Magill's Cinema Annual 1986: A Survey of the Films of 1985/Magill's Cinema Annual Cumulative Indexes, 1982-1986 (Magill's Cinema Annual)

Average customer rating:

Not a book, more like a scrap book

Baseball's Origins Come Alive

Cap Anson 1: When Captaining a Team Meant Something Leadership in Baseball's Early Years (Cap Anson)
Howard W. Rosenberg
Manufacturer: Tile Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books
History | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Sports Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Cap Anson 2: The Theatrical and Kingly Mike Kelly: U.S. Team Sport's First Media Sensation and Baseball's Original Casey at the Bat (Cap Anson)

Cap Anson 3: Muggsy John McGraw and the Tricksters--Baseball's Fun Age of Rule Bending (Cap Anson)

Cap Anson 4: Bigger Than Babe Ruth--Captain Anson of Chicago (Cap Anson) (Cap Anson) (Cap Anson) (Cap Anson)

ASIN: 0972557407

Book Description

Baseball Hall of Famer Cap Anson was the most closely reported professional or amateur team athlete in the United States in the nineteenth century. While his greatest success was in being the lone player before 1900 to reach 3,000 hits, this book, Cap Anson 1 (2003), examines him through his managerial and captaining roles with Chicago's National League team (the White Stockings, later known better as the Colts, before they became the modern-day Cubs) from 1879 to 1897. In executing those roles, he was sometimes like other captains, bench managers or captain-managers of his day, and the book liberally cites other captains and managers.

Chicago was special in that era in projecting itself as a model to other teams, such as in disciplining players for not drinking. Presented in great detail is Anson's enforcement of team rules, as proscribed by Chicago's management including club Presidents William Hulbert and Albert Spalding, both of whom are fellow Hall of Famers. While discipline might sound serious, baseball writers of that era often exercised their craft in a witty style, and had yet to adopt a central tenet of baseball journalism today (that baseball players should be concerned about their actions because they are "role models").

Also relative to today, labor-management relations in baseball used to be a lot funnier, because management had the upper hand and the vast majority of players had humble upbringings. Also, in Anson's day leading a professional team of athletes was something new (1871 was the very first year that all players on a team received a salary). So, a study of managing and captaining in his day lays the groundwork for understanding baseball of the twentieth century and today. Such a study also provides the greatest contrast possible to the superficial way in which media today often cover the workings of baseball teams, such as by closely tracking injuries and roster moves, while, of course, overwhelming us with statistics.

As far as Anson, this is the first book (with the exception of his ghostwritten autobiography in the year 1900) in which he is definitively and independently discussed. In Cap Anson 2: The Theatrical and Kingly Mike Kelly: U.S. Team Sport's First Media Sensation and Baseball's Original Casey at the Bat (2004), Anson was featured for his 19th-century theatrical career, relationship with Kelly and off-the-field activities such as trapshooting.

Customer Reviews:

Not a book, more like a scrap book.......2005-07-28

Another self-published effort by Mr. Rosenberg that collects a jumble of original research about baseball star Cap Anson. Unnfortunately, Mr. Rosenberg then rambles on about the various newspaper stories and what Rosenberg calls "captaining" endlessly, and occasionally, incoherently. Anson certainly deserves better coverage than this odd publication provides.

Baseball's Origins Come Alive.......2003-11-18

Tremendously insightful story about the evolution of the game, including colorful stories of the men who played and enjoyed the game in its infancy through its youth. Warmly told, and sources exhaustingly documented. If you've only followed the modern game, you'll be transported to a time before the "suits" got involved with the details - a time when the men on the field called the shots and had genuine fun as well. Leave Seabiscuit for later - you'll learn about Hall of Famers who played long before Babe Ruth, and how Cap Anson means more to early Cubs history than Sammy Sosa does today.

Baseball: The Early Years (Oxford Paperbacks)

Average customer rating:

Great for anyone looking for the roots of the game!!!
Be forewarned - Not new, and a man's work
Maybe this is what some people are looking for...
The archetype for any publication about baseball history.

