I Books

Not being an avid reader or attender of stage plays, I had never heard of Christopher Durang until five or six years ago, when I stumbled upon a cable-produced adaptation of his play "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You." Irreverent humor lampooning religious belief systems is a favorite genre of mine, along with gun-wielding nuns, so I wasted no time in picking up this collection of short plays.

While Durang is basically a humorist, many of his plays involve the lampooning of other plays. This can be a detriment to a reader who, like me, is unable to pick out the subtle stabs at the set design and dialog patterns of other well known playwrites. But it is a minor stumbling block, and not a mjor obstacle to enjoy Durang's offbeat sense of humor.

If you aren't hip to the stage scene, but still enjoy humor with an edge, do what I did. Pick up this collection for "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You", then peruse the rest with an open mind.

After reading this book, I fell in love with it and am determined to be the proud owner of every single thing Christopher Durang has EVER written! I think he is the most brillian playwright alive, I absolutely idolize him, I'm applying to the college he is a professor at in the hopes of getting a class with him. His plays are so amazing and clever and witty and insightful, I'm directing 'Wanda's Visit' next year and am so enthusiastic about it that I've already blocked and lighted the entire thing. Would be an absolute dream for anyone to direct or perform in any of his works, I highly recommend anything he's ever written. Ever.

When I was a senior in high school (way back in '97), I took a class called "Dramatic Text and Performance." In previous years, the class had read and performed morality plays and classical drama, but our professor picked this book as our text for the semester. Never before or since have I laughed so hard in any class. I just wish I had stolen the textbook when I had the chance!

Christopher Durang was the playwright of choice for my high school speech team when it came to picking pieces for ensembles or duos. Many will most likely see why after reading some of the one-acts in this brilliant collection. These one-acts include:

A Stye of the Eye- Jake is a hillbilly in his thirties. He is, in the words of Durang, a "rage-a-holic". Infuriated by his actress wife's latest play, Agnes is Odd, where she plays an insane nun who babbles incoherently in Latin, he freaks out and supposedly kills her, only for his "good" brother Frankie to find out that she's not really dead, and then she falls in love with him. Jake finds out, explodes and kills his brother for cheating with his wife. The only catch is, Frankie and Jake are not really brothers, they are two sides of the same person.

Naomi in the Living Room- Naomi is an eccentric woman, who likes to give tours of her house, even to her son John, who used to live there, and his wife Johnna.

Business Lunch at the Russian Tea Room- Melissa is a Hollywood agent with a lot of outlandish ideas. She's heard from others that this guy named Chris is a great writer, and she tries to sell him on the idea of writing a screenplay, either a remake of Cruising/Bugsy Malone, or a story about a priest and a rabbi who fall in love, and then, both get sex changes, unbeknownst to each other.

DMV Tyrant- James Agnes' temporary license has expired so he must pay a visit to the Division of Motor Vehicles, where he comes face to face with a DMV lady from Hell.

Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All- Sister Mary is a crazy nun (insanity and eccentricity seem to be a running motif for Durang) who gives lectures on Heaven and Hell, and fires guns in church.

Other one-acts in this collection are 1-900-Desperate; Mrs. Sorken; Funeral Parlor; John and Mary Doe; For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls; Medea; Nina in the Morning; Canker Sores and Other Distractions; The Hardy Boys and the Mystery of Where Babies Come From; Wanda's Visit; The Book of Leviticus Show; Woman Stand-up; Women in a Playground; Phyllis & Xenobia; Desire, Desire, Desire; One Minute Play; Diversions; The Nature and Purpose of the Universe; 'dentity Crisis; Death Comes to Us All, Mary Agnes; Titanic and The Actor's Nightmare.

I loved this book. It is a wonderful collection of Durang's plays, though not my absolute favorites. I loved Beyond Therapy, and I think some of these plays could be worked into longer ones, though I'm not sure whether they'll be very funny then. If you liked this book, I also recommend Take Ten: New 10-Minute Plays, edited by Eric Lane. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

I finally found a copy of this book.Knowing how good these "Complete idiots" series books are this book is just what I had hoped for.

This book explains I-Ching in simple to understand English with some technical explanations throughout.An ideal book for anyone even if you are just starting to learn I-Ching.Its is an enjoyable read.One of the most enjoyable I-Ching books I own.

Each hexagram is covered by a double page and covered in great detailed but doesnt drag on.Step by step instructions,advice on what kinds of questions to ask and how to interpret your reading.Even has a section on Feng Shui.I like the hexagram reference section at the front of the book,in colour too.Nice touch.One of the more thorough books on I-Ching.

I hope the publishers reprint this book.

I think this is surprisingly good, one of the top five for sure. I would recommend it. HOwever, after using it over a long period of time I began to notice the commentaries had some peculiarities. For one thing, the man is telling you to "sever the relationship" way too often. To me, that goes against the philosophy of the i ching which is to bend with the wind and take the moderate approach. Running around severing your ties with various people is an extreme act and not moderate. I'd be wary of that, if I were you. And it's not like he just says it in one or two places, but in SEVERAL places. One of the hexagrams he even names "severing" so that every line is about getting rid of someone in your life. Even on hexagram 50 (the cauldron) line five, which usually is a very positive line (about the handles on the cauldron being upgraded to jade or something) he says something like, "people have betrayed you--rid yourself of them." I don't know how he got that idea out of that line. No one else has anything remotely with such a negative connotation.

He also says often that people are gossiping about you, betraying you, etc. It's kind of like he's paranoid. There's a time and a place for that but I don't think people in general are so much like that as this version indicates and, besides, this guy needs to think more about forgiving people for their bad behavior instead of jettisoning them out of his life like one of the machines at a target practice range that hurls clay pigeons out onto the grass: sever the relationship! sever the relationship! sever the relationship! It's really too much.

