H Books

This is one of those books, that having read it once you can't forget it and it changes the way you see the world. Naessens life and theories are fascinating. Having read "World Without Cancer" I was not surprised by his being punished for curing cancer rather than getting a hero's welcome. It makes you wonder just how many cures are out there, being suppressed because it contradicts the powerful people's views of what can and cannot exist or how things work.

Just for the curious, there is a microscope out there now, the Ergonom 400 that comes close to what Naessen's did and will show the somatids that he saw.

The fact that that this is not available in print says a lot. It is extremely enlightening regarding the intellectual ignorance of our medical profession. The concept of increasing the ability of the immune system to heal the body should be number one on every medical checklist for every patient. Jason Winter's herbal tea contains numerous blood purifiers that purport to work toward the same end; blood purification to increase the ability of the immune system to heal the bodily malfunction. This is a total change in disease paradigm which could possibly put a lot of our medical profession on welfare, in addition to saving individuals from the cut, burn and poison paradigm.

Of all the important investigation that Christopher Bird performed during his career, The Life and Trials of Gaston Naessens is probably his most important work. I first became aware of Bird's book in 1990, and I have bought numerous copies over the years to give them to cancer and AIDS patients. His book is not a monumental piece of scholarship, but it tells one more story about what happens to medical pioneers. I have taken Bird's work much further, and I write at length about Naessens and the professional lineage that he is a marvelous part of. The story of Naessens work is probably the most important one in medicine today.

I have read "The Cancer Cure That Worked" by Barry Lymes which is the story of Dr. Royal R. Rife's work. Barry was assisted by Dr. Rife's partner, John Crane of San Diego. I spent a couple of afternoons with Mr. Crane in 1990, before he pased away. Because Mr. Crane was acting as a co-author the book is very accurate as to the actual truth and history of the events. Dr. Rife did have a technology that worked and was verified by the Medical Staff at University of Southern California, L.A. Dr. Milburn Johnson, the then Chief of the USC Medical Staff and President of the Los Angeles Medical Association rented the Scripps Ranch at La Jolla, California, where they were successful in curing, within 70 days, 18 terminally ill cancer patients - 100% cure rate! All with no side effects! They were then able to build approximately 20 "Rife Ray Beam" machines and Drs. were using them very succesfully, in fact, too successfully, until the persecution of Rife and his associates quashed the project and technology for a while. THIS BOOK IS ONE EVERY HUMAN ON THE PLANET SHOULD READ BECAUSE THE TECNOLOGY CURED NOT ONLY THE CANCER BUT OTHER PROBLEMS THE PATIENTS HAD. ANOTHER BOOK THAT IS A MUST is "The Secret of Life" by Georges Lakovsky, who used the same technology, but a different design of a machine he called "The Multiwave Oscillator" He also experienced very simalar successes as Dr. Rife. Mr. Lakovsky's book contains "before" and "after" photos. He was from Russia and did his work in France. Mr. Lakovsky was merely murdered, when he came to New York, to squash his technology. However, both technologies are available via the underground and I have personally used Rife's and witnessed it to cure cancer, epstien barr, clogging of the heart arteries, to correct eyesight,toothache and other ailments. A similar technology is explained in Hulda Clark's book "Curing All Diseases" I'm sure Mr. Bird's Book about Mr. Naessens should also be on the "must" list. ALL OF THESE BOOKS ARE A MUST FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT CURING SO CALLED "TERMINAL DISEASES."

I bought this book years ago when it was published in Canada under the title of THE GALILEO OF THE MICROSCOPE. I have met the late Chris Bird several times. This recreation of the trial of Gaston Naessens for Murder One is absolutely fascinating and a great read. I have a video of what Naessens sees in the live blood under his darkfield microscope. I have lent it a number of times to people with terminal illness who eventually contacted Naessens and now are completely healthy. This is a very important book about a living legend.---Phil Ratte' 61 going on 36

Stephen Grant has written a wonderfully readable account of an exceptional personality. As an Africanist I was especially interested in Peter Strickland's activities on Goree island--he was a merchant there before becoming the first U.S. consul to Senegal, an unpaid position he held from 1883-1905--but other aspects of his life are equally interesting. His concern for common sailors in the merchant marine, for example, led him to publish a book to enlighten the public on their mistreatment.

