Cultural Books

Very helpful and thorough. Regardless of one's personal views on Jungian theories, this is a major contribution to the understanding of the Grail. A fair amount of German-language material is aptly brought back to the heart of the debate and one or two solid points are made about mediaeval Christianity and Imago Christi; Gnosis often looms in the (rather near) distance but the quality of thought makes it palatable...

"The Grail Legend" by Emma Jung [and M. L. von Franz] I found to be very thoughtful and detailed. Likely the Holy Grail was a main concern for most of Emma Jung's life. One can readily see why Carl Jung viewed that subject matter as his "wife's turf". "Animus and Anima", also by Emma Jung, is an excellent little summary of Jungian Psychology with a focus on Animus and Anima. In contrast "The Grail Legend" is so deep and detailed I found myself having to review several Jungian works to "keep up". Namely "Animus and Anima", "The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious" and "Aion". The last two works being by Carl Jung. Very interesting and even inspiring for those interested in Jung, Grail, Merlin, Arthur, Celtic and Celtic Christian subjects from the "Dark Ages" until the "Present".

Emma Jung and Marie-Louise von Franz have produced a very comprehensive analysis of the legend of the Holy Grail legend. Jung spent over 20 years collecting the background information. Von Franz spent 15 years pulling together the final manuscript which was published after Emma Jung's death.

The book explores the historic origin of the legend in both Welsh/Celtic and Christian legend. The legend appears to integrate 3 influences: the legends of the early Welsh/Celtic people who were driven into the hills by the Saxon invaders, the Christian legend of the grail and the stone covering the grave of Christ, and the major shift in Western consciousness regarding the role of women around the reign of Henry II and Eleanor of Acquitaine.

The story is about the heroic actions and adventures of the fool knight, Perceval, that are needed to heal the wounded Fisher King and revive his famine plagued kingdom. Much of the book explores all the images and multiple variations around this myth.

The legend would imply that in all men a wounded Self(Fisher King) limits and shuts off the powers and creativity of the archetypes and other unconscious forces. The healed Fisher King is a strong Self, the king of the unconscious, who can navigate and attract unconscious forces and influences. The beautiful woman, the Anima, acts as a messenger between the ego consciousness and the unconscious. The Grail is the site where the opposites are united, the personality becomes whole,the internal struggles against opposing forces within the self stops, and thus the healing of the King (Self) is at hand. Each of the psychological constructs: ego, consciousness, unconscious, archtype, shadow, anima, animus, Self, etc. are shown in the characters and various props/objects within the legend.

Students of the legends of King Arthur and the Round Table will find this to be a very scholarly study of the particular tale of Perceval and his search of the Holy Grail. The Round Table is connected to the two preceeding tables - the table where Christ held the Last Supper with his disciples and the table that becomes the Altar for the Holy Communion.

Students of pre-Saxon Britian will find this work to identify multiple primitive Celtic and Welsh myths and legends.

Students of Jung will find this legend actually is able to encompass almost all the major constructs of Jungian theory into one comprehensive legend. Jung identifies the Self as the part of the personality through whom God speaks. This makes sense if we see the Self as the king of the unconscious, a land of symbol and archetype. If the Self is wounded, the land of archetype and symbol is barren and thus the voice of God is not heard. But when the Self is healed, God is able to speak through the language of image, myth, archetype, and symbol. The heroic knight is able to heal the wounded King by asking whom the Grail serves. The Grail is the site where opposing forces are united and integrated and thus tension and internal conflict is reduced or eliminated. Jung and von Franz also point out that the Grail, the stone over the grave of Christ, the philosopher's stone, and the legendary figure of Merlin all are capable of playing the role of the site where the opposites come together to bring about wholeness. When wholeness occurs, the Fisher King is healed. When the Fisher King (the Self) is healed, the land is no longer barren but bursts with growth of instincts, symbols, myths, images, archetypes, allowing God to come fully into the personality. This is called salvation in Christian culture and enlightenment in other cultures. Carl Jung offers an amazingly rich theoretically constructed human personality with such internal consistency that he was able to explain most all human ocnditions from mental illness to religious salvation using his constructs.

I recommend this book highly, supplement your reading with other books by Carl Jung as you read, but your quest for your own Holy Grail is worth the effort.

I've used this book countless times for research, pondering and contemplation and teaching. I come back to it often, because some of the references are so obscure that it took years to run into the situation that related back to the story. But it's all good. Carl Jung specifically steered clear of the Grail Myth because it was understood that it was Emma's territory. By reading it you can tell that it's a lifetime collection. If you are looking for Cliff notes on the grail story, this is not your book. If you are looking for an in depth source for pursuing the meaning(s) behind the Grail then it's a must have.

Robert Johnson said it best, "We each have but to walk down the path and turn left to find the Grail Castle. It's simply being conscious enough to know when the time has come to enter the Grail Castle." I love the story of Perceival so very much. Not only because it mimics so much of my own personal spiritual quest but also because of the hope it gives Western man. We have only to ask the question to heal the Fisher King, not know the answer. The question, "Whom does the grail serve?" is enough.

The writer dares to go where others fear! I am very familiar with the writing process and the issues that this writer must have faced with the story he told. A monumental task to say the least. His words flow and tell a wonderful story of love, traditon and life without the rose colored glasses. It is a great book and deserves six stars.

Mr. Little Eagle has done something that very few writers have ever done. Taken me to the inside of a place I would never have had the opportunity to visit. What is amazing is that he does it with such ease and understanding. The places I went included the real world Native America, the deep and personal emotions of dealing with a serious illness and the lost of a loved one, his wife. The pace was easy, short chapters made the reading a gentle process. However, I found myself not taking a break. The next chapter lead to the next event which lead to the next enlightment.