That said, this version has a lot going for it, just be warned. I noticed it's also over-priced for one that's used right now. It's not THAT good--I'd just buy the one by alfred huang and stephen karcher's may be a little overly optimistic at times but is excellent. Good luck.

Elizabeth Moran and Master Joseph Yu did a wonderful job in writing "The Complete Idiot's Guide to The I Ching". Yijing is a powerful divination tool in traditional Chinese culture. It has been intriguing and difficult to understand thoroughly. This book is well organized in explaining from the historical background to tts modern day application, as well as how to utilize the knowledge further to open our mind and improve our life. It is thoroughly enjoyable reading. Thank you for a job well done.

While new to I Ching, I find myself fortunate to find this work. It brings a structured simplicity with comprehensiveness that is essential in order to give the I Ching veracity and approachability. Excellent.

Usually, the "Complete Idiot's" and "Dummies" books give you the basic information on their subject, with some depth, but nothing too encompassing. I was very surprised with this book -- it gives in-depth information about the I Ching and its history, as well as touching upon other things like synchronicity. The translation of the I Ching included in the book is also rather well done, and better than some stand-alone translations (for example, "The Taoist I Ching"). I learned a lot about the I Ching from this book. Recommended.

This wonderful collection of true stories is deeply moving. What an uplifting and encouraging book!

Bought the book last week and we are passing it around the house-everyone wants to read The Day I Met God, we have nearly worn it out! Theis collection of stories will touch your heart and move you as you see God's faithfulness. Get an extra copy for a friend!

We're buying four more copies to give away as gifts, and we'll probably buy more later. It can be enjoyed by everyone, no matter where they are on their spiritual journey. This book was so fun (and easy) to read. My wife and I loved reading the wide range of fascinating testimonials to God's life-changing power! We felt compelled to share these stories with others. Plus, where else can you find a book that is truly invaluable and inspiring for less than 9 bucks!

I couldn't put the book down. I kept reading, story after story, waiting for one to be a "dud." But I was never disappointed. Each story was equally inspiring and filled me with encouragement and hope. There are as many different stories as there are people writing them, all unique, all different.

THE DAY I MET GOD is filled with inspiring and amazing stories of people who had an encounter with God....even the most unlikely of individuals. There's a story for everyone in this book. It will reach anyone and soften the hardest heart! If you have a friend who is need of God's healing power or truth, this is the book for them. These stories will lead them to God! I particularly was moved by the story of the young man was robbing a man who agreed to give him his money, but told the burglar that he needed to give his heart to the Lord. There's is no doubt in mind that this victim must have prayed for the man who robbed him, because he was later led to the Lord. The criminal was really haunted by the man's words until he gave his life to the Lord. I won't spoil the surprise of how he turned his life around! A great evangelical tool, this is a book that Christians can give to their non-Christian friends without fear of offending them. This book''s gentle stories speak loudly of everyone's need for God and also it shows how we are all individuals and how God meets us not just where we are but in such a special way that it validates how well he knows his children.

I see a lilac, smell chocolate-chip cookies baking, hear a certain tone in my sister's voice, and I miss my mother. Emotions flood back. Things we shared that I ache to share again. But there are new feelings as well. Things I never told her. Feelings we never shared. How I wish I could tell her. Tell her the new grandbaby is on the way. Tell her the other children are fine. Tell her that I have lived longer, seen more of life, and I understand more. I have changed. She might have as well.

I am not alone. Lisa R. Delman has tapped into the deep need of many women to share deep feelings with their mothers, or to enunciate them, even knowing that the mothers are not there to read the words. When Delman's own mother lay near death, she realized the depth of her feelings. Fortunately, her mother recovered. Delman wrote a series of letters telling her mother all she had learned...

"By writing to my mother instead of about her, I was able to see reflections of myself and become accountable for my part of our relationship. As I embraced her challenges and triumphs in a compassionate way, I was graciously able to accept my own humanity."

Taking her new knowledge, Delman set up an Internet letter-writing contest encouraging other women to write letters to their mothers. She received more that a thousand entries. from all over the world. Many of the letters appear in this book. Letters that concern not only grief and disappointment, but also courage, gratitude and love. Some are written and have been shared with the writers' mothers. Others, such as mine, were delivered only through the heart.

This is a good book to browse. The variety of letters--in each section, prefaced by Delman's commentary--will evoke familiar feelings and help each reader to enunciate her own. The book closes with "Ten Ways to Open Your Heart to Your Mother," a useful guide which Delman says will lead you to the right place. "The rest will follow."

To learn more about Delman's work and her on-going letter writing contests, visit her website.

by Patricia Nordyke Pando
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

This book is an amazing look at daghters relationships with their moms. The letters go beyond all cultural barriers to connect the hearts of women everywhere. If you are a women...then you are a daughter. Read this book and be inspired by the heartfelt letters of women from around the globe.

There are a lot of unsaid words and feelings bottled inside most of us. With my mother now in her eighties, I need to learn to let these out and to share them with her.
Discovering this book may help me break through the silence. I hope so.
Here's the author's words from the Letters From The Heart website: "I hope you take the women's insights in the book, Dear Mom, as a guide to explore your own relationship with your mother, and most important, with yourself.
May you make it a priority to tend to unresolved matters and discover the purpose of compassion, peace, and love throughout your life."
Wouldn't it be wonderful if all daughters could take this inspiration and achieve an improved relationship?

Lisa did a brilliant job of creating the concept and then weaving the selected letters into a masterpiece of human emotion. I was able to look inside of so many incredibly expressive women's worlds to be captivated by their heartfelt feelings of gratitude, sorrow, shame, anger, guilt, abandonment, forgiveness, grief, love and in so many situations there was resolution, peace and wholeness. I found it refreshing to be able to leave my fast paced hectic day and slip away for some precious time to experience the journey of Dear Mom, I've Always Wanted You to Know as the Letters from the Heart truly touched my heart. As a daughter of a wonderful mother that is finer than a priceless gem and as a mother of two teenage daughters, I laughed, cried and wanted more when I reached the end. Life can take people in so many directions and the process of finding your home can sometimes be a letter away. I highly recommend this book!!!