Baseball: The Early Years (Oxford Paperbacks)
Harold Seymour , Dorothy Z. Seymour , and Dorothy Jane Mills
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Popular Culture | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books

History | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0195059123

Book Description

These two critically-acclaimed volumes mark the beginning of a monumental multi-volume study of baseball by the man whom Sports Illustrated has called "the Edward Gibbon of baseball history." Now available in paperback, Harold Seymour's The Early Years and The Golden Age together recount the true story of how baseball came into being and how it developed into a highly organized business and social institution. The first volume, The Early Years, traces the growth of baseball from the time of the first recorded ball game at Valley Forge during the revolution until the formation of the two present-day major leagues in 1903. By investigating previously unknown sources, Seymour uncovers the real story of how baseball evolved from a gentleman's amateur sport of "well-bred play followed by well-laden banquet tables" into a professional sport where big leagues operate under their own laws. Offering countless anecdotes and a wealth of new information, Seymour explodes many cherished myths, including the one which claims that Abner Doubleday "invented" baseball in 1839. He describes the influence of baseball on American business, manners, morals, social institutions, and even show business, as well as depicting the types of men who became the first professional ball players, club owners, and managers, including Spalding, McGraw, Comiskey, and Connie Mack. The second volume, The Golden Age, explores the glorious era when the game truly captured the American imagination, with such legendary figures as Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb in the spotlight. Beginning with the formation of the two major leagues in 1903, when baseball officially entered its "golden age" of popularity, Seymour examines the changes in the organization of professional baseball--from an unwieldy three-man commission to the strong one-man rule of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. He depicts how the play on the field shifted from the low-scoring, pitcher-dominated game of the "dead ball" era before World War I to the higher scoring of the 1920's "lively ball" era, with emphasis on home runs, best exemplified by the exploits of Babe Ruth. Taken together, these volumes offer a serious and dramatic study of the game both on the field and in the business offices.

Customer Reviews:

Great for anyone looking for the roots of the game!!!.......2007-09-24

This book gives great details into baseballs past. The author takes time to descirbe the feelings of both the players and fans on the sideline. At some times the reader may find themselves lost in the baseball time line, but with a little bit of bak tracking and side notes you will find your place in time. I only wish the book went deeper into the player's lives, but the ideal is the establishment of the game. You will set this book down knowing the truth of the game and the men who made it the way it is today. Good Read!!!!!

Be forewarned - Not new, and a man's work.......2006-03-02

My wife bought this book many years ago for me, and I enjoyed it. I saw there was a new edition out, so I bought it, but it's not updated or revised, it just has the author's ex-wife's name appended to it now.

Maybe this is what some people are looking for..........2005-03-13

..., but it was not what I wanted to read. I love to read about baseball, and especially about 19th century baseball. However, this book deals more extensively with the management of the early leagues, and the development of the rules, administration, the problems of revolving, etc. I wanted to read about Ross Barnes, Deacon White, and the other great players of the era. I've seen the stats, but I am still looking for the book that will bring the National Association players back to life. (Any suggestions?)

Like I alluded to at the beginning, this may be just what you want to read. But if you are looking for a book about the players and what happened between the foul lines (and in the saloons), you might want to look somewhere else. (I much prefer David Nemec's "The Beer And Whisky League," on the narrower topic of the AA.)

The archetype for any publication about baseball history........1997-09-23

Aside from the most comprehensive view of early baseball, Harold Seymour provides incredible insight as he takes the reader through every vital detail about the game's heritage. For a book written 40 years ago, it shows the author's masterful foresight of what baseball would, and did, become. Particularly compelling is how he shreds the Abner Doubleday myth before doing so was popular. His compilation and timeless analyses of baseball's sometimes painful adolescence gives the reader a solid baseline for understanding the difficulties that the sport is enduring today. It's fascinating proof that those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it. Anybody interested in baseball history will want to run right out and get his second volume, "The Golden Age" as soon as they finish this one

Once Upon a Time-- The Early Years of the New York Mets

Average customer rating:

Once Upon a Time-- The Early Years of the New York Mets
Leonard Shecter
Manufacturer: Dial Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0385279302

Before They Were the Bombers: The New York Yankees' Early Years, 1903-1915

Average customer rating:

Before They Were the Bombers: The New York Yankees' Early Years, 1903-1915
Jim Reisler
Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books

History | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Sports Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 0786422300

Book Description

Many histories of the New York Yankees only skim the early years in their rush to pick up with the 1919 season when Babe Ruth joined the team and go on to celebrate the careers of Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Whitey Ford, and the team's World Series titles. But what about the Yankees before these big names?