Little Eagle's relationships and friends along the way are fasinating and unforgetable. Steve Old Coyote played a signifcant role in the first part of the book as well as Arvol Looking Horse and the Kitchen Boss. The second part of the book dealt with the remarkable events surrounding the death of his wife, Tammy. He also returns to Greengrass and other Rezervation loation and meets more people like Tom Calfrobe the Cloud Watcher, Marie Not-Help-Him and the dynamic Pete Catches. His love and dedication to his wife is so evident and he willing shares those emotions. The third part he once again returns to Greengrass and encounters the mystery of life. Of special note is the connection between Little Eagle and the Kitchen Boss.

Throughout the entire book you witness powerful and magical ceremonies and rituals. Sweatlodges, Sundance and Yuwipis. Aother standout in the story is the ledgendary Pipe Bag of Crazy Horse. So much stuff. I am looking forward to future books by Little Eagle.

Do not pass this book by. You will truly miss out on wonderful story and life.
Phil

Greengrass Pipe Dancers is both a story of pain and death and a search for healing and transformation. The first focus is on the history, safekeeping and restoration of a holy pipe bag, perhaps once belonging to Crazy Horse. The underlying text is the author's experience of healing and acceptance in mourning the passing of his beloved young wife Tammy through witnessing the rite of the Sun Dance and pipe dancers with the Lakota of Greengrass, South Dakota. Lionel Little Eagle sees his own totem animal and receives his sacred message from the experience. Straight from the heart, Greengrass Pipe Dancers is the author's testament to the power and beauty of Lakota spirituality, and the miraculous healing essence of the beautiful pipe bag he is given to carry and protect until a sacred resting place is found.

The true story of the pipe bag is recounted according to Lionel Little Eagle's wife Tamara and other traditional sources. The pipe bag was originally given by a Lakota chief to Dr. H. A. Brown (Tamara Brown's grandfather) in 1895 after he saved his son from pneumonia. This tale has been told in another book, Warriors of the Rainbow, written by Dr. Brown's son, Vinson. In Greengrass Pipe Dancers, Lionel Little Eagle, a Micmac Native American, continues the sacred obligation of being the pipe bag bearer while presenting its history and his wife's story. The wonderful thing about the pipe bag history is it is directly connected to the founding of Naturegraph, a publishing house founded by Vinson Brown to publish Warriors of the Rainbow. Naturegraph continues to publish works on Native American history, spirituality and culture, thus fulfilling the dreams of both the original Oglala chieftain pipe bag bearer and Dr. Brown.

The author introduces the main elements of the story simply. They are Tammy, the Healing, the People, the Pipe Bag, and the Dance. Each element is key, but it is their interplay, the dance of words, visions, and songs that emblazons the heart of the book. Greengrass Pipe Dancers is voiced from the essence of sacred enlightenment, which includes death, pain, and deep celebration of life. Partly because of its simple, unassuming style, Greengrass Pipe Dancers may be read as a sort of personal journal of seeking spiritual enlightenment. The subtext is clear and undeniable, a brilliant witnessing of light and healing.

Nancy Lorraine, Reviewer

"Greengrass Pipe Dancers" starts out with an intriguing story of how the author came to be the caretaker of Crazy Horse's pipe bag, and continues with a powerful story of Lionel Little Eagle's journey to return the pipe bag and to seek spiritual guidance dealing with his wife's cancer. The reader will join Little Eagle in Native American ceremonies both fascinating and uplifting. A sense of family and belonging in a community is strong throughout this book. Many emotions surface as Little Eagle searches for the next caretakers of the holy pipe bag while separating the pain of losing his wife from the realization that she also is to return to her spiritual beginning, just as the pipe bag must. Ultimately, the wonderful cycle of life vividly described here leaves you wishing Little Eagle will write again soon.

This book tells a WONDERFUL story of a white medical doctor caring for an indian child with pneumonia. When the child began his recovery; the boy's father tried to pay the doctor, and Dr. Brown refused payment because of the way the indians had been cheated and mistreated by the government that made treaties and habitually broke them, and white settlers.

The boy's father was stunned by the doctors kindness, and insisted on giving him a pipe bag with bead and quill work. (A pipe bag is traditionaly made from leather with two segments or pockets if you prefer. Traditionaly; the pipe bowl, and stem are kept separate, and are only put together when you pray with the pipe.). This book tells the story of this pipe bag (allegedly belonging to Crazy Horse), and the story of the three people that cared for this pipe bag before returning it the Sioux.

This book also tells the story of Lionel Little Eagle (the third keeper of the pipe bag), and his beloved wife "Tammy" that was dying of cancer.

This book takes you on a roller coaster of emotions. In some places you will laugh hystericaly (as in 'Hey You' on page 37, 'Old Coyote's encounter with the kitchen boss' on page 46 and others. In other places prepare to find tears welling up in your eyes where Mr. Little Eagle relates the story of his wife's passing. and teaching "Trapper" (the son of Mr. Little Eagle, and Tammy" why they use the pipe (like making a telephone call to God), and Trapper picks up the pipe and puts it to his ear like a phone and wants to talk to his mom.

There are many nice illustrations.

On pages 59-62; Mr. Little Eagle relates one of the best versions I have seen of the White Buffalo Woman legend that I have seen.

In my humble opinion; if this book does not reach you; you do not have an open mind and heart.

However; with the platitudes mentioned above; I am disappointed with some portions of this book.

