A. Merritt Books

Pass Key to the LSAT provides excellent basic study tips and guidelines for the LSAT. This book is highly recommended for its information, affordability, and user-friendly layout.

This book is great. I've taken a lot of these standardized tests, and I've found that for a test like the LSAT, the best preparation is to know the format of the test well, to practice each section (timed and untimed), and to finish with taking a few full length practice tests. There is no need to buy a big ... book for the LSAT. There's no need to take a course. Simplicity is the key and this book is all you need. It's a ... good little book.

this is a decent little book. the organization is well thought out, and unlike other lsat guides i used, structured to aid in learning. the problems and questions are about as good (or bad) as the other books (it's best to also get actual testpreps from LSAC--actual past tests for practicing--they sell them here too i've noticed). this is a good book to pair with another book that specializes in your weak spot. all of these books, in my experience, are very similar in their strengths and weaknesses-- this one is very good for the price.

This book was the worst LSAT book I used to prepare for the test. It's compact size made it stressful on my eyes and the book was hard to keep open during a practice test. The questions were misleading and sometimes irrelevant. I would estimate my score went down from using this book.

I would recommend this book to someone who is wanting to narrow down their trouble spots and then move on to another source to tackle them. This book is excellent at helping you sort out your problem areas and gives questions that are about the same as those found in other test prep books. I found this, combined with a pile of prep tests availble from law services prepared me well for writing the lsat. I wouldn't suggest one use this book on its own and expect to get gleeming scores. It works great to a point, but another study aide is essential to compliment it.

This is a wonderful book the that clearly explains the different available retirement plans. While the descriptions seemed detailed, I would like to see a later volume that explains any changes in the new Roth legislation. A great book for those struggling with options.

it amazes me how people can write books who really don't have a grasp on all of the information they write about! He at one point is advising people on which investments to put in their ira but gives a lot of misinformation. First of all, fixed annuities have no front end sales charge at all which differs from the "cheaper" investments he refers to that can cost as much as 5% of your entire assets to invest in. As for hidden fees , I think mutual fund companies have that down pat between the annual management fees and transaction commisiions! Secondly, he is speaking only in terms of what those funds were making at that time and not what someone can expect on average. How do you like Janus worldwide now, my friend!

This is an excellent book. A must have for anyone interested in investing in an IRA. It clearly explains the different types of IRA's and how to invest in them. The book is well written and not condescending to the reader. It takes you step by step through the traditional IRA and Roth IRA so you can determine which one is best for you. An investment anaylsis of the two IRA's is shown so you can see the tradeoffs for different situations that may affect you. The book gives practical investment stategy and selection tips. The many tables and charts help clarify the topics. They also serve as a good investment resource. I highly recommend this book.

This is one of the wildest and most imaginative of the early pulp novels. Though it suffers from various plot weaknesses and simplistic characterizations (I've docked it one star for a somewhat racist caricature), the visual descriptions of this hidden world and the geometric shapes that form and reform into various entities are the most mind-blowing this side of a tab of blotter acid. With the advances in computer animation today, someone could do this novel justice and make a stunning movie.

5.5" x 8.5" softcover book. 237 pages.

Of great important to readers of weird fiction is the first installment in Hippocampus Press' Lovecraft's Library series. Aimed at reprinting texts that H. P. Lovecraft read and admired, the inclusion of Abraham Merritt's The Metal Monster should come as a shock to no one.

Set in the Trans-Himalayan mountains, a group of four explorers uncover a lost-race, their power-crazed leader Norhala, and the metal homunculus Norhala controls. More akin to the writings of Edgar Rice Burroughs and H. Rider Haggard than to Lovecraft, Merritt's concept of writing a "nexus where scientific theory and occult mystery intersected" seems philosophically aligned with Lovecraft's own aesthetic of the weird. Readers will surely notice certain similarities between Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness and The Metal Monster.

