William King Books

Andre Gide's concept of the mise en abyme which has become a wide-ranging and controversial tool in literary understanding is deftly applied here by Mark Taylor to four of Shakespeare's most complex plays. Although the theoretical background is French and thus somewhat elliptical in expression, Taylor's prose is fresh, clear, and a pleasure to read. Difficult matter gracefully communicated.

As an open partisan of Mark Taylor's scholarhip, I was delighted to find that he has outdone himself in SHAKESPEARE'S IMITATIONS. His prose sparkles with a bravura wit truly inspired by the verbal and structural play of Shakespeare's own invention. SHAKESPEARE IMITATIONS tackles the best of the best: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, HENRY IV, PART 1, HAMLET, and THE TEMPEST. With great yet unassuming erudition and with an unflagging perceptiveness, Taylor pursues the kaleidoscopic question of Shakespeare's mirrorings of antiquity, of contemporary literature, and of his own creations. Even on the rare occasions when I find myself disagreeing with him, Taylor's arguments compel a re-thinking of these four great plays and a renewed appreciation of the infinite capacity of Shakespeare's (to say nothing of Taylor's) imagination.

Sams' argument has not been accepted by the 'academic establishment', but in my opinion the case which he makes in this book that "Edmund Ironside" is an early Shakespeare play, is very strong.

The idea that the author of the Shakespeare-folio suddenly started writing masterworks is at last proven to be nonsense. Eric Sams makes the case for Edmund Ironside being an early Shakespeare-play so masterly, that only the very stubborn (& the very stupid) can harbour any doubt after reading "Shakespeare's Lost Play". All the same, "Edmund Ironside" stinks, and should (I hope) never be performed on stage. But this monstrosity is fascinating reading-matter, written by a very young and unexperienced bard, who started, just like any other normal being, his professional career not simply by being the best, but at the bottom, by trying - and failing many times. It makes the author of Shakespeares works almost human! This book shouldn't be missed by any serious Shakespeare-student; Eric Sams shows how authorship can and should be proven - and how opponents should be silenced. That Sams apparently completed this study without the benefit of a computer opens new horizons for humanity!

Many books have been written about the Comstock Lode, and the haydays from 1859 to 1880. But not much has been written about the men that put together the " Big Bonanza" It is really interesting, about how the discovery and development of the Big Bonanza came into being.

Also it tell of what was done by the Bonanza Crowd, ( McKay, Fair Flood and O'Brian, with their new found wealth, and what they did with it.
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Anyone interested in early Nevada and Comstock history will like this book.

I first read the "Silver Kings: The Lives and Times of MacKay, Fair, Flood, and O'Brien, Lords of the Nevada Comstock Lode", because there was a family story that James G. Fair might be a lost relative. If he is it's quite distant, but the book was so interesting that I've since read everything I could get my hands on about the Comstock Lode and it's characters. Virginia City really did more as the birth place of the myths and truths of the Old West than did Tombstone or Dodge City. I am also an "Earp" buff and have read much available on the "Gun Fight" related characters. Even Samuel Clemens, later known as Mark Twain, was a reporter for the Virginia City newspaper during his early days. The book was fantastic. I'm glad to see it in reprint as I will give it as gifts to some of my friends. I had hunted long and hard for my old copy. If you like stories of the Old West you will enjoy this one. And the stories are true.
Senator Mike Fair
Oklahoma State Senator

I recently got this book out of the library in order to teach a poem on Gerard Manley Hopkins, one of the writers Buechner discusses in the text. I was astonished at Buechner's incredible diction, phrasing, and word pictures. I had not read anything else of his before, but now I want to buy this book! His writing has an incredibly mysitcal quality, which he uses to broaden our knowledge of ability to enjoy four notable authors, while showcasing his own unique vision and humility. The book is moving and gritty - it put me in tears on several occasions, and I do not cry easily. If you are at all a fan of Hopkins, Twain, Chesterton, or Shakeapeare you must read this book!

In this book, Buechner describes the lives and discusses some of the literary works of four well-known writers.

