04-13 |
Book Description
Second in the Kurt Wallander series.
On the Swedish coastline, two bodies, victims of grisly torture and cold execution, are discovered in a life raft. With no witnesses, no motives, and no crime scene, Detective Kurt Wallander is frustrated and uncertain he has the ability to solve a case as mysterious as it is heinous. But after the victims are traced to the Baltic state of Latvia, a country gripped by the upheaval of Soviet disintegration, Major Liepa of the Riga police takes over the investigation. Thinking his work done, Wallander slips into routine once more, until suddenly, he is called to Riga and plunged into an alien world where shadows are everywhere, everything is watched, and old regimes will do anything to stay alive.
Customer Reviews:
Wallander Works His Magic in Eastern Europe.......2007-08-24
In most mystery novels, the social order is disturbed when a horrific crime is committed. The hero/detective uses his superior skills to solve the mystery, catch the criminal and thus restore the social order. One variation on this pattern is when the mystery writer takes the hero/detective out of his element and places him in a strange environment where the system and rules of the game are radically different. The thrill of this variation is to see the hero's superior insights and skill triumph in a hostile environment.
"The Dogs of Riga" is a classic example of this variant. The Iron Curtain is falling and mysterious forces are waging a hidden war to determine Latvia's destiny. Into this morass, stumbles the stolid Swede from Ystad, Kurt Wallander. He knows nothing of the language, culture or history of Latvia. Nevertheless, the churning undertow of Latvian politics draws Wallander into the fray. The pleasure of this story is to see Kurt Wallander's superior intellect reassert itself in this topsy turvy world.
If you are new to the Kurt Wallander series, this book is not the best place to start. It is better to have seen him work on his own ground. "The Dogs of Riga" is not the strongest book in the series but for those of us who love the rumpled detective, this book is a pleasure.
Average Police Procedural.......2007-04-12
I found this book lacking in excitement and credibility. I liked the character of Wallender but found the other characters not very well developed. And the plot was weak. For instance, I can't understand why the detective was so driven to return to Riga and risk his life, if not his comfort, to get involved in something that did not seem compelling. I felt the novel got off to a good start, but then lapsed into incredulity. This was my first, and will probably be my last, Wallendar novel. I just found the characters and the plot weak and unexciting.
Not That Great: It Departs Too Far From Reality.......2007-02-04
Just as a point of trivia but in Europe and in Sweden, detective Kurt Wallander's home, the spelling is sometimes Wallender or Wallander, but usually Wallander. One encounters both spellings on amazon.
I thank fellow reviewer Leonard Fleisig for bringing this author to my attention. The writing is simply superb, and I am very interested in reading more books by the same author. The story overall is not great and there are better books by the author. In addition to this book, I have read five other books in the Kurt Wallender series, including The Man Who Smiled, and One Step Behind.
I gave the book 4 stars. I thought that the story was sometimes slow and there were too many coincidences and unreal fights in the book. Wallender is more interesting when he is at home in Sweden and when there is more interaction with other policemen at the Ystad station. Here that element is almost lacking and that spoils the book, along with the many departures from reality. Also, the story follows the same Wallender formula which after three books is a bit too predictable: chapter one is a murder, and in a subsequent chapter a fellow policeman or friend of Wallender is murdered, dragging Wallender into the conflict.
Most of the story is set in Riga, but the opening sections are set in southern Sweden in Wallender's home base of Ystad.
I will not give away the plot and the essential plot elements are outlined by the publisher: two dead bodies wash up on the shore near Ystad in a rubber raft. A policeman arrives from Riga since the bodies are traced to that city. Wallender works on solving the crime in Sweden and then follows the crime to Riga.
This is a fast read that I was able to read it in less than a day. I read it while staying at a hotel in southern Sweden, not too far from the crime scene; the details and descriptions of the places and other details are authentic.
The writing is smooth and flawless, but the story pulls it down to 4 stars. One Step Behind is a better book in the series.
I have been a stranger in a strange land.......2007-01-23
In Henning Mankell's "The Dogs of Riga" police inspector Kurt Wallander finds himself alone and possibly in peril in post-Soviet Latvia. He is truly a stranger in a strange land.
The plot of "The Dogs of Riga", the second in Mankell's Kurt Wallander mystery series, is fairly straightforward. Two bodies wash up on the southern coast of Sweden, near the town of Ystad. Police Inspector Kurt Wallander is placed in charge of the investigation. The investigation reveals that the bodies had drifted across the Baltic Sea from the Republic of Latvia. A Latvia police detective arrives to assist Wallander before the investigation is turned over to the Latvian police force. However, Wallander is soon obligated to travel to Riga, Latvia's capital. Wallander is immersed immediately in the Byzantine politics that engulfed Latvia and the Baltic States in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet empire. He doesn't speak the language, he knows next to nothing of the political situation he has walked into, and yet plods on, determined to get to the bottom, not of the murders of the two Latvians, but of a new-found Latvian friend and colleague.
