Archive for February, 2009

History: The Cold War (Heinemann Baccalaureate) – Keely Rogers & Jo Thomas

Thursday, February 19th, 2009


Name: History: The Cold War
Author: Keely Rogers & Jo Thomas
Publisher: Heinemann Baccalaureate (Pearson Baccalaureate)
Published: 2007
ISBN: 043599428X

My Review

This is an amazing book that everybody in my history class loves.

The book contains a huge amount of information for you to use in the exam and a great deal more. The authors have made everything easy for you, with time lines at the start of each chapter and an overall timeline of pretty much everything at the end of the book. This is incredibly helpful for when you want to revise and for getting an overall view of how things happened and in which order they happened.

Another thing the book focuses on heavily is Historiography. For each topic there are views from world famous historians which will, if used in the exam, be sure to score you more marks. The book also includes some extracts from speeches and documents which were influential at the time. This includes Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech and the NSC68 document

This book will become your Cold War Bible. It has everything you need, and is a pleasure to read.

The book is not priced too heavily either, it’s available for £18 or $15.

See for yourself! Download Samples of Chapter One and Chapter Two from Heinemann
Chapter One
Chapter Two

Contents
1. What was the Cold War?
2. Steps to the political, economic and military division of Europe 1
3. Steps to the political, economic and military division of Europe 2
4. Who was responsible for the development of the Cold War?
5. The Cold War goes global: The Korean War and National Security Council Report 68
6. The USA and containment in Asia
7. New leaders, new ideas
8. Why was Germany such a source of tension?
9. Cuba: Could this crisis have led to nuclear war?
10. What was the impact of the arms race on the Cold War?
11. Sino-Soviet relations
12. Sino-American relations
13. Why did détente end in a second Cold War?
14. What was the impact of the Cold War on the United Nations?
15. What was the impact of the non-aligned states on the Cold War?
16. Challenges to Soviet control 1945-1980
17. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War
18. Cold War Review and Consolidation
Theory of Knowledge
Appendix
Further Reading
Glossary
Index

Pros
Fantastic Content
Great Historiography
Easy to read
Cheap

Cons
It is the only history book in the Heinemann Baccalaureate series

The series of ‘Heinemann Baccalaureate’ books has changed names to ‘Pearson Baccalaureate’. This post has been updated accordingly.

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Posted in Group Three | 1 Comment »

IB Diploma Programme: English A1 Course Companion – Elizabeth Druce & Hannah Tyson

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009


Name: IB Diploma Programme: English A1 Course Companion
Author: Elizabeth Druce & Hannah Tyson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2007
Pages: 288
ISBN: 0199151474

My Review

Due to the nature of English, you’re never going to find a textbook that provides details and help for every text you are studying. You will most likely find at least one of your texts discussed in the book. But it doesn’t matter if specifics for the texts you are studying are not present. This book contains fantastic tips and this will surely help you develop your commentary and analysis skills. There are plenty of examples and example commentaries to help you along. I particularly like this book because it breaks down what to include in your work. For example, it tells you what you should aim to say in the Individual Oral Presentation (IOP) and gives you some ideas of how to present, the IOP criteria is the main reason I bought this book!

The book will guide you in the right direction and teach you a great deal about writing commentaries, and we all know that a perfect commentary technique is your passport to a 7!

The book doesn’t contain any images, except for a few cartoons and pictures of authors and poets in the Detailed Study areas of the book. Images are not really needed as there aren’t any cycles you need to remember like for the sciences.

Like the other books in the Oxford University Press’ series of International Baccalaureate textbooks, this book is easily available from around £18 or $38.

Pros
Helps with technique
Easy to understand
Good price
Good availability

Cons
Not much colour

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Posted in Group One | 1 Comment »

IB Diploma Programme: Biology Course Companion – Andrew Allott & David Mindorff

Monday, February 16th, 2009


Name: IB Diploma Programme: Biology Course Companion
Author: Andrew Allott & David Mindorff
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2007
Pages: 400
ISBN: 0199151458

My Review

This Biology book has all the content you need for both Standard Level and Higher Level. It contains some really heavy reading that would require some teacher explanation for most learners. The book is set out into chapters and the HL content is presented in the same chapter as the SL content, but this is clearly noted with a ‘HL’ mark next to content Standard Level students need not worry about.

The fact the book has all the information you need to know from the syllabus makes it fantastic. However, the book is very mono in terms of colour. The pages are black and a faded orange which is really boring. The diagrams are good, but the lack of colour could make them difficult to understand for some people. Some of my friends dislike this book because they learn and remember best with colours, if this is you, get this book and also go for the C.J Clegg book as the diagrams are more colourful.

The book retails for on average £18 or $38, it is always in stock, unlike the C.J Clegg book.

If you can suffer the lack of colour then this book is perfect.  I would recommend this book alongside the C.J Clegg book.

Pros
Great content
Great price
Good availability
Good diagrams

Cons
Some content may be hard to understand
You will most likely get sick of the orange

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Posted in Group Four | 2 Comments »

Biology for the IB Diploma – C.J Clegg

Monday, February 16th, 2009


Name: Biology for the IB Diploma
Author: C.J Clegg
Publisher: Hodder Education
Published: 2007
Pages: 436 (+PDF files on disc)
ISBN: 034092652X

My Review

This is the my favourite Biology book which I have come across so far. There is masses of information that is all very useful and easy enough to understand (Prior explanation is required for more advanced content). Diagrams in the book are also very helpful for helping to explain some trickier things like The Krebs Cycle. I would recommend this book to all Biology Students, both at Standard Level and Higher Level.

The book is usually around £25-£30 from Amazon in the UK and $60 from Amazon in the USA, deppending on whether you want it new or used. Although expensive, this is a good price considering the content you get. It doesn’t seem to be for sale in many places, and can only be bought second hand at a reasonable price. The one thing that lets the book down is the fact that the Options are on a CD! This means you will be doing alot of printing when you come round to it! (Unless you have a laptop to view them on in class)

Pros
Fantastic content
Good diagrams and colourful images
Easy to understand
Includes past IB exam questions

Cons
Additional ‘Options’ are only available as PDF on disc

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Posted in Group Four | 2 Comments »