Charles Williams Books

William J. Palmer's literary mystery stretches the form without crossing the line. Charles Dickens tackles impressively (readers with ancient leg injuries which occasionally act up may wish to avert their eyes) & swims fairly well under pressure. Wilkie Collins conquers a potentially disastrous case of priggishness & may be making serious advances against chronic foppery. Inspector William Field, Irish Meg Sheehey, & the extravagantly gifted Talley Ho Thompson, some sort of grinning dervish genius pickpocket Robin Hood, but watch your watch, all come to life easily & naturally, unburdened by heavy novelistic responsibilities. Ellen Ternan is only awfully pretty so far, but may turn interesting as she ages up nearer to legal. Read the next one, if you can procure a copy anywhere (Amazon seems out), & there may be a third. Palmer can write, & knows how to drop an occasional pearl of wisdom lightly, without needlessly infuriating his patrons. There is a single profoundly unfortunate multi-layer allusion & one short example of illicit typography, but these petty faults are easily overbalanced by genuinely sane handling of the early death of Dickens' daughter Dora plus the best Victorian wenchfight I have ever read. A bonafide romp. This fun is serious. Buy it.

Dr. Joe Palmer was one of my English professors at Purdue University. This novel (and the two "sequels") display the same enthusiasm and love of the Victorian era he brought to the classroom. These books provide interesting historical and biographical details, but are by no means too high-brow or scholarly for mystery fans. If you like Anne Perry, you must read Joe Palmer.

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.

This is a classic study of Dante's _Divine Comedy_, by Charles Williams, who was, among other things, a close friend and colleague of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. If one wants a solid critical interpretation of Dante's masterpiece from the neo-Romantic (and commitedly Christian) perspective of mid-century Oxford medievalist scholars, there is no better book. It's clearly written by a fellow who knows his stuff-- and it has been a major influence on how others (especially other Oxfordian Christians) have viewed the Commedia. (Those folks familiar with Dorothy Sayers' translations of Dante know that all of her notes and comments are pretty much cribbed wholesale from Williams...) Still, this book was written a half-century ago, and many of its assumptions, approaches, and insights seem a bit old-fashioned-- and there are a lot of new perspectives and questions in Dante scholarship that it just doesn't discuss at all. Nevertheless, it remains an insightful study that offers astute insight into Dante's art, and though dated in some ways, it is by no means outdated.

There are certainly not enough autobiographies of Native Americans, and few that can compare with Eastman's story and journey to find civilization. As Eastman follows Christianity and the White Man's Civilization, he finds himself realizing the paradox of the two worlds. Upon returning to a more civilized world, he gives a captivating look at how Jesus was an Indian and how different the White world and Native American world was during his life. A perfect self-enlightenment book.

If you have read the writings of Ohiyesa (Charles Alexander Eastman); I HIGHLY recommend this book to you.

It helped me understand the forces that shaped this man.

My favorite areas are

The assorted photos of his father "Many Lightnings", his wife, his son Ohiyesa at the age of 5.

Events that occured while he was attending school in the East, and the bigotry he encountered from "SOME" white people.

Events where he served as a medical doctor on the Pine Ridge reservation, and caring for the survivors of the Wounded Knee masacre in 1890.

Events where he traveled among various indian nations to get items used by indians for museums.

Events where he worked with the Boy Scouts and Campfire Girls.

And much more.

If this book is your introduction to the writings of Ohiyesa; I would recommend that your next purchase would be "The Soul Of The Indian".

Wah doh Ogedoda (We give thanks Great Spirit)

This fascinating tome, originally published in 1916, is a goldmine of Hawaiian myths and folktales. But, the book is more than that; through the use of the individual tales, the author attempts to give the reader a thorough understanding of Hawaiian folk beliefs about death. Overall, I found this to be a fun and highly informative read. If you interested in Hawaiian mythology and folklore, then you must read this book!