It goes without saying that the relationship between mothers and daughters is a complex one. Not only that, but it changes over time, so that neither mothers or daughters are ever quite the same from year to year, or even month to month. The result is an unpredictable relationship that is often difficult, but also rewarding. Lisa Delman's anthology began when she wrote her own letters to her mother. But it has moved from the personal to the many, and in doing so this book of letters touches on the universal. There are so many good letters in this volume, and they run the scale of emotions. I was particular impressed by the work of Judy Brand, who writes so movingly about making a momentous decision to save her mother's life following an aneurysm. I was also touched by Cynthia Jean Heidercker's story about being deaf, and how her mother labored to make life easier for her. These letters are all from the heart, some hurt and others made healthy again, by the primary relationships in their lives. The book offers life lessons for us all.

I curiously picked it up in the library last night and finished in a few hours. It is really well researched and smoothly written. I really enjoyed all the quotes it is filled with and the pictures are well chosen.

This book compares human and animal slavery in a way you can never ever forget. The words and pictures are unforgettable. You will feel the feelings of those humans and those animals who are used (and being used now) as slaves.

Read this book, and change your life! (it really helps) Many thanks to Amazon.com for recommending this book to me...

Marjorie Spiegel has captured the essence of violence - domination and control. She presents an accurate portrayal and case that violence towards non-human animals holds the key and ultimate solution to the creation of a violencefree society. Her ideas and images run deep and should be required reading in our schools and homes. This brief, but to the point manuscript speaks volumes to the pain and suffering we have created as a result of so called human progress.

This is an unforgettable and powerful book, by an author who has captured the essence of violence; and shows how violence towards non-human animals holds the key and ultimate solution to the creation of a violence-free society. Alice Walker, who writes the Foreward says that once this book is read, it will take a lifetime to forget. Others say it should be required reading in our schools and homes. It provocatively reveals the similarities between the violence humans have wrought against other humans, and our treament of non-human animals. It is brief (128 pages) but is a chilling testament, well illustrated with photos and sketches, and altough a small book it speaks volumes to the pain and suffering we have created as a result of so-called human progress.
Majorie Spiegal is a documentary photographer and author of several books. Her fields of study include biology, philosophy, environmental studies, history, nutrition and medicine. In 1989, she founded IDEA (Institute for Development of Earth Awareness), a non-profit educational organisation whose mission synthesizes three areas of concern: environmental, human and animal issues.
In this startling book, Spiegal gives a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves, and points out the 'dreaded comparison' between the pain felt by abused human beings and the pain felt by abused non-human beings, recognising it as the same pain. Why is it unacceptable to treat humans 'like animals', but it is considered a proper manner in which to treat non-human animals? For some, this book my be too challenging to their most closly-held beliefs, but it is truly a consciousness-raising exercise. Most people would say they are against slavery, yet animal slavery is alive and well even in the most 'civilized' society. The author draws parallels, and the illustrations stunnily juxtapose those of captured black slaves and those of captured non-human animals, sometimes wearing the same sort of restraining equipment. There are illustrations of branding to calves and of slaves, the muzzling of dogs and of slaves, the auctioning of slaves and of non-human animals, and many other examples. Families were torn apart, just as calves are ripped from their mothers without even the chance of a lick. There is undisputed evidence of non-human animals sufering the intolerable pain of mourning. In today's factory farmong, chicks never see a hen, cows and sows are kept in stalls, with their young taken from them almost immediately after birth.
The author covers many related subjects, including the language of oppression, transportation, experimentation, food production, hunting, profits and power. A term like 'breaking a horse'- which really does man breaking the spirit of the horse, to tame just as 'uppity' slaves were tamed. Photos of sheep and cattle being transported, are shown with sketches of slave ships; 15 million slaves survived some thirty or forty million transported to the West, and there is a ghastly mortality rate today for cattle and sheep transported from Australia to the East. Hunting continues around the world, with th UK House of Lords in March this year voting to continue hunting with hounds. In the US the object of desire for many hunters is to get a buck's head complete with antlers, stuffed and hung over the fireplace. Many travellers today search for items such as a gorilla's hand for a paper-weight, exotic skins and other tropies, and so many other creatures including whales being hunted. As segregation of blacks was a means for committee to conceal a disturbing reality from the wider society, so today's secrecy protects a profitable but disgusting cruelty to non-human beings. What goes on in laboratories, in abbatoirs, in factory farm? Nowadays in place of cows, sheep, pigs and chickens living peaceably on farms, we see long sheds. Those in power used to say that if slavery were ended, the economics of society would collapse, but it didn't. Today's society that relies very heavily on the exploitation of animals, says the same sort of thing. But the author doesn't give up hope; she urges on her readers to the realization that the non-human we enslave and treat as things, are alive, and hopes that this realization will change our actions. This book is one that you will keep referring to, and it does have a comphrehensive index. Jeffrey Masson, author of When Elephants Weep, said The Dreaded Comparison is a wonderful book, and he urged everyone to read it. So do I.

People long for a more in-depth study on this subject...unfortunately, unless you write it yourself...it's not getting published. The animal rights movement is severely fractioned (non-white and white, feminist and non-feminist, old school (the Singer generation and new school), and the former followers of PeTA dogma. Per every ZOGBY survey, the majority of Vegans are of African origin. This book GIVES the facts...use your brain and come to your own conclusions.