Strickland kept a diary most of his life, and the author includes many excerpts to give us a flavor of his ideas in the context of his times. Along with a discussion of the primary sources on Strickland's life, he leaves us with the intriguing thought that some volumes of Strickland's diary are missing and could still turn up. If they do, they might add some details to his life, but they won't change the picture Stephen Grant has given us of a unique individual

Stephen H. Grant's Peter Strickland. New England Shipmaster, Boston Merchant, and First Consul to Senegal gives us an engaging read and a fresh historical source for the little explored relations between the United States and West Africa during the last half of the nineteenth century. Born in New London, Connecticut in 1837, Peter Strickland first went to sea in 1857,as a nineteen year old man. Later a sea captain and merchant, Strickland served as U. S. consul to Gorée-Dakar Senegal from 1883-1906. He retired to his home in Dorchester, Massachusetts where until his death in 1921, he continued an active life as head of family, concerned citizen, and staunch advocate of the welfare of seamen and of Unites States commercial relations with West Africa. His career as consul is of interest to historians of Africa in its insights into late nineteenth century commerce along the coast from Senegal to Sierra Leone and the impact upon the United States' role of the onset of French colonialism. Through his consular dispatches, correspondence and a journal spanning twenty-five years, he documents the primary imports and exports of Senegal to the U. S., but also the business and social relations among those serving European and American interests from Gorée and Dakar. His knowledgeable and literate dispatches were widely shared within the U. S. Department of State.

Grant's account is objective yet sympathetic to his subject. He reveals a hard-working man, who managed to survive as an entrepreneur despite receiving no salary as consul, despite competition from the colonial powers taking over West Africa, and despite personal tragedy in a troubled marriage and the death of his oldest son by drowning in 1888 as he served as Vice Consul to his father. Strickland survived his wife and three children and was survived by his daughter Mary who was his closest companion in both Africa and in his retirement. He was typical of his generation in holding dismissive views of women and of Black Africans. He regretted the decline of U. S. commercial interest in Africa and through his correspondence and articles argued ahead of his time for a greater U.S. awareness of and interest in Africa and other regions beyond North America--his was an early voice of internationalism. To the end of his life, his journal gives at times poignant witness to a family man who worried about finances in retirement, who kept up his knowledge of commerce and personnel in West Africa, and who felt deeply the passing of his peers. Although modest, Strickland valued his record and spent two years in 1913 and 1914 recopying his journal for posterity.

The story of how this biography came to be is a 21st- century parallel of American Senegalese interaction. A retired foreign service officer himself, Stephen H. Grant served as a USAID administrator in Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire among other postings in Africa, Asia, and Central America. As a hobby, Grant collected and published books about vintage postcards on Guinea, Indonesia, and El Salvador. A postmarked envelope from 1889 addressed to Capt. Peter Strickland, U. S. consul, Gorée, West Africa" acquired on eBay led him to pursue Strickland's biography. The preface to the work invites the reader to follow an entertaining path of historical investigation through archival and genealogical research and the discovery of his own family's involvement in the residence Strickland used while consul. Reminiscent at times of Patrick O'Brian's seafaring novels, this highly recommended work has the special merit of giving us the voice of a real person from those distant times.

Steve Grant's biography is a little gem. The preface tells of the author's search for his subject and reads with the pace and surprise of a treasure hunt. Grant has a special gift for writing history, perhaps especially biography. His eye for detail also sees his subject in the round and in all the colors of his time and setting. Grant's evocation of the Isle of Goree, by its nature a timeless spot as I (and least one other reviewer) have known it, is classic. Grant's style is exact yet zesty, allowing not a word in excess. The author and his subject share both New England origins and an African destination with a century in between. The result is a keen and affecting portrait of a Yankee shipmaster and merchant, who became the first U.S. consul to French West Africa. The volume is amply illustrated and expertly produced. I strongly recommend it.