Though The Metal Monster should feel dated, it surprisingly seems as innovative and fresh today as it must have upon first publication. The lesson learned, it would seem, is that a great author is able to create works that transcend time.

Abraham Merritt's second novel, "The Metal Monster," first saw the light of day in 1920, in "Argosy" magazine. It was not until 1946 that this masterful fantasy creation was printed in book form. In a way, this work is a continuation of Merritt's first novel, "The Moon Pool" (1919), as it is a narrative of America's foremost botanist, Dr. Walter T. Goodwin, narrator of that earlier adventure as well. As Goodwin tells us, he initially set out on this second great adventure to forget the terrible incidents of the first; if anything, however, the events depicted in "The Metal Monster" are at least as mindblowing as those in the earlier tale. While Goodwin had encountered underground civilizations, frogmen, battling priestesses and a living-light entity in the earlier tale, this time around he discovers, in the Trans-Himalayan wastes of Tibet, a surviving Persian city, a half-human priestess, AND an entire civilization made up of living, metallic, geometric forms; an entire city of sentient cubes, globes and tetrahedrons, capable of joining together and forming colossal shapes, and wielding death rays and other armaments of destruction. As in the earlier tale, Goodwin is joined in his epic adventure by a small group of can-do individuals that he meets in the most unlikely, godforsaken areas of the world. This time around, it's a brother-and-sister team of scientists, as well as the son of one of Goodwin's old science buddies.
The sense of awe and wonder so crucial to good adventure fantasy is of a very high order in this book. Goodwin & Co., in one of the book's best set pieces, explore the living city of metal, and witness the life forms feeding off the sun, reproducing, and preparing for war. Later on, Merrittt treats us to a titanic battle between the metal folk and the lost Persians, as well as an hallucinatory cataclysm at the novel's end. Indeed, much of the book IS hallucinatory, with the metal shapes coalescing and morphing like crazy Transformers gone wild. A book by A. Merritt would be nothing without his hyperstylized, lush purple prose, and in this tale, his gift for somewhat prolix prose is given full vent. At times these incessant descriptions wear a bit thin, and at others they paradoxically fail to stir up pictures in the reader's mind eye. (I defy anyone, for example, to say that he/she was able to fully visualize Goodwin & Co.'s initial nighttime entry into the city of the metal people.) For the most part, though, these descriptions are amazing. Just take this one small sample. Whereas other writers might simply say that Goodwin entered a chamber with multicolored lights, here's what Merritt gives us:
"...a limitless temple of light. High up in it, strewn manifold, danced and shone soft orbs like tender suns. No pale gilt luminaries of frozen rays were these. Effulgent, jubilant, they flamed--orbs red as wine of rubies that Djinns of Al Shiraz press from his enchanted vineyards of jewels; twin orbs rose white as breasts of pampered Babylonian maids; orbs of pulsing opalescences and orbs of the murmuring green of bursting buds of spring, crocused orbs and orbs of royal coral; suns that throbbed with singing rays of wedded rose and pearl and of sapphires and topazes amorous; orbs born of cool virginal dawns and of imperial sunsets and orbs that were the tuliped fruit of mating rainbows of fire...."
Almost like prose poetry, isn't it? With writing like this, a well-thought-out plot, exotic settings and some great action sequences, "The Metal Monster" does indeed live up to its rep as a fantasy classic. There ARE some unanswered questions by the book's end, but that only adds to the aura of cosmic mystery that Merritt has built up. The book is a winner, indeed.

dIsHa bOoKie iSh vEWi gEWd...tAG...oH gEeZ...wIsH hE wAz rEAL! LiNdA iSN't rEALly iNteReSTed iN hYm aT fIRsT cAuSE sHe'Z bEEn hAPpI lIviN' dA siNgO lYfE aFTa hEr dIvoRCe wIth hEr eX...i dUn bLaMe hER oNe bIt! tAg rEALly stARTz gEtTin tAh hER...aNd yEA! sO...oVErALl...diS bOoKie iSH eXcELlEnt...pLot iSh eAzEe tAh uNdasTAnd! (dATz a pLUs!) hIghLY rEcOmmENdEd! bUt wAIt! u'Ll hAvE tAH cONtiNuE iN tHA nExt bOoK iN dA mINi-sERieZ tAH fINd oUt tHA cONclUsiOn oF dIs sTorIe! HehE!