One John Domini novel equals about three semesters of creative writing. Accordingly, his latest book, "Earthquake I. D.," qualifiies him for a doctorate.
The book is about an earthquake, except that it isn't. It's about an accident that should have killed, a marriage that did die, and how a family teetering on oblivion manages to survive an earthly upheaval.
No ex-newspaperman should be allowed to review such a novel as "Earthquake I. D." News writers summarize in the first paragraph, then fill in the details until they run out of room, maybe 21 inches.
Domini, however, tints his narrative with subtlety, sympathy and shock; the reader has to pay attention.
That done, "Earthquake I.D." leaves the reader with a remarkable sense of fulfillment.

Walt Shotwell, retired Des Moines Register reporter/columnist

EARTHQUAKE I. D. joins a not-so-lengthy list of great novels about Americans in Italy: these, a middle-class family led by an Italian American wife and mother, heroically adrift in her marriage and in a city she's had foisted upon her. Domini deftly fleshes out not only the emotional life of her family and its middle child, the "miracolino," but also contemporary Naples itself, a city of refugees, hucksters, facilitators and half-samaritans. The lives of all Domini's characters play themselves out in colorful threads of plot, which snake through the novel like medieval alleys and catacombs, and which Domini masterfully brings together in a series of climactic scenes that brought great joy to this middle-class American reader.

The colorful chaos of Naples is a huge part of this book's intriguing plot, filled with fully developed characters. Great holiday and great book club stuff! The central character, Barbara, is a rare case of a woman past forty, given the complexity and sensuality of an ingenue.

...and put away wet, to use an old horseman's analogy. I heard the first chapter at a reading by John in Des Moines, Iowa, a place that is full of pleasant surprises from time to time. "Earthquake ID" goes beyond pleasant surprise: it is a concoction rather like a cup of cider I had recently at a local coffee house, made of premium apple squeezings and spiced about as perfectly as is possible. After the reading, I had to buy a copy and finish the book. I couldn't be left dangling. Like some orchestral tunes, the book seems to finish several times in a grand triumph of converging plot lines, only to present yet another cliffhanging moment. Perhaps I am most impressed with Domini's development of the setting, clearly from an intimate familiarity with late modern life in Naples and its possibilities for a great story, and the credible characters he creates in the entire Lulucita family and the other major players. The characters twist and turn in the Neapolitan wind, their conflicts and their resolve driving the story along to its convincing finale, rendered (for me, at least) with that moment in which I wondered, if I just turned the page, would there be yet one more chapter of intrigue?

If you want fast-paced, believable characters and a story that could not occur anywhere else on the planet (so many stories seem utterly transportable to the location of choice), read this wonderful book.

I enjoyed EARTHQUAKE I.D. for the snappy, worldly voice; for
the character and point of view of Barbara, a menopausal American wife and mother contemplating divorce as her husband drags their family to Naples, Italy, and takes a job in the earthquake relief effort--for her spiritual pilgrimage, actually; for the depiction of her marriage and family life; for her eleven-year-old son Paul's miraculous powers, especially the "interviews" where he describes his healing of others in terms of orgasms; for the plotting of a shady official's transit paper intrigue; and overall, for the way Domini weaves all this and more into a symbolic evocation of Naples. Barbara's discovery of a trusted old priest humping her elderly mother-in-law (a great character) is sublimely outrageous and Domini earns his nods to Fellini as well as to Dante. Bravo!

No, I did not read this book, but I did read the reviews and they are all written by the same author..."a customer" This tells me that the author is desperate to sell her book and dishonest in the process. Think about that before you push buy button.

It really doesn't. This book tells how much easier it can be once you set you mind to it. It's mostly willpower and sticking to a plan. This is as good as any of the others out there.

To the author of this book, I just want to say a big thank you for being so honest with us.

I bought into the low carb craze, starting with a popular food combining plan, then to Atkins. I know these plans work for some, but not for me. I started suffering from severe fatigue, chronic mood swings that were hard to control (this from being so darn tired all the time), never lost weight, but what was my breaking point was when I started having irregular heart beats, my arms would tingle and go numb, my hands would swell and icth (that, and being on bi-polar meds when I knew something else was wrong). Turns out I was reacting to Splenda. I thought I was having heart attacks! Scared me to death! Then I realized, how do you low carb if you can't use sugar subs, when the whole point of the diet is to be sugar free. Well, a light bulb went off and something clicked. We think low fat diets are bad because they emphasise replacing fat with sugars and chemically enhanced foods, so low carbers won't touch low fat stuff because of the hidden sugars and chemicals, yet they will eat low carb stuff with chemical sweeteners, this makes no sense!
At that point, now that I will never touch a artificial sweetener in my life, I needed to learn how to balance foods so I can eat real foods, including fat and sugar, to be healthy and lose weight, and this book did that for me. It makes so much sense. It is hard to learn portion control, to eat only when hungry and to stop when full, not stuffed, but everyday it gets easier and easier. I do make good choices over bad (whole grains over processed, fruit over desserts, etc, but now that I eat from all food groups, I get full with less food, something I never experienced with low carb.

Its nice to be free of the "diets". All the money spent on diet cookbooks and special ingredients never did anything for me, but taking the advice of this book has done a lot, and it cost me nothing more than the cover price. No specialty ingredients, no plan to follow or lists of foods I can eat or need to avoid, just good old fashioned common sense.

Thank you!!! I wish more people could read this book. Especially all those suffering from 1 diet to the next.
And by the way, since I have stopped doing low carb and eat like a real person, no more mood swings. Gone, all of them, and no more fatigue! I'm able to work out daily now and live my life, something that seemed so out of reach just 2 months ago.