Mankell's Kurt Wallander series is often compared to the Martin Beck detective mysteries authored by the husband and wife team of Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall. Wallander, like Beck, is a police detective in Sweden. Unlike Beck, whose beat was Stockholm, Wallander works in the small southern-Swedish city of Ystad. The Wallander series takes place in the 1990s while the Beck series took place in the 1960s and 1970s. Although I tend to prefer the Beck series, the Wallander books are entertaining page-turners. Mankell stays well within the `police procedural' formula and has not tried to reinvent the genre. However, he has done a good job, in these first two volumes in the series, of developing the character of Mankell and his supporting cast of characters. Wallander is no Sherlock Holmes and gets results more by perspiration than inspiration. He is also a fully drawn character. We see him dealing with the break-up of a marriage, an estranged daughter, and a father who is developing senile dementia. The supporting characters, particularly his fellow detectives, are also well drawn.
Although I think I like the Martin Beck series a bit more, the Kurt Wallander series, so far, has been entertaining. As noted, Mankell stays well within the confines of the police procedural. However, he manages to put together an entertaining plot and keeps the reader `engaged' with his recurring characters. Mankell does not hide clues from the reader. In fact, the opposite is the case. I found myself seeing `clues' throughout this piece wondering if and when Wallander would spot them. Some may find that not to their liking, but it kept me entertained. Recommended. L. Fleisig
Story catches reality, but the reader is not for Mankell..........2007-01-16
Westerners who were present at the time will know that this story does a terrific job of catching the way things were in early ex-Soviet Baltic countries in early '90s. And it is a good Wallender story, as well. And the Wallender - Liepa connection is a mainstay throughout the rest of the series. Dick Hill is a gifted reader, and one whom I admire and enjoy for his voice and ability to use it -- sometimes. But he is not at all right for this series. Mr Hill's reading is a major distraction -- kind of like the New Joiseyian who tries to do Texan. After hearing Sean Barrett on the Isis Audio Books of UK reading Mankell, this is disappointing by comparison. But I would buy and recommend Hill's Mankell readings anyway, and I want more. Blackstone Audio, Inc, please check out Mr. Barrett, but don't stop making Mankells in any case!
Average customer rating:
- First Rate Book on Aitrline Economics
- Academically Rigorous, Yet Comprehensible
- Great overview, at times too basic
- Nice introduction
- Good book but a bit out of date
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Flying Off Course Third Edition
Rigas Doganis
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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The Airline Business
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Straight and Level: Practical Airline Economics
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Air Transportation: A Management Perspective
ASIN: 041521324X |
Book Description
The underlying crisis facing the airline industry has been apparent since early 2000. But for the past 45 years, airlines have struggled to find financial success in the very competitive transportation industry. In the weeks that followed the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the airline industry became close to bankrupt, with flights being grounded in other parts of the world as well as in the United States.
Flying Off Course has established itself over the years as the indispensable guide to the inner workings of the aviation industry. This third edition is fully updated to include case studies of Easyjet, Ryanair, Buzz, Go, Virgin and British Airways.
It also includes new material on airline alliances, the rise of the low cost airlines, the impact of new technology on the business as well as how to deal with both eroding passenger confidence and the possible worsening of the global economic slowdown post-September 11th.
Customer Reviews:
First Rate Book on Aitrline Economics.......2006-01-24
Since my early days in the aviation industry in the mid-1980s, the first edition of "Flying Off Course: The economics of International Airlines" was the only comprehensive book I had covering the major aspects of airline economics. When the second edition was printed in 1991, I eagerly got myself a copy as the book was an indispensable item in my library.
I am very gratified to have the third edition as a lot has happened since the first two editions. Low cost airlines came on the scene in a big way, modelled along the lines of the highly successful Southwest Airlines in the USA. The phenomena of major airline alliances and mergers also expanded greatly as well as more widespread liberalisation of the industry. All these and many other facets of this fascinating industry have been updated by one the most renowned and respected experts in the field, Professor Rigas Doganis.
The book is presented in clear simple English enabling it to be easily understood by anyone with an interest in aviation. This book is a must to read by airline practitioners and those interested in a serious study of the subject.
Academically Rigorous, Yet Comprehensible.......2004-09-14
This is the best introduction to the fundamentals of airline economics that I have ever read. Doganis, an analyst and teacher these days, is able to take all his years in industry (including a stint as CEO of Olympic Airways of Greece) and distill it into a useful text full of real world examples. The third edition is updated to include new developments like Internet ticketing, and was written post-9/11, so that sections dealing with issues such as security are up to date.