I'm reading this book for an Lit. project. I have read some of it and so far Linda Fioretti moved to Rumor, Montana after she divored cheating, lying husband. She's a high school teacher so she has a good name so far, everyone knows who she is. A guy named Tag came to make improvements to the apartment building. She was starting to take a fancy to him. This is as far as I have gotten in the book but I hope it's a good book!

Linda Fioretti moved to Rumor, Montana after she divorced her lying, cheating husband. There she meets local carpenter Tag Kingsley when he comes to do work on her apartment. Tag's a widower with a young daughter. There is an immediate attraction between Tag and Linda. Since his wife's death, Linda is the first woman he's wanted in his life. Strange things keep happening to Linda. A strange man keeps coming to her door in costumes, a stranger enters her apartment when she's gone but Tag is there painting, etc.

I really wanted to like this book because Tag is such a great hero. He is sexy and sensitive. His relationship with his daughter is touching. The problem with the book and the reason I didn't like it is Linda. She is just totally unlikable and unreasonable. Any concern that Tag shows her sends her over the edge but she doesn't seem at all bothered by the stranger that seems to be stalking her even after she knows he's been in her apartment. Skip this one; it's not worth it.

I love a book that, when I'm through, I can put down and walk away feeling happy, content, and still lost in the characters. Jackie Merritt's book "Tough to Tame" left me feeling all these and more.

Jake Banyon has had a rough time with love in the past. Deserted just weeks before his wedding day by his fiancé fresh out of high school and completely broken hearted, Jake spent years throwing everything he gained away. Any money he made he tossed away on booze and slept with any woman who showed the least bit of interest in him. Finally, after hitting rock bottom, he found solitude and happiness working as a ranch manager at the Wild Horse Ranch owned by Stuart Paxton. For four years Jake has lived completely content with his new womanless life on the ranch. Then Stuart calls from his home in New York and informs him that he's sending his daughter Carly for a visit. Instantly, Jake's heart falls to his stomach and the fears begin to grow. Having a woman on the ranch was going to be nothing but trouble and boy is he ever right.

Carly Paxton has suffered through a three year marriage with an abusive husband. The only good thing that has come out of the years of misery is the divorce. Being concerned for his daughter's happiness and well-being, Stuart Paxton talks her into taking a vacation to the family ranch in Wyoming. Determined to please her father and not cause him any more worry, Carly agrees. Peace and relaxation may be just what she needs after all. However, from the moment she steps off the helicopter onto the compound of the Wild Horse Ranch and lays eyes on Jake Banyon, she knows she's in for a lot more than just a simple vacation.

The characters in this novel are so well formed and developed...from Jake and Carly to the ranch hands with the smallest of parts in the plot. You escape into the lives of Jake and Carly leaving all reality behind. You feel their longing, their reservations, their pain and most of all you feel their love. "Tough to Tame" is moving, hysterical, suspenseful, and completely romantic from the first page to the last. A book that you won't want to put down and wish it didn't have to end.

A definite must read for anyone who loves romance and even those who don't.

I thought that this book was not so bad. It's my first book by Jackie Merritt. There were some interesting parts and some boring ones. I would reccomend this book for Desire lovers.

I generally like Jackie Merritt's books, but this one had me baffled. I thought both characters could have used some counseling. This was like a typical 1970 contemporary romance novel where both characters couldn't say 2 kind words to each other, yet were secretly in love. And in the middle of an argument, they would begin to make out. I just didn't think this book was up to Ms. Merritt's usual standard. It will make me think twice before I get another one of her books. I would not recommend this one.