I'm done with dieting for good!!!!!! I can't believe how I've overlooked this common sense approach. I can't beleive how I've been fooled. This book deserves to be right up there with the best of them. It's not gimicky and it's not starvation and it's not eating a million pounds of bacon. It's just good advice to be had. If everyone would stop and open their eyes like this book advises, there would be NO overweight people in America! Time to wake up, everyone! And, no, there is no simple plan in this book, it just tells you to eat what you want but don't gorge!!! That's the problem, we can't stop feeding our faces or having an immese fear of starvation, just like she says. I'm just so glad I found it. I'm serious. If you want to lose weight, like I did, read this book. If you're happy being fat, skip it cause her advice WON'T sit well if you're in denial!!!

The thing I liked about this book was that it wasn't just about losing weight, it had lots of social commentary--my favorite being the whole "it's genetics" routine. The author really hits upon some major hot spots within the book and takes on cooperations who help make us all "fat".

Sure, the program is relatitevly easy and does seem to work--oddly enough, who would think that eating less could contribute to weight loss? But the real reason to read this book is the comments on the weight loss industry. I have to totally agree and say that the diet industry doesn't want any of us any thinner. If they did, wouldn't a few of their diets work?

All in all, this is a good book not only because the program can actually help people to lose weight, but because it might even open a few eyes and ears. Just thinking about all the things that conspire to make us eat more and more makes me sick. Therefore, I am very glad I read this book.

This book might be the most widely read among Bloch¡¯s works who is the pioneer of Annal school. This book typifies the methodology of Annal school. History as a science took off in the 19th century. But Bloch argued that it was not history but just chronicles of events and political episodes. Bloch posed the fundamental questions: ¡®What is the history?¡¯ and ¡®What does history serve for?¡¯ To be a science, the object of history should be not the particular but the universal. Bloch did not think the universal law is possible in history. Then, the object of historical research should be the relation which may refer not to the law but to structure. This structure sets the boundary (or in Braudel¡¯s word, the possible and the impossible) on the everyday life, and has the not-so-easily changeable long-term duration (or in Braudel¡¯s term, longue duree). Whereas Braudel¡¯s trilogy, ¡®Civilization and Capitalism¡¯ is about the capitalism as longue duree (for more detail, see my reviews on those volumes), Bloch¡¯s ¡®Feudal Society¡¯ is about the feudalism as longue duree.
Marxists and others maintained the feudalism originated from the sudden and violent collision between Roman society and German society. It¡¯s the child born from the violent and coercive marriage. But Bloch argues that resulting form of feudalism had its origin not directly in German invasion but in subsequent invasions of the Moslem, the Norman, and the Hungarian. These added up to the uncontrollable chaos all over Western Europe, and ended in the collapse of effective ruling of the state. Feudal system as we know emerged in this stalemate which Frank empire and other states of the time faced. State apparatus could not be maintained for state could not pay bureaucrats salary. Frank empire pioneered the alternative system which was later known as feudalism. What characterizes feudalism is the unique social type based on the principle of subordination and custody. The principle is similar to the patron/client relationship of Roman age. But feudal one is based on the principle of contract which is premised on reciprocity. Put another way, feudalism is the network of reciprocal relationship of rights and responsibility from king to serf. Ruling class could not wield power over serf in unilateral way. In this vein, feudal system is both social (between classes) and political (among ruling class) relationships. Bloch maintained this relationship should be called as feudalism. It¡¯s a social type which is not limited to the economic terrain as Marxists argued.

I suppose I should be of two minds about Marc Bloch's "Feudal Society," a French work from the late 1930s which became available in English in the early 1960s, and was still fresh and exciting back when I was taking a freshman course on "Western Civilization." In theory, the book (and it is one book, although published in paperback in two volumes) has two major drawbacks. In practice, I find it solid, admirable, and well worth reading.

One drawback is the author's romantic glorification of the medieval peasant -- Norman Cantor has called attention to this in his "Inventing the Middle Ages," pointing out that Bloch gave it Marxist trappings. I call it romantic because I suspect that Bloch owed at least as much to Jules Michelet's nineteenth-century historiography, initially with a veneer of "science" added. Of course, Bloch actually went out and did fundamental work in the archives, and tried to get a real picture of how, in the long term, life had been lived by ordinary people, instead of relying on Michelet-style suppositions. (Yes, Bloch's "Annales" school is supposed to be the antithesis of the enthusiastic Michelet; but, while Bloch established its methodology in reaction to existing approaches, in Bloch's last book "The Historian's Craft," Michelet is still among "our great forebears.")

The second is the concept of "Feudalism" itself, which these days makes anyone with a serious background in medieval studies very uncomfortable. A very good case can be made that "Feudalism" is largely a set of modern constructs, re-invented several times since the sixteenth century to suit different legal, political, and social purposes, and presented as an "Historic Fact" alongside contemporary and later "discoveries" such as "Anglo-Saxon Liberty," "The Norman Yoke," and "Our Ancestors the Gauls." (A short, pointed, introduction to one aspect of the problem is J.G.A. Pocock's "The Ancient Constitution and the Feudal Law: A Study of English Historical Thought in the Seventeenth Century.")

If it means anything for modern-day historians, the term applies to how control of land, and its revenue, was linked to social status, political authority, judicial functions, and reciprocal military obligations -- a large, messy, topic. So the feeling is growing that the word is best avoided, as carrying too much baggage, and too likely to be invoked as a substitute for thought.

Indeed, as picked up by Karl Marx, Feudalism, equated largely with landlord-tenant agriculture instead of sub-divided political and judicial authority, became a theoretical concept to be applied to a variety of extra-European societies, as a stage in an inevitable social evolution. In this role, it produced, or at least became a part of, bitter, and literally murderous, disputes over the nature of Russian and Chinese society, among others.

Even with all this in mind, and many years after first reading it, I find Bloch's emphasis on the material basis of medieval society refreshing, and think that he carried it out with reasonable consistency. Whatever his agenda, he went looking for real data, and adjusted theory to match it, which is where he parts company with both Michelet and Marx. That later work has revealed a more complex, and in some ways different, picture does not discredit his effort. And having the hardworking peasant as a sort of collective hero helps hold together discussions of things like field rotation, strip cultivation, and plough-teams, which most readers will not find all that gripping on their own.

