The Gutenberg Revolution

Author: John Man
Paperback: 289 pages
ISBN: 9780553819663
Recommendation: would read again
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No one can argue against the fact that the printing press revolutionized the world. In 1450 the small number of books to be found in Europe were all written out by hand. Just 50 years later they were printed and there were millions of them. This explosion in the written word had huge consequences as ideas, previously confined to a small area or a small number of people were set free. This book documents Johann Gutenberg's invention of printing and the revolution it caused.

Dave Gorman vs. The Rest Of The World

Author: Dave Gorman
Paperback: 343 pages
ISBN: 9780091928483
Recommendation: would read again
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Dave Gorman fancied playing a board game; unfortunately he didn't have anyone to play against. Of course being Dave Gorman he turned this into an adventure, criss-crossing the country, visiting total strangers, playing games he had never even heard of. If you like Dave's humour or are interested in the weird variety of British games then you will enjoy reading this.

Java Performance

Author: Charlie Hunt and Binu John
Paperback: 693 pages
ISBN: 9780137142521
Recommendation: would read again
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While modern Java virtual machines are much faster than they used to be, when writing software where performance matters it is important to understand how to optimize your code and how to configure the JVM to get the most out of your hardware. Whilst highly technical this book is easy to work through and provides a whole host of invaluable performance tips. A must for any serious Java developer