The previous reviews and book description cover this fine book quite well. What I can add is: I was interested in this book because I lived for about three years in Dakar, facing the Island of Goree where Peter Strickland's career as first US Consul to Senegal unfolded. Not only did I find the book provided interesting insights into the life and times of the period (late 19th-early 20th century) and the talented, hard-working, somewhat strait-laced sea-captain/diplomat/merchant/writer who was Strickland. But, it was also an entertaining, lively read. I do not remember reading anything that brings to life this period and the reality of living both in West Africa and in New England so well. To think that it all came about because the author (a veteran diplomat) happened to acquire an envelope addressed to Strickland in an on-line auction (E-Bay) is quite an amazing story in itself. After acquiring the envelope addressed to Strickland, one thing led to another until his research, which is so well described as well in a lively, fascinating manner, resulted in this wonderful biography.

Child of New England, sailor on the high seas, merchant, consul to Senegal, author and memoirist - these are just some of the varied and fascinating aspects of Peter Strickland's life, as detailed in Stephen Grant's engaging story about a Victorian-era shipmaster who spent more than twenty years of his life living on Gorée, an African island fraught with the tragic history of the slave trade.

Grant not only tells a good tale, but he has made excellent use of a significant trove of historical materials in doing so, conducting extensive research on two continents, examining volumes of archival records and poring over Strickland's six decades of personal journals. Through this respected writer, the story of a man who started out as a cabin boy and came to represent the United States in an important outpost overseas is made both entertaining and informative. I highly recommend it to anybody interested in the era and in the twists and turns one's life can take.

It is what I ordered I guess. The book does have some intersting statements. Buy it if you know this is the book your looking for.

HPB is a pioneer in illuminating the spiritual and mystical themes behind the everyday sacred and profane. A stunning accomplishment for it's time and for today!

Publisher's note:

"The Voice of the Silence was the last major work to come from the pen of H.P. Blavatsky before her death in 1891. It is also one of her most important writings, being a guidebook for those dedicated to achieving enlightenment through atruistic service to humanity."

It may well take years to comprehend the profound wisdom contained in this sacred book. The Voice of the Silence was and is intended for daily use in meditation by disciples and students of the spirit, not for intellectual study!

It would be a good idea to be well versed in Buddhism and esoterism before venturing with this book (try reading Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine & Isis Unveiled first, and the works of Rudolf Steiner and Samael Aun Weor etc).
It might also help to be well versed in self-knowledge as well.

It is divided into three sections:
1) The Voice of the Silence
2) The Two Paths
3) The Seven Portals

This hand-sized Centenary Edition contains a three-part glossary, an index and an introduction including excerpts from mysterious letters by Blavatsky and others from the time when The Voice of the Silence was written.

"I believe that this book has strongly influenced many sincere seekers and aspirants to the wisdom and compassion of the Bodhisattva Path."
-His Holiness, The Dalai Lama

After Madam Blavatsky reintroduced the esoteric, perennial, spiritual wisdom back into mainstream western consciousness, she realized that there were two very different types of seekers who would make use of such knowledge. There were those who would seek it for personal power and selfish benefit, and those who would seek it to attempt to educate and liberate all of humanity. The difference between these paths was transcendence of the personal ego to reach the realm of the Higher Self. This book was an attempt to see that her gift of esoteric knowledge would not be passed unquestioned and unchallenged to those who were not fit to receive it.

The first thing that strikes the reader familiar with _Isis Unveiled_ and _The Secret Doctrine_ is the Buddhist emphasis of this volume. While it is based on the same archaic sources as the other works (some of which are pre-Buddhist in origin) it is the true Buddhist path of the heart that clearly shines through again and again. In fact, you have the admonishment: "But even ignorance is better than Head-learning, with no Soul-wisdom to illuminate and guide it." The Soul-wisdom is clearly present here on every page. This depth of understanding of the highest form of Buddhist thought is indeed remarkable for a book written in the 1880's by a westerner. In writing this book the Madam ensured that the spirit of true enlightenment would forever be welded to the Theosophical movement.

This particular edition is a verbatim copy of the original of 1889. As carefully as Madam Blavatsky chose her words, it would be unthinkable to edit them to be more "accessible" to a modern audience. If the reader has difficulty with the technical Sanskrit terms there are detailed glossaries included for all three sections.