More important, in some ways, Bloch presented feudal *society* -- not some imaginary entity called "Feudalism" or "The Feudal System" -- as a whole set of ways of ordering people and institutions, and making resources available to various parts of a diversified ruling class. The unsystematic nature of actuality is not denied, but it is classified in terms of common elements.

This getting down to practical realities may not sound so impressive, but a couple of generations of scholars had been smacking each other over the head (in this case, figuratively) in an argument of whether "Feudalism" was *really* Roman or Germanic, with partisan sub-divisions on whether either origin was a Good Thing or a Bad Thing. Somehow, figuring out how it worked had seemed less important than what Mircea Eliade called "The Prestige of Origins" -- a form of mythical thought as much as a topic of historical research.

So instead of a broad theory of a single "origin," we get "The Growth of Ties of Dependence" (volume one of the paperback edition), followed by "Social Classes and Political Organization," showing the extent to which the pattern of rural hierarchies did, or did not, carry over into "higher" or "more advanced" developments.

Although probably much more accurate for France than for other parts of Europe, and for some centuries more than others, the book does manage to present a (by and large) convincing picture of how Europe re-organized itself between the collapse of Rome and the High Middle Ages. A reminder of the people who made it all possible, but were usually left out of the chronicles, and certainly are missing from most of the chansons de geste and romances, is not a bad basis for a book.

Still, largely for reasons of documentation, Bloch is sometimes rather better at explaining how the military aristocracy was supported, than at presenting the daily lives of the people who were doing the work. His analysis of how some knights and officials had "fiefs" which were simply stipends, or even what we might consider cafeteria privileges, is an interesting sidelight to "life on a medieval manor" approaches. It also reveals that methods of supporting the clergy and the nobility were not all that different, which shouldn't be a big surprise, given the limited options available.

So I continue to think of Bloch's "Feudal Society" as a valuable contribution, to be read and pondered, although not taken at face value, by anyone seriously interested in medieval European society, or supposedly comparable systems elsewhere. Since it has also generated a half-century of follow-ups, attacks, and defenses, it is also a good book to have read as part of getting acquainted with a wider literature.

I read this book for a contemporary historiography class. As has been told by other reviewers, Marc Bloch is the founder (together with Lucien Febvre) of the Annales school. As a non-historian, I won't comment on its importance for historiography, but as a very valuable read for non-historians who want to understand the history of Western civilization reading the best books that have been written on the subject. This is my first book on the middle-ages and, although it took me quite a while to finish it (about a month) and it is definitively not an easy read, since it is an extraordinarily erudite work, it is a very worthwhile read. It provides a fairly good picture of how the feudal society developed after the Hungarian, Muslim, and Scandinavian invasions, which allowed it to flourish. I would point out two basic concepts that were of particular interest to me (although not explicit in the text). First, the concept of sovereignty. It is particularly interesting visually, since land was divided among an infinite number of lords as a bottom-up chain starting from the lowest peasant through the prince or monarch. So land belonged to everyone and to no one at the same time. This is a very original idea of sovereignty, rather opposite to modern sovereignty. The second concept is that of the "hommage", which I would call contract. The hommage between serf and lord was not that of subordination entirely, but it was neither that of equals--such as the contracts of the bourgoisie were, that we can trace back to the XIIth century, and personally I was moved by Bloch's analyses of this first contract among equals--, and it was originally voluntary. According to Bloch, this hommage influenced many other contracts we know of, namely marriage, courtois love, and even representative parliamentary governments.
To conclude with, I would say that my historiography teacher told me this is the best work on the middle-ages, so I decided to read it, and it wasn't easy, it took me a while, but it was very rewarding. I don't recommend it for people who don't read a lot, but if you enjoy history and want to know what the feudal society was all about, this is a very rewading book as an introduction to the middle-ages. I strongly recommend it.

Bloch's work is one of the ten most important and influential books on medieval Europe. Bloch displays true excellence in sholarship and narration. Nothing is stated without factual documentation to support it, and no information is carried beyond its logical conclusions. It is essential to read this two volume work before moving too deeply into medieval studies. Combine this work with Strayer's Feudalism (out of print, unfortunately) and you will have a good understanding of what society was like in a good portion of the Middle Ages.

Certainly an undeniable classic in the field of "history of the middle ages". As other reviewers have already noted, Bloch was one of the initial members of what grew to become the "annales" school of western history, though, to be fair, he died before you could call it a "school" or "movement".

Volume one of the two volume set looks at the growth of feudalism in western society, and by western I'm talking about Northern France, Western Germany, England and Northern Italy. Bloch's main concern in this volume is setting the conditions which led to the developmen of feudalism from 800 AD to 1000 AD and then describing the various forms that feudalism took.

The book is well translated, and I found it hard to argue with much of the thesis. I too have read Norman Cantor's "the Making of the Middle Ages" where he calls Bloch a Marxist (and maligns the entire Annales school). I've also read more recent productions from the Annales school. I have to say, based on this particular book, I don't really see where Bloch is a)romanticizing the peasant (another Cantor criticism) or b) a marxist.

It seemed to me that Bloch's explanation for the growth of feudalism was, basically, that central government decayed to the point where various muck a mucks needed to find an alternative way to "rally the troops" in the face of frequent small to mid size invasions. Feudalism, with its emphasis on individual obligation and quid pro pro, was an attempt to remedy the lack of communication over long distances and lack of central authority.

The peasants didn't really figure in this book at all, except near the end. Certainly, one wouldn't accuse this book of being filled with marxist/post-modern/decontructionist gobbeldy gook. This is a must read for those interested in the field, especially lay men.

