Eras Books

I purchased several of Tom Tierney's historical paper doll sets to augment my family history projects. I have 150 years of family photos which are mostly in black and white, of course, so it's great to see the period clothing in detail and in color. The paper dolls will add so much to my research and my family's appreciation of the historical times and stories. Although I intend to keep the paper dolls uncut, they are printed on card stock which would be easy to cut and not tear apart if well-cared for.

I cannot rave enough about this book. It is absolutely perfect for my writing research based on characters in 1876 America. I have had a very difficult time finding examples of dresses from that time period for the full-figured woman for one of my main characters. I was so pleased to see a full-figure doll and outfits in this book. It has far-exceeded my hopes! Thank you for a fabulous find!

I love these paper dolls. The time period was very ornate at the time which called for some very ornate dresses. Red was a very fashionable color too. These paper dolls are great for kids and a great addition to paper doll collections. Also, look at some of Tom Tierneys other paper doll publishings which were just as good as these.

For a book on this subject, you could do volumes on some of the major topics this book covers. For example: how the Johnson and Nixon Administrations tried to convince Americans to support the war, what the Students on College Campuses did to protest the War and the Draft, the bombings in Cambodia, and so on.
At 495 pages, the book covers all that it does in quick synopsis like form, but you still get to understand a bit of what the people in that era was thinking and feeling during the most unpopular war in U.S. history (even though the Iraq War might eclipse that someday if it continues for the next few years.)
A quality read, worth the price to purchase.

This book has been an absolute bible to me in my study of the Antiwar Movement of the Vietnam Era. For anybody studying this period of history, it is of intrinsic value. It details every aspect of the antiwar movement, the cause and consequence of it and lots of other relevant material. Nearly every other modern study of this nature draws a lot from this book. Although DeBenedetti's untimely death leaves the book with a rather ragged finish, its objective analysis is perfect for any historian or student wishing to study the antiwar movement in depth.

This was required reading for a graduate course in American history.

In An American Ordeal The Antiwar Movement and the Vietnam Era, the authors chronicle the antiwar movement from 1955 to1975. The book gave a sophisticated analysis of the antiwar movement that went beyond some of the tired dichotomies of Communism versus Democracy that are ubiquitous in the historical scholarship of the period. The authors considered the complexity of the antiwar movement with its multitude of factions and how it affected the political atmosphere. The image of the antiwar factions and how the American public felt about the different foreign policies the protestors and the Administration were advocating was described in the book.

The period of 1955-1963 was discussed regarding initiatives on nuclear disarmament to slow down or eliminate the nuclear arms race. This period's primary achievement was to focus attention on the issue of atmosphere nuclear testing. After the signing of the Test Ban Treaty in1963, the nuclear disarmament element of the movement began to fade. The civil rights efforts coalesced around the rise of a youthful intellectual left that was more willing to give of themselves to advance the cause of social justice. After 1965, as the Vietnam War intensified, a large portion of these same anti-nuclear and civil rights organizations became part of the opposition to U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Ironically, President Johnson was the peace candidate of the 1964 election and became an intractable hawk on the war. This brought about disillusionment within the movement regarding the strategy of influencing policy makers and, a shift to the strategy of massive demonstrations.

The authors maintain that the Vietnam War portion of the 1955-1975 period of peace activism was the most obtuse. The period of 1965-1975 with its concurrent social issues including racial equality and violent domestic unrest was a time of wrenching discord and malaise. The authors believed a dominant theme of the period was the war policy of the Johnson and Nixon administrations versus those that were against intervention in Vietnam. The dynamics of opinion on both sides throughout the period were discussed. The authors pointed out that the desire to cling to executive power by both administrations trumped a clear delineation of policy alternatives for the war. This was the central theme of the book: The withdrawal from the war was the policy option the antiwar movement displayed and ultimate public acceptance of this policy was seen as a sign of the movement's success in that regard.

A second theme the authors extensively explained was the division within the antiwar movement. Although a dominant theme in the historical interpretation of the period, the authors saw the dichotomy of us versus them on both sides of the intervention question as simplistic and ultimately unsatisfying in the pursuit of a deep understanding. The authors viewed such a dichotomy as a reflection of the same Cold War rhetoric that led to initial U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

The authors duly note that the antiwar movement did not have a single directing organization or ideology. Consequently, the movement offered varying criticisms of American society and foreign policy along with its criticism of the war. The various groups that came under the umbrella of the movement had differing levels of organization. They could be national, regional or local level organizations. Exponential growth in the movement from 1962 to 1972 contributed to the sense of haphazard direction and poor organization.