Each of the four has incorporated into his writing clues to some of the lessons learnt from the harsh realities of life. Buechner has always been a strong advocate of "telling it like it is", in contrast to a tendency in parts of the Christian Church to "say what we ought to say".

If you're looking for a writer who's prepared to face up to the sometimes very difficult aspects of life, but who maintains an active faith, this book (and Buechner's other books as well) should prove richly rewarding.

Strongly recommended!

This is a book you can't put down! A well written biography of a man most Eqyptians do not want to talk about, even today. I travel frequently to Egypt and have met some of the Free Officers and Islamic Brotherhood who helped bring down Farouk. Some have read the book and feel it is a very accurate picture presented without bias - just the facts! I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in modern Eqyptian history

A few months before 23 July 1952 coup d'etat, king Farouk examined the possibility to form a military cabinet composed of the `loyal' elements in the Army and the `clean' Civilians. The Cabinet was to be headed by Mustapha el Maraghi.
The King initially was thinking to bring General Fouad Sadik to head the cabinet, but Sadik-who fought in Palestine, 1948- could not give him the necessary confidence because he had talkative habits, implying readiness to engage in talk -with the Divan- to enjoy conversation with those `no need to know'.
General Mohamed Najib was suggested but the King refused him on suspicions that the General was `believed' to have had contacts with the young Free Officers movement - in the palace parlance often referred to as `an insignificant movement of reckless and over enthusiastic boys'. In fact King Farouk twice refused General Najib, when 1) Ahmad Naguib Hilali Pasha and 2) Hussein Serri Pasha, proposed Najib's candidacy to come as minister of defence.
King Farouk confided his plans to the Brazilian Ambassador to Egypt and told him he wanted to make a `White Coup' in October 1952 the moment he came back from vacationing in Europe during the summer.
King Farouk's plan was one a) to form strong `Palace' cabinet composed of a group of trusted military and civilian individuals of high calibre and `clean' records b) Mustapha el Maraghi - a dynamic man of experience as Mayor and Internal Security administrator - was to head the new cabinet c) to suspend the constitution for two years d) to postpone any parliamentary elections for two years e) the King would be the virtual power behind the new cabinet to be able to institutionalize all essential and long standing reforms like Land Distribution - including large tracts owned by the King - to the Fellaheen, Taxation, Education and many other welfare - equal opportunities - projects to improve the decaying standard of living of a population that was rapidly increasing.
The King decided to do all the above in October 1952 after returning from vacation in Europe.
Time ran him out and he was forced to abdicate in July 1952...

I agree with the previous poster. This book is really fun, silly and the illustrations are very cute. My kids love it and my husband and I don't mind reading it either (if you're like us, you are sick and tired of Thomas the Tank engine books!!!!). If your child is train obsessed, like my two boys are, this is an added plus! I also think that little girls would enjoy this book as well.

This is an infectiously silly story, and my 5-year-old son howls when we read it together. We first picked it up on impulse because it had a train on the cover (my son loves trains) but it soon became a favorite bedtime story for its own engaging goofiness. The illustrations are part of the charm as well. You won't be sorry you tried this one!

Trial by Fire is a well written and thoroughly documented account of the little known process which eventuated in the Bible being translated into English. The manner in which the author proceeds rivets the reader to the developing story and makes it difficult to lay the book aside. The tapestry of the story is woven with threads of political, social and religious facts which played significant parts in this history. One is reminded of the lasting positive effects on both England and the English speaking world because of the translation of the Bible into English. It is a must read!!
Don Walker, Ph. D.

Does the year 1611AD sound familiar? For most Christians the answer is "Yes." It was the year the King James or Authorized version of the Bible appeared. But other years and their versions are a bit murky in the minds of most of us. Yet the full story of English Bible translation has romance and pathos plus heroes and villains to capture the imagination and to kindle or rekindle our zeal for Christ and His work. Trial by Fire presents this delightful mix accurately and interestingly.

