Charles Williams Books

A necessary book to anyone who is interested in the subject matter. The chapter on Shakespeare, in particular, is a revelation. A great book on English poetry by a great English poet.

This book documents the almost criminal ignorance of the sufferings of the people of south East Asia under Japanese rule and the retrospective sacrifice of Allied lives for a neo-Stalinist feel good, a must read for those who understand the complexities of history

Epidemic diseases provided some of the great disasters in the history of mankind. This book provides a general history of the communicable diseases that affect many persons at one time. Several diseases, like tuberculosis, were omitted. The authors cover the written record from before 1500BC to the 1970s. It is hard to identify the diseases from more than 600 years ago. An endemic disease is one that is part of everyday life in a region. An epidemic disease is one that quickly affects a large number of people. The book does not cover social diseases like pellagra, or industrial diseases.

The Plagues of Pharaoh are the best know plagues of ancient times. The authors say they were a series of natural catastrophes from drought (p.4). Dried rivers, dust storms, diseased cattle and men, then a crop failure followed by locusts. The strict adherence to dietary laws saved the Israelites. Other pages tell of diseases from eating fish from rivers used to dispose of plague victims; pigs and dogs are known to be carrion eaters. Quail fallen from the skies suggests they died of a disease. Burning aromatic herbs may protect against plague (p.6) like citronella candles against mosquitoes. Ticks and fleas have long passed on typhus, bubonic plague, Lyme disease, etc. Rats and mice too. Invading armies are also transmitters of disease.

The severe plague that hit Rome in 452BC affected society (as in medieval times): people disregarded the norms of their society. Could this happen today after a disaster? The only comparable even was the gasoline shortages of the 1970s, but people weren't dying from that.

Given the current level of medical knowledge the plagues of the past should not reoccur. But what if the Power Elite decides to stop vaccinating against a disease like smallpox? Would an epidemic be an accident or the result of this calculation? Readers of "Rule by Secrecy" by Jim Marrs might nor view this as an accident.

The Roman plague of the 5th century BC was followed by a reform of the laws (pp.16-7). This also happened after the Black Death in England (14th century). What would happen after a Nuclear Winter? Pages 194-5 tell of the political unrest that followed the cholera epidemics. Another effect was to create Boards of Health and public water and sewage systems in the cities. Cholera was possible because of the rapid transportation from steam power. Previously people would die before they could infect others. This book will teach you many facts that are censored from the usual academic histories. The outbreak of cholera in 1833 Mexico was followed by the revolts in Zacatecas and Texas.

Oliver Wendell Homes wrote about the contagiousness of puerperal fever in 1843, and the need for cleanliness. A. Conan Doyle held him in such esteem he gave the last name to his fictional detective. It is educational to read of the controversy on puerperal fever (Chapter 13).

There are a lot of retirement books out there, so I went with the one with a recognizable name and I'm glad I did. My parents haven't thought enough about retirement and I wanted to spur them to action. They were pleased to find out that there were many things they could do now, even at this late date, to help them, and they even starting giving me tips on ways I could start planning. So then I gave this book to my husband's parents who are already retired, and they ended up buying it for friends too. There are tons of tips, easy things you can do, worksheets, charts, action lists, tips--even a section on how to overcome adverse events like losing your job and divorce. It is worth the read. You'll learn a lot and be happy you did.

An excellent resource for the serious historian and the casual collector alike, this remarkable digitized manuscript provides fully searchable text in both Latin and English. I was hoping for the Chauncey Leake translation, but who can argue with the "first English text of 1653!" PDF format offers intuitive navigation, and I can't say enough good things about the copy and paste-able text which made paper-writing a sheer delight. Original diagrams as well as the full Latin and English texts are printable. A treasure!

It's such a cliche to say this, but this book has changed my life. Not only does it thoroughly penetrate the history of existential and phenomenological inquiry (Husserl and Heidegger, among others), it brings us to a more evolved way of philosophical thinking and intuition. If you're anything like me, your passionate quest for the meaning of existence has also isolated you at times. If you haven't come to this realization, this book will demonstrate how this isolation may have been re-enforced by the brilliant insights of the greatest thinkers, who were also oftentimes very lonely people. Without excluding these insights, and indeed incorporating them into a broader context, Sadler reveals that the search for knowledgeable being is incomplete without the interpenetration of one's self with another, in what we call love. Not only is "love" not merely a gushy romantic idea without practical relevance, it proves to be the center of our being, and the essence of any knowledge whatsoever. If you want a more "sober" viewpoint, it's as easy as this - before we are individuals, we are connected. If you think you're too "rational" for this type of inquiry, i beg you to reconsider - this is as rational, if not more so, than anything leading up to it. If you have the gift of a productive rational mind, the reception of this book (if you have not already been influenced by similar ideas) is a profound good for you and society. This book has helped me see outside of my own little box, helped my work, and it sits on my desk beside a small few others that have deeply impacted me. Thanks for your consideration.

