Customer Reviews:
Charming.... easy read.......2007-02-23
LH's earlier work, this story reminded me of how romance novels used to be written (without being too annoying, think Johanna Lindsey, Jude Deveraux, Judith McNaught, and etc). I noticed the mixed reviews here so keep in mind not everyones taste in romance novels are the same, just know that THIS book is NOT what LH's recent books are like, theres NO hardcore, killing, murders, robbery, CIA, FBI ,etc... nothing of that sort in this story. Dont be disappointed and write bad reviews expecting that... this book was written in 1983, purely fictional gooey 'romance' book. Know what you're getting into.
This is a short story about an alpha male named Rule who ends up falling for the daughter of his employer. After an romantic encounter with Rule when she, Cat, was 17 yrs old, she runs away to return years later, feeling more secure, centered, mature and confident since she IS the owner of the ranch... so she thinks. What happens after this is very sweet, theres no real twists and turns to this story, not that I was complaining. The ending was very endearing, it'll make you go awwwww.... you know that warm feeling you get when you've finished reading a sweet, sweet romance novel that makes your heart ache with happiness for fictional characters you've just read about, well this is one of those feel-good books. Its only about 250pgs long, pretty straight up , never dragged on IMHO, easily read'able after work before going to bed. Its going to be one of my fav's of all time. Worth every penny you spend on it.
SPOILER..
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I noticed someone mentioning a spanking scene in this book and wanted to remark on it. When this takes place, Cat was 15 years old, throws a fit and smacks Rule( 11yrs older then Cat ) who was at the time boss at the ranch (her father had passed away). He had just told her she was too young to date a 18 years old guy. So she smacked him, so he spanked her, only time it ever happened. It did not sound abusive to me when I read it, but thats just my opinion.
Dated... dated... dated.......2007-02-08
Young and widowed heiress Cat Donahue returns to the ranch that she grew up on and has since inherited after her father's death. She fled as a teen after losing her virginity to Rule Jackson, the ranch foreman 11 years her senior with a penchant for spanking. With her newly found independence, she tries to rule over him, which does not sit well with this cowboy, who is used to running the ranch without interference. So much for independence - Cat lets Rule walk all over her and continues to warm his bed at night. She's in love, but is he? She can't help but wonder if he's with her for love of her or the ranch he has spent half his life taking care of.
"Against the Rules" is a great example of why older novels should stay in the vault. They simply don't translate well. Howard's he-man version of an alpha male may have been great in 1983; but in 2007 he's just a misogynistic jerk who needs a swift kick in the manhood. Other 80's Howard retreads to avoid include "All the Glitters," "Diamond Bay," "An Independent Wife," "Loving Evangeline," and "A Game of Chance" just to name a few.
Are you sure this is Linda Howard?.......2006-06-07
Ok, so Linda Howards often writes her lead male characters as borderline obnoxious. Perhaps a little too handsome, perhaps a little too cocky. But they usually aren't sleazy. And they are usually at least attractive in some sort of way to the reader. Rule left me cold. So cold, I was reaching for my sweater. Am I supposed to be amused that the 26 year old lowered the pants of a 15 year old and gave HER the "spanking of my life?" Should I find it romantic that he commited statutory rape? (17/28...hello people?!) And where is the chemistry? I mean, I thought Gray from After the Night was taking it a little too far, but at least he and Faith had chemistry. Believable chemistry. All, in all, I guess Linda Howard fans will want to read it for the competionist point of view. But if you haven't read a Howard book, STAY AWAY FROM THIS ONE!!!!!
I didn't like it.......2005-11-21
Now, I read the old version, the one written in the 80's so maybe Ms. Howard has changed it since then, and maybe it's not so terrible anymore. But, God!
He interferes in her life, cancels her date with another guy (even though he has shown no interest in her so far), then, when she is reasonably upset about it, he hauls her into another room, pulls down her pants, flips her over his knee and gives her, and I quote, "the spanking of her life."
I don't need a romatic hero, I don't even need one whose always very nice, but I draw the line at physically hitting a woman. It's a no. It's wrong, and these old romances seem to give women the idea that its romantic or acceptable. It isn't, ever, ok for a man to lay a hand on a woman.