I feel that this book was well researched and very interesting. As I read through the stories, I was reminded of the Hawaiian legends I was told as a child. What I thoroughly enjoyed was how the author told the stories of all the islands in the Hawaiian chain. In this way it showed a distinct difference between the Hawaiians of each island and yet portrayed the very rich oral tradition of the culture that unites the Hawaiian people. Whether the reader wants to learn more about ancient Hawai'i, or is like myself wanting to reminisce about the stories of childhood, everyone will enjoy this book. The only critique I have is the way in which Mr. Westervelt uses the Hawaiian laguage incorrectly. He uses the rules of the English laguage to express Hawaiian words. Because this book is about Hawai'i and repeatedly makes use of Hawaiian words, I would have liked to see more consultation with those who speak Hawaiian to ensure more accuracy in his account of these legends.

This book, first published in 1919, is quite remarkable.

William Long was a pioneer in the then new field of animal behavior. Though he did not call it that: he was simply a naturalist who had a great love of Nature.

The book is broken into three segments. The first is "How Animals Talk." Second is "How to Know the Wood Folk," and finally "My Pond, A Symphony of the Woods." The first section is nothing short of an essay on his observations on telepathy in both wild and domesticated animals. He describes something known by a great many of us who live with animals: they often seem to know when we are coming home unexpectedly. This was written almost 80 years before Rupert Sheldrake began to generate some empirical evidence to support these observations, which he published in a number of research papers and in the book Dogs Who Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home, which I also recommend very highly. Long also describes experiments that appear to demonstrate that animals know when they are being looked at. Sheldrake has also gathered data showing this to be a real phenomenon. (See if you can wake a sleeping dog or cat by staring at them: the results are often remarkable!).

William Long talks about an African term - chumfo - that is a kind of super-sense that we and all creatures are said to possess, which is a perfect coordination of all the other senses. Something in which animals excel, and humans often do not. But this is superseded by the ability of animals to sense events at a distance. After the terrible tsunami at the end of 2004, there were multiple reports of wild animals having run to high ground before the tsunami arrived. I spent several days checking the reports to see if they were just an urban legend, but they appeared to be absolutely true. I put these observations in the same group as animals being used in China to issue earthquake warnings, and the reports in this book by William Long.

What Long is telling us in this book, and what Sheldrake's experiments seem to confirm, is that unexplained abilities like the sense of being stared at and telepathy are not paranormal, but normal, and part of our nature. Clearly if only one species had telepathic or supersensory abilities, it would have such a biological advantage that it the balance of Nature would be overturned. Not so if all animals have these abilities to some degree.

This is handsomely produced book replete with several color paintings. In addition to the text, there is a forward by Rupert Sheldrake and a Preface by the eminent animal behaviorist Marc Bekoff from the University of Colorado.

This book is enchanting and if you drink in its wisdom, it could be life changing.

Highly recommended!

The prior review by Getty explains overall content of the book wonderfully, so I will refrain from adding to an exceptional review. However, there is one area that was not mentioned that brought my review down to four stars.

I understand that this book was written almost 100 years ago, and people interacted with nature a bit differerently. Hunting was accepted and needed, and I understand that. However, Long writes a great deal about stalking, flushing, tracking, calling, and killing animals. He never mentions if he's killing for meat, but there are occasions when he tracks and tries to kill animals, such as wolves, that he clearly will not be eating. One example - he mentions how he kills crows when he can, for they ravage the nests of the beneficial birds who keeps gardens healthy. I found this irritating: the man feels his killing as many crows as he can is acceptable, for they destroy the birds that are beneficial to man.

I could not understand how this man, who is obviously very connected to nature and animals, could kill so easily and makes so little mention of it. I was confused, and frankly, dismayed many times as I read Long's accounts in the field, often with rifle in hand, ever ready to call a moose with his developed calling skills and then shoot the animal.

I had a hard time in places in the book due to Long's choice to hunt and kill the animals he also found so interesting, animals he clearly respected. However, in one of the later chapters, he mentions how he does not approve of killing animals, yet throughout most of the book, he never went out without his gun, often using familiar animal calls to attract animals, so he could shoot them, not just observe them. It felt contradictory. He particularly had no remorse for shooting crows and related his actions with what felt like self-satisfaction and justification.

This book makes good use of real case studies over a variety of commodities.I found it valuable as a graduate geologist and I believe it would be for undergraduates too.As with all multi author books ,some chapters are better written than others.The information on data and software does needs enlarging,to be really helpful -and the figures in this particular chapter would be much more valuable if they were in colour. Otherwise a good introductory text.