The debacle at the 1968 Democratic National Convention lead to further disillusionment with any hope of a change in policy employing the political process. The rioting tarnished an already poor public image of the movement, making it easy to paint it as functioning not as an advocate of an alternative policy, but rather as just a group of contrarian adversaries. The authors pointed to the irony of advocates of peace now doing their own bombing and aggressive attacks on the home front. These events were highly publicized and the Nixon White House exploited, and in some instances encouraged, such conflicts. The authors argue that the vast majority of antiwar protestors were peaceful in their actions but it was the most sensational and violent manifestations of protest that were burned into the nation's consciousness.

By 1972, as violent street protest waned, the antiwar faction within Congress gained momentum as did the Democratic Party. The emergence of George McGovern as the Party's presidential candidate reflected a higher level of acceptance of the argument for withdrawal from Vietnam. The antiwar activists were quite a vociferous contrast from those in the lower socioeconomic class who opposed the war. Lower class opposition thought the war was a waste of lives and money and they had little belief in any Democratic desires of the South Vietnamese. Still, they did not approve of the war protestor's actions which led to their collective reticence on disengagement.

One fascinating point the authors made was that, opinion analysts had found that most Americans respond to foreign policy situations "not out of knowledge of the situation, but rather in response to cues issued by respected reference groups". These groups were political parties or religious and social groups. With the advent of the war, these
traditional groups divided and thus, public opinion on the war became ambivalent. The antiwar movement was unable to fill this vacuum because of its public image as a group of deviants who wanted to thwart authority at every opportunity.

Both Johnson and Nixon believed that the outcome of the war jeopardized their presidency. Johnson's Great Society was jeopardized by division over the war and the possibility of defeat. President Nixon thought losing the war would jeopardize U.S. leadership in the world. Consequently, the authors concluded that each of these men perceived their policy options to be very limited. Substantial popular dissent would threaten the power of their executive office and ultimately their political grasp of it. This explained both presidents deep disdain for the antiwar movement.

However, Johnson and Nixon's dislike of the movement did not prevent them from being somewhat constrained by it. Johnson did not call up the reserves out of fear of exacerbating domestic division. Nixon's plan to Vietnamize the war was a result of domestic dissent regarding the war. The authors further argued that, even President Ford's attempt to prop up Saigon as the North drove on the South, was halted by a Congress responding to public sentiment and blocking funding for such a move. The
antiwar movement was seen by the authors as contributing to this change in Congress through its efforts in electoral politics and protest.

An interesting point by the authors was that while protest encouraged eventual Congressional action, it also encouraged both leaders to overextend themselves. The Johnson Administration and military leaders made extravagant claims about the war to thwart protest. As the public became aware of these prevarications and the Tet offensive seemed to support the notion the war was not going well, further disillusionment set in. This happened in spite of the fact that the Viet Cong was eviscerated in the offensive leading to North Vietnamese Regular Army (NVA) being sent South as the war continued. The folly of misleading the American public and having them find out about it becomes abundantly clear here. The illusion may help the effort initially, but in the long run, it damages the effort more than it aids it. This is a principle of political leadership with abundant historical examples and one that is a necessary condition for effective government.

Another striking observation that was not elaborated upon satisfactorily was, opinion polls indicated the public felt the protestors were inane and responsible for prolonging the war. However, these same polls indicated that communist triumph in Vietnam was preferable to an open ended war and the war was too costly. Therefore, not only was there a schism between those for continuing the war and the movement, there seemed to be a division in the minds of the majority which added to the difficulty in leading the nation out of the morass.

Further commentary and scholarship on the reasons for the capricious nature of public support for armed conflict could be beneficial for developing leadership principles. Once the public commits to a conflict but then sees its real human cost exceeds expectations, it naturally withdraws support. Therefore, the accuracy of that initial calculation of cost is imperative because of the natural proclivity of humans to dislike even the appearance of being lied to.