1. On page 47-48 Mr. Little Eagle relates the words of an elder that states in olden times the pipe was much larger about the size of a child's head, and his anger about non indians having the pipe. Mr. Little Eagle does not seem to share the attitudes of the elder because on page 9; he refers to himself as "a simple member of the human race" which is quite similar to mine "A human being; doing the best I can."

a. I know a gentlman that mines the sacred stone in the pipestone quarries (He sent me a photocopy of his permit to mine the stone). According to my acquaintance; it is extremely unusual to find veins of pipestone (Catlinite) more than 3 inches thick, and in order to get the sacred stone; they sometimes have to go through veins of quartzite up to 8 feet thick to reach the three inch vein.

b. Attitudes of anger and bigotry as expressed by the elder is making the problem worse not better. I want to see Nick Black Elk's vision of the flowering tree, and people living together in peace and harmony come to pass. People (indian or not, elder or not that have anger and hatred for non indians carrying the pipe in a sacred manner is causing disharmony. Evelyn Eaton the author of "I Send A Voice" relates her encounter with Native American anger and bigotry that was directed toward her because she carried a pipe. I have received many vitriolic comments from alleged indians after reading some of my reviews.

2. On page 142; Mr. Little Eagle tells of his meeting Wallace Black Elk the "grandson" of Sioux Holy Man Nick Black Elk. Wallace Black Elk is NOT the grandson of Nick Black Elk. I have VERY much respect for wicasa wakan (holy man) Nick Black Elk. I have NO respect for this new age flim flam man that inflates his ancestry to make himself look better. I know a man that was named by Ben Black Elk (the son of Nick Black Elk), and I know the real family of Nick Black Elk have been confronting this myth for years. Nick, and Wallace are not even member of the same Sioux sub tribe. Ben Black Elk acted as the interpreter for the two authors (Joseph Epes Brown "The Sacred Pipe", and John G. Neihart "Black Elk Speaks" because his father spoke almost no english, and the authors did not speak the Sioux language.

3. on page 209 another bigoted elder states "The people who blindly and deliberately scar and hurt Mother Earth. who line our sacred Black Hills with black pavement. They are the enemy! That is where our fight lies. (Isn't this inciting people to riot and commit violence? In my humble opinion; the BEST way to reach harmony is to put the past behind us, and go forward into the future; there all races teach one another, and explain why things are considered sacred, and what it means to use a pipe in a sacred manner. We can only do this if we open our hearts and minds, and allow the past injustices to remain in the past. I walk the red road because this path answers my spiritual questions and works for me.

Other than these problems; the book conveys a wonderful story, and shares some Native American Philosophy.

Wah doh Ogedoda (We give thanks Great Spirit)

If your interest in gay literature is just starting (and there is no need anymore to explain why) this book will give you a head start. You can find here information on a vast variety of books which you may pick up to expand your knowledge, curiosity, or simply spend you time reading for pleasure. Woods draws an interesting panorama of homesexual themes in literature from the Antiquity to the Present.
However, if you are quite far in the subject, you may find this volume a little bit too simplistic and disagree with some of Woods conclusions - e.g. the use of the word "gay" in the title may be quite disputable in the context. But still you may find many pieces of information you haven't yet heard.

Poet and author Gregory Lewis has given us one of the more readable compendiums tracing the birth and maturation of gay themes and styles in literature. Many authors have approached this task as a sensational "outing" of famous writers whose true sexual preferences will always be shrouded by the curtain of history. Lewis has chosen to deal with actual portions of writings in a scholastic method that creates a credible case for his choices of inclusion in the lineage of gay writers. Infused with brief descriptions of the social history of the times he is describing (Greek, Roman, Middle Ages, Shakespeare/Marlowe, Melville, Whitman, Wilde, Forster, Genet, Gide, Holleran, Leavitt, Monette, Auden, Rechy, etc), he lays the timely mores for interpreting the written word and in doing so does not preach to his readers. And though this book is heavily footnoted, researched, and extensive in its coverage of known and less known writers, it is eminently readable! Lewis is not afraid to let us know when his "opinion" versus "cold fact" is being stated; he allows us to grow to understand his method of decision making and is generous in his quotations of passages that support his claims. For the reader who wants a gossipy book of "Secrets of the Closeted Writers" this is not the resource. For those who want to examine the works of Thomas Mann, Shakespeare, E.M. Forster, Henry James, Plato, Socrates (the list is endless) in an erudite manner, welcome to the feast. Lewis is a gifted historian, social commentator, and gentle philosopher. And this book is one to read over an unhurried, extended period of time. There are riches here to savour as you read and for later as a reference volume of considerable significance.

Woods' phenomenological journey through literature, in which he examines a plethora of perspectives that are aguable "gay," is far more than a literary survey across epochs of history: It asks the question philosophers ask: What is gay? For the most part, that question may never be answered, except in the most biological of terms. Same-sex affection and eroticism. Human diversity is truly extraordinary, and all efforts to achieve a definition, identity, and distinction beyond this expansive single feature only limits what "gayness" subverts. But such an indefinite state is difficult to maintain, if only because erotic longings draw us together in concrete ways. In every age, we need more to hold onto something more enduring, if only because our unique sexuality, standing against the grain, finds such indeterminancy intolerable, if not terribly lonely. After all, men who desire men need love, too. Or at least many of us do.

Beginning at the beginning, and traversing millennia and cultures, Woods selects representative examples of homo-erotic literature, enormously exhaustive, acknowledging at the outset that his representative samples may not reflect what many today suppose to be "gay." The post-Stonewall moment heralded an intolerance of concealment, an unwillingness to be persecuted, and a new narrative that may occurred (forced or natural) in the Seventies was hardly emblematic in history. The so-called Castro Clone, hairy men in masculine garb with well-defined features and perhaps a little excess of macho bravado, might have been the dominant craze at the time. But what did this species of same-sex orientation have in common with the pederast (boy-crazy) male of antiquity? According to literature, not much.

But the Castro Clone has already passed into history, and Queer Theorists are bent on a new narrative. The effect, perhaps, of AIDS. Certainly, a little microbe has changed the same-sex dynamics considerably; a latex sheath now invades our love, and it seems to have changed our narrative and created distance among us. But we're all stronger and more open than all our historical predecessors ever imagine. The "closet" has ever been the refuge of adult gay men, and after millennia of persecution, we're no longer content to dwell in darkness. And perhaps the re-emergence of political homophobia requires a new story. Perhaps the militant subversion of the Other needs to experience what true Others have felt for ages. Whatever the impetus, more gay men are understandably reacting, often with unparalleled defiance, which may be more adaptive, but it seems foreign to me. Whatever excesses occurred in the Seventies, and they are legion, for the first time in recorded history adult male love, however elusive, was boldly believed.