More than that, it speaks to present controversies among conservatives about Bible translation. Rawlings addresses the unusual King-James-Version-Only (KJVO) view. In this view, God inspired not only the original text of Scripture, but one English version as well. That version is the King James. Some who hold this idea believe that we can correct our Hebrew and Greek texts by using the KJV. Why is this discussion important? Because it has led to divisions in hundreds of churches. For many the KJVO view is the acid test of orthodoxy. As a pastor I receive phone calls asking about our congregation. So far so good! But some of those callers want to know only one thing, "What version of Scripture do you use?" Nothing about the Trinity, the deity of Christ, or our understanding of salvation comes up! It would be difficult to take this seriously if it were not for the damage it has done to individuals and churches.

Where did such an idea originate? What can be said for it, or against it? Trial by Fire enters this discussion as part of a much larger survey of English Bible translation. As with a mystery thriller, I won't give away the ending. Instead I urge you to get the book for yourself. I don't think you'll be disappointed!

It seems strange to me that such an interesting book should be out of print. This is a collection of essays on various aspects of warfare as it is described in the Book of Mormon. One of the problems people have in reading the book is the preconceptions they bring to it and it causes them to not be able to read closely what the Book of Mormon says for itself. The papers in this book were given at a 1989 symposium on the subject that was widely attended.

While problems remain, it is most interesting how much more that the kind of warfare described in the Book of Mormon, its seasonality, the kinds of weapons and armor described, and so forth, fit much better into what we know about Mesoamerica than the world of the Bible or Joseph Smith's time. Needless to say, aspects of history that Joseph Smith could not have known.

In my view, whatever can help the reader actually see what the Book of Mormon says for itself rather than what others have claimed for it, the better. Hugh Nibley began this with his "Approach to the Book of Mormon" decades ago, and I am glad that careful scholars are helping us think all this through today.

True, the real significance of the Book of Mormon is to testify of Christ and to affirm spiritual truths. However, the more clearly we read the book, the more likely it is that we can see those important truths.

THis is an excellent collection of essays concerning warfare in the book of mormon and I'm sad to learn that this book is out of print. If you're interested in the book of mormon and want some logical verification of its authenticity then this book is definitely worth a look.

Excellent avant garde poems written in an excellent voice. A must have!!!

William D. Waltz is, in current parlance, "the goods." He's fearless -- tender and tough, funny and charming. Above all, he's honest -- a language outlaw who robs us of our distorted realities, breaks our hearts, and leaves us smiling with gratitude. Don't miss this debut collection. You'll be kicking yourselves for years if you do. We can only hope (and pray, really) that Mr. Waltz is hard at work on a follow-up to Zoo Music. Poems this good, a voice this truthful, are better than buried treasure and more difficult to find.

Edit of 8 May 08: Reverend Wright preaches in the negative, but this does not mean he is wrong, only inflamatory. Senator Obama's first instinct was correct: he can no more deny those who walked with us than we can the truth. In renouncing Reverend Wright, Senator Obama demonstrated his subordination to "the system," the same subordination that swallowed Colin Powell, who confused loyalty with integrity.

John 8:32 Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

The updated book is better than the original because it includes a post 9-11 Afterword.

So many people are going to consider this book to be a provocation, a conspiracy theory, revisionist, etc. I will start with three compelling reasons to take this seriously:

1. The author is a recognized barrister in England and lawyer in the US. His reputation is impeccable, and he is respected by heads of state and of international organizations concerned with human rights.

2. The author brought a civil suit in which it took the jury less than one hour of deliberation after all the facts had been laid out, to find for the plaintiffs (the King family survivors) and agree that the US Government was complicit in his murder.

3. The evidence of US Government complicity in crimes against humanity as well as high crimes and misdemeanors of all sorts, is now over-whelming within the non-fiction literature. Cover-ups are the norm.

Here are my flyleaf notes:

+ King was leading a coalition of peace and civil rights in 1967, one that expanded to address economic injustice and the rights of indigenous people's everywhere, but especially in Viet-Nam. This "new politics," like the third party politics of today, was so threatening to the Mafia, to banks and corporations, and to the US political and FBI leadership committed to "because we say so, right or wrong," that he was ordered killed.

+ The author tells us that by 1970 King's moral authority was directly challenging the moral bankruptcy of the American "state," which King aptly described as "the greatest purveyor of violence on Earth." See my review of The Fifty-Year Wound: How America's Cold War Victory Has Shaped Our World and also Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA

+ Unlike others who accepted the government's fictional account at face value, the author actually interviewed James Earl Ray in prison, and over time clearly established both Ray's veracity, and additional evidence.

