Western Books

A friend gave me this book to read and I haven't been able to put it down. I have done extensive research on my family geneology and my maternal Great-Grandparents were some of the very first settlers in the Dakota territory. I have documentation that matches the book content so Lauraine Snelling did her research well. I, being raised in Minnesota and my Mother born in Fargo brought back so many memories about the Bjorkland family traveling through Alexandria, MN (where my Mom's aunt lived). These settlers lived through some unbareable times and they had to be very strong to survive it. Don't judge the writer about all the deaths as that actually did happen back in those times. They didn't have the medicines and doctors we have today and they died from the simplest illnesses and injuries. I can't imagine how they survived those winters. I know it got brutally cold (30 and 40 degrees below zero). Can you imagine living in uninsulated dwellings through those temps.

I am very anxious to read more books of these series and will recommend them to anyone.

I purchased this set of books for a family member because I enjoyed them so much myself. Our family has connections to Norwegian pioneers in the Dakotas so they were even more meaningful to us.
Exciting and realistic, the stories show the trials and the courage of the early emigrants as they struggled to establish their homes in a new land. Uplifting to see how their faith in God helped them through their ordeals, and also how important the strength of family and friends were to them.

I enjoyed this series very much. Lauraine Snelling has a very good way of introducing new characters to the main story line that continue to make each book very enjoyable and the people believable.

The way that Bible Scripture and Godly lessons are weaved throughout each book, makes these books not only "good reading" but "good for your soul" books too.

Once I started I just couldn't stop reading. She writes in a way that you can see what she describes, and feel what the character is feeling. I have read all 6 in the series, plus the 3 in the Return to Red River. Can't wait for the following books that are to follow. You won't regret buying this series.

I bought this set of three books, and couldn't do anything but read, until I finished them!! My father imigrated to North Dakota from Sweden in 1905, and the book is so real, it brought back so many childhood memories, even though it is set 20-30 years before. The isolation and the harshness of the freezing temperatures of the winters was so very real, even though we were a family of ten children.But the love and respect that families had for each other made all the hardships worth while, and this love will stay with me forever. My grandchildren have a great heritage, and ask me many questions, as their life in California in the 2000's is so very different. The land my father homesteaded is still in our family, and is now in the 3rd generation. It has increased to over 2000 acres, and still sustains the Nelson family, and the 2 generations who live on the land.We had lots of Indian graves on the land ,and our father taught us to respect, and never disturb them. The Indians were still around when he first arrived from Sweden. What an adventure back in time!!!! Can't wait to get the continuing series!! Thanks, Ms. Snelling!!!

This is the book, in this format, my mother read to me 50-plus years ago, and it is still as good. I recently purchased four copies. One each for two adult friends who are very ill. Both responded with uplifted spirits. One each for two young women who will be welcoming new "Young" ones soon.
Please note "Disbobedience" was set to music in the '60s by, I believe, the Chad Mitchell Trio, and James James Morrison Morrison Weatherby George Dupree is still warning his mother "not to go down to the end of town unless you go down with me ..."
"Vespers", at the very end, not only brings back memories of your own and your children's innocent childhoods, but also contains a very important message, "Oh, I quite forgot/God bless me."
And God bless you and those with whom you share this book.

One day, I found one of these poems running around in my head 40 years after I first began reading them to my boys when they were very young. As my older son took possession of that copy some time back, I had to order a new one for my 67-year old self just to get the lines absolutely right. It was worth it. My only regret is that I have no grandchildren to drum them into. Charming, literate and comforting.

This is one very good book and can be enjoyed by people from 2 to 92. I've read it to senior citizens as well as my grandchildren. The subjects are universal. The rhyme and rhythm are delightful.

My copy of this book is 51 years old and has my grandmother's autograph. Talk about a lasting gift! I love books as gifts, and this is my all-time favorite.

I had to read this for a little while before I got to a poem I really liked. The first 10 or so poems just seemed incomplete to me. "Independence" caught my eye first. In very few words it pretty much tells us adults that our kids are going to do what they want, despite all the things we say. It's followed by the wonderful poem "Nursery Chairs" where a child pretends the chairs in his house are different things. Then after "Nursery Chairs" is another strong poem, "Market Square" where we learn that there are things all around us in nature that we don't need to get from the market.

"Disobedience" is another interesting poem. It's kind of a role-reversal story about a kid whose mother disobeys his orders to stay away from the end of town, and she gets lost as the result of her disobedience.

"Spring Morning" emphasizes the beauty of nature to us, saying, "It's awful fun to be born at all." Next is "The Island" which has a wonderful closing message that screams, "God made it all - FOR US!" to me.

And there are so many other joyous poems in this quick read too. There's "Jonathan Jo," "Rice Pudding," "The Wrong House," "The Dormouse and the Doctor" (which has some terrific rhythm), a very touching "Little Bo-Peep and Little Boy Blue," "The Invaders," "If I Were King," etc., etc.

But perhaps my favorite poem in the collection is "Halfway Down" which is about nothing more than sitting on stairs. Man, if someone can take such a simple act and make it so astoundingly wondrous, then that person truly must be one of the greatest writers ever.

I got exactly what I thought I was buying. This is a really convenient way to have a textbook, because you can just stick it in a three-ring binder and take it with you! Also, you can just take a few chapters if you want, or the whole book! The pages are a little thin, but it's a wonderful educational textbook. As a B.A. in psychology, I would recommend this book to anyone looking to have a great learning experience and a textbook that doesn't cost a fortune.