The early Yankees, who spent their first 12 years known as the Highlanders and were occasionally known as the Americans and the Invaders, get the attention they deserve in this work. It tells the story up until the sale of the Yankees in December 1914, beginning with 1903 when the team was formed from the remnants of the Baltimore Orioles. Led by future Hall of Famers "Wee" Willie Keeler, Jack Chesbro, and Clark Griffith, they were the most expensive major league team ever assembled—but they are remembered primarily for their terrible failures, which included losing a club-low 103 games in 1908 and finishing 55 games out of first place in 1912. Yes, the Yankees.

Average customer rating:

A Masterpiece

Enjoyable but labored

American History Brought To Life

Vaccaro does it again

1941 -- The Greatest Year In Sports: Two Baseball Legends, Two Boxing Champs, and the Unstoppable Thoroughbred Who Made History in the Shadow of War
Mike Vaccaro
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

20th Century | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books | 1900s-1920s | 1945 - Present | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | Depression | General | World War I | World War II
General | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books
History of Sports | Miscellaneous | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Kansas City A's and the Wrong Half of the Yankees: How the Yankees Controlled Two of the Eight American League Franchises During the 1950s

The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-from-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series--and America's Heart--During the Great Depression

The Stark Truth: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players in Baseball History

Emperors and Idiots: The Hundred Year Rivalry Between the Yankees and Red Sox, From the Very Beginning to the End of the Curse

Crazy '08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History

ASIN: 0385517955
Release Date: 2007-06-05

Book Description

Joe DiMaggio . . . Ted Williams . . . Joe Louis . . . Billy Conn . . . Whirlaway

Against the backdrop of a war that threatened to consume the world, these athletes transformed 1941 into one of the most thrilling years in sports history.

In the summer of 1941, America paid attention to sports with an intensity that had never been seen before. World War II was raging in Europe and headlines grew worse by the day; even the most optimistic people began to accept the inevitability of the United States being drawn into the conflict. In sports pages and arenas at home, however, an athletic perfect storm provided unexpected—and uplifting—relief. Four phenomenal sporting events were underway, each destined to become legend.
In 1941—The Greatest Year in Sports, acclaimed sportswriter Mike Vaccaro chronicles this astounding moment in history. Fueled by a somber mania for sports—a desire for good news to drown out the bad—Americans by the millions fervently watched, listened, and read as Joe DiMaggio dazzled the country by hitting in a record-setting fifty-six consecutive games; Ted Williams powered through an unprecedented .406 season; Joe Louis and Billy Conn (the heavyweight and light-heavyweight champions) battled in unheard-of fashion for boxing’s ultimate championship; and the phenomenal (some say deranged) thoroughbred, Whirlaway, raced to three heart-stopping victories that won the coveted Triple Crown of horse racing. As Phil Rizzuto perfectly expressed, “You read the sports section a lot because you were afraid of what you’d see in other parts of the paper.”
Gripping and nostalgic, 1941—The Greatest Year in Sports focuses on these four seminal events and brings to life the national excitement and remarkable achievement (many of these records still stand today), as well as the vibrant lives of the athletes who captivated the nation. With vast insight, Vaccaro pulls back the veil on DiMaggio’s anxieties and the building pressure of “The Streak,” and chronicles the brash, young confidence Williams displayed as he hammered his way through the baseball season largely in DiMaggio’s shadow. He takes readers inside the head of Billy Conn, a kid who traded in his light-heavyweight belt for a shot at the very decent and very powerful Joe Louis, and tells the story of the fire-breathing racehorse, Whirlaway, who was known either for setting track records or tearing off in the wrong direction.
Rich in historical detail and edge-of-your-seat reporting, Mike Vaccaro has crafted a lasting, important book that captures a portrait of one of America’s most trying, and extraordinary, eras.

Customer Reviews:

A Masterpiece.......2007-08-18

Simply a magnificient book, a great read, absolutely the best sports book of 2007. This one shouldn't be missed. Mike, thank you for authoring a classic.

Enjoyable but labored.......2007-07-31

I found the prose somewhat tedious and Vaccaro's scene painting dull. This was an incredible year, but I never felt entranced, as those who lived through it did, but only moderately interested. The writing is mostly drawn from contemporary newspapers, which adds the glow of excitement but loses the analysis. The Joe and Ted we read about here are glosses on the far more complex and nasty men they were, and I felt that the whole thing tried too hard to be a cultural exploration and didn't try hard enough to tell the story with gusto. Mike Vaccaro is not a historian, and it shows here.

Just didn't work for me.