This book is an authentic treatise about the many stages upon the ancient, universal initiatic path into the mysteries.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama recommends this arcane book on the back cover of the book itself.
This book can be easily misunderstood or not understood at all. What one needs is the keys of the path, the factors of the revolution of the consciousness. Otherwise, how can we listen to the "VOICE OF THE SILENCE". It is the Voice, the Verb, the LOGOS, the supra-Monad... We need the steps in order to do the "Will of the Father", here, as it is in heaven.
We must read and re-read and meditate on this book. It is profound, exact and terribly magical!
gnosticinstitute.org

Hollander puts the selective moral outrage and selective acceptance of evidence of the Left on parade as he follows these blinkered one's through the various Potemkin Villages of the Totalitarians, from the October revolution forward into most of the 20th century. Smug arrogance knows no political party or religious faith, no gender, race or sexual preference, it seems to be evenly spread among us. In this instance the highly developed capacity for self-deception of the Left is on trial and an amusing trial at that. Their tortured explanations of the intellectually unexplainable are a fictive of mankind's marvelous ability "to transform things to the liking of his desires".

Like all those who are "blowin' in the wind", these intellectual hard heads do not seek truth, but instead to validate their worldview. This book is a study of intellectuals, estrangement and its consequences.

Hollander hits an important nail on its head. Many members of the intellectual left have a horrible track record of either excusing or turning a blind eye to the brutality of socialist dictators. As such, many twentieth century leftists served as apologists for evil socialist dictators. Of course, these same people have no difficulty finding fault with the US and UK. No problem in the West is too small to warrant condemnation in their eyes.

The sad truth is that the vision of an egalitarian society has been romanticized and popularized. Even today there are some who defend and even promote the USSR. Hollander counters this nonsense with evidence. Unfortunately, there are still some ideologues to whom evidence means nothing. We need more scholars like Hollander.

Political Pilgrims is the amazing story of how Western intellectuals embraced Marxist tyrants at the very moment their colleagues were rotting in prison cells, and the common people everyone claimed to be concerned for, were starving. The book relates how cultural and religious leaders from the West, including familiar names, visited the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, and other communist countries, and told the most appalling lies to flatter their hosts and express their contempt for Western society. It is quite an education, as another reviewer put it. Marx's revolutionary myth dominated history for the better part of the 20th Century, and if we are serious about not repeating the errors of that period, this book should be a part of our education. The short story Buddha's Smile in Solzhenitsyn's masterpiece, The First Circle, brilliantly tells the same story, from the point of view of Soviet prisoners. Lewis Feuer's Marx and the Intellectuals compares Marx and Engels themselves with the kind of people Hollander is describing. I also recommend the writings of the Rumanian philosopher, pastor, and former prisoner, Richard Wurmbrand.

Hollander retells George Keenan's story of a Norwegian radical who, when asked what country he most admired, said, "Albania." Keenan noted that the student obviously knew nothing of Albania, but chose that country "simply because it seems to be a club with a particularly sharp nail at the end of it with which to beat one's own society."

The same reactionary psychology has, it seems to me, been transferred in our day to an uncritical and naive attraction towards what is (simplistically) called "eastern religion." One could write an even longer book about how Westerners project their fantasies on monist ideologies: people like Joseph Campbell and Karen Armstrong "explaining" human sacrifice, the Theosophical Society standing up for caste, Arthur C. Clarke (Did he know much more of Asian history than the Albanian radical knew of Albania?) describing Buddhism as "the only faith that never became stained with blood." Even Hollander allowed that, "While the suspension of disbelief has its place in human life, it belongs more to the religious (or asthetic) than the political realm." But his book should be read, in my opinion, as a warning against all forms of ideological naivite. A love of truth, and a determination to tell it no matter how out of fashion it may seem, is essential to integrity in all walks of life. Political Pilgrims vividly illustrates, in the political realm, the evil that can be done when honesty plays second fiddle to fashion.....