The opinion ofthe political leadership and the public was a creature that evolved. An opinion that evolved as the arduous reality ofthe war literally came home in the form of war veteran reporting of it, the disclosure of the Pentagon Papers and division within President Johnson's cabinet over the war. The book further postulates that as the public
became aware of discomfort within the executive and legislative leadership over the war, public confidence in the endeavor waned. These arguments were supported by opinion polls and historical research which garnered information regarding leadership decision making on the war.

The book then states that, perhaps organized protest led to a ground swell in public opinion that infiltrated the political process. Rather than converting the public to its antiwar views, the movement pushed the political leadership to change course. An effect that was only possible because of protest. The authors hypothesized that the involvement of a multitude of social reform groups both helped and hurt the movement. The damage was manifested in the split within the movement between liberals and radicals over the war. The liberals had many of the social reform group members who had worked for Civil Rights. They advocated the same
strategy utilized in the civil rights battle; public education and the consequent influence this would have on electoral action to end the conflict.

The radical element saw the opposition to the war as part of a counter-revolution against capitalism, its focus on self-interest and, an essential part of the quest for domestic and international social justice. Thus the two factions agreed on ending the war and the need for social justice but the liberals wanted to utilize the political system in place while radicals, perhaps ironically, wanted to destroy it in order to save it. Antiwar liberals saw the war as a policy-choice issue. Antiwar radicals saw protest as a means toward revolutionary social change. The liberals wanted to de-escalate and then end U.S. military involvement. The radicals challenged intervention in order to change the distribution of power and wealth in America.

The book observed that wars encourage conformity and conservatism but Vietnam was different because of the liberalization of popular culture; a challenge to the status quo and conventional beliefs. However, what some individuals see as healthy liberalism grounded in the nation's founding father's example of it, others saw as disintegration and moral decadence. This reader believes that the lack of a clear moral imperative for the war in the sense that our nation's soil was not attacked as it was in World War Two, contributed mightily to public ambivalence about the war. As George Washington pondered the Revolutionary War, he said "I do not mean to exclude altogether the idea of Patriotism ..... But a great and lasting war can never be supported on this principle alone. It must be aided by the prospect of Interest or some reward." The willingness of the public to "conform" to the war effort must be linked to a collective interest in its outcome with a clear connection to a victory resulting in positive change in the nation's collective condition. This is not meant to denigrate or contradict the author's argument regarding the effect of cultural liberalization. It is meant to augment it.

The authors noted that the antiwar movement argued that their dissent was the highest form of patriotism. The antiwar movement displayed before the American public the choice of defeat with dignity for the decade of 1965-1975. They called for the nation with the most powerful military in the world to accept failure and thus antagonized much of the public. The historical parallels to the contemporary Iraq conflict are troubling. The authors conclude by saying the antiwar movement was the largest domestic assembly of opposition to armed conflict ever assembled in history. The political significance of the movement was to relentlessly display the choice of ending U.S. involvement in the conflict and made the war the issue of the day for foreign policy and national identity.

This reader believes that dissent ultimately aids the search for truth more than it confuses or obfuscates it. If a policy cannot withstand the rigors of honest disagreement, its validity and moral imperative probably does not exist. If the proponents of a policy seek suppression of dissent, a suspicion of the intellectual honesty of their argument grows in a functional democracy. A successful search for truth can ultimately end in change. However, this process can be agonizingly slow. The search for the truth that the Vietnam War was going to entail much more effort than originally perceived was aided by antiwar dissent and made into a political policy reality in 1975.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in American history, counter-culture history.

Osagie's book fills a lacunae in the Amsitad historiographic record, but not only for providing details of the Amistad survivors' African return. She provided us with some insights into historical recollections and how they really only exist for present day agendas. She describes the appropriation of the Amistad story by Sierra Leoneans today in order to provide some morale for a society that has lurched from colonial exploitation to home grown exploitation and finally vicious civil war. Quite correctly she has departed from the American-centric purview and focused on the ramifications for African Americans and especially Africans.

i would like to tell u that this is one of the best books ever wrote i wanted to thank you for this strong experence for me so i decide to write a poem i will get back to u on it because i have to get it copyrighted first thanks again

Osagie's book covers all the things that have been glossed over in the traditional telling of the Amistad story: the stories of the Amistad Africans once they returned home, the generalized context of revolt and resistance to slavery at the time, and what the story has meant in Sierra Leone. She also has excellent critiques of plays, novels, and monuments about the Amistad incident, including Steven Spielberg's movie. It is a timely look at a popular story that takes the point of view of the Africans and Africans-American involved with it, instead of focussing on the white abolitionists and the court batttles. I very much enjoyed reading it.