The book was in excellent condition mater of fact it was new. I was very please with the time of shipment.

The Seller was great - item shipped in a timely fashion and the looseleaf version is much easier to work with than regular hardcover texts.

The book is easy to read and it gives great examples to better understand the concepts. I would recommend this book.

The book treats many cases and reaches high level of coverage; it is very helpful, that in practice one can find many similarities, since the cases are very realistic and explained in depth. My opinion is, that it is valuable because it is applicable.

'Above Los Angeles', another in Robert Cameron's birds eye views of major cities is, to me, surprisingly superior to his similar volume on his hometown of San Francisco. Since I much prefer SF to LA, I expected LA to be far less photogenic, but it comes of rather well overall. This may be due to the fact that so many of the LA landscapes familiar to us from TV mentions, but unseen for most of us, leaves us facinated to finally see, for example, Venice Beach close-up or the Hollywood Bowl, or Century City.

This is still not quite as good as the similar volume for Chicago ore even less good than the volume on London, or even as good as a competitor's work on Boston, but it is good, nonetheless, if only because it confirms my notion that LA is a sprawl with no center. The 'downtown' pic looks like a non-descript snap of outer Queens and not similar to Manhatten's financial district or midtown, to which it is comparable in function. Even the shorelines look more interesting than the similar scenes from the SF book.

An excellent souvenoir!

This book is a must have for all those who love L.A. natural and urban landscapes, but can't be there all the time to enjoy that. As the city has gigantic proportions, of course that not everything can be covered in the book, but at least what I consider to be the most attractive spots in the area is there. The paper is high-quality and the photographs are crystal-clear and well produced. Worth the money.

I just love these books by Cameron, he is just the most amazing talent. This book really captures L.A. and this is a city that begs to be photographed from the air because of all the wonderful buildings hidden behind huge fences and lush landscape. This is without question one of his best books, it really is a joy to look through. I have the older edition, but have seen the newer book and it only adds a few new pictures of buildings built since the book was first published in the early 90's; such as the Getty. I was expecting more new pictures, since the publisher makes big deal about it being revised, I even thought I might buy it if it was that different, but there are like five new pictures out of about 160 original and like I said before they where not even taken by Cameron. These pictures are well done, but are not by Cameron himself, he is alas over 90 and retired. Either printing is a five star book I assure you. I highly recommend all of his books they are all wonderful in their own way, but this truly is one of his best works.

Los Angeles is a wonderful city so full of interesting things. This book has it all. All the areas are greatly photographed and look clear. LA's smog problem seems to be subsiding as the photos show clear days (most of them) and LA is only getting better. Every part of the city is showned. If you like photos from the air, you'll like this book. Also, the Library tower is shown (this is the first building to get blown up in the movie "Independence Day") in several photos. The older printings of this book didn't have them in it. I highly recommend this book.

Robert Cameron presents a place and its' character in this "above" book (as well as in the other ones). Some people fly over the Los Angeles area, gagging and shaking their heads. Mammoth highways, concrete, smog, track housing, and monster burbs. These qualities do exist. But Cameron's photos also allow you to see the different personalities and idiosyncrasies of the many communities that make up what we call Los Angeles, from the Southbay beaches to the hills. (Where LA begins and ends we're not always sure). The area of Los Angeles (like other places) is different from other major metropolitan American areas for a variety of reasons. For one, most of the topography is flat, and it's a coastal desert paved with transplants with ambition and liking for the sun. These pictures allow the City of Angels to be more intriguing and have more of its' personality exude itself, as the reader gets a closer look at it through these pictures.

Mental pictures.

Yes, there are those who state Los Angeles County is an area with few landmarks. First you've got have a good disposition to this place, and second you've got to get close. Cameron's shots provide plenty of pockets of beauty and character, and plenty of quintessential "LA" landmarks. One must close enough to observe and experience them. "Above Los Angeles" lets us. Photos that highlight the interesting and beautiful icons of this city's architecture and natural character.

Another book for LA-philes and those interested in its' history and growth is: "LA Lost & Found: An Architectural History of Los Angeles (California Architecture and Architects, No 21)." by Sam Hall Kaplan, and Julius Shulman (Photographer).

The experience of reading Augusta Locke was for me a luxurious one. I was immediately drawn into the story by the specificity and quirkiness of the detail and the determination and feistiness of the main character. Henderson, a master of Western imagery, draws a complicated picture, more like a series of fast-moving, high-resolution close-ups placed against an expansive backdrop of the enormous world. Tiny, fragile people move within its tempests, striking out on their own, struggling to make it their own. Gussie is a puzzle--a delightful confusion of human frailties and virtues--courage and heartache and wit and longing. And in the vastness of the Wind River Valley, against the constraints of time and coincidence, she finds Walker Avary, a priceless and beloved character from Henderson's earlier novel, The Rest of the Earth. What a great sense of satisfaction to have the two of them meet and connect and travel together through the lonesome paths they've taken in life. For me, this was a book that needed reading twice, the first time to get lost in it, and the second to savor it.

This is a fictional chronicle of six generations of a western family. The west is always one of my favorite subjects. Gussie is a rare woman, both strong and tender. She is a character you will never forget. This raw and haunting tale is my pick for best book for the first half of 2006.

Best damn book I've read all year. Tough as fence post, bites like barbed-wire. Damned if Augusta Locke ain't real.

How does Henderson do it? --the characters and setting, the images and story. There's more style and substance on one of William Heywood Henderson's pages than between all of he covers on the New Release table at Barnes and Nobel put together.

