Specialized Books

Verus Israel is, without a doubt, an important milestone in the history of studies in early Jewish-Christian relations. Its scholarship is strong, its intentions are noble, and its conclusions are logical. That said, however, it is important to remember that it a milestone, written some time ago. Milestones show us how far we have come, but once we have passed them we must realize that they were not the destination.

Marcel Simon wrote Verus Israel some fifty years ago, in the shadow of the Holocaust. Despite the strange times in which he wrote, his work is fairly unbiased, but only in relation to other works of the period. Serious modern scholarship makes Verus Israel, in comparison, seem like something of a cultural relic which, in many ways, it is. Although a mere fifty years is brief when seen beside the nineteen centuries separating Simon from his period of interest, vast stores of data have since been found, and many basic assumptions in the field have changed.

Verus Israel is a classic, and a worthwhile read if you're interested not just in the field of ancient Christian-Jewish relations, but also in the subject's history. Reading this book alone, however, could lead to a false impression of what scholars currently consider to be reliable. It will be best read with several modern works on the subject.

This really has very little useful information in it and only a few small maps. You'd be better off getting an ordinance map or the books the government puts out. You may have to wait until you get to the UK to get these however.

Brian Caswell has done an excellent job in this book of his. I first read the book when i was 13, and 4 years on, it's still my all time favourite book to read. ive read it countless times, and every time i do, its like reading it for the very first time.
The characters are splendid, and even though it's difficult to understand the welsh text through-out, it certainly doesnt make it less of a masterpiece!!
The whole book just blows me away, i couldnt pick anything 'favourite' about it.
its all just absolutely brilliant!!

read it for yourself, because whoever hasnt, is certainly missing out on a book that's sure to make you look at life a little differently!!

i want know the review thing...^^

Merryll of the Stones is too long and dragged out. The bits in Welsh dont help either. Boring!

Merryll of the Stones is too long and dragged out. The bits in Welsh dont help either. Boring!

This book is a fantastic debut by brian Caswell. The characters are fully fleshed, with motivations, flaws and interests that relate to the youth of today. The plot is well constructed with twists and turns, the use of historical precedent is wonderful, and although romantacised, believable. The relationship between M & E is very warm and fuzzy, yet never slips into onversentimentally. Great book for young readers and later adolescents..and would make a good addition to school curriculum/libraries everywhere!

This is the only bonsai book I have read so far, but it makes me scared to read another if it is like this. This severly disorganized in a manner that makes it seem like a bunch of pieces one cannot inherently put back together. I believe for a more advanced bonsai'er with some previous knowledge and experience, then the book might be "ok." But for us first timers, I need something a little more "reader friendly."

My book arrived 5 minutes ago. I have 7 books of bonsai. If I know exist this book before I buy the other, now a only keep 3. his is a very good book about bonsai, the explain, picture is great. Is very usefull, You only need this book. Sorry My English. Alejandro

The principle source for Manuscript Found was his Professor John Smith at Dartmouth. Professor Smith's Natural Philosophy lectures completed in 1780 provide the peopling of America migration schemes and Smith's Greek Classics lectures on Homer provide the Helen of Troy motiff used to frame the story. Though it is not recorded whether he revisited the peopling of America theme after 1780, he did develop the Dartmouth Arminian Theology lectures between 1787 and 1809 that parallel the Book of Mormon and early Mormon Doctrine quite closely.

These theology lectures were not directly available to Solomon Spaulding who graduated in 1785 and only the Old Testament lectures were directly availble to Ethan Smith who graduated in 1790 and later lectures were available indirectly through Ethan's son Lyndon who attended Dartmouth from 1813-17. Since Solomon Spaulding completed Manuscript Found in 1812 and died in 1816, his nephews James Spaulding who attended the Dartmouth Medical School from 1811 to 1813 and Levi Spaulding who attended Dartmouth College from 1811 to 1815 did not have an opportunity to influence Manuscript Found but were available to play the same type of role in bringing awareness of Manuscript Found to the Dartmouth campus that Lyndon Smith played in bringing Ethan Smith's early theology books started in 1811 to Dartmouth when he arrived in 1813.

Joseph Smith would have been only indirectly aware of ideas discussed at Dartmouth through his brother Hyrum, who attended Moor's School between 1811 and 1815 with Indians. Elijah Lyman a Smith in-law, however, maintained continuous contact with Dartmouth from his nearby Brookfield, Vermont, pastorate where he trained Dartmouth graduates to go on missions to the Indians, including Alfred Finney who graduated in 1814 and trained with Elijah Lyman for a year before going to spend the rest of his life with the Cherokee where he set up the Dwight Indian School.