Few books on a "gay" theme have touched me as deeply as this one, because none, despite its failings, has been bold enough to admit that our narratives change to fit the situation, and few narratives reflect the same story. In the final chapter of this otherwise non-polemical inquiry, Woods deliberately casts off his "impartial narrator" and engages in the polemics of paradox (a frequent theme among post-modernists), a variable in the deconstructionist "play" of differance, and one of Foucault's subversions of power. As my anger at his apotheosis of paradox grew (another Pope John Paul II, I thought), he slid home safely. "Paradox," he writes in the final sentences, "may be subversive, but it makes unsound political discourse if ever required to move the very public it defies. Beware of orators bearing paradox: they are unlikely to be democrats" (388).

For many, being "gay" is an act of defiance, an act of being ostracized as well as ostracization, and another act of being compromised as well as compromising. In my defense, I lived wherever the margins took me, and disregarded the consequences (and in my case those margins were far and few between). But those days when the love that dared not speak its name (and those days have been interminably long), when paradox and defiance spoke for us as staples of survival (however clandestine), came to an end with Stonewall. However small our numbers, we were liberated by a simple act, not of defiance alone, but of truthful pride. For all the angry contempt heaped on our persecutors, there was a time when we simply did not care to give them any notice. My only hope is that the new wave of persecution does not jade us to love's possibilities, but alas the video record suggests love is a commodity we can consider if we survive.

But we've always survived. We're an intrinsic part of nature, for heaven's sake. The Stonewall liberation, however, was truly unique; it allowed us to love openly and passionately, perhaps indiscriminately, and we'll always be open to love, unless the hate of our antagonists prevails. Very, very sadly, I see hate in our own eyes, so virulent, so understandable, and so self-defeating. "They" have already won, because we accepted their binary terms of opposition. In our anger, however justified, we've become one of them. Hate can conquer love, and once again "they" have proved it. What narrative follows next I know not. I only thank Fate for allowing me to experience an extraordinary moment in time. It may never pass again.

This is a very readable book. However I was extremely astonished at the scantiness of space on Japanese same-sex relation. Since after ancient Greek, only Japanese could have enhanced male-homoeroticism to highly ethical valued SHUDO i.e. the way of male love and there is a great number of GAY literature,documents, arts etc. in Japan. I recommend two books for readers THE LOVE OF THE SAMURAI by Watanabe Tsuneo & Iwata Jun'ichi, et MALE COLORS by Gary P. Leupp. And I hope many people study Japanese culture, history and literature more.

Gregory Woods, in A History of Gay Literature, The Male Tradition, has written a comprehensive examination of gay male literature through the centuries and around the globe. It looks at text and subtext and context to find the gay meaning or the meaning for gays in the annals of historical literature. Along the way the reader will learn new aspects of literature (such as the chapter on African poetry, to name one example from my own ignorance) and new ways to look at familiar books and poems. For all its breadth, it is wonderfully readable and somewhat addictive. It had me searching out various books to read them for myself. The writing is so good that I was equally fascinated reading about the books I had not read or did not even know about as I was reading about the others. This is a very good survey and a fun read.

In nine chapters Marilyn Yalom covers European and American attitudes and use of the female breast from the earliest cities of the Near East to the end of the 20th century. The book is very Western in it's focus, so not a comprehensive history. However, if you know that then you will find a good solid historical approach to an symbol and a body part that has played a huge role in art, literature, politics, religion, and even economies. Generous use of images and quotations are helpful in demonstrating how historians reason and use evidence without making the book very appealing to those looking for a sexual thrill. Overall the book is arranged both thematically and chronologically when possible. This is a book I could have undergraduates read as a feasible example of how history can be interesting and still be focused on the discipline's methods.

Yalom's book meets the highest standards for careful academic work, and, as a source, will turn out to be the standard for investigation into the subject in the future. But the appeal is broad and will engage the general reader, the historian, the physician. In short it is a good history, a good cultural study, and a good read. Fine writing, intriguing illustrations dilated to include such diversity as the political breast, the surgical breast, the nursing breast, the pornographic breast. An excellent analysis.

With a wonderful blend of serious history and modern humor where appropriate, the author presents a thought provoking run down on the history over 25 centuries and the photos of Annie Sprinkles Bosom Ballet on page 268 made the purchase worth every cent.

As the author wisely notes that Westerners assumptions about the breast is often wrong, and that Non western cultures have their own fetishes be it small feet in China, the nape of the neck in Japan, the buttocks in Africa and the Caribbean. That through out western history the breast has been viewed as good and bad, and by men mostly and religious men in particular.

The book is excellent in showing how the breast has been used to depict power and justice be it in war posters (Bosoms For The Nation) or the lady of justice with one breast exposed. To breasts used to sell products or alas slaves. (The commercialized Breast) How the whole idea that breasts were owned according to some by the husband, or were considered babies domain. That it wasn't until the women's movement that women demanded that what was on their bodies belonged to them to do with as they wished, be it nipple piercing, nudity, no bra etc. (The liberated Breast)

There are photos of mastectomy survivors and lord knows dozens of bare, exposed, all size breasts, which I assume the reader would expect in a serious book about the human breast.

It is a book I am so glad I bought. Also check out her excellent History Of The Wife book.

Marilyn Yalom has a fascinating way of blending history, culture and personal stories in her new book. It reminds me of what Ken Burns has done in some of his documentaries, where you learn as much about life in the times as you do about the specific topic. The book is a wonderful and easy way to learn about the wife in different times, cultures and religions, and also the possibilities of what it might mean to be a wife in the future. Excellent reading.