Wreck diver and author Gary Gentile does a fine job with this work on the spectacular and ever dangerous wreck of the Italian Liner Andrea Doria, which now rests in 240 of water south of Cape Cod in the approaches to New York. Gentile's book begins with a page of specifications for the ship and then opens by touching on the stories of some other famous shipwrecks, the Empress of Ireland, Lusitania, HMS Edinburgh, to name a few, and the efforts to dive and conduct salvage operations on these wrecks.

The wreck of the Andria Doria is a difficult and hazardous dive, not for the faint of heart or the foolish, and Gentile explains very well just why this is so.

The book is dedicated to the great underwater filmmaker and diver Peter Gimbel who has long been admired by wreck divers and filmmakers. The underwater exploits on the Doria by another who would also become a great of the underwater film world, Jack McKenney, is also mentioned here. The book details the history of those who first dove on this wreck and their many adventures and misadventures over the years. Fascinating is the story of the very capable men who invented and succcessfully deployed a saturation habitat, "Mother", on the Andria Doria.

This history lays the groundwork for the later exploration of the Doria by Gentile. It is a wonderful Who's Who of wreck diving, including such personalities as Steve Gatto, Tom Packer, Bill Nagle, Mike DeCamp, and many other outstanding pioneers of deep water wreck diving.

The book also includes a wonderful and exiting chapter on the recovery of the Andrea Dorea's bell by Gentile and his colleagues.

The book is illustrated with many fine underwater photos of the
wreck. There are also many pictures of the Andrea Doria, the divers and the many artifacts that they recovered.

I possess a very large library of shipwreck and diving lore and this outstanding book occupies a prized position on my bookskelf.

Hats off to Gary Gentile for providing this great, entertaining and highly readable record of underwater adventure on the Andrea Doria, one of the world's greatest shipwrecks.

A quick and excellent read on the dive history of the Doria. Scuba divers will appreciate Gentile's focus of dive information. Not loaded down with much pre-wreck history. But Great detail on the problems facing technical diving on the Doria.

Simply, it was one of the most exciting and interresting books I have read in quite some time. From the time I got it I could not put it down. The pictures were great as they were in colour. A book I have read over and over and still learn. For books on the Andrea Doria it is quite simply the best. I wish there was a follow up to it.

This is by far the best supplemental reading material I have ever come across. If it wasn't for this book, I would have never survived my modern philosophy class.
The information that Thomson provides in this book is simplistic, easy to read, and easy to understand. He writes in layman's terms, so the material is more enjoyable and interesting to read than primary texts. He focuses on several great philosophers and divides their work into short chapters, providing a great overview of all of the material. This book especially helped me on exams and term papers.
In addition to "Bacon to Kant", I also highly recommend Garrett Thomson's "On Modern Philosophy" in the Wadsworth Philosophical series.

I read Bacon to Kant (BK) in conjunction with the primary philosophical texts that it elucidates. With minimal jargon it explains the main metaphysical and epistemological arguments that each of the great Modern Philosophers make. It very clearly delineates two purposes: (1) to condense the philosophers' arguments while remaining true to them and (2) to explain, on occasion, where the philosophers go wrong.

Mission, as they say, accomplished.

The book's format adumbrates its clarity. It is divided into sections on each of the great philosophers -- Spinoza, Leibniz, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Berkeley, Bacon and Kant. Each section is comprised of a short biography and then, generally, three chapters each of which considers one "big topic" with which the relevant philosopher was concerned. For example, the chapters on Descartes consider his Method of Doubt, his Cogito and his two arguments for the existence of God.

BK's clarity is exemplified in its analysis of Hume's (related) treatment of induction. BK begins with an explanation of Hume's assault on induction. It starts by providing its own interpretation of Hume's argument, which it articulates in premise/conclusion form. This is its interpretation of Hume's argument.