This is an awesome book which helps the reader understand why intellectuals always seem to be on the wrong side of history. They loved Communism even when it was obvious that Lenin & Stalin were exterminating hoards of people! They are defective in their thinking and they stick to it. The author has a quote at the beginning of the book. "A GREAT DEAL OF INTELLEGENCE CAN BE INVESTED IN IGNORANCE WHEN THE NEED FOR ILLUSION IS DEEP." (Saul Bellows) . This book walks you through the 'needs' that these intellectuals seem to have which continually seems to cause them to deny the stark realities around them & cling to their 'ideologies'. I am so glad I read this book as I just laugh now when I hear so much of what is on the news. I GET IT!

25 years ago, "Political Pilgrims" documented beyond any doubt the willing self-deception of intellectuals in love with the totalitarian regimes in Cuba, China, the Soviet Union and East Germany. The debate no longer rages over whether these countries were "freer" than their counterparts in the West. They aren't. What hasn't changed, however, is the continued willingness of intellectuals to find paradise anywhere but in the US.

Paul Hollander brings his trademark meticulousness to the study of Intellectuals who travel to what used to be referred to as Worker's Paradises. Using mountains of evidence, one cannot help but be persuaded that Western Intellectuals experience such a depth of alienation from their cultural birthplace, that they become morally blind to the abuses of its antagonists.

What's truly remarkable, is that none of this has changed. One merely needs to point to Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 and it's grotesque representation of Hussein's Iraq as an innocently peaceful place of playful children and mothers. At no point in that execrable movie does he mention the mass graves or torture chambers.

Michael, post your wish list on Amazon and I'll send you this book. Promise.

This course gave me what others failed to. I felt that the author was always with me, informing, guiding, anticipating my problems and providing answers. Dr Cook must be a very good teacher!
You can go as far as you want, use the first units just to get by or go through the whole book. You can stop where you want and still have learned something. Pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary are very clearly explained. I strongly recommend this course to anyone who wants to learn Portuguese, for Brazil, Portugal, and some countries in Africa or anywhere else where the language is spoken.

There are several reasons why I really like about this course: the method (you build up your knowledge of the language step by step); the authentic dialogues; the grammar notes and verb conjugation tables; the cultural points; and the letter writing. The course is lively, fun, and very efficient. The audio is good, at the right speed for the learner. The book also has lots of exercises with a key, another very good feature. I bought this course after having bought Portuguese Living Language (ISBN 1400020239) and I am using both. I think they make good partners.

My fiancé and I visited Portugal this year for a semester. Since neither of us spoke the language we decided to purchase a teach yourself course. Having reviewed all the available material, we found the above book and audio package to be the best value. Best because it also covers Portuguese as spoken in Brazil; our next target.

What appealed to us about the book was the modern day approach which the author adopted. Its flexibility by allowing us to go as far into a topic as we wished. That the same book would serve us equally as well when we visited Brazil. Also and the number of different topics covered.

Quite naturally, when you are a beginner, grammar can be the biggest obstacle. No problem here. The grammar is presented in small amounts, each piece being targeted to your progress.

Dialogues used in the book to demonstrate model sentences use expressions which can be found in everyday situations. In fact, they too have been pitched to cater for your confidence in using the grammar.

Equally the vocabulary used is very realistic and typical of everyday use. We particularly liked the vocabulary lists at the back of the book for quick reference of Portuguese to English and vice versa.

The range of topics to was invaluable. In the early stages of our visit we pointed to the phrase or sentence in the book to get what we wanted but as we read and immersed ourselves in the environment we spoke more.

You would have thought that because of the environment we were in, the audio assistance would not have been used so much. Not true, we found it very useful, particularly when we refer to our next target of Brazil. Having the ability to relate the daily Portuguese we heard to the audio aid and then relating it to Portuguese as spoken in Brazil made us feel comfortable over a next venture. There is little doubt, however, that we shall take our `Flexible friend' with us.

Fun, easy and very efficient. Excellent audio, slow enough for a beginner, excellent dialogues with the kind of words and structures you need in a foreign country. The language is explained in a way that makes it easy to understand. There are absolutely lots of exercises to practice what you are learning. This is a course I strongly recommend.

If more than five stars were available, I would give them to this course. Some courses specifically for Brazilian or European Portuguese teach you local expressions and colloquialisms that make learning harder for people like me who want to use the language on both sides of the Atlantic. After struggling with a couple of such courses, I was fortunate to find this one. In this course the starting point is the common ground between Brazilian and European Portuguese. The differences are then explained and you can pick what you need depending where you want to use the language.