"At night, when the weather allowed, Gussie and Mr. Foster laid out a tarpaulin on the ground, their bedrolls padding their bones, the sleeping box as breakwind, Anne (Gussie's child) had outgrown the box, and now she carefully laid out her own blankets, tugging at the corners to square and smooth the fabric. Beneath the stars, they all lay side by side, Anne in the middle. The stars filled the entire basin, no forests to catch the constellations, only famished cottonwoods. Gussie looked directly up into the night. The earth turned. The stars surrendered their positions.

Get this book new, you won't find many second-hand copies. It's the kind of novel people keep to read over and over again.

Augusta "Gussie" Locke is one of the most facinating and fully drawn female literary characters in recent memory. Her defiant, independent spirit is both inspiring and deeply moving. Henderson paints vivid and palpable landscapes of the West with some of the most beautiful prose I have ever read about the region. This book is not just for Westerners - although, I suspect that Westerners will particularly appreciate it. The book's great humanity, and staggering portrayal of the natural world, make it a must-read for everyone. I could not more highly recommend Augusta Locke.

Augusta Locke is one of the most compelling characters to emerge from the American West. The unbeautiful daughter of beautiful parents, a girl with a wandering habit who walks into Wyoming, she grows into a woman who reads the mind of the country around her -- the Wind River Range, the Great Divide Basin, the Big Sandy River, land where "the season can swing from heat to snow and back in the turn of a day." In Henderson's flat-out gorgeous prose, Gussie's life feels epic, not because the events that make it up are so big, but because we follow her so closely, watching her seasons change. She's a self-made orphan, a fierce mother, a lonely lover, a rough road worker, a woman in a man's world, sometimes a woman in a man's clothing. In the vast plains, such a small female figure might go unnoticed, her life leaving a shallow track like the roads "so barely scratched into the surface that a shift in the angle of the sun would erase them altogether," but Augusta Locke will live with you long after you finish the book and try to put her back on the shelf.

As a lover of the french philosopher and his time i can only
recommand with passion his works and especially Candide together with the other stories issued by the so prestigious Oxford
world's Classics -its a genuine pleasure

Voltaire is a master saterist, not a comedian. As with all satire, it hslps if we understand the contemporary world in which the author writes, but Voltaire's skill raises Candide above this level of satirical writing. He is masterful in the use of comedy to poke fun at the customs, mores, and beliefs of his time and show us the silliness to shich theunenlightened mind can go in the pursuit of perfection in an imperfect world. As a commentator on human culture he is followed by Mark Twain. Not that Twain can match Voltaire in his skill, only in some of his perceptions. This is an "old" book by new world reckoning, but as a masterpiecce well worth the time and effort of exploaration it is a timeless masterpiece. I highly recommend it to both believer and non-believer.

A great selection of stories where Voltaire shows off his literary style and espouses his philosophy on different topics.
He is a great story teller and has a great sense of humour too.

This was a first source cited in "A Visit From Voltaire" which turned me on to the man with its lightly comic approach to a formidable subject, BUT I have to add that I only understood it bettert after knowing what role Candide played in the political mayhem of his life fighting "infame," and only after I knew more about his social/irreligious context, did I really "get" what he was doing in Candide. I'd send light readers to "Voltaire in Love," and wannabe scholars to the Portable Voltaire and whatever basic biographic texts they can find, as well as Visit from Voltaire, A which is hilarious fun.

Voltaire's Candide is a scathing satire on one of the more popular metaphysical theories of his day: that is, we live in the best of all possible worlds. In spite of the disasters and disappointments that befall mankind, Candide and an array of companions attempt to make sense of their personal tragedies while shoehorning it into the Leibniz theory.

Candide is well-written, and sprinkled with cute and clever irony. I also enjoyed the references Voltaire makes to his personal enemies in Candide. However, the optimistic theory that prompted this satire has been rejected, which leads me to believe there isn't much purpose for this book any longer. Really the only reason left to read Candide is to become 'culturally literate', I suppose. Don't get me wrong; the ultimate message of this book is a good one. However, I hope readers don't think Candide's lesson must preclude optimism all together, or love, or friends, or God. That fact is obscured to make a literary point.

The only interesting question that remains to be asked from this book is: why does such cyncism accompany 'enlightenment'? Both French and American societies are rife with it after all, so much that I doubt even Voltaire could manage much of a smirk. All he could do would be to join the choir and tend the garden he has sown.

As many have already said, this book is fantastic. Not only does it cover a WIDE variety of information and topics but it also gets into the why of magick as well as the how. The author rights in both an intelligent yet somewhat casual and even entertaining manner at times and thusly manages to keep your attention throughout the book.
The only real quibbles I had were some of the correspondences in the index, in particular with the elemental rulership of the seven traditional planets. All in all, though, this is a very refreshing, informative, and invaluable tool that will help both the "armchair" and practicing magician, as well as anyone who just wants to read up on the subject and get a good comprehensive overview of Western occultism. I DEFINITELY recommend getting this book in conjunction with Donal Kraig's Modern Magick.

I'm just here to enforce the 5 star ratings that the other reviewers gave. This book along with Dave Griffin's "Ritual Magic Manual" are the few books that actually give us "step by step" instruction in PRACTICAL Golden Dawn Ritual Magick. Dave's book is for those that have time and patience for longer rituals (but it's still great) but this book has simpler, less time consuming rituals (but just as potent). In one email correspondence I had with the author J.M. Greer, he said that this (simplicity) is what he intended, and I'm glad he did because if I'm in a hurry and want to do a working then I can turn to this one and STILL do magick that's in-line with the Golden Dawn current!

