Influences Books

Jason Horn offers the first thorough investigation of the relationship between Mark Twain and William James, emphasizing Twain's friendship with James beyond their shared intellectual interests. He uses James to understand Twain as thinker and to illuminate Twain's often vaguely defined religious and philosophical observations. The book provides a fresh estimate of Mark Twain's later years and challenges readers to discover a new way of seeing one of America's important and endearing writers.

More astonishing than this book's high knowledge and reasoning is its even higher level of Christian Faith.

It describes Luther as a prophet to the true Church hidden to those who lack faith in Christ and ultimately in God: the heartbeat of Christianity always was and remains the Christ of the Gospels.

On December 11, 1983, John Paul II became the first Pope in history to officially visit a Lutheran church. According to Mark A. Knoll (evangelical Christian historian, now a professor Notre Dame) this book helped mark the event (see page 91 of Uncivil Religion: Interreligious Hostility in America, Edited by Robert N. Bellah and Frederick E. Greenspahn, Crossroad 1987). Also according to Knoll, Catholics published, in kind, the book Luther: A Reformer for the Churches (Paulist Press, 1983) by Mark Edwards and George H. Tavard.

If you were asked what historical New Englander loved solitude and independence, kept a life-long journal, combined interests in natural theology, idealist philosophy and romantic poetry, and influenced several of the most important thinkers of the 1800s, would you guess it was Ralph Waldo Emerson's aunt?

Author Phyllis Cole no doubt wrote this book primarily for other scholars. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading it for several reasons. I love memoirs and biographies, and it is a detailed portrait of a remarkable and eccentric woman and of the difficult times she lived in. I have an interest in the evolution of ideas, and it describes how certain concepts were passed on and transformed through different lives and times. And I am fascinated by Transcendental philosophy, and here is the woman who, the author demonstrates, had such a profound influence on her nephew that Transcendentalism and all that came from it might not have existed in the same form without her.

Mary Moody Emerson was a woman who had to struggle against her times, which accounts for her later eccentricities. She lost her father early and grew up as almost a servant to her relatives, was never properly schooled but learned from the books she collected, avoided marriage and remained independent against the tide of her times, and sought self-expression through writing in her "Almanack," and through the influence she brought to bear on her friends and family. When Waldo and his brothers were still small children and their father, her brother, died, she stepped in to help raise the boys, and encouraged them all to be exceptional.

Always deeply religious, in her old age Mary looked forward to dying and took to wearing a white woolen shroud in anticipation. The author concludes, "Mary's famed death obsession was in fact a life obsession, a hunger for fulfillment perceived as impossible on earth." There is no surviving picture of Mary Moody Emerson, but this book is her remarkable portrait.

This is an authoritative analysis of one of the most turbulent periods in U.S.-Korean relations and an enlightening memoir by one of America's top career ambassadors and China experts. After a somewhat slow introduction (probably necessary for readers short on historical knowledge), the book marches along smartly in an exciting first-person narrative filled with dramatic events, struggles of will, and diplomatic efforts to save a flawed American policy, to foster democracy abroad, and to save the life of a foreign statesman. Should be read by all interested in the art of diplomacy, the Korean transition to democracy, or the practice and limits of U.S. influence.

While written in 1947, this potent book is timeless and wise beyond measure; a book that would do well as important reading in all schools and in all nations, perhaps a universal class called: "Maturity 101".

At the time of publication, this book was a national and international best seller. After reading it, one will see why. It stayed in the #1 slot until the publication of the "Kinsey Report" one year later- Prof. Alfred Kinsey's, et al., block-buster science report on human sexual habits.

Overstreet gives us such gems as: ["All children, Diderot once observed, are essentially criminal. It is merely our good luck that their physical powers are still too limited to permit them to carry out their destructiveness." Had he lived today, Diderot might have expanded his remark. He might have said that all childish minds are dangerous, but particularly when those minds are housed in adult bodies; for then they have the power to put their immaturities fully and disastrously into effect."]- i.e., war mongering, wanton destruction of our shared environment, destructive relationships, selfishness in politics and business, etc. Here, begins the message of the critical need for children to be taught socialization (including sex education), care and awe of nature, love of self, family, community, etc.

"The Mature Mind" brings up many of the more contemporary ideas of universal maturing of consciousness put forth in Duane Elgin's books: "Awakening Earth", "Voluntary Simplicity", et al.

I rate "The Mature Mind" as one of the most important books in history and in these times of contentious unrest, environmental destruction, socio-economic-religious-political predation, the message about the importance of human maturation cannot be overstated.

I was a high school student who went through this book as a Junior. With its simple-but-powerful examples, my faith truly grew feet and, so, impacted my entire school. I recommend this as a tool to take the students wanting more "meat and potatoes" from church to the next level.

The material is so easy to use I taught it one year later as a Senior to a morning group at my public high school. FANTASTIC tool!

This is probably the best book on servant leadership available anywhere. It explains all of the biblical passages in a clear and practical way, and shows how each of us can serve and lead others in our everyday life. Don't be fooled, this is "THE" text to learn about servant leadership.

Lou Zanine has a gift for writing non-fiction. Very Insightful and involving.

HIGHLY recomended!

Book came just like they said they would. Shipping was about a week, which is fast enough for me! I was impressed. Ordered other books at the same time from 2 different sellers at the same time, and one completely screwed me, the other wasnt exactly what it said, but still good service.

Definitely recommend this seller.
Thank you from a poor college student! :)

Prof Westbrook-Shelley has prepared a critical study of Shakespeare's source material for one of his most intriguing plays: Richard III. This book details the Bard's use of popular religious plays from his youth to portray the unpopular Richard as a Vice in the tradition of Herod or Cain from the miracle play cycles. At the same time, Shakespeare is lifting passages from the Chronicles and the writings of Sir Thomas More, nearly word for word, in a subtle effort to bolster popular support for the Tudors. This book is a valuable resource both for Shakespeare scholars who wish to delve more deeply into Shakespeare's imagination and writing process and for British history enthusiasts interested in the power plays between the waning Yorks and emerging Tudors for the throne of England. The writing is engaging, the ideas are stimulating, and the extensive bibliography provides a platform for further research and discussion.