I've read Sandra Hill and other authors Viking stories and been quite happy with them but this book was never more than just okay. Kelda, the adopted daughter of a Viking Chief sails to find his half Iriqois son who he wishes to take over as chief when he dies. The problem is when Kelda and her men arrive, they are treated as prisoners and she finds out the chief's son Brander wants nothing to do with the Vikings. When she finds a way to bring Brander and his mother to the Viking camp, it is for Brander to discover that another man is bethrothed to Kelda and is being groomed to take over when the leader dies.

I think my biggest problem with this book is the way the dialoge reads, you viking, I am a great Iriqois, etc....Its predictable and sometimes a little silly but not boring.

"Viking Captive" is one of my favorite novels by Emma Merritt. Not only was Merritt extremely detailed with her historical information, but she also wove a beautiful love story that centers around two extremely conflicting characters. Kelda, a viking warrior and leader, travels to North America in search of her chief's possible lost child and to also pay a blood debt to the Norse cheif who had raised her as his own. She is captured and enslaved by an arrogant war cheif known as Brander--who Kelda knows is part Norse because of his build and his hair color. As Brander's slave, Kelda must decide how to deal with her attraction to such a captivating man and find a way to get away from him and back to her home. Kelda fights her feelings for Brander physically and emotionally, and swears that if Brander wants anything from her, he will have to take it by force. The book then describes some of the battles that Kelda not only fights with Brander but with the way of life of the Indians that she is forced to live amoungst. She befriends Brander's mother (who also happened to be in love with Kelda's Norse Cheif long ago...hint..hint) and aquaints herself with a few of Brander's warriors. Another interesting part in the novel is the conflict of how Brander will "brand" Kelda as his slave (Even though he doesn't treat her as a slave, he still must physically "mark" her as his so that no one else will hurt her).

I absolutely loved this book. There's something about a sexy half-blood warrior with a chauvanistic attitude that I can't resist. Along with Kelda's wit and strong will to add the love and spontaneity that we all hope to find one day, this book proved to be quite a page turner. If you find it, keep it, because this kind of historical romance is few and far between.

NOTE: Due to the period of time that this book was written, it has the simple, historical writings of most books written in the 1980's...some/little sex (it's a steamy book since Merritt wrote it)...lots of action...lots of historical facts.

This is a interesting book because of the tie in with the Vikings and North America's Iroquois indians. I like the story because both the h/h were strong but gentle. They both were warriors and they respected each other that way. Which lead to respect of thier feelings for both their families and their feelings for each other. I liked the fact that this book brought together an older couple who had lost each other 30 years earlier back together. This is a good read so if you see it I'd pick up a copy.

This collection of essays purportedly addresses the philosophical theory of technological determinism - the belief that human behavior and culture is driven by technology and its unintended (or intended) consequences. Of course, the theory has many nuances and permutations, which are explored in depth by the various writers here. The book starts off with fine introductions to the topic, particularly the opening essay by Merritt Roe Smith and the seminal "Do Machines Make History?" by Robert Heilbroner. Unfortunately the book then descends into standard turgid theoretical obfuscations of dubious usefulness to anyone other than each professor's immediate colleagues. Examples include the standard academic exercise of reinterpreting the ideas of earlier thinkers and calling the results a new theory (Bruce Bimber, Thomas Mina), or forcing existing theories together and taking credit for the resulting "breakthrough" (Rosalind Williams, Leo Marx). Another running issue in this book is a lack of distinction among technology, progress, and modernity, as can be seen in the otherwise fascinating historical report by Michael L. Smith. And as usual for academic books that collect essays by various professors, everybody repeats the basic tenets of the theory at issue before embarking on their particular interpretation or example of interest. One benefit of this book is that the editors (both in their introduction and through the essay selection process) do not try to nail down a particular position on the many nuances of technological determinism, which is healthy for purposes of discussion. Regardless, little is accomplished by the writers except esoteric reinterpretations and feeble grasps for significance. [~doomsdayer520~]

This book is a fascinating summary of a centuries long debate in history. Can the development of technology shape large scale historical trends in a society? The essays in the book are as timely now as when it first came out ten years ago. While the authors talk about the general sweep of technology, across history, it lets readers possibly get some perspective on the changes currently underway.

