I Books

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.

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.

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.

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.

The book is fantastic. Plain and simple. I have highlighted, written in the margins, on the covers, and in some way marked up almost every page of the book. Not only did I find it immensely useful for her class, but also used it in conjunction with Bittker & Eustice (the corp tax bible, but not for the faint of heart) for a corporate reorganization class. Using the last 1/3 of her book made slogging through the B&E book much less painful. Highly recommended.

While it does not go into as much detail as I will need to know for the exam this book is a great substitute for actually paying attention in class.

This is an excellent book to understand Subchapter C. The order it follows is methodical. It goes to explain all the tax issues that arise from formation of the corporation (incorporation and contributions) to midlife events (dividends, redemptions) to liquidation. It deals with taxable and non-taxable reorganizations and with such interesting issues as Section 304 transactions. It is not and cannot be a complete guide to corporate taxation. it would have to be several volumes, but it accomplishes perfectly what it is meant to do. Cheryl Block did a fantastic job. the example and explanations are very useful.

Professor Block's book is really, really good - very easy to understand. She manages to make what are complex tax laws understandable -- I couldn't imagine taking my corp tax class without this study aid. The writing is unusually good for a law treatise.

This volume reduces into terms capable of being readily absorbed the application of Subchapter C. The examples and explanations are basic while conveying the needed concepts of various treatments of contributed property, boot, distributions, attribution rules, etc.

My 4 yr. old grandson was having a hard time with daddy deploying. Both my son and grandson loved this book and my son was able to use some of the content to talk about why he was going to Iraq. I very highly recommend this book. It's well worth the money.

This book has been great for my kids. It has really helped them with are getting ready for Daddy's deployment. Thank you to all the other readers of this book and there reviews.

This book helped us beyond any expectations I had. My husband is on his second tour in Iraq, and my kids are having a difficult time coping with his absence. My daughter (6) and son (3) both beg me to read it almost daily. Warning to parents!!! I did tear up a little- Especially on the dedication page.

This is an excellent book. Yes, it is a tear-jerker at times, but it realistically covers a wide variety of emotions and situations caused by deployment. I know it has helped my almost-three-year-old understand and accept what is happening to our family because of her father's deployment. One aspect about this book I also really appreciate is that, even though it tells about the hardships caused by deployment, the book remains positive, focusing on uplifting and hopeful things. I TOTALLY recommend this book to anyone with younger children facing their Daddy's being gone for deployment.

This is a great book that helps kids understand what is going on when Daddy is in Iraq. I have gotten this book for everyone that is going through this and I sent it to school and the teacher read it to the class. This is my kids favorite book.

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.

As a person who was not born and raised in West Virginia, Loughry's book was an eye-opener. It takes the reader beyond the flippant comments and sound bites that emerge every political season, to give one a baseline, if you will, of the sordid past of politics in the state. The political shenanigans occur on both sides of the aisle, and some of the strange bedfellows that emerged at various times are truly fascinating.

The book begins with the Kennedy campaign and how a largely Protestant state voted for Kennedy, a Catholic, and changed the balance between Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey in a primary season very different from what we see today. Loughry takes us into the inner workings of the political machines, lubricated by money from Joseph Kennedy (who is responsible, verbatim, for the title of the book).

From there the book shifts backwards to the development of political bosses of the distant past and then takes us through to some of the aspects of politics in play to this day.

I cannot verify Loughry's claim that everything he has gathered is verifiable through media excerpts, but I can say that it is a fascinating read that is a must for any armchair politician in the state, and a great read for anyone interested in how our the voting process works or does not work

After having this book recommended to me, I was a bit skeptical, figuring it too dry for my taste, but I was immediately drawn in and had trouble putting it down. Growing up in West Virginia I was startled at how deep the corruption in politics has been and its continuing nature. The book examines corruption itself in a very fair and even manner without attacking any particular group. After reading this, the need for election reform and accountability in public office is obvious. Not just for West Virginia but for the country. I found the book to be interesting, informative, entertaining at times, and very thought provoking. I would recommend it to anyone, whether or not they have an interest in politics. I can even see the value of the book as a required text for high school students because it provides a taste of history that is sometimes buried, along with a plan for the future.

Don't Buy Another Vote....is a wonderful, easy to read, eye-opening book. I think everyone including college students, West Virginians, people that follow politics very closely, and people that just vote should read. It is a very honest look at political corruption with a little humor along the way. Very well written! Go get a copy!!!!