I bought this course last year and have gone through most of it. So far, I have used what I am learning in Brazil, Portugal and Angola. When I spoke Portuguese in these countries, it was a fantastic feeling to see that I was actually understood. The accompanying audio gives you different voices, which also helps with the various accents even within Brazil (they sound quite different in the north and in the south).

Another feature I particularly like in this course is that it is very communicative. Everything you learn can be used straight away, in authentic situations: formalities on arrival, finding the way, hiring a car, hotel and other accommodation, food, shopping, health, meeting people socially or for business, and a lot more. This course is a superb buy.

I am an LVN who has only worked in Med-Surg. I used this book to brush up for RN boards. It was a tremendous help! especially for those who attend flex programs that have limited clinical time. Well worth the purchase and a Easy read!

I purchased this book to be a specific review in this content for NCLEX since OB had been one of my first courses. It was wonderful in giving me all the info I was wanting to know. It gave pertinent assessment data, had chapters for each stage of the maternal process all the way through to normal/abnormal newborn, and it broke the info up into short chapters so studying it was easy to do during limited study hours. It also had a pre and post test for each chapter with NCLEX style questions, I loved that about this book. I would reccommend this to those studying for the NCLEX or as a study aid during your OB class.

This book is WONDERFUL! I can not tell you how this book really helped me prepare for my tests in OB. It was a terrific guide in helping study and land an "A". I would recommend this book to all nursing students...

this book has taken the material i need to know and condensed it. I read it a few times. Figure out clinical applications and then I run with it. When it comes to test time, this books helps me to figure out the imprortant stuff. I still have to read my other text but this book give the best info on rationales.

Like having a teacher available when no teacher is available.

I purchased this book at the beggining of my women's health class. First test out I had a 19 chaper test, with well over 300 pages to read. Probably more.I was totally stressing over all the pages I had to read and how I was gonna retain all this information in such a short period of time. So I started reading this book,which is basically an outline that covers the key information, and gets rid of the "fluff" that's in alot of text books. I did the 50 or so questions for every chapter and made sure it correlated with what was in my text book.A few days later I went to my class , took my test and got a B on it. I was so happy. So now I have another test coming up soon and once again I plan to study this book and eat the NCLEX questions that accompany it. Wish me luck! This book is a GODsend! If you're in Maternal Neonatal Nursing this is the book u should get. It is WELL WORTH the money!

Ernest H. Christman was an eye doctor whose son had reading problems. Dr. Christman knew that his son did not have eye problems so he searched for a solution to his son's reading problem. He developed his comprehensive phonics method in order to help his own son. The book is full of hard-to-find linguistic information. The teaching of reading is divided into easy to teach steps. The charming stories written for each step are perhaps the best docodable text available anywhere. I highly recommend this excellent textbook to anyone. It can be used as a stand-alone reading program - or because of its advanced phonics information - as a followup to other programs. I use it often with my tutoring students. Donald Potter, Odessa, TX.

Using this method, I have successfully taught my 5 year old twins reading on level one in a homeschool setting. WOW! A great reading program in one book! Thanks, Dr. Christman!

I've been a volunteer phonics tutor for 10 years. This is my favorite book to use. I've also developed my own phonics lessons and games, but I reach for this book often to review areas my students are stuggling with. It's well laid out and teaches all the phonics rules and principles you need to know in an orderly fashion.

This is an excellent book from a primary teacher's perspective. I read it during my first year of teaching and refer to it often. It gives all the rules for phonics that we learned as a child, but may have forgotten. I made flash cards with the word lists and use them with my students. It is a very common sense, no frills approach to reading. This is my 9th year of teaching and I know that it has equipped me to be a much better reading teacher.

Simple, to the point. This is a very well organized,easy to use book for parents who want to help their children learn to read using the phonics method.

What an impressive, Christ-focused primer on prison ministry. The author is an ex-offender who knows how to bring the Gospel to the incarcerated. Great refresher for those who have been at it for awhile and an even better introduction for those who are beginning to hear the call to go inside the razor wire.