1. Induction is usually "proved" by an appeal to the Uniformity Principle.
2. The Uniformity Principle can only be determined by induction.
3. Therefore the conclusion that "one can induce conclusions" is invalid. The argument "begs the question."

The Uniformity Principle, BK goes on to explain, is the principle that the laws of nature will never change. However, according to Hume this is only true if one accepts that the fact that the laws of nature has not changed in the past implies that they will not change in the future. One can only accept this fact if one accepts Induction as a valid method of deriving sound conclusions. However, because the Uniformity Principle is supposed to PROVE that induction is a valid method of deriving sound conclusions, it is clear that one must accept Induction as valid in order to prove that it is valid. Thus one ought not to accept Induction as valid.

In short, BK provides accurate summaries of (and relevant objections to) many of the great Modern Philosophers most important metaphysical and epistemological arguments.

To end on a cautionary note, the book neither summarizes nor assesses the Modern Philosophers' systems of ethics, so if you are exclusively interested in ethics and meta-ethical theory then this book is not for you. Otherwise, it's a great read.

I've been teaching Modern Philosophy to undergraduates for a number of years. As anyone who has taught this period knows, trying to make the issues and arguments clear to beginning students of philosophy using only the primary texts is extremely difficult (and if we can remember back far enough to when we were in the students' seats in Modern Philosophy, we probably recall not making much sense of the primary texts either!). Thomson's book is an excellent secondary (supplemental) text to the primary texts. The chapters and subheadings are divided well, and his explanations are exceedingly clear and accessible to beginners. Another text well suited for this purpose is Richard Francks' MODERN PHILOSOPHY: THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES (McGill-Queen's UP). But unlike Francks, Thomson includes philosophers not typically taught in a Modern Philosophy course (namely Bacon, Hobbes, and Kant) which is helpful. Also, I have found that Thomson's book more easily coordinates with primary readings than does Francks'. In any case, Thomson's book is a superb companion for reading along with the primary philosophical texts of the Modern period, and I highly recommend it to students and to teachers.

September, 2007 issue of Director's Chair by Peter Marshall

Are you doing a documentary about World War 1? Do you need World War I stock footage for your movie?

This reference book gives concise information about the surviving motion pictures that were taken during WWI, over 90 years ago. BATTLEFILM details 467 film titles that cover America's part in this conflict. Each of the 957 reels of action is described using data gathered from actual U.S. Army records.

This book is the ONLY one in publication today that details readily available WWI films. BATTLEFILM is a superb source of information for stock-footage for that Great War documentary.

July 07 Newsletter by Tony Lazzarini, President Military Writer's Society of America says: "BATTLEFILM, written by retired U.S. Air Force officer, Phillip W. Stewart is a catalog of the WWI era documentary films in Record Group 11 held at the U.S. National Archives. Being involved with documentary films myself, I appreciate good reference material. it's a 'must have' book if you happen to be looking for original film footage regarding WWI. This is a very well organized and detailed catalog."

Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (10/07)

Philip W. Stewart has researched, compiled and edited this listing or catalog of historic films of action taken during World War I. The U.S. Army Signal Corps were given the assignment of obtaining photographic coverage of American participation in the War. In the introduction, Stewart reiterates the earlier statement of purpose for the filming made by K. Jack Bauer in 1957. The photographic coverage was ordered for propaganda, scientific, identification, and military reconnaissance purposes, but primarily for the production of a pictorial history of the war.

The book is divided into two sections. Part One covers U.S. military operations from the years prior to the war beginning in 19l4 and through to the returning of the troops in 1918-1919. Included in this section are films related to post-Armistice training, films relating to Allied and enemy activities, and the parades and events celebrating liberty. There are films from Washington D.C., Paris, London, and Brussels featured in these festivities filmed in 1918 and 1919.

As a U S. Navy veteran I took special note of the films related to Naval Operations. There are films featuring submarines, U-boats, destroyers, battleships, our convoy activities, and the return of the fleet in 1918.

Part two is made up of a listing of films featuring civilian activities. Several films cover the years of Woodrow Wilson's administration, his cabinet, the decisions he faced and the treaties he signed. A number of films were made of his trip to Europe in 1918 on the ocean-liner George Washington. He visited France, England and Italy. Additional trips to Europe were made in the following year. Many of the events and receptions attended during these visits were captured on film and are included in the listings.