Marilyn Yalom (her latest work, History of the Wife, is spectacular) shows her characteristic style of humor and scholarship in history of the breast. Relying on both art and personal accounts, Yalom goes era by era detailing various Western cultures' attitudes toward the female body and specifically the breast. She spends a great deal of effort detailing modern concerns like breast cancer treatment and breastfeeding controversies and with the background in the first half of the book, the reader is easily able to see how current attitudes have been shaped throughout history. An excellent book for the social historian, women's studies person, or art historian.

The name and life work of Dana Ullman, MPH, should be familiar to practitioners of homeopathy around the world, and especially in the English speaking world. Indeed, in America, his name and service to homeopathy is certainly well known to every practitioner and to many grateful laypersons who rely upon the resources he offers them. His justified fame comes not only through the publication of his own fine books, but perhaps even more actively through his dedicated directorship of the Homeopathic Educational Services, based in California but accessible to the world by mailorder and online. I daresay most American students and practitioners of homeopathy could hardly survive without this well-established, reliable, and highly respected comprehensive source of books, media and software and publications focussed on homeopathy. Through the resources of the Homeopathic Educational Services and his popular books, I believe Ullman has done more to educate, inform and thereby advance homeopathy in the United States than any other single individual. As such, any new book by Ullman is well worth the attention of the practitioner or anyone interested in this fascinating branch of healing, experiencing a rebirth in the 21st century--to a significant extent, midwifed in America by Ullman. His latest work, The Homeopathic Revolution (North Atlantic Press), provides a rich source of historical information on the source and rocky road of homeopathy by tracing its history and with brief biographies of its pioneers and patients.

The Homeopathic Revolution through its highly readable text and uniquely appealing approach can be very valuable indeed for opening some
minds which might very well be more influenced by the personalities and famous exemplars from the history of literature, the arts and sciences and entertainment since the advent of homoepathy in the early 19th century through the present.
In an age of Media where fascination with the personalities of the public world, there is a particular attraction to the use of the famous as exemplars, including the wide spectrum of those offered by the book, i.e., the many special and
admired people who have been documented as devotees of homeopathy. The devotees of those devotees will certainly have their
minds opened by the examples set. Although more detailed history within a broader historical setting may be found in Coulter's multi-volume history,
Ullman's book provides something rather different in spite of the inevitable overlaps in historical material....and considerably more entertainment through the fascination of an historical play and its players.

There will probably be rather fewer serendipitous surprises for readers already familiar with homeopathy's history through Coulter, & al, in discovering celebrities of the past and accounting for homeopathy's struggle for survival, than for someone more or less unfamiliar with homeopathy's struggle for recognition and survival. However, the struggle of homeopathy to achieve and maintain its unique approach is an heroic one, on the grand scale and worthy of more historical/personal treatments which characterize Ullman's book....especially given the increasingly prevalent phenomenon of celebrity worship and the cult of the personality in our media-influenced society. But I do not mean to suggest that this is merely a tantalizing read, with homeopaths as heroes: the book should prove a powerful raiser of consciousness among readers who might not otherwise give homeopathic treatment a try, influenced by its popularity among the great and famous.


From other perspectives, the book offers interesting insights and syntheses of the historical, biographical and scientific. For example, of fascinating interest is the repeated presence and reference to the great 19th century naturalist whose theories of evolution and the origin of species through natural selection also constituted a revolution, viz., Charles Darwin. I found the Darwin's appearances in the story especially relevant in an account of the origin of homeopathy and its descent in man and the survival of the fittest....i.e., in the evolution of medicine. Homeopathy appeared and gained its place in medicine at a time when allopathic medicine offered little in the way of effective treatments for most diseases and was making real progress only in the mechanics of surgery and sanitation. Once allopathic medicine found itself threatened and hired a PR expert to promote itself and discredit its more effective competition, the historical equivalent to Darwin's concept of mutation (here in the form of the Madison Avenue approach to conditioning a population regarding choice of medical care), homeopathy faltered and almost disappeared into extinction. Yet, it survived and I am reminded that although the incredibly powerful and once dominant dinosaurs are today apparently extinct and so one might not think "fit" enough to survive, it is also clear that the dinosaurs actually do survive everywhere on earth as birds. That is, their survivors adapted to fresh forms to preserve their unique genus and genius.....which is what I believe happened, and is happening, to homeopathy. Far from becoming extinct, it is surviving, not only reappearing in its classical forms far from its birthplace (e.g., in India, a land with a history for tolerance of diversity in thought) but in new forms (e.g., complex homeopathy, EAV and vegatesting, &c).

For myself, reading through the book felt like a guided tour through a wax museum of homeopathic history, a Mme. Tussaud's of the Similimum, pausing at each of the bigger than life statues as Ullman profiled the intriguing personalities who populate the history of homeopathy and thereby define it in a personal way. It is an impressive cast of characters in the saga: US Presidents from Abraham Lincoln to Bill Clinton, Benjamin Disraeli, numerous Indian political and religious leaders in particular (India, to its great credit, seeming to be the land of the Second Coming of homeopathy), many famous females, e.g., in medicine, Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, in civil rights Susan B. Anthony,and Louisa May Alcott and fellow literary luminaries such as Mark Twain... and a stellar cast of 19th century authors. Perhaps even more impressive than the more traditionally open-minded masters of arts, are homeopathic partisans among plutocrats like J.D.Rockefeller, many monarchs including, most famously, the present Queen of England and Prince of Wales, And as for musicians, actors, athletes and other entertainers, I feel hopeless to know where to begin listing the superstars who depend upon homeopathic treatment. Ullman skillfully weaves literary references to homeopathy with historical excerpts to humanize the generations of some of the cream of human creativity and productivity who respected or depended upon homeopathy for their health. Of course, many physicians appear in the account, most of their names unknown to the layperson, but influential both in the progress and preservation of homeopathy...as well as in its defamation by the public relations office of the American Medical Association, whose outlandish melodramatic antics (including outright blackmail) beggar belief.