+ The FBI burglarized Martin Luther King over 20 times.

+ Less than one month after the John F. Kennedy assassination (he was warned and discounted the warning delivered by his brother), the FBI made Martin Luther King its top target, focusing on "neutralizing King as an effective leader." The cover-up is exposed in Someone Would Have Talked: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the Conspiracy to Mislead History.

+ At least two funded "hits" on King were discovered, but the one that succeeded involved Frank Liberto, a Mafia boss in the food business, who evidently forgave a major debt from Lloyd Jowers who served as the on-site cut-out for the weapon but did not do the shooting himself. Links are discussed between the FBI, the Mafia, and local police.

+ The local police pulled back all assigned security, took black officers off watch, and evidently arranged to have King moved from a protected inner courtyard room to an upper room directly in the line of sight from the bushes where the shooter was planning to be.

+ 30 years seems to be the magic time period that must pass before individuals sworn to secrecy to protect political malfeasance realize they should ease their consciences before death.

+ The book includes an appendix that shows the many times the Department of Justice willfully lied or omitted evidence in its own investigation.

+ The author presented nine areas to a court that found for the plaintiff; they are listed on page 108:

01 the background to the assassination
02 the local conspiracy
03 the crime scene
04 the murder weapon
05 Raul (the handler)
06 the broader conspiracy
07 the cover up--its scope and activities
08 the defendant's prior admissions
09 damages

The King family sought damages of just $100. Far more important to them was the verdict of the jury: the US Government, and particularly the FBI and US Army counterintelligence elements acting against US citizens on US soil, were complicit in the murder (assassination) of Martin Luther King.

The author places King is direct opposition to the materialism and the secularization of life to include a loss of morality in US foreign policy. Specifically mentioned in this book are King's objection to US Government support for dictators. See my review of Breaking the Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust the World's Last Dictators by 2025.

The author states that he could not have obtained a trial date, much less a verdict, without the full engagement of the King family. Their participation was of inestimable value, he says. He then goes on to describe how the media, which did not attend the trial, slandered (broadcast) and libeled (print) the family and the memory of Martin Luther King. [This is the same media that refused to run $100,000 cash in advance information advertisements against the elective war on Iraq.]

The author specifically warns of the discreet movement in 2007 of the Violent Radicalization Act allowing the White House to redirect the National Guard from any state to any other state, and believes that there is now an explicit fear among "the elite" of impending and complete system collapse and a public rebellion of consequence.

I have a note from the book, that Martin Luther King was branded a traitor. So also was General Tony Zinni, USMC (Ret), the most recently retired Commander in Chief of the U.S. Central Command, and the single most knowledgeable authority at the time on Iraq, Iran, the Middle East, the Pakistan wild card, and Afghanistan. My bottom line: we are lied to; the "experts" are not expert and pander for access--it is time we assert the collective intelligence of We the People.

Completely unexpected to me, but relevant in the context of other books I have been reading, is the author's outline of how King and all that he stood for called into question the entire-military industrial complex and the misdirection of most of our money toward waging war. See my review of War is a Racket: The Antiwar Classic by America's Most Decorated Soldier and of the DVD Why We Fight.

The last page of the body of the book, page 288, has this quote that I marked:

"Martin King firmly believed that non-violent civil disobedience was the best strategy to obtain justice. There is little doubt in my mind that massive non-violent civil disobedience has the potential to shut down the nation, and compel substantive social, economic, political, and cultural change, leading to the reconstruction of the Republic with a focus on the needs of people rather than capital. His dream lives on in each of us who internalized it."

See these two books for a taste of our potential:
Spoiling for a Fight: Third-Party Politics in America
Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace

Why the two party system is organized crime at its best:
Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It

Why Senator Barack Obama is not the one (and today he Uncle Tom'ed himself--Reverend Wright's concerns are firmly founded on non-fiction):
Obama - The Postmodern Coup: Making of a Manchurian Candidate

To fulfill the dream, we need a third party with no experts, just us.