From reading this book, you may get the sense that maybe our age is not unique in experiencing vast technological changes. Whichever side you come down on, in the book's debate, you might now look with scepticism on claims that our age is unique in this regard. Unless of course you go with the Extropians and their siren call of an approaching singularity.

The first chapter--despite its title, "Why you need life insurance"--attempts to define all sorts of life insurance jargon without explaining why someone would need this stuff. After stumbling over the fifth or sixth typo, I gave up on this book. I hope better ones are out there.

It is a good book that gives you good information with out any personal biases

Bought this as a gift for a girl (10 yrs.) who was having a "sewing party." She seemed to enjoy it, especially the pictures.

Sometimes people are afraid of progress, and it might be hard for young history students to believe, but the earliest sewing machines caused tailors in France to tear down the doors of a small factory, grab the sewing machines and throw them all out the window! Professional hand-sewers feared that they would be put out of business, but for millions of people through the years, that hand sewing represented hours and hours of endless drudgery to create all the garments they and their families needed. That included sheets, towels, curtains, etc. Can you imagine how long that must take? The fastest hand stitcher couldn't match the one thousand stitches per minute produced by a machine! No wonder some people feared the sewing machine, but this "Queen of Inventions" was destined to revolutionize the lives of ordinary people of every social class.

Wonderful old photographs and drawings bring the historical data to life, and the book also includes a list of suggested reading, websites, and bibliography.

This book is so poisonously criticized by another reviewer that one questions the motives. When Joseph Greenberg published his research on African languages in the early 60s, in which he identified only four macro-families, it was treated with the same type of scorn as displayed here. Yet his classification is now generally accepted. As for Amerind, there are some very solid supra-liguistic arguments in favour of classifying the American languages into 3 macro-families: (1) Christy Turner's dental studies show 3 distinct shapes of teeth in the native peoples of the Americas, corresponding with Greenberg's classification. (2) Genetic studies of native Americans also indicate the same 3 groups (Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza). (3) Most archaeologists believe that humans entered the Amricas about 12 000 years ago. If this is so, the "splitter" linguists must explain how so many (up to 200 according to them) language families arose in such a short time. Science will speak for itself and does not need self-appointed champions to foolishly charge against anybody who dares to propose a new theory or express a different opinion. Ruhlen's scholarship is impeccable, he's a great writer and there is an extensive bibliography for every chapter. This well-written book presents compelling evidence for a common origin for all the world's language families. It will in time achieve a place of honour in the fields of historical linguistics, history and archaeology.

To read this book is to be a witness to the middle of a brawl that started long ago and will long continue -- the battle beween the Lumpers and the Splitters. Of course, the Great Lumper is the brilliant Joseph Greenberg, and the author of this book, Merritt Ruhlen, is one of his key disciples.

The essays in the book are of varying levels of interest. Half the essays are detailed defenses of Greenberg's Amerind hypothesis. Here, Ruhlen is preaching only to the choir, for Greenberg's detractors, incredibly, take great pride in not having read his work.

Greenberg's methodology is inductive, attempting to discover global truths by comparing word lists from many languages at once. The conventional methodology is deductive, charting the phonetic differences between related languages and running them backwards to reconstruct a parent language.

Languages change so fast that the conventional methodology does not work beyond about a 6000-year horizon. Many linguists therefore refuse to consider earlier stages of language. Greenberg's methods offer a hope of penetrating this veil -- yet like most inductive methods, they are subjective and error-prone.

Future generations no doubt will figure this all out. Until then, those of us who are not active participants in the battle would be well advised to stand clear of the stuff that is being thrown.