This with "Paths of Wisdom" form a 'dynamic duo' in top notch cabalistic magick!!!

I highly recommend this author to seekers of wisdom!

This is a great book, it will become a Golden Dawn classic. Highly recommended reading after Israel Regardie, Pat Zalewski and Chic & Sandra Tabatha Cicero. Much needed for todays student of the GD.

Written by a true practicing magician, Circles of Power is a marvelous modern occult text full of practical advice and formulae based on the Golden Dawn tradition, founded on Cabalistic Magick.

Greer synthesizes the Golden Dawn system concisely and clearly into an outstanding modern Magickal Manual. It compares favorably to, if not better than, Kraig's Modern Magick or Frater U.D.'s High Magick, two excellent similar books.

Like those other books on Ceremonial Magick, Greer covers the basics from theory to practice and offers exercises to learn the systems. Unlike other books, however, he doesn't stop his book and suggest that you commit a month to some exercise before turning a page. Though regular work and experimentation will reward the practitioner, it's refreshing not to be asked by an author to stop reading a book in the middle of it.

Greer's excellent writing offers the reader no-nonsense, straight forward instruction like a well written text book. Never is the reader in doubt as to the writer's genuine knowledge of the material.

Greer's commitment to excellence is shown in his choice to edit out all the Enochian elements from the Golden Dawn Rituals he's presenting. Rather than just parrot what others have said, (including the GD itself), he refrains because he feels his understanding and experience of that part off the work is inadequate. The removal of these elements, by the way, detracts nothing from the rituals and work he presents. He substitutes Cabalistic elements skillfully and effectively in their stead. (I personally like the Enochian system and hope Greer eventaully delves into it and shares his insights.)

The weakest part of the book is Llewellyn's publishing. Give them points for including an index, but, considering how excellent this book is, Llewellyn's decision to use pulp acid paper is tantamount to a crime. No one who reads this book, no practicing magician at any rate, would ever consider it disposable, but it will yellow and crumble over time. This is a sad state when one considers the publisher's short print runs and thinks how sought after this book will be in the second hand market when it falls out of print.

My advice; if you're new the art, or old to the art, or interested in the least, you should buy this book. It's excellent. Like Greer's other book in this series, Paths of Wisdom, Circles of Power is destined to be a classic. Buy it now while you can still afford it.

Probably Greer's best work to date. I have to say I'm a fan of Greer's even though I have disliked a couple of his other works but this book should be read and studied by those who're interested in working ritual magic. I say should be because every ceremonial magical text is generally suggested to be obtained and read by the novice if you take a look at the average website on this topic. Sadly though many of those sites don't mention this book and I'm not sure why.

The book is from a straightforward Golden Dawn approach to the Western Mystery Tradition & ritual magic. Oh I hear the groans now but let me say that the rites are pared down to their core and stripped of all that ballyhoo traditionally associated with the G.: D.: material! That alone is worth the time to read thru this manual. Also like Kraig's

"Modern Magick", "Circles of Power" is intended to be a manual used by the solitary practitioner though it can be adapted easily enough for group workings.

Is there anything in here that's not covered elsewhere? Not really and yet he does touch on some interesting aspects regarding the Telesmatic Imagery techniques usually only mentioned in other works. Also he does a nice job of explaining the rituals and why they're used instead of just saying "practice this three times a day for the next two years" and leave it at that.

One of the best things about this book is the simple language the author uses to express his views and understanding of the subject which in most cases one has to really struggle at first to get the gist of. Not so here. For instance, on page 109 under the heading of "Contemplation" Greer writes: "The central factor in contemplation, and the only aspect of it that can be called a 'technique' at all, is bare intention." Nicely said. Now if you read Israel Regardie's book on the Golden Dawn, it's not written as simply as that. Why? The style evoked by Regardie - and sadly other ceremonial magical authors - is one of the snooty scholar. "Either keep up with me or give it up" tends to be their way of weeding out those who aren't worthy of the "many petaled lotus". For a novice student, Greer's simple language is a God-send. Had I had this book back in 1988 when I started my inquiries into Ritual Magic and G.: D.: material, I think I'd have made a lot more progress.

One thing I wasn't happy about is the lack of detailed analysis of the Sephiroth's correspondences. For instance there's no mention of the scents listed for each sephira. So if you had only this book at your disposal, you wouldn't know that tobacco is the traditional scent used for the sephira of Geburah. I have to wonder if the author's intention was to use this book in conjunction with say Regardie's "Golden Dawn" manual.

Another oddity offered in the book is the line drawing of the magical sword. On page 206 a trident is shown but it is referred to as a sword. Why I haven't a clue. Perhaps the company made an error in line drawings, I don't know. The trident is normally used in ritual magic and is rarely mentioned outside of the Solomonic grimoires so its inclusion here leaves a mystery to be answered by the author.

In the chapter about Evocation under the heading of "Dealing With Spirits", the author provides some excellent advice on dealing with the Spirits. Pages 243-247 should be read several times before the novice runs off casting his circle of power to summon the Spirits of Riches and Wealth. Mind you Greer does not give you duck billed platitudes on ethics unlike some of the other authors on this subject, rather he gives you some good, solid, clear ideas to think about regarding dealing with the Spirits themselves.

Finally I give him five stars on this effort. This is a subject that is very difficult to digest into one simplified work as this but Greer has made some strides doing so. I highly recommend this book to all who're interested in the subjects of Ritual Magic, Evocation or the Golden Dawn.