No, I'm not a femenist, I like a macho man's man as much as the next girl and Ms. Howard is normally a great writer who can deliver a tough guy who still doesn't actually physically hurt the heroine. I just don't know why this book is so bad.
"against the rules".......2003-03-28
I've read it today in VO and I like it. Well, it's not my favorite book of Linda Howard, but the story was not unpleasant and I liked the idea of the heroe named Rule duly affected by the Viet Nam war (not so usual in the Linda Howard's héroes).He's stubborn and vindicative but he loves the heroine for years and never tells her his feelings so she's lost and thinks that he wants her only for lust...
Good book
Book Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1825 edition by J.F. Dove, London.
Average customer rating:
- Great text book material.
- Great text book material.
- "Eroding" proves scholars wrong
- powerful learning tool, a must if learning about democracy
- Very knowledgeable about civil-military relations in Brazil.
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Eroding Military Influence in Brazil: Politicians Against Soldiers
Wendy Hunter
Manufacturer: The University of North Carolina Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Brazil | South America | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
General | South America | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
Democracy | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Practical Politics | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Political Science | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Democracy | Political Doctrines | Political Science | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Federal Government | Levels of Government | Political Science | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0807846201
Release Date: 1997-02-19 |
Book Description
Wendy Hunter explores civil-military relations in Brazil following the transition to civilian leadership in 1985. She documents a marked, and surprising, decline in the political power of the armed forces, even as they have remained involved in national policy making. To account for the success of civilian politicians, Hunter invokes rational-choice theory in arguing that politicians will contest even powerful forces in order to gain widespread electoral support.
Many observers expected Brazil's fledgling democracy to remain under the firm direction of the military, which had tightly controlled the transition from authoritarian to civilian rule. Hunter carefully refutes this conventional wisdom by demonstrating the ability of even a weak democratic regime to expand its autonomy relative to a once-powerful military, thanks to the electoral incentives that motivate civilian politicians. Based on interviews with key participants and on extensive archival research, Hunter's analysis of developments in Brazil suggests a more optimistic view of the future of civilian democratic rule in Latin America.
Customer Reviews:
Great text book material........1999-05-11
Wendy Hunter's theory about civilian political incentives are very interesting. I was able to get a clear understanding of the book by reading her examples. I found chapter six very interesting because it relates to the Amozon and the efforts by external democratic forces to preseve the ecological settings. marylou@ameritech.net
Great text book material........1999-05-11
Wendy Hunter's theory about civilian political incentives are very intersting. I was able to get a clear understanding of the book by reading her examples. I found chapter six very intresting because it relates to the Amozon and the efforts by external democratic forces to preseve the ecological settings. marylou@ameritech.net
"Eroding" proves scholars wrong.......1999-05-11
Wendy Hunter went to Brazil to reasearch the transition from military rule to democracy. Her theory? That the scholars who doomed the young democracy were completely off-base, and that the miracle that occured in Brazil was no mystery. Her theory of the "competetive dynamics of democracy" reinforces the old idea that a fickle electorate, leery of authority, can provide the basis for a strong and free democracy. Who knew that selfishly motivated politicians could wrest power from a feared military governemt and create a democracy? Wendy Hunter, that's who. Muy Bien.
powerful learning tool, a must if learning about democracy.......1999-05-11
This book was used as a textbook for a political science class studying democracy and democratization, it is a great learning tool towards understanding what a true democracy is and how it is formed. The book would also help someone draw a parrell to why the United States does certain things and why they do not.
Very knowledgeable about civil-military relations in Brazil........1999-05-10
She gives a detailed account of how civil-military relations come about. Her book was a little hard to follow but I did like reading about Brazil.