As an alternative medical therapy, homeopathy is about people, after all. With a few exceptions, since most new books about homeopathy are about technical praxis or theory, I had to keep reminding myself of this personal slant-- that homeopathy is also a history which reflects the vagaries of the human personnae. However, since I myself admittedly have a theoretical bias, the following comments address that orientation:

I especially appreciated how larger, important issues of society seem to
naturally arise in the narrative --e.g., the account of the
relationship of feminism to homeopathy, a correlation which has long
fascinated me as a reflection of a powerful, arguably essentially feminine,
energy in homeopathy insofar as it is a gentle, relatively
nonintrusive and nurturing form of therapy compared to the more
aggressive allopathic interventions.
other issues which i have always found interesting in homeopathy
which are integrated in the saga, address include the notable presence and influence of
Swedengorgian ideas. the fundamental commonality of swedenborg's
cosmology to certain asian metaphysics has also struck me--e.g.,
jainism. both Swedenborg and the Jains perceived the universe
metaphysically as a macrocosmic physiology. other asian philosophies
are also compatible with homeopathic concepts. for instance, the
basic meditation methods advocated in early buddhism (and still
practiced more than 2500 years later) include a visualization of the
pathological counterparts to desire and attachment, which along with
a fundamental delusion about the materiality of the ego, constitute
the source of suffering. such meditations (e.g., charnal ground
meditations, &c) are essentially homeopathic in their psychodynamics.

Related to such western (e.g., Swedenborg) and asiatic (e.g.,
Jainism, Buddhism from Theravada to Dzogchen) spirituality is,
increasingly, Dr Rajan Sankaran's evolving and innovative theoretics: his
conceptualization of the alien (and alienating) , nonhuman realms of
the vegetable, mineral and nonhuman animal kingdoms as energetic
pathological entities, also resonates with ideas in all three
paradigms (e.g., the jains believe that animals, vegetables and even
minerals are sentient, accumulators of pathogenic karma, &c. likewise
the realms of rebirth which karma propels human beings according to
their conduct, also include the same kingdoms which materialize
energy on earth and which can be diagnostically identified in
sankaran's theory of sensations.(interestingly, the old title given
to psychoanalysts of "alienist" would seem to better apply to
homeopaths using Sankaran's diagnostic criteria for locating the
remedy in the alien energy present in the patient. )

fFr me, the crucial key is the understanding and finding homeopathy
credible is to embrace the concept that homeopathy functions
essentially nonmaterially. this concept is the least palatable and
digestible to conventional allopathic thinking because of its belief
that the human being is a material being. buddhism, in particular,
clarifies the nonmaterial nature of human beings, that its apparent
corporeality or materiality is the fundamental delusion in the
aetiology of suffering (whether it is experienced physically or
psychically). for anyone who accepts this metaphysical model (e.g.,
me), the concept of the treatment with nonmaterial remedies of
essentially nonmaterial suffering in essentially nonmaterial humans
makes profoundly perfect sense...

(By the way, if the reader has not already read it, may i suggest you
Prof. B. Alan Wallace's excellent book, Choosing Reality? If
the readers of this review are unfamiliar with Wallace, he was trained as a physicist but became a Buddhist monk. a translator for the dalai lama and now a
professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara, Wallace's book analyzes the so-called "scientific method" (is it really scientific) which allopaths claim to employ and compare it with other valid means to knowledge. The "weakness" of homeopathy being "tested"
by inappropriate methodology more suited to allopathy, and found wanting, can be better understood by the insights of this brief but invaluable study of the assumptions and intellectual monopoly of the so-called scientific method.
Although I do not recall that it mentions homeopathy or even medicine
particularly, I found this slim volume to be one of the best
catalysts for opening the mind to unfamiliar, if not unorthodox paradigms.
(it is readily available, in print by Snow Lion press).

From these contemplative digressions inspired by the thought provoking contents of Ullman's The Homeopathic Revolution, one can perhaps get a sense of
how inspiring of integrative and connective thought this very
enjoyable book was.... and, for me, that is the highest praise of
an book, being, for me, the most important potential of any work of
art, including literary (even when nonfictional) is to invite,
catalyze and inspire the participation of the creative imagination
of its audience, and so inspire synthesizing gestalts to be created
by making the insightful connections which unify knowledge and inspire as the antecedents of wisdom.

Prof. Neal White

-30-
(About the author of the review: Dr Neal White is Emeritus Professor of San Francisco State University, where he taught for 25 years. He is a complementary medical practitioner, whose practice includes not only homeopathy, but also a variety of acupuncture paradigms, herbalism, etc. He is supposed to be retired, but continues his work in the healing and visual arts in Nova Scotia, Canada.

This book is amazing. Homeopathy is the second most widely practised form of medical care in the world (says WHO) , and yet conventional or 'allopathic' medicine so often pours scorn upon homeopathy. Here is a well written book of praise from Dana Ullman who cites such a range of people using it from a Pope to the Lubavicher Rebbe, from Beethoven to David Beckham the footballer, presidents and kings and queens. Marki Twain, Louisa May Alcott, William James .... This is an unconventional book about a non conventional system of medicine. I hope it provokes a revolution and helps bring homeopathy out from the cold. These well known famous people whose names Dana eloquently drops, have all been cured of some dreadful disease. The book is an easy read as each chapter tells another short story about writers, musicians, politicians and other cultural heroes. This sort of medical history is fun.