I conduct a weekly bible study in the local state prison and before I went in I ordered this book and it was so very practical and put me at ease right away with the experience. Highly recommend

The first time I read "Prison Ministry" resulted in it being a major part of planting a seed in my heart for what is now one of my biggest passions. I've since read it two more times and each time words of wisdom have taught me something new or reminded me of some old.

Lennie Spitale is not hype or as Duncan Miller says in his review does not sensationalize but is sincere in his sharing and giving truthful insight to the world of prison ministry. If you, your church or someone you know is thinking of or doing prison ministry inside the walls or outside (mentoring former inmates, consoling families of incarcerated loved ones) I strongly recommend this book.

I too have met Lennie and he is as real as his book reads and the book is a reflection of Lennie's heart.

It gives you a wide range focus on the mindset of inmates from why they turn to crime and for some why it is so difficult to leave, how prison life effects them in regards to family and other loved ones and much more.

If you have a passion to serve the lost you'll learn from Lennie's own words that this nations prison are one of the most if not most plentiful harvests.

This book gives you incredible insight to the minds of men in prison. The book is written in such a way that those who are not involved in prison ministry can use it as an inspirational book. It reinforces in practical and understandable terms that we are all fallen from grace and we all require redemption.

I bought three books on prison ministry, have experience with one on one prison ministry and mentoring, and have attended the Prison Fellowship VIP (Volunteer In Prison) Training.

Lennie Spitale's book is the best I've read yet. It gives virtually all you will need to know if you are considering prison ministry, already involved in and form of prison ministry, or just curious about what life behind bars is like. Spitale is probably one of the most authoritative writers on the topic, having plenty of experience of life from both sides of the fence.

He was a rebellious child, joined the military and was jailed a number of times before discharge. After discharge from the military, he served many years in prison on multiple incarcerations before turning his life around and going straight. Since his release, he has spent at least 25 years in prison ministry, and founded an organization dedicated to preparing others for prison ministry and chaplaincy.

This book has all the information and warnings any prospective prison ministry volunteer could need, as well as all the heart breaking and compelling motivations to become involved. It is easily readable, neither deep mind bending theory nor shallow boring fluff. Of all the books on the topic I have read this one is the most value for money.

If you only buy one book on the subject, this is the one that will give most value.

Unlike most open souce projects, PHP has been blessed with many good books. Professional PHP4 is another fine book aimed for the serious PHP developer venturing to add multimedia.

There is a short refresher on PHP followed by PHP Multimedia installation. Then it gets into the nitty-gritty stuff of making it work.

I found the case studies towards the end of the book particularly helpful in mapping out a solution action plan.

Please let me know if you find this review helpful. Thanks.

This book is a great tutorial/reference for programming with PHP's multimedia libraries. It covers topics such as GD(image manipulation) ming (dynamic flash generation) and pdflib(dynamic PDF generation).

The book was written very well and I only noticed one small type error. There is lots of information and a function reference in the appendix.

I bought this book a fortnight back and i have
amazingly learned more than i expected.The 4 case
studies in the book are amazing - I esp enjoyed working
on the coffee shop finder app and got everything working
in a zap.I recommend this book to the developer
fraternity that wants to realise the true power
behind PHPs extension libraries (multimedia).
And oh! yeah this is my first WROX read that had
color pages in it:)

Professional PHP4 Multimedia Programming is an extremely handy book to have on your bookshelf, even if (and possibly especially if) you don't design and implement multimedia applications with PHP all the time. Within hours of getting the book, I realized that I could use PHP as a commandline scripting language to solve several problems. I've used it as a reference several times since, even though I do NOT consider myself a PHP Multimedia Applications developer.

The book is organized nicely. As a "Professional" book, it assumes a decent understanding of PHP. This assumption saves you lots of time and unnecessary hand holding. There is a brief PHP refresher chapter for those who aren't quite as familiar with PHP as necessary, but after that refresher chapter, you're expected to understand things. You bought this book (or will, anyway) because you already know how to program in PHP but are not familiar with the various multimedia extensions.

The next several chapters each dedicate themselves to a specific extension concept: Ming, Ming with ActionScript, GD, ImageMagick, PDFLib, and FDF.