Films featuring industry as it related to the war effort are also included in this section. The manufacturing of ordnance material, military aeroplanes, gas masks, and shipbuilding are all included.

Other patriotic activities, holiday celebrations and liberty loan drives are featured. I found the films covering the memorial services at Arlington National Cemetery, and the Burial of an Unknown Solider of particular interest.

This book is one of a kind. It is destined to become an important resource for historians, media researchers, documentary producers, and students of films. There are 957 reels of footage shot during the years 1914-1918. These include the WWI era documentary films, in record group 111, held in the U.S. National Archives. Philip W. Stewart has produced an important work in his book "Battlefilm."

Knowledgeably compiled and deftly edited by Phillip W. Stewart (a retired U.S. Air force Lt. Colonel who for more than thirty years has been a film consultant, video producer, television director, multi-media manager, and published author), "Battlefilm: U.S. Army Signal Corps Motion Pictures Of The Great War" details 467 film titles covering America's involvement in World War I. A seminal work of exhaustive research characterized by a logical layout and an extensive index, "Battlefilm" is a superbly designed catalog of the WWI era documentary films in Record Group 111 stored at the US National Archives and specifically designed to help researchers, authors, and documentary film makers to find films and scenes they need. In addition to academic library Military History and Film Studies reference collections, "Battlefilm" is confidently recommended as an indispensable reference work for historians, media researchers, documentary produces, film students, and authors working on fiction as well as non-fiction works about American involvement in World War I.

I have always been interested in World War II, but I never really understood until I read this book what it would have been like to grow up in Nazi Germany - and not be a Nazi. This is a fascinating story which is extremely well written. I hope the author will write a sequel.

Brigitte Kirchoff's book offers a unique and interesting perspective on World War II and the difficulties that many Non-Nazi Germans endured at the hands of their fellow countrymen. While most people are very familiar with the sufferings of Jews during this era, what is less-well known is that Germans who refused to join the Nazi party (such as the author and her family)were persecuted as well. Told from the point-of-view of a little girl growing up in Nazi Germany, the story is compelling and informative, and offers a highly personal account of what one family endured and how their constant faith saw them through even the most difficult times. Great reading.

This is a page turner, wanted to keep reading to see what was happening next. An untold story of the non Nazi German people and what they had to overcome to survive. I recommend it to all history students of the era of World War II. Well written as if the author is talking to you.

For years I have been embarrassed to affiliate in any way with the category of `Christianity.' The current mainstream of fundamentalism, literalism, sentimentalism, and moralism have robbed me of some of the deepest poetry by which I understand myself.

Gene Marshall's, The Call of the Awe, has helped me to reconnect with the center of my being.....the same center that has inspired all of humanity's religious creations over the centuries. Marshall invites us to enter, quite personally, into a never-ending dialogue with the Never Ending. He challenges us to become personally connected with the Infinite Actuality that is present in every moment of our existence. He gives us permission to become encircled and centered in the Awesome Presence that is everywhere present.

This book goes a long way toward moving us beyond the obsolete metaphors of transcendence poetry to a transparency metaphor that more clearly reflects the reality of our secular, scientific age and yet connects us powerfully with the Mystery and the Awe at the center of life.

Most of all, this book brings a giant sized dose of clarity for all who would seek Truth in our time and who would seek to trust that Truth at their deepest core.

I highly recommend this book.

The Call of The Awe
By Gene W. Marshall

A response by Joe Slicker

In these interconnected times, organized religions around the world are spewing out prescriptions of divisiveness, moralisms, hatred and violence that will destroy the world as we know it. Each has its own true God and usually a book to prove its god and its pronouncements are true. Furthermore many say they are willing to defend their prescriptions with their lives. But you may respond that you are not members of one of these religions, or that if you are, you don't agree with their prescriptions. Then why don't we hear this? Does it mean we are part of a silent minority or majority that disagrees? Are not we silent partners just as guilty of letting those prescriptions go unchallenged?

Enter a book whose time has come.