American History Brought To Life.......2007-06-29

I have read the definitive biographies recently written about Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams and wondered if I really needed to take a chance of this book. What a pleasant surprise! Author Mike Vaccaro kept me riveted in his description of DiMaggio gulping down coffee and chain smoking his way in his quest for another hit to keep his streak going. The personality of Teddy Ballgame comes through loud and clear in his chase to become the first .400 hitter since Bill Terry in 1930. I am not a fan of boxing or horse racing, but the Joe Louis and Billy Conn fight held at the Polo Grounds made me feel as though I was there. I couldn't put the book down. I'd heard of Whirlway, but that's as much as I knew. He won the triple crown in 1941 and was famous for his long tail. I'd heard Clem McCarthy describe the race on a Gillette phonograph record several years ago, and this book made it more meaningful to me. The same with the Louis/Conn fight. This is more than a sports' book. It is American history with the country wondering if war would soon include them. What a year! Thanks, Mike Vaccaro, for bringing it alive to your readers.

Vaccaro does it again.......2007-06-10

I am a big fan of Mike Vaccaro's writing and he has impressed me yet again. Mike lyrically weaves the details, histories and human dimensions of the four incredible athletic events of 1941; all in the context of an America on its way to a nation altering war. He adds so many dimensions to the stories through his detailed research and anecdotal style. It's a great summertime read for sports fans and history fans alike.

Baseball on the Western Reserve: The Early Game in Clevland and Northeast Ohio, Year by Year and Town by Town . . .

Average customer rating:

Baseball on the Western Reserve: The Early Game in Clevland and Northeast Ohio, Year by Year and Town by Town . . .
James Egan
Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books

Reference | Miscellaneous | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books

Social History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0786430672

Baseball The Early Years (Signed By Seymour)

Average customer rating:

Baseball The Early Years (Signed By Seymour)
Harold Seymour
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0000CKK7H

Average customer rating:

Baseball: The Early Years
Harold Seymour
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OKA95W

Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball

Average customer rating:

Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball
Norman L. Macht
Manufacturer: University of Nebraska Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books

History | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0803232632

Book Description

Connie Mack (1862–1956) was the Grand Old Man of baseball and one of the game’s first true celebrities. This book, spanning the first fifty-two years of Mack’s life, through 1914, covers his experiences as player, manager, and club owner and will stand as the definitive biography of baseball’s most legendary and beloved figure.

Norman L. Macht chronicles Mack’s little-known beginnings. He tells how Mack, a school dropout at fourteen, created strategies for winning baseball and principles for managing men long before there were notions of defining such subjects. And he details how Mack, a key figure in the launching of the American League in 1901, won six of the league’s first fourteen pennants while serving as manager, treasurer, general manager, traveling secretary, and public relations and scouting director (all at the same time) for the Philadelphia Athletics.

This book brings to life the unruly origins of baseball as a sport and a business. It also provides the first complete and accurate picture of a character who was larger than life and yet little known: the tricky, rule-bending catcher; the peppery field leader and fan favorite; the hot-tempered young manager. Illustrated with family photographs never before published, it affords unique insight into a colorful personality who helped shape baseball as we know it today.

The Early Years (Baseball Hall of Fame Library)

Average customer rating:

The Early Years (Baseball Hall of Fame Library)
Easton Press
Manufacturer: Easton Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound
ASIN: B000KW6GTM

Product Description

Brand new! LEATHER BOUND book accented in 22kt gold!

Book Description

Jumbles, the clever and humorous puzzles featuring a series of mixed-up words coupled with a cartoon, are back with a new package of mental challenges for the best puzzle-busters out there.

Book Description

C++ is a powerful, highly flexible, and adaptable programming language that allows software engineers to organize and process information quickly and effectively. But this high-level language is relatively difficult to master, even if you already know the C programming language. The 2nd edition of Practical C++ Programming is a complete introduction to the C++ language for programmers who are learning C++. Reflecting the latest changes to the C++ standard, this 2nd edition takes a useful down-to-earth approach, placing a strong emphasis on how to design clean, elegant code. In short, to-the-point chapters, all aspects of programming are covered including style, software engineering, programming design, object-oriented design, and debugging. It also covers common mistakes and how to find (and avoid) them. End of chapter exercises help you ensure you've mastered the material. Practical C++ Programming thoroughly covers:

C++ Syntax
Coding standards and style
Creation and use of object classes
Templates
Debugging and optimization
Use of the C++ preprocessor
File input/output

Steve Oualline's clear, easy-going writing style and hands-on approach to learning make Practical C++ Programming a nearly painless way to master this complex but powerful programming language.