Customer Reviews:
Prejudice because of Poverty and Brother's bad rep.......2005-02-18
When Sophia Rizzo brings in articals to the school newspaper[The Sweet Valley Sixers],Elizabeth and Amy hang around her alot. She is a good reporter at the school newspaper,sweet and kind. Kids don't like her because after her father left,her older brother,Tony Rizzo stole VCRs cars,got into fights,you name it. He has a bad rep.The family is poor,but Elizabeth and Amy don't mind.Jessica,does mind. The Unicorns are stuck-up,not Ellen,Mary and Jessica. Elizabeth and Sophia produce their own play,about a family a father,mother,2 sisters,and a brother. Steven got into a fight with Tony. When Jessica goes to NY to see Stomp! in Elizabeth's place,she throws a birthday party,because Sophia never had one before. Then The parents come home,the same parents who told Elizabeth,Jessica and Steven to stay away from the Rizzos.
Poverty and Prejudice.......2004-09-21
Against the Rules is a rare and refreshing story in the Sweet Valley Twins series for a number of reasons, not the least of which is Elizabeth's friendship for Sophia Rizzo. More interesting, perhaps, is the insight readers gain into the Wakefield family by comparison and contrast to Sophia's own broken home made up of an absent father, an Italian mother who is unable to speak fluent English, a delinquent older brother, and a sensitive and talented young girl who tries her best to keep her family from further falling apart.
In Sweet Valley, a number of seemingly perfect families exist, but it is the Wakefields who are neatly, snugly, the ultimate caricature of tranquil and sheltered suburbia. Tall, dark, athletic Ned Wakefield is a lawyer, imbued with wisdom, discretion and a sense of humour: the ideal husband and father. Alice Wakefield, blonde, svelte and elegant is the successful combination of a working woman and a happy wife and mother. Steven, Elizabeth and Jessica all live the ideal teenager's existence in which the worst dilemmas are readily solved by parental love and discipline, and soothed by the daily rhythms of life in a street typified by manicured lawns and contented stomachs. Cutting across the grain is the Rizzo family home, located near a grimy factory, and close to being dilapidated, though kept scrupulously clean and tidy. Out of this household, readers discover the gentleness and sorrow of Sophia for her runaway father and her equally lost brother, Tony. And out of her acquaintance with and sympathy for this impoverished family, readers also discover a heart able to see past her own comfort and convenience for a friend in need - a heart hidden snugly within Elizabeth Wakefield.
Elizabeth's keen insight into her own family's prejudices against the Rizzos - her indignation and disappointment - not just at her family, but also at herself, for the shame and fear she is unable to repress about Tony - is a startling revelation to readers. Those who know and love the character of Elizabeth Wakefield are also familiar with her high sense of justice and compassion for the less fortunate: we expect Elizabeth to care about those whom Jessica would never trouble herself to reach. What readers do not expect is a peeling back of surfaces and a whitewashing of masks when the Wakefields encounter Sophia in the flesh and the reality of her family life - an extraordinary situation in which Ned and Alice Wakefield are helped by Elizabeth to understand the ugliness and unfairness of their prejudices against a girl punished for her parents' mistakes. Mostly cast as authority figures, Ned and Alice surprise readers by willingly breaking their own rules to honour Elizabeth's friendship with Sophia, and in doing so they show much more tractability than their usual cardboard-cutout responses and reactions. Perhaps Ned and Alice also understood how much their decision to forbid this friendship compromised Elizabeth's integrity - how they, too, however inadvertently, had been punishing Elizabeth for their own prejudices.
Steven Wakefield is also used by the author, Jamie Suzanne, to demonstrate the very real consequences of prejudice and narrow-mindedness: the pain that Tony inflicts upon Steven is only a shadow of the pain this boy feels in his heart in the wake of his father's abandonment. Readers are counseled to sympathize with Tony's problems, not his crimes - and it is this very distinction that Ned, Alice and Steven learn from Elizabeth's shining example.
well-worn.......2001-08-01
This is one of the first 2 books that i got in this series when i was a little girl,and was hooked!It is about a girl who is an outcast at svms and only Elizabeth will befriend her.