This anthology begins with deskwork analysis of geologic maps and other information. From there, there are chapters on prefeasibility studies, remote sensing, geophysical methods, drilling programs, exploration geochemistry, etc. A series of chapters discuss case histories of exploration.

Financing is discussed, and a variety of technical information is presented. There is a glossary of common abbreviations, and illustrations on the use of statistics, as in the construction of borehole grids. There is also a helpful table of atypical colors that characterize many metallic compounds seen in outcrop (p. 80).

In evaluating different exploration techniques, John Milsom comments: "Geophysical interpretations are notoriously ambiguous but the gravity method does provide, at least in theory, a unique and unambiguous answer to one exploration question. If an anomaly is fully defined over the ground surface, the total gravitational flux it represents is proportional to the total excess mass of the source body." (pp. 134-135)

Very little attention is paid to the rare earth elements, considering their importance in recent years. However, there is data on the use of lanthanum as a tracer for geochemical exploration (p. 158), and cost-effective methods of analyzing REEs at background levels in geologic samples (p. 161).

Pues tome este curso hace un ano y con el autor del mismo, Dr. Monroe en la Universidad de Akron, Ohio.
El libro cumple a cabalidad con su objetivo, el de introducir al estudiante de geografia y de otras areas al mundo de las estadisticas. Haciendo ver facil lo complicado el libro explica de manera clara y utilizando ejemplos de la vida real lo que le hace pertinente y util.
Es un libro que todos deberian tener de referencia para esos momentos de crisis estadisticalenxistenciales.

This text was assigned for an intro-level statistics course I took that was required for geography majors. While the statistical methods covered in this text are not themselves geographical, they can be applied to geographic research in any of the subfields (human, spatial/cartographic, economic, physical, or people/environment).

All the basics of statistical problem solving are covered, including sampling methods and bias, descrptive statistics, inferential statistics, correlation, and regression. Examples are provided with a geographical context, to make the information relevant to students of geography. There is also a helpful epilogue entitled "Geogrphic Problem Solving in Pratical Solutions," which will be of interest to students with research goals.

The chapters are well-written, with ample narrative examples and clear and concise tables and diagrams. The student-directed list of "major goals and objectives" at the end of each chapter is also helpful, along with key terms (with page numbers) and additional references. My only (minor) complaint is that the black-and-white design of the content is occasionally tedious on the eyes, given the extent of narrative content, and the graphic presentations of the equations in-text makes it occasionally difficult to find what you're looking for quickly.

The second edition is an improvement over the first, with more examples and a much clearer format than the first. While this slim volume is a bit expensive new, I wouldn't recommend getting the first edition. As a geography grad student I continue to refer to this text, and have found it a worthwhile investment.

~ Jacquelyn Gill

The book brings to life the brave and bold character of William and his brothers Alonzo, Howard and Milton. Lt. Cushing's exploits during his naval career were quite daring and exciting to read about.

William Barker Cushing was one of the true heroes of the naval Civil War. He consistently defied the enemy and the odds, and came back alive. He almost singlehandedly blew up a Southern ironclad (the CSS Albemarle). Coupled with a section on Cushing's brother, Alonzo, who was at the heart of the third day of Gettysburg, this book will excite, entertain, and educate all fans of the Union and the Navy.

The text was as described with no issues. The delivery was prompt and handled in a professional manner. I recommend this seller.

My professor suggested this book and deemed it the "Bible on Evidence". I bought it and it is. A great book that will clear up many of your questions. If you don't understand what your law professor is saying, this book will make it clearer.

My 7 yr. old advanced reader found this book not only reasonable to read, but it held her excitement at wanting to know what would happen to each of the characters as the wagon train progressed on its journey and met real dangers. It was not too scary, but filled with the concerns of real life in the pioneer days. The story developed the unfolding of a girlhood friendship in such a way as to show a young reader ways to ease into a relationship. It was a delight to read with a child and educational in many ways.

I really enjoyed this story. I really liked it when her family felt sorry for her and let her have that cat. It's about a little girl on her way to Missouri with her family, Ma, Pa, Kate, Benjy, Duffy, and Doris.