One of the things I realized very early on, given the novel's backdrop, was that Webb's characters were going to be those caught in a storm in a bottle. Characters of choices and consequences, created to be swept away by history, yet always marching consciously, if not purposefully, through three inexorable decades of American life. This gives his story the epic richness of an elated destiny, which is balanced out by the feel of tragic fatalism.

His characters are fictional, but their history is our history, and one that's painfully real and rife with disillusionment. There's nothing romantic about his sharp, somber, and gripping prose in his portrait of those years. And it's hard to judge Webb's characters: good people grounded in their identity as Americans and patriots, all taking different paths, and in love and disagreement with each other.

As the writer, he leaves much to our discretion, but I feel that one character is staunchly playing the villain: Dorothy Edelson Dingenfelder. But we're made to respect her, even as she destroys those around her. Others might enjoy Webb's socio-political critique of those times, but I don't feel knowledgeable enough to evaluate what is the other half of the soul of this great work.

Though by reading Webb's epic portrayal of history and the realities of military service, I've come to understand what a beautiful and bitter thing loving one's country can mean.

Seldom do I read books that are 534 pages in length. A Country Such As This captured me from page one to the very end. All the characters are superbly defined and easy to follow. It is as if you have a relationship with all of them. From the three main characters, to there wives and children -- all have a personality that the reader can easily relate to. Friendship, love, politics, drama and emotion are all here. One minute you are laughing and the next page you find yourself with chills. This really is a masterpiece. Make it 10 Stars and that would not do justice!!!

Webb, the Junior Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a gifted writer of fiction and non-fiction. Because I so enjoyed reading "A Sense of Honor" and "Fields of Fire," I determined that I would eventually read all of his books. I have just finished "A Country Such As This," the action of which is set in the time of the Korean conflict and the Viet Nam War.

As is always the case with Webb's writing, his own experiences as a midshipman at Annapolis and as a Marine in Viet Nam strongly inform his world view and the characters he has created. In this case, the narrative revolves around three roommates from the Naval Academy whose careers veer off in dramatically different directions. Red becomes a pilot with the Navy's Blue Angels and eventually is taken as a prisoner of war in Viet Nam. Joe becomes a pioneer in the U.S. missile program. Judd, a Marine officer wounded in battle, serves in the FBI, where he is again shot. He eventually becomes a minister and then a Member of Congress. The evolving relationships among these three musketeers and the various women they love serves as a fascinating and satisfying platform that allows Webb to wax eloquent about the cost of war, of leadership, of freedom, and of deep relationships.

In this excerpt, he paints a vivid picture of the history of anti-war movements in the U.S.

He also sets the scene for why the anti-war movement emerged against our involvement in Viet Nam. The lessons seem particularly relevant to the current conflict in Iraq and the response by the American people to that protracted war. Joe's wife, Sophie, is talking to Judd during the time they are awaiting word about Red as a POW in Viet Nam:

" `It's just so vicious, Judd. And so wrong. How can they [the anti-war protesters] call themselves Americans?'

`We've always been this way. It's just gotten more out of hand this time, that's all. Lyndon Johnson tried to sneak a war past the American people, and whether it was a good war or not became irrelevant. Red understood that. He even wrote me about it before he was shot down. You don't fight a war when you haven't articulated what you're going to do, and expect people to go cheerfully off to bleed for years on end. And Nixon came in with the promise he was going to end it. Once he started pulling people out, that was it. The North Vietnamese have him cold, because the antiwar movement has taken away his negotiating leverage.'

He felt awkward making is speeches. He knew it wasn't what Sophie wanted to hear: `I know I'm not consoling you, much, but I've been trying to put this in perspective. Did you know there were antidraft riots in World War I? And did you know that the Selective Service Act only passed by one vote in World War II - in 1940, with Europe already overrun by the Nazis?'

They passed by ugly, despairing neighborhoods along New York Avenue. Judd Smith watched black faces staring at his car, and thought some more. `No, here's a better example for you, Sophie. Did you know that during the Civil War Lincoln had to deal with an antiwar movement? Imagine, the same people who created the abolition movement losing their stomach for the war. Robert E. Lee went north into Sharpsburg to try and defeat the Yankees on their own soil, so that the antiwar movement would force Lincoln to negotiate a settlement. There you have it in a nutshell. The idealists didn't want slavery, but they didn't have the stomach for the bloody part of it. They wanted the world to be rational and sane, even when their very cause was the essence of the war!'" (Pages 473-4)

Webb wrote this novel in 1983. In reflecting on the mood of America in the 50's and 60's in response to Korea and Viet Nam, he was presciently offering insights to help us to understand the mood of America in 2007 on the heels of years of conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Al

Patria or Death

Really enjoy a Country Such as This - I love the way the war, the live and the country is seen from different points of view.

Highly recommend.

This story chronicles the lives of three classmates from the U.S. Naval Academy who graduated in 1951. It takes the reader thru their careers and marriages. One character was a marine hero in Korea, went on to join the FBI and the was elected to congress. Another was a skilled pilot who was shot down on a mission in Vietnam and was a prisoner of war. The third, was an engineer and scientist involved in our early missile programs. He then left the military and worked as a civilian. It was painful to be reminded of Hanoi Jane Fonda and her ilk. They worked like a 5th Column for The Enemy. This is a valuable read just to remind us how bad those days really were.