Mr. Boyer has woven a wonderful and exciting tale through time to tell the "true" story of what really happened at the Little Big Horn. Even readers nor particularly knowledgeable of this topic, or sympathetic toward Custer for that matter, will find great interest in this novel. While a work of fiction, Boyer, who painstakingly researches his subjects, has introduced plausible facts based on solid historical research and has turned devotees of the Custer Myth on their heads. Custer and other true-life characters are revealed as the human beings they were: their strengths, their weaknesses, their excesses, and their loves. Custer, Terry, and Me, is the result of a master storyteller thinking through the questions which history had left unresolved. Readers will be instantly taken by the richness of this story, matched against the frontier and the peoples who populated it.

With Custer and his fate the topic of a couple of hundred books currently in print, one might fairly ask, "Why another book on Custer?" The answer becomes evident within a very few pages of this book.

Young Tom Ballard is drawn into the midst of the Custer circle, and, through his eyes and experiences, Custer and his crowd (Terry, the Custer brothers, Reno, Benteen, and the rest) jump off the pages as genuine, if not always appealing, personalities. Moreover, even though the reader knows the inevitable outcome from the start, Ballard (i.e. Boyer) presents the reader with a new and plausible explanation of Custer's activities at the Little Big Horn on that that fateful June day.

In Custer, Terry and Me, G. G. Boyer unfolds an absorbing tale founded upon sound historical research. A one sit read, it would make a wonderful movie-highly recommended!!

G.G. Boyer has managed what might seem impossible: putting a thought-provoking new spin to the story of Custer and the Little Big Horn. And what a spin! Boyer is a noted historian as well as a widely published author of western fiction, and those two elements come together here to bring these people and their time to life. A classic of Americana that I'd highly recommend to the Custer buff and the general reader alike.

I thoroughly and completely enjoyed reading this book for two reasons. One: It was just plain fun, extremely readable and impossible to put down. Secondly, it was very thought provoking, providing a new and very logical twist to the Custer disaster. Boyer's use of of a first person "I was there" story teller is wonderful and believable, without being high handed or silly. And his use of "ghosts" to tie up loose ends is magnificent and a joy to watch unfold. A great read for both the history buff or the simple western fan. A classc. Jim Lockwood, Jr., Prescott, AZ

This is the most definitive biography I have ever read. He quotes extensively from John and Charles Wesley, Mrs. Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards, Ben Franklin, Whitefield himself, and a multitude of others. At times, Dallimore reports almost on a day-by-day basis. This biography reports on his life, his loves, his work, his theology, his acheivements and failures. These books are a remarkable biography considering the author lived in the middle of nowhere, USA.

The author tried to present a balanced view of Whitefield, although from the text, one can infer how much Dallimore admires Whitefield and agrees Whitefield's theology. Dallimores realizes this and goes out of his way to point out what he perceives as Whitefield's weaknesses. Most of the weaknesses occur early in his ministry.

Dallimore writes well, but at times he seems stilted. I think Dallimore misses some of Whitefield's weaknesses, but the biography is so extensive that the reader can make his or her own judgments on the matter. Another slight weakness is that Dallimore quotes so extensively that it slows down the narrative at times. On the whole though, he does a very good job.

Whitefield was an amazing man. He gave himself wholeheartedly to his ministry. This biography did a great job of placing Whitefield in his historical context.

Dallimore's Whitefield is perhaps the best biography of that great man ever written. One is taken into his life and Age. After reading 'Whitefield' one knows the man before his conversion and after his personal awakening that not only quickened his spirit, but awakened many generations to the reality of a living God. The scholarship is complete and does not slow down the exciting narrative of the life of one of the most active men of the 18th century. The coverage of the friendship and debate between Whitefield and Wesley is both sensitive and accurate conveying both the heat and the goodwill that joined and separated the two friends. The book is a boon for our less than spiritual Age and will do much to transmit the living mystery Whitefield dedicated his life to proclaim.

Well, I finally saved up the money and sprung for this two-volume full-length account of the life of George Whitefield. I had whetted my appetite on the abbreviated volume "George Whitefield: God's Anointed Servant in the Great Revival of the Eighteenth Century" by the same author. I can honestly say this is one of the best investments I've ever made. Reading the life of such a great saint--this Christ-loving, gospel-centered minister--has served to rekindle my passion for the gospel and rejuvenate the love of God in my soul more than once. I most highly recommend it.

This Volume: This is the FIRST volume of Dallimore's two-volume biography of George Whitefield. This is very important if you intend on buying one volume now and purchasing the other later. The information on the Banner of Truth (the publisher's) website is incorrect--the green volume is volume #1 (picture of Whitefield in a field surrounded by a crowd) and the red volume is #2 (picture of an older Whitefield in a church pulpit). I had to wait an extra few months to recieve the first volume before I could begin reading either. Each volume is about 600 pages in length and is chock full of stories, information and insightful commentary. Dallimore does not spare the details of the lives of those closest to Whitfield--including John Cennick, Howell Harris, Jonathan Edwards, and of course John and Charles Wesley. This first volume deals with the period of time from Whitefield's birth, through the advent of the open-air ministry and his first visit to North America and closes with his return to England in the wake of Wesley's controversial ministry.

The Subject Matter: Wow. Simply wow. I mean--who knew? I'd always heard that John Wesley was the sole founder of Methodism. In fact, the only thing I knew about George Whitefield was that he was attributed with a few neat quotes (ie. "Let the name of Whitefield perish, but Christ be glorified!", "I am weary in Thy work, but not weary of it", etc.) and that he once spoke at Jonathan Edwards' Northhampton church (at which time he left Edwards in tears). I fully expect that if it were not for this work of Dallimore, the name of Whitefield truly would be lost to persons such as myself. What I expected was another (Calvinistic) Wesley. What I found was a man whose zeal, love, holiness of life and passion for Christ seemed to equal even those I hold in highest regard (among whom are Martin Luther and Charles Spurgeon). Whitefield was a tireless worker for God and his zeal for the gospel was only matched by his selfless compassion for his fellow man. He was the first of the great open-air preachers and nudged both John and Charles Wesley into evangelistic ministry. Whitefield's life is a beautiful illustration of Christian ministry and evangelistic zeal. I cannot recommend this man highly enough.