Customer Reviews:

Are you learning c++?.......2007-02-16

Stay. Away. From. This. Book.

This book covers a great deal very quickly, and does so in an easy-to-understand way. Unfortunately, it is riddled with novice programming mistakes, has a poor and unmaintainable programming style, and displays many of the things that are widely considered to be "worst practise" in C++ programming. The coverage of the STL is poor and its proper use is not encouraged as it should be. I'm glad I never had the misfortune of ever having bought it. There are many, many other books that cover C++, and nearly all of them cover it better.

If you're looking for a good book to learn C++, buy anything but this one. It is by far the worst O'Reilly book ever released, and I'm amazed that such poor code quality was ever approved by the editorial staff.

If you're looking for a book from which to learn C++, keep looking........2007-01-23

This is not the one. The book is just swarming with typos and programming errors. But don't take my for it, just check out O'Reilly's errata page. The most astonishing thing is that they accidentally omitted an entire chapter. Even after I painstakingly marked every correction in the errata list, I was finding more errors constantly. The other major fault is that it is just too full of ideology, which has its place of course, but he's gone way overboard with it in a book that should be primarily about the language. If you happen to find a copy in the trash, you might give it a skim, but otherwise, I'd avoid it.

the best C++ book I have read.......2005-01-30

This is the first time I am actually writing a review for a book, coz I find this book the best I have ever read for C++ programming. It serves great for sophomore level C++ programming class at my univ. and otherwise as a great book to have on your reference shelf too. It starts with an intro to setting up your programming enivroment in .NET and Borland enviroment. After that it delves into programming styles and techniques in general and then goes C++ fulltime. The chapters about pointers,advanced pointers and the debugging/optimisation are some of the best readings I have ever done on the respective topics. Throughout the book the material stays relevant to the title of the book and thus is a great reading for anyone who is making transition from java to c++ or from a beginner C++ programmer to advanced level. The book is great reading for strengthening C++ concepts. If you look through the contents of the book you might notice the only thing that the book lacks is a chapter on data structures. However dont let that fool you. You will be in a better position to perform pointer manipulation on your linked lists and trees after reading advanced pointers chapter in this book, than any other book that just has the code for the entire implementation printed. Besides the book is about letting you loose to do it yourself (rather than hand feeding you) which I believe is what programming books are about.The book has something about almost everything in C++ and lot more like using the gnu debugger .Highly recommended for anyone who wants to have a strong conceptual knowledge of C++.

Good, but errors and lack of depth detract.......2004-08-17

Overall, the book offers a balanced and well-presented introduction to C++. However, there are too many typos and mistakes for a programming text. O'Reilly needs to kick their editing team into gear. In addition, many topics could and should be explained more in-depth. As is, many topics are only lightly touched on and more of the nuts and bolts of the language (i.e. characteristics that really lead to a quality understanding) are omitted.

Great for Concept.......2004-07-06

I thought this book fit the need I bought it for perfectly: I wanted to be better as a programmer.

I didn't need help learning syntax, I didn't need help with classes or pointers. I wanted to be more efficient and effective at what I do.

This book used real-world examples, giving you code with a simple bug in it, and tasking you to find it.

Average customer rating:

More of a reference than the first one.

useful to know the standard library

As essential as the first volume

A great book for programmers

Excellent Book on C++

Thinking in C++, Vol. 2: Practical Programming, Second Edition
Bruce Eckel , and Chuck Allison
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | C | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
C & C++ Windows Programming | Development | Microsoft | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Thinking in C++, Volume 1: Introduction to Standard C++ (2nd Edition)

Effective C++: 55 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs (3rd Edition) (Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series)

Accelerated C++: Practical Programming by Example

Effective STL: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your Use of the Standard Template Library (Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series)

The C++ Standard Library: A Tutorial and Reference

ASIN: 0130353132

Book Description

Best selling author Bruce Eckel has joined forces with Chuck Allison to write Thinking in C++, Volume 2, the sequel to the highly received and best selling Thinking in C++, Volume 1. Eckel is the master of teaching professional programmers how to quickly learn cutting edge topics in C++ that are glossed over in other C++ books. In Thinking in C++, Volume 2, the authors cover the finer points of exception handling, defensive programming and string and stream processing that every C++ programmer needs to know. Special attention is given to generic programming where the authors reveal little known techniques for effectively using the Standard Template Library. In addition, Eckel and Allison demonstrate how to apply RTTI, design patterns and concurrent programming techniques to improve the quality of industrial strength C++ applications. This book is targeted at programmers of all levels of experience who want to master C++.