Zoé B. Oldenbourg (1916 - 2002) was both a highly esteemed specialist in mediæval French history and a critically acclaimed and prize winning historical novelist. She is best known for her novels The World Is Not Enough and The Cornerstone. The Crusades (Les Croisades) was first published in 1965.

Concentrating on the period of the first three Crusades Oldenbourg's book is a social, cultural, political and military history of the period, and covers the history of Turkey, Persia, Iran, Iraq, the Bosphorus, the Balkans, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Arabia, Egypt, Italy, Sicily, Spain and southern Europe. She makes illuminating references to other phenomenon such as colonialism and pogroms, and is exceptional in that she is able to imaginatively suggest the attitudes, beliefs and limitations of the people she is writing about.

The subject is an immense one: the results of the Germanic invasions; the position of the Papacy; the 'Holy War' and its legacy; the economic effects of overpopulation on a poorly developed agriculture; feudalism; the differences between eastern and western Christianity; heresies and national differences in the east; the history of Constantinople; the rise of the Turks; the divisions and unity of Islam; relations between the Turks and the Arabs, Christians and Muslims; cultural effects of East on West and vice versa; literary influences in both directions; the legend of the Crusader; the subsequent history of 'crusades' such as the Albigensian, the Inquisition and the Conquistadores.

Oldenbourg on contemporary medieval attitudes: it was a time before machines were widely used. 'Man was therefore infinitely closer to physical reality than we can be now. Tools and raw materials had a value and immediacy not easy for us to understand. This direct contact with matter whose laws he knew only empirically made man simultaneously more superstitious than we are today and more skillful and enterprising.'

She is illuminating on the distinction between western and eastern religious feeling, in a way which explains much subsequent Catholic history. She says also that 'men thought of themselves first and foremost as religious beings...'

A plethora of suggestive ideas: that popular religion was (and is) largely pagan (and pagan is used in a non pejorative way); that miracles occupied the space in our lives of science; that war and religion were combined in the Latin west in a way they never could be in the Byzantine east.

'This exclusive, even excessive, exaltation of physical valour was something the Byzantines could never understand. The people of Western Europe believed implicitly that a man's worth was, first and foremost, measured by his prowess in battle. To the Greeks, courage was certainly an estimable virtue... but they did not rate it any higher than many 'civilised' virtues.'

'The fundamental difference lay in the co-existence in the Western mind of two quite separate ideas, the warrior and the Christian. Byzantium never seems to have been affected by any such ambivalence: it was too blatantly paradoxical for the logical Greek mind to accept.'

On the tangle of military and political objectives pursued by both east and west Oldenbourg sheds a clear light.

She suggests a connection between the German tribes who destroyed the western Roman Empire in the 4th century and the Crusaders. The feudal nobility, she says, were of Germanic or Nordic extraction, unlike the Latin peasantry. They preserved their ideals of love of battle and glorious death despite their conversion to Christianity. The union of these two diverse traditions led to the idea of a holy war, and such wars were waged in Syria in the 12th century. The Germanic tribes, many of whom admired Rome as a great civilising power, conquered it. Later, as admirers of Christianity, they attempted to conquer the Holy Land. In 1204 they conquered Constantinople.

The defining 'cause' of the Crusades was the rise of Turkey as a major power. This rise threatened both the Western, Greek and Arab states, although Turkey itself was Islamic. The Arabs, friendly to Christians, had been accepted politically in their position of power in Syria and the Middle East as well as elsewhere for 400 years. Now the Turks were conquering areas towards the Holy Land, and also areas in the Bosphorus - they posed a direct threat to Byzantium. The Crusades were initially launched to protect Byzantium from the Turks. But the Crusaders included Normans, who were more interested in conquering Byzantium than the Holy Land. And the Great Schism had recently separated the Churches of east and west: instead of reuniting them, the Crusades were to widen the gap between them and exploit their differences.

'Alexius saw no reason to fight the Turks simply because they were infidels (he had suffered too much from Christians to share any prejudges of this kind)...'

'the Greeks were trying to use the Latins in order to reconquer their own lost provinces, while the Latins thought the Greeks had a duty to help them in the much more important task of recovering the Holy Places.'

Oldenbourg follows this concept of the holy war through subsequent history. The union of the military culture of the barons and the culture of love and romance of southern France led to the ideal of chivalry. Later this culture in turn was conquered during the crusade against the Albigensians. Relics of these ideas can be seen in the Inquisition - the Church Militant - and in the deeds of the Conquistadores. Most recent was the attempt of Hitler to conquer the Jews.

The more one explores a subject the more there is to explore. Oldenbourg's book suggests this complexity. There are no easy answers, few generalisations. It is both honest and learned, and motivated by a clear and compassionate intelligence. It has had a far greater effect on me than the celebrated study by Stephen Runciman, still a standard work on the subject (strangely, another major study is Gibbon's, 200 years out of date and still an acute analysis despite it). Oldenbourg explores one of the great conflicts between Christianity and Islam so as to show how misleading it is to regard it as a simple conflict between two ideologies and in this way her book can be helpful and relevant to those who wish to see present day conflicts in a broader, less bigoted context.

For the amateur historian, like myself, I was pleased that the author separated out the sources contemporary to the events of the Crusades. Also, the author often cites these sources (such as Anna Comnena and William of Tyre) directly and openly evaluates their positions and prejudices. Considering the limited extent of these original viewpoints, that few people were literate in those days, this emphasis helps in establishing some validity to what is a very distant interpretation.