Each chapter gives an overview of the library, it's uses and limitations, and gives lots of example source code giving examples of all the functions in an extension and how they are used together.

The next few chapters are full-fledged application case studies. Though you may not agree with the authors' coding styles, these case studies walk you through (from start to finish) several different applications to show you how the libraries can be used within the scope of a larger PHP application, not just example toy scripts.

Following the case studies are several appendices. Each appendix is a language reference for a multimedia extension. Most of the information in the appendices is found online in the PHP manual, and I, for one, find it more convenient to look it up there, but having it in the book is a nice bonus.

Another wonderful addition is a full-color screenshots gallery index, which shows you what various scripts from within the chapters should look like when run. This is great for two reasons: 1) You can "check your work" as you write the applications and sample code in the book, and 2) You can see the results of functions in the book while reading it away from the computer.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is thinking about writing even just ONE application in PHP that will manipulate any supported multimedia (Shockwave, images, PDF/FDF, etc.) The time you save by having this book as a companion will more than pay for the cost of the book.

Professional PHP4 Multimedia Programming is a unique book in the midst of all other PHP books. No other book aims to cover the topics that this one does. If you are a PHP developer looking to expand you knowledge and integrate the multimedia capabilities of PHP into your applications, then this is the book for you.

The goal of this book is to introduce the concepts and techniques needed to produce dynamic multimedia content. The extensions covered are Ming, GD, ImageMagick, PDF, and FDF. Each technology is thoroughly explained from installation through example use. A case study is then given to go into further detail on the use of each extension.

I especially enjoyed the fact that they provided installation instructions for these extensions. One of the biggest hurdles people have with using Ming, GD, and the others is the installation process. Once someone gets past that stage they can at least experiment with how the extension works. It can be very frustrating when you can't even get something installed. Hopefully this book will help ease some of that frustration.

The case studies used by the authors are superb. These are real would applications that people want to create every day! They include a headline grabber with Ming, a mobile web coffee shop finder with GD, an image gallery using ImageMagick, and a PDF template system. Each one of these case studies is designed to get you thinking. Sure, they you the code needed for the application, but they also show you how the design process works and detail possible enhancements.

The one thing I found lacking in this text was some type of common problems section. Invariably, people are going to have difficulties when it comes to installation or use of these extensions. A simple google search will show the abundance of problems related to these technologies. A small chapter, or a section in each chapter, detailing some of the most common problems encountered, with their fixes, would have been great.

Overall, this book is great. If you are looking to develop multimedia applications in PHP, it is a must have.

This is a primary book set in pre-1900s Connecticut. The lovely little story could prompt discussion about holiday traditions and life on the farm in the US. The illustrations provide an amusing and exciting crescendo. The teacher may want to use this book around Halloween as a seasonal story about scaring people, which is not a scary book at all. The book could prompt talk about what life in the US was like during earlier periods: When did this story take place? How can you tell? How was Halloween different then?

First published in 1937, Tasha Tudor's "Pumpkin Moonshine" still has a timeless innocence and appeal. It is a delightfully simple story of a little girl on a farm who picks a pumpkin and rolls it downhill to where she can make it into a jack-o-lantern (or a "moonshine," as they apparently called them in New England, way back when...) A simple story made magical with clean storytelling and wonderful art. (ReadThatAgain)

If you've never carved a "Pumpkin Moonshine" you've missed a wonderful part of Halloween. As a little girl, Tasha Tudors delightful story was a favorite of mine. My children grew up carving pumpkins, not into jack-o-lanterns, but into Pumpkin Moonshines. The "grands" now enjoy grandmothers love for the season and the wonderful "Pumpkin Moonshine" with the re-release of this beautiful little book to be loved by all.

Through the years I have purchased many Tasha Tudor books for family and friends; all have deserved a FIVE STAR rating as far as I am concerned. Her delightful illustrations have been outstanding and reflect the story content almost "word-for-word".
She is a MUST on our book shelf!

My mother read this book to me as a child. It was out of print for a while, but this new printing is excellent. The illustrations (same as orginal version) are superb and the text is quaint but clever enough to keep the attention of small kids or new readers. Highly recommended for Halloween or year round.