Customer Reviews:

More of a reference than the first one........2007-07-05

Bruce Eckel, Thinking in C++, vol. 2 (Mindview, 2004)

I was a big, big fan of Volume I of this two-volume set. I first read it four or five years ago, and it was a big part of the foundation that helped me to understand why some of the newer pieces of the C++ architecture are useful (read "newer" as "when I was your age, boy, we had to walk to school, `cause we didn't have none of them new-fangled templates to ride on!"). It took me a while to get round to reading the second volume. It's more of the same, but different. Volume 2 seems more like a reference book, and far more of it is devoted to bleeding-edge (at the time) concepts than was vol. 1--design patterns, threading, that sort of thing. Of course, these days, they're all relatively common (thanks in no small part to Microsoft having already implemented most of this stuff in .NET), so this one's better thought of as a refresher course, or a book for people like me who are hopelessly backed up trying to keep pace with the Joneses (or the Redmonds). ***

useful to know the standard library.......2007-03-31

In this book i found everything about the standard c++ library.
Recommended if you wanna do something serous with c++

As essential as the first volume.......2007-02-20

After introducing the core of C++ in volume 1, this books covers the rest, including IO streams, exceptions, multiple inheritance, and runtime type inference (although C++'s capabilities are rather puny in the latter regard).

However, the real meat of the book are the chapters on templates and the Standard Template Library. The authors have shown great skill in taking in the voluminous literature of C++ templates and boiling it down into comprehensive yet comprehensible coverage. As you get further into the C++ literature, you will keep on finding stuff that you first saw covered in this book, even in material aimed squarely at the advanced practitioner. Starting from using templates as simple type safe containers, they demystify the angle bracket syntax, and even have a section on the current C++ bleeding edge: template metaprogramming. They do a pretty good job at demystifying and motivating it, too.

The authors then introduce the STL, that particular application of templates that provides a wide ranging set of containers that any modern language is expected to provide. Containers are only half the story with the STL, though, and the authors also cover the algorithms that give the STL its unique generic flavour and which facilitate a quintessentially C++ish (i.e. a bit verbose, ugly and scary-looking) form of functional programming.

There's also substantial coverage of threading, a subject that gets very little play in most of the C++ canon, and is well worth a look, although it's very similar to that found in Thinking in Java.

Also, the authors introduce design patterns. I have to say that, like every book that wants to teach you a programming language and design patterns between two covers, the design patterns section is not as successful as it could be and I did not find much new insight or pedagogical inspiration. Buy this book for its coverage of templates and the STL, then get a book devoted to design patterns - Head First Design Patterns and Design Patterns Explained are the ones I normally recommended.

All told, I felt the writing was marginally less good than in volume 1. I don't know what the division of labour was between Bruce Eckel and co-author Chuck Allison, but the writing is not quite as clear as in the previous volume. There were a couple of 'huh?' moments for me, where the authors skirt around complicated issues, involving function name mangling, and where the word 'template' is necessary. Fortunately, there are other books that can clear this sort of thing up.

That's a minor quibble, though. For most of the 800 pages, this is as good as the first volume, and that's very good indeed.

A great book for programmers.......2006-07-01

If you have programming experience, the Thinking in C++ series is a great way to learn C++.

Excellent Book on C++.......2006-03-16

A very nice coverage of various topics in C++ are presented in this
book. The chapter on templates could be best described as a summary
for Josuttis and Vandervoorde book on C++ Templates and Aexanderscu
Modern C++ design with enough practical examples. Templates could be a
complicated topic in C++, but Eckle and Alison present the topic in an
easy to understand manner.

The coverage of design patterns is also very interesting and loaded
with very useful examples. Of course not all patterns are covered, but
those which the authors cover do so excellently. Covered patterns
include Command, Strategy, Visitory, Singleton (very clever
implementations), Observer, Visitor, Proxy, and perhaps more.

No C++ programmer should discard this book. It's really very rich in
examples, unusual advanced techniques, and plenty of wisdom. The
advanced C++ programmer does not need Volume 1 of the book to enjoy
this one.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books