The Frankish barons, who are the major players in the three Crusades discussed here, led a loose mob that included a fighting force of knights and squires along with any number of illiterate fanatics. They were inspired by a central religious authority, the Pope, and certain fiery orators such as Peter the Hermit. The Franks were not much further advanced than the federated tribes they had been when they overran Western Europe. They were hardly more than barbarians, fierce fighters, glorifying War, recently converted to Christianity, who used the Pope's urging to continue their heritage of invading and plundering.

The overland journey of the First Crusade, with Jerusalem as its goal, must have been unimaginably difficult to survive. The Franks fought their way through the insufferable summer heat of the Mideast, conquering and plundering as they went. When their situation became dire, when it became exceedingly difficult to obtain supplies, they resorted to terror. Bohemond, the Count of Toulouse, who became the prince of Antioch, is reported to have actively encouraged the notion that the Crusaders were cannibals.

It was an age of illiteracy, lawlessness, fanaticism, and superstition. There were these material possessions - the Holy Lance (a piece of rusted iron claimed to have been the sword that pierced Christ's side), the True Cross, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher - that the Franks used as rallying cries. The fanaticism combined with the brutal conditions of the journey drove them to the point of insanity, to the point of massacring as many civilians as they could once they entered Jerusalem.

The slaughter in Jerusalem marked the beginning of the Frankish occupation of the Holy Land. It is true that in some ways the Franks learned to live with their Muslim neighbors, and for their part the Muslims, although perhaps more civilized at that time, could also reach extremes of cruelty; still, it is hard not to sympathize with Saladin who kicked the Franks almost all the way out of the Holy Land less than a century after they first arrived.

I thought reading this book would be a daunting dask, at 593 pages, on a subject that I knew nothing about, and considered dry. Was I wrong! Ms. Oldenbourg makes the crusades and the participants come alive. She imbues the participants with personality, so each individual is memorable, the reading better than any novel. From the blonde, blue eyed cunning soldier Bohemond to the tragic love triangle of Melisende, Fulk and Hugh, this book has it all. Scheming clerics, ambitious men, massacres, acts of superhuman strength, love, hatred. Not boring at all! And the great part is that it is not fiction. Well worth the read!

Zoe Oldenbourg's "The Crusades" was one of the first books I ever read about the subject, and still remains an unsurpassed introduction to the topic in my experience. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it is still one of my favourites.

Oldenbourg covers the main events of the major Crusades, and informs the reader in great detail of the situation at hand. Oldenbourg gives a very detailed introductory account of the world and lives of the Crusaders. It will certainly give you enough to decide if you want to learn more on this fascinating topic, or just leave it with Oldenbourg's book.

As an initial introduction to the Crusades, "The Crusades" stands as one of the best available, and will keep you engrossed throughout.

This volume, first published almost thirty years ago, gives an account of the first three crusades along with the history of Jerusalem up to its conquering by Saladin. The author does not view the Crusades as primarily a war of conquest or as a search for new colonies and trade routes. In addition, she wants to contrast the Crusades with the Islamic expansion of four centuries earlier, the goal of the latter in her opinion being the total conquest of the world. The goal of the Crusades was primarily to retake Jerusalem, and this viewpoint makes the author definitely at odds with many contemporary assessments of the origins and reasons for the Crusades. Readers who thirst for an in-depth knowledge of the Crusades will find a book that is well written and easy to read. Whether or not the book constitutes sound history can only be decided by a lifetime of intense study of the historical documents and sources. The general reader will thus have to remain in a state of suspended judgment on the accuracy of the book. Other books, especially those written in the last decade, should be consulted to gain further insight and alternative points of view.

The author wants to emphasize the human aspects of the Crusades, she asks readers to remove themselves from their modern context and try to understand (however difficult this might be) what life was like in medieval times. She gives a highly interesting account of the conditions of life in those times, referring to it as "simple" because of the state of technology at the time. Whether the technology of today makes life more complex is perhaps a matter for debate, but to claim life was more difficult back then is a credible proposition. The expenditure of human energy needed to obtain the basic life necessities was certainly a lot greater than what is required today. But the author reminds the reader that mental abilities were not necessarily diminished, pointing to the "better memories' that were developed in those times, due to general lack of writing skills. But she definitely wants to emphasize that society at that time was based exclusively on masculine ideals, and that the Catholic Church was "resolutely antifeminist." Her evidence for this is somewhat weak, and this position has been criticized vociferously in more contemporary accounts of the Crusades and the history of the Catholic Church.