This book is really great. Even if you have never tried homeopathy (and so hate it) this book is going to pry your mind open. All the biographies of famous people who use homeopathy not only gives one courage to try it but also backs you up when your friends tell you using homeopathys is for weirdos. Is Tina Turner a weirdo?
Beyond the bios are some really thought provoking pieces about the pharmaceutical industry like Why Homeopaths are Hated and Vilified. Too, the chapter on water and its capacity for memory is most timely in science today. It consider it a MUST READ for 2008

If you have ever wanted to try homeopathy, but weren't sure what it is, or thought your doctor would laugh at you, read this book and learn more about it, it's history and other famous people who were helped by it. I have found it incredibly useful and fun to use the information in conversations with others about natural health care. Who can scoff at all those well-respected people and their amazing stories?

The first book I ever read about homeopathy--about 16 years ago--was written by Dana Ullmann and it helped me pursue homeopathy for health and as a profession. Thanks for writing this one! It is the start of what homeopathy really needs--famous people advocating its amazing healing powers.

This is a long awaited book by the homeopathic community that supports the effacy of this model of health care. Homeopathy is an energy based medicine that is experienced, effective, and gentle. It was not always easy to practice in the past. With the addition of the computer age and a worldwide network of successful teachers, homeopathy is producing results that outperform every other medical model. This book in the mainstream could revolutionize the health care system in America, as it already does aroung the world.

Dr. Bill Tallmon N.D. Ph.D.

This is a really nice look at I Love Lucy. The pictures are great. I just wish they would have been able to include more episodes.

Tom Watson has surely created a fantastic book that will help the memory of one of the most successful tv sitcoms ever carry on. Seeing and reading all the unknown tidbits on some of my favorite epsidoes of I Love Lucy is just grand! Every I Love Lucy fan should own this book. What a great way to make sure the memory of I Love Lucy and a wonderful actress, Lucille Ball, stay with us as years go by! Take a ride through many all too funny faces of Lucy!

" I LOVE LUCY " WAS 1 OF THE BEST TV SHOWS IN THE 1950'S AND IS THE BEST SHOW EVER." I LOVE LUCY" CLASSIC MOMENTS BOOK IS A MUST FOR ANY "I LOVE LUCY" FAN. IT SHOWS YOU THE CLASSIC MOMENTS IN WHAT THE BEST TV SHOW THAT WAS EVER MADE.LUCILLE BALL AND DESI ARNAZ MADE WHAT THE SHOW WAS,ALSO VIVIAN VANCE AND WILLIAM FRAWLEY WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED AS FRED AND ETHEL MERTZ AT 323 E.68TH ST. I FINSHED THIS BOOK AND I TRULY ENJOYED IT.

This is a great book for behind the scenes pictures of the cast and the stage they worked on. I have owned this book for about a year, and come back to look at it all the time. Lucille Ball is my favorite actress, and I just love her to pieces! This book contains photos of their set and everyday life. It also conatains some stories of their lives, so if you are a Lucy fan like me, don't miss this book!

this book is a must have for every LUCY-DESI fan all over the world. it contains beautiful pictures and a lot of information about each episode. it is part of my collection and I see myself coming back to it everytime to look something up.is one of the most complete books I have ever encountered.

I strongly recommend this book to any one who would like to see what the South Bronx was during the 70's and 80's and how life was around when growing in these areas. I look back and see what I experience and how much different is today than those days when growing up.
Going to bed and thinking if you will wake up alive or if the Fire Department will be rescuing you. It's was hard growing up in the South Bronx in those days, but now that it has been in the redevelopment stage, the South Bronx has been recovering from those years of neglect ion to the people of this area.
Mr. Rosenthal's has done an amazing job in capturing those moments during that time.

Rosenthal has produced an excellent book about one of New York's most troubled neighborhoods.Working in the South Bronx for many years I've witnessed firsthand the struggles of area residents against the tide of arson and crime.Rosenthal's photographs tell the story of the survival of the human spirit in one of the most devastated areas in the country and the efforts to rebuild it.

I'd strongly recommend Mr. Rosenthal's work to anyone who is interested in the devastation suffered by those in the South Bronx during the 1970's and 1980's as well as those who have an interest in "urbicide."

Based on what was available, I felt for a long time that there was a great gap in books available on the Bronx; either they spoke of the grand old days or focused solely on the destructive elements of the Bronx experience. Or, in other words, there was little on the lives of those who were trying to make a "go" of the place, despite the inexorable forces arrayed against them.

Mr. Rosenthal's work fills that gap in a diligent and eloquent manner.

In The South Bronx Of America is photographer Mel Rosenthal's intimate documentary of severe and widespread poverty in New York's South Bronx, a neighborhood of ethnic diversity united chronic conditions of urban distress. Enhanced with informative essays by Grace Paley, Martha Rosler, and Barry Phillips, Rosenthal's photos also provide evidence of human joy, strength, and pride to be found in even the most abject circumstances. In The South Bronx Of America is an impressive contribution to contemporary American studies and will prove to be of intense interest to students of photography, ethnic studies, and urban culture as well.

"Not since Eudora Welty photographed rural Mississippi in the 1930s has anyone caught so memorably a people and a place as Mel Rosenthal has done in this unforgettable record of the South Bronx." --Willimam Jay Smith, former Poet Laureate of the United States and author of The Cherokee Lottery

"Rosenthal's disturbing stories and portraits of life in this neighborhood during the 1970s and 1980s are the work of an activist's committed lens, revealing how public money does not always result in public progress." --Doubletake

"Rosenthal's protraits convey the still vibrant life of a community hurtling toward ruin." --Erin Christman, Ruminator Review

"The photographer doesn't just give readers the clichés of burned buildings and homeless people. We see the richness and complexity of life that the South Bronx supported, even during its darkest day, and that may be the book's most significant accomplishment." --Damaso Reyes, The New York Amsterdam News

"Whatever historians may conclude about factors involved in the deterioration of the South Bronx, the juxtaposition of photographs of burned out buildings with vibrant portraits of South Bronx residents makes Rosenthal's book a provocative historical and sociological document." --Leslie Cohen, The Jerusalem Post

This is not a text-book or a tutorial, but a historic document for the best and the most brilliant among us, written by a phenomenal international corporate doctor.