The book has complete sections on airline, aircraft, and route planning and forecasting, and related subjects such as yield management, marketing, and charter operations. Of particular note is the chapter on pricing policies and fare structures; it is clear that Doganis completely understands the significance of the low cost carriers and the future of yields throughout the different regions of the world.
I always enjoy reading Doganis, and vastly prefer this updated version of "Flying Off Course" to the pre-9/11 "The Airline Business in the 21st Century" (although I do recommend that book as well.) This is a great book, and should be read and understood by airline managers everywhere. My only caution is that though it is not the most mathematically exhaustive book on the subject, casual readers may not enjoy the book inasmuch as it is quite weighty and the chapter on forecasting demand is fairly mathematically rigorous.
Great overview, at times too basic.......2004-03-09
Having worked in airports for the past 10 years, and now moving to the airline side, I wanted a broad overview of airline economics. The book did a first rate job.
The only criticism would be that if you have a few years of experience and know your way around the basics of financial analysis, some of the examples and explanations will be a bit of a waste of time.
The book is well structured and about as interesting as a book on this subject can be (be realistic, the subject has it's limits...). A great novice book, a good one for those already airside.
Nice introduction.......2002-03-18
If you need a quick insight into airline business - BUY THIS BOOK. Rigas did a great job in explaining the difficult world of airline business to a dummy like me. Now, having a quite deeper knowledge, I am missing some in-depth information about the commercial side and route planning. Overall: a best buy.
Good book but a bit out of date.......2002-03-07
I am an airline analyst and this book give me some background info on different aspcet. It gives you basic understanding on how the industry works and I personally learn a lot from this.
The problem is that it is a bit out of date and so I need to spend a lot of time verifing the data. Other than that, this is a very good one for beginners.
Book Description
The Airline Industry is currently faced with its longest and deepest crisis to date: many of them are losing hundred of millions of US dollars, several have collapsed entirely, whilst others have had to be rescued by their governments. This crisis has been precipitated by external shocks such as the attack on the Twin Towers in New York, the invasion of Iraq and the SARs epidemic. However, in addition to this, the effect of these events has been exacerbated by dynamic and potentially destabilising internal developments.
This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the crucial events and key developments which have shaped, and will continue to impact on the dynamics of, the airline industry. Special attention is paid to the key challenges faced by the airlines such as continued liberalisation and 'open skies', the impacts of global alliances, new low-cost and no-frills carriers, on-line selling and distribution, privatization and the impact of disasters. Rigas Doganis examines the future prospectsfor the industry and assesses alternative policies which could help the sector adapt to the changing market place.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting and Informative.......2006-06-19
Rigas Doganis is one of the most well known serious authors on the air transport business. His seminal work on airline economics "Flying Off Course: the Economics of International Airlines" has been an indispensable guide and reference to managers, practitioners, students and other stakeholders of the air transport business since the early 1980s.
Doganis has established himself as a guru in the aviation industry and has added other important books including "The Airline Business in the 21st Century" and "The Airports Business", all of which have been very useful additions to my library and are excellent sources of critical information pertaining to the fascinating airline industry.
"The Airline Business" is a timely book that delves into the latest challenges that the airline industry has been grappling with through the deep recession and crisis of the first four to five years of the new millennium. In addition to the events of 9/11, the continued threat of terrorism, the SARS epidemic and the second Iraq War and other challenges, the industry is currently mired in the problem of ever escalating fuel prices.
This book provides readers with important insights into the impact of the various recent shocks and crisis on the future of the industry. In particular, Doganis explores and explains how the low cost phenomenon, the use of the latest online distribution systems, the impact of continued liberalisation and globalization, the major airline alliance groupings and consolidation of the industry will affect the airline business model.
This is a well written book that should be a valuable reference book for all practitioners, managers and other stakeholders of the air transport business.
Book Description
Still the best guide to the Baltic states for those touring these cultural capitals, this guide excels in packing all the essentials travelers need into one trim book. Independent travelers will find it easy to put together their own itinerary, and a good range of information on the heritage, architecture, entertainment, restaurants, and cafes of each city is contained in this handy volume. A section on excursions out from each center expands the possibilities further for visitors, and includes gems such as the medieval Trakai castle on the outskirts of Vilnius, the Latvian seaside resort of Jurmala, and the year-round delight and tranquility of the Kadriog Park near Tallinn.