This book was interesting because of the older novelist style of writing, which it is a very good example of. However, the novel is not finished, which is very disappointing. The story wanders from the beginning, in which a ship from early Rome is blown off course across the Atlantic ocean to North America about the first century A.D., to a description of two Ppre-Columbian Native American populations who exist in peace until a forbidden love causes a war. The story never returns to the plight of the Roman castaways (which is disappointing, as it starts out in a very interesting way), and continues to digress at many points throughout the story. One of the major interests about this book is the premise that Joseph Smith, who founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, commonly called the Mormon Church, used Mr. Spauldings book as the basis for the Book of Mormon. After reading the unfinished novel, it becomes plain that the Book of Mormon and Manuscript Found have little in common other than the setting of North America and the fact that pre-Columbian American peoples are both featured in both books. The Mormons were responsible for publishing Manuscript Found (which was never published by the author for want of any publisher's interest in it), in an effort to show that the novel could not have been used by Joseph Smith as a source for the Book of Mormon (which Mormons believe is an additional book of sacred scripture and a testament of Jesus Christ when he appeared to pre-Columbian Native Americans shortly after his crucifixtion and ascension to heaven). Many critics of the Mormons have stated that Mr. Spauldings Manuscript Found was Joseph Smith's inspiration for the Book of Mormon. However, after reading the book objectively, and comparing it to the Book of Mormon, I found almost no similarity at all, other than the setting of Pre-Columbian North America. Still, Manuscript Found is an interesting work. The edition published by the Mormons shows photocopies of Mr. Spaulding's original manuscript at the beginning of each chapter and also prints the parts he crossed out so that the entire manuscript may be seen in the published form, including the author's editing marks. It is worthwhile to read it.

I expected a book that would give me a lot of information about gardening. Instead the book only gave me acouple paragraphs about certain vegetables and only one parargraph about nut tree's. The Author refers the reader to other books if they need more information any gardening book would be more detailed then this one. This book was a waste of my money.

I loved this book. I don't have a lot of space to work with. I think Martin did a wonderful job of explaining things in great detail without alot of the useless information. Would have loved for there to have been more pictures.

I found this book frustrating. It gives great information about setting the pond up, but not much information about keeping a pond functioning properly. For example, it lists one solution for fixing aphid problems, but doesn't show pictures of what they look like so you have to guess if an aphid infestion is really what you have. I was disappointed it had so little information about dealing with plant and fish problems that inevitably come up after awhile. I also think it would have been helpful to have added more pictures of the plants it suggests using in container ponds. I guess I would say this book really is a super simple guide to container garden ponds, but unfortunately it doesn't cover or simplify many of the complexities that arise after it is completed.

This book is done in a very entertaining and informal style, complete with cartoons and fun "sidebar" graphics (such as camera film, sticky notes, notebook paper, and paper clips). It's an introduction to the hobby, so readers shouldn't feel overwhelmed by the information; it introduces just some of the fish species and plant species hobbyists will run into. The price is quite reasonable, and this title is easily found (mine was purchased from a pet store).

However, there are some not-so-good points to the book that potential purchasers might want to weigh:

1) As the other reviewer mentioned, the book needs far more photos than it has--especially photos of the plants and fish.

2) The editing done on this book is probably its greatest downfall. One example is that commas are improperly placed, or not used when they need to be (an obvious instance is the second to last sentence in the author bio., viewable by clicking to see the back cover on Amazon). Unfortunately, editing errors are rampant within the book. At times, I had to read sentences multiple times before I understood them.

3) Some of the vocabulary is confusing and not adequately explained. For example, the author considers weathered whiskey barrel ponds to be formal, and he calls porcelain ponds and waterfalls informal.

I hope t.f.h. will release an updated and expanded edition. The topic is fascinating, and not enough stellar books exist on the subject yet. This one could definitely be one of them if some improvements were made in editing and content (expanded instructions and photos). I do want to say to t.f.h., thanks for trying!

Not having read a full-length work on the Dutch Waffen-SS previously, I awaited this book with some eagerness. Alas! Very little of genuine interest is revealed. The book is not as well-researched as the dust cover claims, and no survivors have been consulted. Also, Pierik clearly has an agenda: the book purports to selflessly tackle a black period in Dutch history. Couched in the language of the politically correct, the pages are riddled with the socio-political assumptions and philosophies of the early 21st century post-Western world.

The narrative frequently reads as a broadbrush potted history of the Second World War, rather than as a specific study of a little known or understood Dutch unit in the service of Nazi Germany. Slow to get going, with frequent digressions, irritation is never more than the turn of a page away. My main gripe is the poor grasp of military terminology. Corps, Division, Brigade, Regiment, Battalion, Company - all are applied interchangeably. Many dates are wrong. Astonishing errors exist, e.g. referring to an army 'tank hunter' unit as an 'armoured fighter-plane division'! Military abreviations are confusing. Finally, the translation is wretched and amateurish.

If you must buy this disappointing book, get it secondhand. Pierik has done the Dutch volunteers of this extraordinary period in European history no justice at all. This is the work of a rather mediocre historian, presented in a quasi-academic manner (although there are no references). Charles W. Sydnor jr.'s 'Soldiers of Destruction' (on the 3rd SS Panzer Division) remains the benchmark for superbly researched and objective scholarly work on the Waffen-SS. Pierik would do well to study and adopt Sydnor's approach.

This book has good information on how to cultivate ginseng but it was written in the early twentieth century so prices and other pertinent information is very out dated. Furthermore, the pictures are, for the most part, indistinguishable.

This book is misleadingly titled.

"Latin Can Be Fun" suggests a work that should contain more actual humour than this one does.

Instead, this curious little book seems to be a very conventional foreign language phrase book that just happens to be in Latin. The author apparently considers this concept to be enough of a joke that little effort was made to make the contents funny. It is nothing like the "Latin for All Occasions" series; in that series, there is some humour in the Latin translations of contemporary buzzwords.

In fact, some people do speak Latin and attempt to converse in it. This book has minimal grammatical helps of the kind that would enable a user to try to make herself understood in Latin. If it ain't already there, you're out of luck.

The best feature of the book is its attempts at coining new words for features of modern life unknown to Cicero. A dictionary or word index would have been helpful to assist the reader in finding them, though.