Ruhlen is a good writer, with interesting ideas, and this book should be better than it is. Even so, it may be worth a read.

In these 13 studies, the author presents compelling evidence for one common origin for all the world's languages. The book is certain to accelerate research towards the ultimate reconstruction of the proto-language and to cast more light on mankind's unknown past, although much needs to be done. In this regard the work of Alan Bomhard (Nostratic) and Joseph Greenberg (Eurasiatic)is also of great value. Because this work challenges the current orthodoxy it has elicited much venomous criticism from those linguists who claim that genetic relationship cannot be demonstrated after a certain lapse of time. But this is disproved by the 27 global etymologies so thoroughly documented here in the form of a phonetic/semantic gloss followed by current examples from many different language families. It is statistically impossible for this to be the result of chance. When looking at the Nostratic/Eurasiatic or Dene-Sino-Caucasic reconstructions, the correspondences become more and more obvious. In other words, the further back in time one reconstructs, the clearer the similarities become. Recent advances in biological taxonomy (Cavalli-Sforza) serve to confirm this author's classifications of macro-families, and by implication, monogenesis of all languages. This is a well-written book demonstrating impeccable scholarship and is an exciting read. Readers interested in Ruhlen's work may also want to investigate the title "Sprung From Some Common Source," edited by Sydney M. Lamb, available here on amazon.com

After having written the review below, I noticed the card catalog description, and its table of contents, and my eyes widened in disbelief: those contents were nothing, nothing at all, like those of my copy of Ruhlen's book. I checked the ISBN number, I checked the publication date, and yes, that is the same book which I was asked to review for Anthropos two years ago. Here are the true titles of the first four chapters: An Overview of Genetic Classification. The Basis of Linguistic Classification. Khoisan Etymologies. Proto-Yeniseian Reconstructions, with Extra-Yeniseian Comparisons. The rest is more of the same. The card catalog description is also a complete misrepresentation of the book. This hefty hardback has fourteen chapters totalling 328 pages and a five-page index. Those chapters are disconnected adaptations of past articles or talks by Ruhlen, each with its own bibliography, overlapping one another (there is no general bibliography). Although its dust jacket salutes in this book "a series of illuminating studies which conclusively demonstrates that the prevailing conception of historical linguistics is deeply flawed", there is nothing there beyond wild claims grounded in an incoherent methodology applied to unverifiable data. There is not a single map, not even a gazetteer, of where the hundreds of languages mentioned are or were spoken. Nor are you likely to find them in the index, which contains only 48 languages and language families (so that none of the 13 families and 81 languages listed p.315 are found in it). Although subtitled "studies in linguistic taxonomy" and making reference to Sokal, a numerical taxonomist, this book is silent on numerical taxonomy and the many attempts at applying it to historical linguistics by Chretien, Kroeber, Swadesh, Gudschinsky, Dyen and many more. Although its subject is comparative linguistics, major authors are nowhere mentioned (thus Dahl, Dyen and Haudricourt for Austronesian alone), and there is not one table of sound correspondences, not one attempt at diachronic phonology. Ruhlen, at any rate, does not believe in using sound correspondences for reconstruction: "sound correspondences are discovered only after a linguistic family has been identified, for the simple reason that sound correspondences are properties of particular linguistic families. They are not - and could not be - a technique for discovering families." (Chapter 14, co-authored with Bengtson, p.286, lines 25-27). You may wonder, if a language family is not discovered by observing that some sounds seem to correspond regularly between certain languages (thus English t = German z, as in ten = zehn, twenty = zwanzig), then how is it done? Thus: "one can only begin reconstructing a proto-language after one has decided which languages belong to the putative family. Until one has delineated a set of seemingly related languages, collectively distinct from all others, by the methods outlined at the outset of this chapter, there is simply nothing to reconstruct." (p.286, lines 6-10). Scurrying back to the beginning of Chapter 14, eagerly searching and searching for the methods announced, you find this for all explanation: "Obviously the only way to begin is by the comparison of basic lexical items and grammatical formatives in all the languages, which inevitably leads to a classification of the languages into a certain number of groups defined by recurring similarities." (p.285, lines 11-15). You are again left wondering how to carry out "the comparison of basic lexical items and grammatical formatives" since Ruhlen has sternly ruled out looking for sound correspondences. Innate knowledge? Divine revelation? Tea leaves? No. Mere surface resemblances, with unbounded semantic shifts allowed and metathesis amounting to anagramming. Thus Santiam milk 'to swallow', Santa Cruz akmil 'drink', Faai mekeli 'nape of neck', Irish bligim 'to milk' are claimed cognate (Chapter 11, p.244, second last line, p.245 lines 7, 23, p.246, 5th last line). The semantic shift from 'drink' to 'nape of neck' goes: drink - swallow - throat - neck - nape of neck. By this kind of sleight of hand anything goes, and 'Hitler' is cognate with 'Lothar', 'halter' and 'herald' by metathesis and with 'sausage' by semantic shift (Hitler - crematory oven - oven - bake - sizzle - sausage). Linguistic data is presented in a manner hostile to verification. It occupies a total of some 77 pages scattered throughout, in mixed lists of word-meanings and reconstructions, each word-meaning or reconstruction followed by a list of words from various languages and protolanguages, seldom the same, not always in the same order, looking as superficially alike as Faai mekeli and Irish bligim. Chapter 7 consists entirely of an "index to the 2,003 Amerind etymologies contained in Greenberg's [Language in the Americas, 1987]". Here is a sample: ABLE, TO BE nako AK1. ALL2 pa AN2, cf. P86. ABLE, TO BE tama P1. ALL2 taki E3. ABLE, TO BE wan MP1. ALL3 kwet AK4; cf. P3. ABOVE hawi H1. ALL3 mal P5. That goes on for 28 pages. The rest of the book consists of essays, some with data, some without, all without method. Chapter 6 stands out, a vitriolic account of a wrangle between Michelson, Sapir, Kroeber and others about an obscure point in the classification of Algonquian. Short on data, long on polemical quotes, its conclusion begins: "The outrageously vituperative attack on the Amerind phylum by the Diffusionists reflects their blind prejudice, their basic ignorance...".