Features include:
>City information including sightseeing and walking tours plus half-day excursions from each city
>Background material including history and culture
>Essential words and phrases in four languages
>An ideal source for both tourists and business travelers
Book Description
The Latvian capital of Riga is rapidly increasing in popularity. This guide covers its history and culture as well as practical details for visitors, including accommodations, restaurants, shopping, and entertainment.
Customer Reviews:
Excellence .......2007-03-10
The book I purchased was delivered to my house in great condition. It was if I had just bought the book at a book store.
Book Description
Another riveting murder mystery from Ottawa writer and artist Ilze Berzins paints a jigsaw picture of the dark and terrifying legacy of post-Soviet Latvia. Expatriots-'expats" Arnie Dambergs and Vizma Gross confront the lawless frontiers of the newly emerging nation while it struggles to shrug off the legacy of a brutal and repressive regime. Tag along and you will discover some of Riga's darker corners, as well as the Baltic Riviera and the picturesque countryside. Together, Arnie and Vizma face danger and death as they become entangled in an explosive East-meets-West scandal.
Customer Reviews:
Mortis Ergo Sum.......2005-09-06
A well written read that grips as well as releases, but only to a stylistic nightmare of dark alleys and twisted souls, wherein escape is the only answer. Escape you must! Try Ilze Berzins book, Riga Mortis. She is an excellent writer. If mystery and devious plottings are an elusive thing to you, delve into the fantastic creations of a brilliant author, who holds back no punches, and her prose will accost you when you least expect it, so that you must read on, lest face the inevitable night sweats and shaky limbs from the maligned forces at play, trying to get the best of what is good and right, with a play on pureness that is truly evil. A must for anyone pplanning a trip to Riga, Latvia. Keep your copy tucked under your arm because the rhye shrewdness of its author will keep you engrossed for hours, hungry for more, and ready to snatch her next book off the bookstore table with your teeth! The inevitable is that you will howl with a nocturnal guilty pleasure, of long lost and sought for ancestral slaverings urged to leave behind a life as a bump on every log now courageously overturned, to reveal the worms and all, yet in the most delectably crafted way that the english language has to offer those fascinated by corruption, the underworld, sprees of crime so insiduous, they induce the gag reflex, lined with Ilze Berzins flaxen seedlings of grammared geometry that circumnavigate all known responses to the forthright and stalwarthy view of a prevailing existence, all ending in a suspenseful shambling culmination of Baltic slime, plunged once and forevermore into nary do wellness by the philosopy of creed that is espoused in this tale of cherished dreams, shattered and forgotten, until now.
Customer Reviews:
Excellence .......2007-03-10
The product was in excellent shape when I received it. The book looked as if it were new and bought right off the book store shelf.
Customer Reviews:
I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, thank you........1998-11-15
I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and I have passed it on to Prof. Noar at Fordham University who agreed with me that the translation is excellent. It is not easy to translate poetry but this translation captured the idiom of both languages in flowing, rhythmical, metrical way without loosing imaginative verve and preserving the emotional delicacy and fineness of the language structure. Thank you for this effort.
Book Description
Mix one American expatriate, "inherited" managers, Soviet-trained bakers, and a Danish baking instructor with an Irish accent. Blend in the collapse of the Soviet legal system, derelicts that heave bricks through windows for sport, and mafiya racketeers. Put all them together in a decrepit bakery plant, and you will have just a taste of what lies between the pages of Boris Zemtzov's charming new travelogue, "The Merry Baker of Riga." An American businessman with no roots in Latvia, Boris Zemtzov nonetheless decided to establish a Western-style bakery there in 1992, just after the collapse of the Soviet. Forced to ramp up to speed with learning the culture of a new country, he must also find a common language with the managers he "inherited" from the Soviet Enterprise. Together they divide tasks and work to establish "The Merry Baker," repairing a decrepit bakery plant, finding retail space where almost none exists, and re-training Soviet-trained bakers. Along the way, Zemtzov's experience with Russian mafiya, racketeers who threaten to drive him out of business results in the first "sting" operation launched by an expatriate in the former Soviet Union.
Customer Reviews:
Great Buy.......2007-03-10
The book I purchased was delivered to my house in great condition. It was if I had just bought the book at a book store.
One man's remarkable determination to succeed.......2004-06-12
The Merry Baker Of Riga: An American Entrepreneur Ventures Into Eastern Europe is the true story of an American expatriate who decided to establish a Western-style bakery in Latvia in 1992, just after the collapse of the Soviet Union. His run ins with language barriers, having to re-train Soviet-trained bakers, the threats of Russian mafia racketeers who menaced his business, culture shock, and much more fill the pages of this rousing travelogue and business tale filled with twists, turns, unexpected challenges and one man's remarkable determination to succeed.
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