A great story of friendship!.......2000-12-16
I really enjoyed this book. It teaches us never to judge people, even though they come from bad backgrounds. Elizabeth Wakefield meets Sophia Rizzo, a girl with a violent stealing brother, and a father in jail. The whole town warns Elizabeth to stay away from the Rizzo family. But Elizabeth doesn't listen, and she helps Sophia in her time of need. I thought Elizabeth really stood up for her beliefs by throwing Sophia a surprise party. It really meant a lot to Sophia, and showed that being kind can mean a whole lot. This book is great and I recommend it!
I think the book isn't worth reading.......1997-10-18
I belive the book isn't worth reading even though I love Francine Pascal I really do. This book is really boring
Customer Reviews:
Compelling and thought provoking.......2002-06-20
Having served a number of times as an officer in Northern Ireland, this book filled in a number of gaps in my own knowledge. The reading of this book should be compulsory for anyone wishing to comment on the fight against Irish terrorism and the methods employed by each opposing side.
Compelling Reading.......2001-09-01
An overview of the SAS fight against the IRA, it appears that a shoot to kill policy may have been in place as the SAS killed many IRA terrorists during their covert operations.Great insight into the skill and sophistication of the IRA and the SAS.
Book Description
Although she came to be known as merely "that girl with the dirty books," Dollree Mapp was a poor but proud black woman who defied a predominantly white police force by challenging the legality of its search-and-seizure methods. Her case, which went all the way to the Supreme Court, remains hotly debated and highly controversial today.
In 1957, Cleveland police raided Mapp's home on a tip-from future fight promoter Don "the Kid" King-that they'd find evidence linked to a recent bombing. What they confiscated instead was sexually explicit material that led to Mapp's conviction for possessing "lewd and lascivious books"-a conviction that initially pitted Ohio police and judges against Mapp and the American Civil Liberties Union. At stake was not only the search-and-seizure question but also the "exclusionary rule" concerning the use of evidence not specified in a search warrant.
Carolyn Long follows the police raid into Mapp's home and then chronicles the events that led to the Court's 5-4 ruling in Mapp v. Ohio (1961), which redefined the rights of the accused and set strict limits on how police could obtain and use evidence. Long traces the case through the legal labyrinth, discusses the controversies it created, and assesses its impact on police behavior, as well as subsequent prosecutions and convictions of the accused. She also analyzes Justice Tom Clark's creative use of Mapp's case to overturn Wolf v. Colorado, which had ruled that the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches applied only to federal law, and presents Justice John Harlan's strong federalist-based dissent.
As entertaining as it is informative, Long's book features a host of intriguing characters: Mapp, her seasoned and determined attorney, A. L. Kearns, and police sergeant Carl Delau, among others. Combined with her concise and insightful explanations of key legal principles-including the exclusionary rule itself-Long's deft narrative provides an ideal format for teachers and students in criminology, legal history, constitutional law, and political science, as well as anyone who loves a good story.
The Mapp case is still much debated, especially in light of the recent reauthorization of the U.S. Patriot Act and the free rein given to law enforcement officers in matters of search and seizure. Long's compelling study thus poses important questions regarding privacy and individual rights that still matter today, even as it also illuminates one of the keystones of the Warren Court's criminal procedure revolution.
This book is part of the Landmark Law Cases and American Society series.
Customer Reviews:
Mapp v. Ohio.......2006-04-21
Dr. Long's book about Mapp V. Ohio is an engaging and insightful look into this Supreme Court case that set precedent for many in the future.
Long's use of both primary and secondary sources contributes to a fascinating reading.
I particularly like the section of the book that focuses on the aftermath of the case. it highlights why this case was so important. If you are interested in historic court cases, interpretation of the Constitution, or the evolution of civil liberties, I strongly recommend this book.
Customer Reviews:
Informative and Thought Provoking.......2001-08-13
A timely book for anyone wanting to learn more about the "Battle in Seattle". Learn about the WTO, how it came to power and why we should care. Any organization brought to power under secrecy, without accountability or citizen access is to be feared. Also a useful section on how to get involved. If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
Thought provoking independent essays.......2000-11-08
This book is a collection of essays written by people who were in prominent positions with regard to "the battle of Seattle." They share their experiences before, during and since the WTO confrence. This book is a must read for those wishing to recieve a non-corporate viewpoint about the rise of corporate power in the world.
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