I just finished "Don't Buy Another Vote, I Won't Pay For A Landslide" and find it to be one of the most amazing books I have ever read! I started reading and surprisingly, I couldn't put it down. Being a political junkie I thought I knew just about everything about politics, but this book breaks it down to a much more detailed level in a very comprehensive, yet readable way. The detail is mindboggling, but the conversational style of the author is refreshing.
In all of my years of reading political books and following politics, this is the first time I have ever read a book written in such a non partisan manner. I was skeptical at first because individuals often proclaim to be non partisan and write without bias, but that rarely is ever the case. The author is an equal opportunity offender, but it is clear that he doesn't pick on anybody. Instead, he tells the story of incredible corruption broken down at a state level. It includes amazing information about Mother Jones, the Hatfields and McCoys, the Coal Mine Wars, governors going to jail, a state attorney general hiring hit man to kill one of his deputies, another governor having his wife bribe a juror, a judge who bit the end off of a defendant's nose, and countless other stories. What makes this book different, however, is the that author provides a step-by-step way to fix the system that can be applied to all fifty states. This guy should run for Governor or U.S. Senator because we lack these types of visionaries in state and federal government these days.
This book should be read by everyone with any interest in politics, history, psychology, elections, etc.... I was overwhelmed and have told everyone I know. Every single high school student in America should be given a copy of this book as they graduate. This book changed my life! READ THIS BOOK!!!!

Dr. Allen Loughry's "Don't Buy Another Vote, I Won't Pay for a Landslide" is truly a breath of fresh air in a genre that sorely needed it. Most books written these days about the political arena and the corrupt nature attendant to it are riddled with shortcomings and philosophical pitfalls and, in the end, simply don't deliver. More often than not they serve to advance the agenda of their own writer, and the most painful part of the whole experience is how patently transparent that writer's intentions are. They provide little more than a laundry list of rants by an author perched high atop his/her soap box driven by a far greater concern for hijacking the pages of his/her own publication to simply rail against the establishment. The greater problem with this is how rarely they provide anything substantive in the way of suggested remedies for a very broken and morally bankrupt system that rules the day in American politics.

With "Don't Buy Another Vote" Loughry breaks that mold. His writing is not only to the complete contrary of such a dissatisfying style, but it downright hits home. This is the political narrative that we've all been waiting to read, and it was well worth the wait. Unlike may authors who complain about the proverbial weather without doing anything to change it, Loughry does plenty, or at least he inspires us to do so. Not only does he call nearly 150 years worth of corrupt West Virginia officials out on the carpet for their egregious misdeeds, but he also provides suggestions for the type of reform he feels is necessary to correct this longstanding crisis.

Loughry's "Contract With the Voter" is as innovative and well thought out as it is groundbreaking. Before the smoke settles, don't be surprised if this model for change might very well be adopted as the accepted norm for those seeking office not just in the Mountain State, but in any state. It's prolific in its simplicity and after reading it you'll find yourself saying..."Yes, why can't we implement something like THAT!?" From cover to cover Loughry's message resonates and his voice is true to the mark. A crisp writing style that goes a long way toward walking us through a murky history in which nothing sacred holds. A must read for all of us, irrespective of our own political affiliations. Loughry points out that corruption is not confined to party lines. Neither, for that matter, is the book now chronicling its long and ugly history in West Virginia.

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.

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 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...

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.

My daughter loves Fancy Nancy books. I think the character is cute and perfect for little girls. This is a starter book, but I figured she could pass it on to younger friends and get them started on Fancy Nancy after she reads it.

My five year old daughter enjoys listening to Fancy Nancy and recites pages and those 'fancy words' throughout her day.

She's charming...and you can't help but love her. How cute it was that she thought she had finally met a real French person...oh well, Paris, Texas isn't very close to the Riveria, but as the book says, she did make a new friend, and that's a good thing too.

My daughter LOVES Fancy Nancy. This book is one of her favorites. She thinks it is neat to learn a couple of fancy French words. She says them all the time. It also has a couple of good vocabulary words for her in English. That's what's so neat about the Fancy Nancy books. They have great vocabulary words and they always explain what they mean. The illustrations are WONDERFUL!

Really enjoyed this one, possibly the best of Nancy for us (--this is our third Nancy-book). I was surprised to find the Nancy stories so enjoyable. Was pleasantly surprised too to find this as a reader, and it has great story. My girls both like these (& this one), my non-fancy Tom-boy and my girl who likes to tell me that she likes girly stuff and boys stuff too! "I like Efry-ding!"

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