The Author: Dallimore was a Baptist pastor and semi-prolific biographer. This two-volume biography of George Whitefield is truly Dallimore's magnum opus. He has delved deeper into the mind and heart of this great evangelist than any of his previous biographers. It is both informative and inspirational. No space feels wasted despite the length of the account and the multitudinous strands of the storyline are brought together in a masterful way.

The Reader: Who should read this book? I would recommend it most highly to pastors and other evangelical Christians whose zeal for God and spiritual wells have begun to run dry. Evangelical Calvinistic Christians will get the greatest benefit from this read. But it may also prove of great interest to those of the Methodist heritage. Also, all who are called to the ministry of evangelism (teaching and preaching) could not but benefit from this work. Whitefield's zeal is contagious and his meekness humbling. The mere historian might enjoy the factual aspects of the book, but it was written from a distinctively evangelical Christian perspective.

"Weary in Thy work, but not weary of it." -G. Whitefield

This two-volume work is truly exceptional. I find myself regularly discouraged at the condition of religion (I use the word advisedly) in America, and find the Whitefield biography a real refreshment to the soul, a reminder of what God has done in the past and a foretaste of good things to come. Extremely encouraging!

Few recent books have so wide and so deep an impact as Arnold Dallimore's magisterial biography of George Whitefield. The first volume, stretching from Whitefield's birth in 1714 to his section visit to American in 1740 was published in 1970 and has since been reprinted six times. The second volume, which stretches from 1740 until Whitefield's death in 1770, was published ten years later in 1980. It has been reprinted three times. Together the volumes comprise some 1200 pages of detailed biography. Rarely have I had a biography recommended to me by so many and by men of such distinction. Rarely have I benefited more from reading about another man's life.

I have noticed a strange phenomenon with this biography. Where most books of this one's scope and impact have been widely and thoroughly reviewed, this one seems to be an exception. As I attempted to write a review I may have found out why this is: it is very difficult to adequately sum up so much content in just a few words. And, as with any biography, it is difficult to measure and summarize the impact of such a book. Instead I am left doing what others have done--writing thoughts on the book that somehow seem disconnected and inadequate. Even Gary Gilley, a reviewer who is rarely lost for words, can write no more than this: "It would be difficult to lavish too much praise on Dallimore's two volume biography of the famous eighteenth century evangelist George Whitefield. This is the definitive work of Whitefield's life and ministry, dispelling many misconceptions while showing the true character and impact of this most remarkable man. Along the way the reader also receives valuable insight into the lives of the Wesleys, Jonathan Edwards and the Moravians. This is one of the greatest biographies ever written."

The Foreword to the first volume is supplied by no one less than Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. The Doctor suggests that he waited decades to find a thorough and authoritative biography of Whitefield, a man he regarded as a historical hero. This book, he felt, which appeared on the bi-centenary of Whitefield's death, achieves the excellence Lloyd-Jones knew had long been missing. Reflecting on the life of the subject he writes "May the reading of this book produce in us the same spirit of utter submission, ready obedience, and unshakeable reliance upon the power of the Holy Spirit that characterized his life and ministry. Whitefield never drew attention to himself but always pointed people to his God and exalted his Lord and Savior. May he, though now dead for nearly 200 years, do the same for countless thousands through the reading of this book!" The intervening years, almost forty of them, have shown this to be the case.

This book's subtitle, The life and times of the great evangelist of the 18th century revival, is important in understanding the book. Whitefield found himself one of the sparks of the the Great Awakening and the revival of the 18th century. While other men played important roles, Whitefield was the pin at the center of the wheel. His tireless itinerancy took his preaching ministry to almost every corner of the United Kingdom and to almost the whole of the settled portion of the United States. But for illness he would also have extended his ministry to Canada. Perhaps one of this book's greatest contributions is in helping people separate the life and contributions of George Whitefield from those of John Wesley--a man who Whitefield always loved but who so often opposed him. This biographies shows conclusively that it was Whitefield's ministry that sparked the awakening.

I was grateful to see that Dallimore deals fairly with Whitefield's shortcomings in these volumes. This is no hagiography--worship of a saint that is free from difficult examinations of the subject's failings. Though Dallimore has to confess that he finds surprisingly little fault with the man, he deals frankly and forthrightly with those areas in which Whitefield showed immaturity, poor judgment or poor discernment. He questions Whitefield's decision to marry and the unusual circumstances surrounding his first rejected proposal of marriage. He does not shy from discussing Whitefield's role in justifying and even promoting slavery in the colonies. He does not allow the passing of the years or his deep respect for his subject to mislead him or to excuse sin. Experience shows that this quality is surprisingly rare in such biographies.

Eminently readable despite its length and depth, this biography only reinforces my belief that biographies can be among the greatest catalysts to spiritual growth. It is a classic and one that takes its place among my favorite biographies along with such great titles as Marsden's Jonathan Edwards and Dallimore's own Spurgeon. It will prove valuable to pastors or evangelists as they see the example of a man who labored tirelessly for the gospel; it will prove valuable to all Christians as they see the example of a man who labored tirelessly to grow even and ever closer to his Savior. Whitefield is a man who stands as an example to all of us. Dallimore has done us a great service in opening up to us the life of this great man of God.

Together these two volumes represent a financial investment that is not insignificant. Purchased together they are likely to cost at least sixty or seventy dollars. But I can testify, as can a long list of people of far greater wisdom and discernment than I, that they are well worth the investment.