The Call of the Awe: Rediscovering Christian Profundity in an Interreligious Era by Gene W. Marshall starts from his journey into the Christian faith in this country. This continues in his many years of work in other cultures resulting in his experiential dialogue with Christianity and the world religions. This is not just an intellectual dialogue but a dialogue of one's life covering the last fifty years.
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The book is divided into two parts. The first is the journey of the author standing in the Christian religion. It is a radical journey of seriously living in the 21st Century and at the same time digging deep into the Christian faith with ones total being until the profundity of that faith flows through him. The call is for each of us to do the same thing with our lives. This is one half of the book. The subject is looked at from many perspectives and questions, which all of us have in entering such a dialogue. Some of which are God, Christ, resurrection, Holy Spirit; plus a delightful one called `Infinite Awe and Finite Religion'. These are restated so they are existential possibilities for all people. The Call of the Awe is solidly anchored in Part One.

Part two moves on. Ones dialogue is finally incomplete unless he enters the dialogue with other religions or traditions that are oriented toward finding and articulating that profundity. One almost wishes there was more on the Tao, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism plus one on Mysticism. But what he shares does the job. This is not the ordinary abstract `How we have different beliefs', but digs down to the basic profundity as articulated by these religions. For example, reading the Buddhist prayer for enemies on page 226 yields enough Awe to carry the reader through the whole section. One sees that other religions are pointing to the activity of the Mystery in surprising and profound ways. The author shares how many misunderstandings can be overcome by realizing this. Also, he presents many of the edges of this dialogue indicating places of disagreement, and those ripe for further understanding and mutual interaction. The Call of the Awe is like a global trumpet in Part Two.

The book has two parts plus a delightful another: "The return of Antiquity". Here the dialogue moves on to the `Great Goddess and Post-Patriarchal Patriarchal Religion'. It is an exciting and wonderful addition to the whole dialogue. Feminine energy is fully recognized and released to be part of the great creative activity of all of life. This is followed by a warm dialogue with `Primordial Manyness and Biblical Oneness' especially the tender one on tribal religions. One almost hears a native flute playing to the opening of the heart. The Call of the Awe is now dancing all over the place.

The book ends with `Some Non-Concluding Remarks on Interreligious Dialogue'. The last question the author raises is "Will participating in Interreligious dialogue mean that Christians will tend to lose their Christian identification?" The response is "No.....If we want to maintain our Christian identification, we must not only understand our heritage better; we must also practice a resurgent form of Christianity."
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The author is inviting us to join him on this journey with our own depth wisdom and understanding. Do we have a choice? I think not. It is not whether one agrees with him. It is not about the validity of the task. It is not about even whether making a needed change is possible. What is required is to enter the dialogue.

If your are a member of a church, attend or teach church schools, circles or bible studies, then this book is for you. If you are a seminary student, a member of the clergy or pastor this book is for you. If you have quit the church or given up on its antiquated messages and irrelevancy then this book is for you. If you are a religious person at heart then this book is for you. If you are a secular person at heart then this book is for you.

If you have longed to work with or dialogue with people who are struggling in today's world to make sense out of life, then this book is for you. If you see yourself as a global citizen, but don't know how to express it or respond to it, this book is for you. If you long to move beyond the old clichés and live in the world as it is, then this book is for you. If you long to work with people who love Being, the good earth, its people, and themselves, then this book is for you.

Perhaps you wonder how you can make a change in the world situation as an individual person, or whether you are properly equipped to undertake such a venture. If so, this book is for you. Enter the dialogue. Immerse your life in this challenge as deep as you can. Leave the results up to the Mystery. If you want to change the world you first have to change yourself.

Although grounded in Christianity, Gene Marshall rejects the idea of dual realms of natural and supernatural. He does not talk about a literal supernatural realm of being. He says: "--if God is a being in a supernatural realm, I cannot believe in God." God is a word he uses to point to an awesome infinite presence that has nothing to do with belief, but is a mystery we experience every day in this ever-present eternity, whether we are aware of it or not. Marshall shows how awe has been at the core of religions down through the centuries and gives a brief and understandable history of how religions develop. He brings meaning to ancient scriptures written centuries ago by interpreting them into our 21st century.