There are many places in the book where the discussions are particularly interesting or surprising. Some of these include: 1. That "popular opinion" held that Peter the Hermit was the real instigator of the Crusades, having received a "letter" from Jesus Christ that he was commanded to deliver to Pope Urban II. The author reminds the reader that there is no evidence that Peter ever met the Pope. 2. That after the fall of Antioch, the Crusaders, with the assistance of native Christians murdered all the Turks that they could find in the city and believed that the this massacre was "pleasing to God." The author though does not offer the reader any evidence for this view. How does she know that the Crusaders against Antioch really believed this? 3. The author believes that the number of women and children that were murdered in the "Great Massacre" was exaggerated by chroniclers of the time (especially Islamic historians). But she is quick to point out that putting the real number aside, that most of the population in Jerusalem was completely exterminated, with most of these being unarmed civilians. 4. That the Muslims of Palestine did not anticipate the religious intolerance of the Christians. Interestingly, the author states that the Muslims who conquered the area centuries earlier did not attempt to force the conquered peoples to convert to Islam (Mohammed though murdered nearly all of the Jewish peasants in southern Palestine). 5. The author mentions that Baldwin, in the process of conquering the coastal cities, permitted various massacres in some of these cities in order to "terrorize" the defenders of the others. 6. The origin of "Sunnism" and "Shiism" is discussed, where Sunnism represents the "official orthodoxy" and Shiism is the "breakaway sect." At the time of the Crusades, the Sunnites (as the author refers to them) were represented by the Abbasid caliphate of Baghdad and the Shiites were represented by the Fatimid caliphate of Cairo. The extreme hatred between these two sects survives to this day. 7. That Bohemond blamed the failure of the Crusades on Alexius Comnenus, the Byzantine emperor of Constantinople, and tried to convince the Pope to launch a Crusade against Alexius. 8. The author contends that the concept of a holy war, or "jihad" was alien to Muslim leaders at the time of the Crusades, but that they acquiesced to public opinion and so were not willing to speak out against launching a jihad against the Franks. The thinking of the Muslim chroniclers gradually changed though, and by the time of the battle of Hattin, jihad became part of the consciousness of Muslims, and soldiers became "soldiers of God." Victory in war was the direct cause of God's favor to those who were faithful. 9. That religion at the time was "inseparable from politics" and consequently that any action taken by a statesman had to have a religious motive and must be justified by a religious point of view. The author describes predilection towards religion as a "universally recognized moral necessity." 10. That with the exception of Anna Comnena, the history of the first three Crusades was of minor interest to the historians of Constantinople. The author describes Anna Comnena as being only marginally interested in the events of the first three Crusades. The Fourth Crusade, which is not discussed in the book, was of course of great importance to the Greek Christians.

I really am pleased that I read this book because within its pages you can see the birth of our modern world.

Despite the fact that Rene contorted himself to try to prove that God exists; he still managed to create a great work. He began the inquiry into reality wherein we try to understand the world through experimentation. I think he failed in many ways to develop a coherent philosophical structure due to his attempts to please the Church but given the social conditions of the day this was the best that he could do. Even in this flawed analysis Rene paved the way for what would later become the Scientific Method.

I only wish that he could live today and write without fears of reprisal from religious entities.

well..descartes is kind of long winded.
he's trying to prove we can KNOW things about the natural world, which he does. fantastic.
the problem now is by decartes standard can there be agnostic or atheist scientists?

In the 17th century, the world underwent dramatic and incredible changes. The Scientific Revolution was gathering pace, Europeans had experienced the Reformation and the Renaissance, and boundaries and horizons in all areas were being expanded and changed at a breakneck pace.

Into this time of upheaval comes Descartes, one of the greatest Philosophers to ever live anywhere in the world. While 'modern' philosophy, which broke off its roots from Scholasticism, does not necessarily begin only with Descartes, it is true in Descartes the agenda of post-Scholastic philosophy is most clearly and beautifully expressed in logical terms.

Descartes's project is to take into account the implications of the scientific revolution for philosophy; for Descartes, it is no longer religious authority or pure philosophical speculation which tells us the most accurate truths about the cosmos, but science based on observation and the use of mathematical and logical methods employed by the aid of natural human reason.

Descartes sets into motion an astonishing project into motion; to basically remove Scholasticism and its corrupt and inept attempts to understand the universe and replace it with a complete and unified system of knowledge, based on certain truths clear and knowable to anyone, whatever their class or background.

Descartes, following a plan of 'meditation', withdraws from the senses and attempts to consider the universe as it is to the intellect. Descartes carefully invokes several skeptical doubts about our knowledge, the existence of the external world, and our own existence and attempts to set out what he felt was true and what is not. The famous phrase 'Cogito ergo sum' is one result, though Descartes's overall system and arguments are more complex.

Descartes argues that the cogito, along with the goodness of God who does not make a creature merely in order to decieve it, ensures there are certain and indutible truths about ourselves and the world which will ensure his project will be a successful one. But Descartes encourages the reader not merely to accept his arguments but to put them into practice themselves, hoping in doing so they will discover new truths about the universe which will be plain to anyone using the light of reason.

Descartes in his other works uses this method as a justification for his approach to science and mathematics. Descartes was in every sense a polymath; a trained lawyer, an excellent writer, a student of human anatomy (in which Descartes made many pioneering experiments and observations), a brilliant philosopher and (for his time) physicist, and a mathematician of genius. However, while much of his science is now plainly wrong and was superseded by better scientists such as Galileo and Newton, the agenda Descartes set for philosophy remains much the same even today, especially in the Analytic tradition. Philosophy owes to Descartes two great achievements, one, in applying more rigorous logical methods to philosophical problems while paying attention to the results of science, and second, the re-introduction of skepticism into philosophy which provides a valuable check against dogmatism, but which would only truely be extended to its fullest possible means by David Hume.

Whether or not one ultimately agrees with Descartes's arguments, it must be acknowledged he is a great geius who stands shoulder to shoulder with people like David Hume, Liebniz, Spinoza and Kant, who all radically changed the way philosophers look at the world and the problems it poses.

I needed this book for my doctoral studies. I needed it for research and needed it quickly. I am very pleased with the delivery service and the book

I leave it to the reader to determine the merits of Descartes' thinking; that this work is seminal is obvious and needs no exegesis (nor does explanation of the text do any good for those who have yet to read it). The Cambridge edition is in my opinion the best out there for the English speaking world. It is a clean, literal rendering that does a great job of capturing the Latinate sense of Descartes' terminology in English with minimal obfuscation.