You must be aware, when you purchase this book, that you are getting a fringe viewpoint. As someone has pointed out, Ruhlen's methodology and conclusions are akin to those of the "Chariots of Gods" infamy, or, I might add, the creationists in biology. They're out there, but they find their audience mostly among laymen and popular TV producers -- those with no patience for the science of it but with eagerness for the catchy conclusions. The scientific community rejects their work, and for good reasons.

This is not to say that this book is entirely without value -- there is a synthesis of a lot of research from various fields, like archealogy and genetics. Creationists also have interesting things to say. But you must be wary when reading zealots -- they are prone to including only the favorable evidence.

The problem, briefly, with the Greenberg method that Ruhlen defends, is that it is too indiscrimating. Thus it will sometimes yield correct results (in essence, this is how Jones arrived at the PIE hypothesis, and Greenberg held this up as a justification for his work), but will also suffer from false positives. Thus Jones went on to propose a relationship between Malay and Arabic, and later linguists have classified Armenian with the Iranian languages.

These failures are due to but one of several flaws of the method:
words may be borrowed from unrelated languages, sometimes wholesale. Others include chance similarity, nursery rhyme similarity, arbitrary standards for establishing similarity, relationships obscured by sound change, etc. Mainstream linguists, therefore, use methods relying on *regularity* of sound correspondences and shared grammatical innovations. This requires meticulous examination of data which is much more careful (and mundane!) than simple eyeballing short lists for what you think are sort of similar items. And because of how language change really works, the results it yields will likely never be as dramatic.

In short, no, this is not a breakthrough, but a vigorous defense of what most experts regard as a hopeless direction.