Having been on a journey of trying to understand my Christian upbringing and its outdated language in today's world, I found this book hard to put down and a refreshing encouragement. Gene Marshall picks up where such writers as Marcus Borg, Brian Swimme, and John Shelby Spong leave off. I expect their readers will be delighted to find this book. It is a book that will stimulate the renewal of Christianity and increase the common ground for dialogue among all religions.

A powerful first-hand account of a nationwide campaign against the anti-labor McCarthyite witch hunt in the United States during the late 1940s and 1950s. Not just a piece of history, but a story with inspiring lessons for working people in the new millennium. James Kutcher tells of radicalizing as a young man in the 1930s, impacted by the militant upsurge of labor that led to the formation of the autoworkers and other industrial unions; joining the Socialist Workers Party; being drafted and losing both legs in combat in WWII; and then being blacklisted by the government for his political views, losing his job with the Veterans Administration, his public housing, even his disability pension. The heart of the book is the persistent and courageous work of Kutcher and his supporters in waging a fight with big stakes for the democratic rights for all of us. Kutcher traveled the country, speaking to meetings and winning support from trade unions, student and faculty groups, and civil rights and civil liberties organizations. This eight-year fight was successful in beating back the government attack on Kutcher, and provides important examples and lessons of organized leadership much needed by workers and farmers in today's world.

knew Jimmy Kutcher before I read this book. This book is really his words his speech, and his honesty. What is most important here is the story of a young working class fighter in New Jersey before World War II drawn into the class struggle and the socialist movement by the fight against unemployment, against American fascism, against Roosevelt's war drive, into the Socialist Workers Party. Wounded in the second World War, losing his legs, walking on double crutches, still fighting for workers rights, still fighting for socialism. The McCarthy Truman Eisenhower, Democrat Republican, Liberal Conservative capitalist witch hunt tried to take away his pension. Jimmy fought. The Socialist Workers Party fought. When you fought the witch hunt--and not many did, they denied, they took the fifth, they left the country--but when you fought for your right to fight for socialism, you won.
Read this book, learn from a simple basic man, how he came to the worker struggle, to socialism, how he fought, how he won. You will meet a real person here, as well as learn of his story.

A really good gift for someone who likes biographies with some fascinating (and makes-you-proud-to-have-a-backbone) social content. James Kutcher, young socialist militant comes back from the war with no legs - and then Veterans Affairs fires him for his political views. His parents are faced with losing their subsidized apartment because of their son, but stick by him. And he tours the union halls of the US, being given rousing support by workers who are very far from worrying about the red menace in their midst. Makes you realize how deep the support for everyone's right to have their own opinion goes - and why the US administration launched the McCarthy witch hunt. My God, US workers were not a docile bunch.

I was born in 1951, and didn't really pay serious attention to F1 until Mario made a serious run at the title. This book has gone a long way toward filling a major hole in my understanding of Grand Prix racing. It's a superb book. The writing and the photos are first rate. I wouldn't have imagined that I would find the early cars as interesting as Ludvigsen made them. I had no idea that GP cars had as much power as they did, as early as they did. Coupled with the so-called tires of the time, and the agricultural "suspensions", Ludvigsen has given me an inkling of the courage and skill of the drivers who drove some of those beasts. Now I'm reading Classic Racing Engines, but that will be another review...

This book covers the period very well, giving a detailed overview of each "sub-era" nicely, without reverting into a who-finished-where-for-each-race format. It includes articles from the period from vintage magazines, photos (including some nice color photos from the early '50s) and illustrations on every page, detailed descriptions of significant technological advances, as well as the personalities of the day. It's a nice intro for those unfamiliar with the period, and a nice review for those who are. My favorite part: the chapter covering the "Silver Arrows" from the '30s, Mercedes and Auto Union. Although it's titled "The Front Engined Era," Ludvigsen also covers the early rear engined cars as well, such as Cisitalia's Porsche-designed Type 360, the Alfa Romeo Tipo 512, and, of course, the Cooper-Climax.

Classic Grand Prix Cars provides an excellent history of the Formula 1 era from 1906-60, with liberal doses of vintage black and white photos accompanying information on the sports cars and engineers which powered them. Prior fans of auto racing history in general and Formula 1 in particular will find Classic Grand Prix Cars a keepsake history packed with lively descriptions and technical insights on the cars. Very highly recommended for all Grand Prix racing fans!