We found your book informative and well documented.
We would refer your work to anyone interested in the topic!

Ron & Anna Winship
Producers
Parker-longbow productions
Newport Beach, CA
Cutting Edge-a talk show

This bound document greatly assists in the organization of material before entering the data in computer. I am searching for another blank copy of "Family Tree: Ancestral Tablets" for my husband's records. So far I have been unable to locate a copy. Should anyone know where I can obtain one [...]

I entertain my minivan-bound children with books on tape/CD. The best are the Harry Potter series. There are many other good ones. And this is a good non-fiction title for children.

Kids need heroes, and this tape provides my 5 and 7 year old boys with some impressive ones. The heroes come from the worlds of politics, science, literature, religion... This tape is one of my 7 year old son's favorites. It has a very positive message for him. He gets ideas of what he could be.

Volume 2 (the one I have) tells the stories of some historical figures, emphasizing all the positive and heroic qualities of each: Alexander the Great, Joan of Arc, Leonardo Da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Ludwig van Beethoven, Louis Pasteur, Marie Curie, Mahatma Gandhi, and George Washington.

As an adult accustomed to having his heroes routinely discredited, I find these idealized portraits naive, but kind of refreshing. If you have kids you know that they have a purpose: to introduce you to the world again, and show you its wonder. These portraits of heroes are simplified and abstracted in a way that highlights their abilities. No jaded cynicism here. These scientists, thinkers, statesmen, musicians, were all leaders. My young leader could do worse than to select a role model from one of these larger than life heroes.

Two other notes.
1. The tapes are abridged, while the CDs are not. Buy the CD.
2. Amazon has one description for both volume 1 and 2. Misleading. They contain different people.

Vol 1 - Queen Elizabeth I, Abraham Lincoln, Christopher Columbus, Horatio Nelson, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Vol 2 - Alexander the Great, Joan of Arc, Leonardo Da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Ludwig van Beethoven, Louis Pasteur, Marie Curie, Mahatma Gandhi, George Washington (This is the one I am reviewing)

Ben Sem, Ben Sem--We are, We are Beatrice. Not knowing or understanding much of Dante, I can nevertheless not forget what Charles Williams wrote about him, as about the above quotation from The Divine Comedy. Dante's heaven-sent guide announces "we are," not "I am Beatrice," speaking in unity with the Cloud of Witnesses, the testimony of the saints and out of the relationship of the divine life which is realized in heaven.
But Williams could almost say "We are Charles Williams," because he somehow seems to be such a kindred soul with Dante, and so attuned to the poet's thought that the effect of hearing or reading him on Dante was and is magnetic--so much so that Dorothy L. Sayers taught herself Italian and translated Dante's Divine Comedy in three volumes for Penguin Books (the Paradiso was completed by her student, Barbara Reynolds). Sayers dedicated her translations to "Charles Williams, The Master of the Ways." The Ways referred to are the way of rejection and the way of affirmation, two sorts of spiritual paths explained in this, and many other Williams volumes.

But she was not the only one to so lionize CW. C.S.Lewis wrote similarly in his Preface to Paradise Lost that Williams had revolutionized Milton criticism. Apparently the door was unlocked all the time, Lewis wryly notes, but only you (CW) thought of trying the handle. Who else did this supposedly obscure and unremarkable British writer influence? How about Canadian poet and singer Bruce Cockburn in his albums Dancing in the Dragon Jaws and Humans (the latter often considered one of his best albums)?

If Charles Williams did have a fault as a writer, it was that he tended to write too telegraphically, almost in a kind of shorthand, assuming his readers were with him when some of them, at least, would be lost. This happens in The Forgiveness of Sins, which assumes a good grasp of Shakespeare, and He Came Down From Heaven, which assumes a good grasp on everything else. Some of his essays do this also, particularly his book reviews, which assume that in reading the review one has also read the book. His reviews of some writers, however, such as D.H. Lawrence, and for that matter, St. Augustine, are so lively and unforgettable that they have long outlived their time. Of his nonfiction works, The Descent of the Dove (subtitled a History of the Holy Spirit in the Church) and The Figure of Beatrice flow the best and assume the least. Oddly enough, you can read the latter knowing nothing about Dante and the former knowing nothing about the Holy Spirit and learn a lot about both. Better yet, you learn a lot about Williams. Once one has met him, his trademark style is unmistakeable and for readers like me who have fallen under his spell, greatly compelling. There is no other writer like Charles WIlliams and no better place to meet him than in The Figure of Beatrice.