This extraordinary book is a cutting-edge historic document and does not seem to target some underdeveloped countries and their underdeveloped minds trying to position themselves as comical geniuses.

I have read the predecessing, unqualified and obviously biased remarks of a gentleman from December 14, 2005 with great astonishment.

This gentleman must have read another book, not this one. This brilliant lecture does not mention anywhere, anything about freemasons, zionism and racism. Not even with a single word. Do a search here and you will see it yourself.

But look at the bias, as well as the self-assured and shameless ignorance this gentleman produces here.

As you will see in the provably false, but quite self-assured statements of this gentleman about a book he did not read, did not understand, but thinks he did, we could search for evidence for why some countries and some minds they produce are so dramatically underdeveloped.

The notations he complains about are being taught in the west, already in the secondary school system. Thus, he should forget about Gödel and go back first to secondary school rows, provided, he receives an acceptance.

He does not seem to have understood, that we are witnessing here the historic birth of a whole new domain, under the proprietary leadership of this brilliant mind, Mr. Deniz Sar.

Therefore, such gentlemen should not take their mouth too full in their ignorant judgments, but learn. And there is a lot for them to learn in this book.

It is up to the inventor of this historic General Theory, who also happens to be an international businessman, whether or not he shares his advanced and proprietary research results with the academic community.

We all know, that the academic community is usually quite slow to grasp new content from new areas and new directions.

All this is extensively explained in this brilliant book of historic nature.

This is an amazing accomplishment. This is not a simple book here; it seems, this book marks the birth of a new ecole, the birth of a new school of thought. This is really unbelievable.

When you read this book, you will face an intelligence, that gives you a cold shiever; an intelligence, that almost freezes your blod.

You will need a vacation for about a month after reading this book.

Expressing culture and everything that belongs to culture, in simple, general, operational and comparable terms and introducing a Newton'ite mechanical world of its structure and its dynamics leaves you breathless and exhausted.

Just when you think, you are catching up, he then starts speaking about terms like, Cultural Genetic Relativity and does this mathematically.

How come we have never heard about this guy before? How come this guy is not in the news? We should better get used to this name, I believe, we shall be hearing a lot about this guy.

A brilliant research. Truly brilliant.

Who could have thought approaching to conceive culture or cultures and their ultra-complex dynamics this way?...

I have to admit, that I have read this book, only after I have first read the other one, the "Introduction to the General Theory of Corporate Genetics". I believe, that these books actually belong together. They do enhance each other's comprehensibility.

This book requires a strong background in a variety of domains and disciplines, but also a highest level of management and decision experience at various cultures, countries and industries. Otherwise, you may not even know what this book is really talking about. And yes, you have to really study it. Reading alone, will not do.

I believe, that this guy is one of the greatest minds of our time. So, read this book, and try to understand its importance for our world and for our time.

You will be surprised to see, how much more is really in there in this book. So, read it, study it, face the challenge.

An extraordinary book of unbelievable originality. Mr. Deniz Sar introduces here a synopsis of his brilliant empirical and theoretical research of the past twenty years, which is nothing less than the first and the only General Theory on Cultural Genetics in the world.

The brilliance of this truly demanding discourse leaves you breathless. The fascinating combination of advanced knowledge from various fields such as calculus, physics, thermodynamics, cybernetics, systems-engineering, biology, genetics, psychology, psychoanalysis, business, economics, anthropology and military sciences, blended with a decades long, unique and highest level business experience in various different countries, cultures and industries, yield the first and the only general theory on this science of sciences, on Cultural Genetics.

Has absolutely nothing to do with some simple and simplistic approaches to cults or religious groups as you may find them misleadingly associated with cultural genetics in the vast web jungle.

Deniz Sar's "Introduction to the General Theory of Cultural Genetics" is an advanced mathematical and a strictly scientific approach to understand, assess and masterfully lead the highly complex cultural systems we have everywehere in our lives.

A must reading for everybody, who has a burning desire to learn how to think. A tough lecture, but a brilliant one. I truly and firmly suggest, that he should be proposed for the Nobel Prize.

Introduction to the General Theory of Cultural Genetics;now that's exciting!I've read the book throughly a couple of times,just to accelerate the tingling in my brain cells.The book clearly points out the fact that,what I've been practicing in my bussinness career for the past fifteen years,through what I've been accustomed to call hunch,logic,exprience etc.,was indeed based on a genetic awarness set by a mathematical formula.
Conversely,however,the book is,in my opinion,not a thirst quencher for information and knowledge,on the contrary,promotes hunger for more.I am anxiously awaiting for more information to be disclosed by Mr.Sar on the calculations,projections,analysis and applications of this theory.
I highly recommend the book to all the professional businnesmen,beurocrats and politicians alike,who would be interested in achieving a global awareness on what is happening and why it is happening.

It's the great chicken/egg debate, was Josh Gibson the black Babe Ruth or was Babe Ruth the white Josh Gibson. Thanks to narrow minded thinking we'll never really know.
Josh Gibson was a man driven by deamons, the tragic death of his wife made him incapable of letting his emotions go. So he gave his children over into the care of other family members and threw himself into baseball, drugs, and alcohol. Records were kept sloppily back then and are scarce today, but it is believed that he hit approximately 800 home runs during his career. In the end his family couldn't afford a grave marker and for years his body was in an unmarked grave until Major League Baseball paid for one.
A sad chapter in our history. We can only guess what might have been.

I HIGHLY RECOMMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE WHO ENJOYS BASEBALL AND THE HISTORY OF THE GREAT PLAYERS IN THE NEGRO LEAGUES. TOO BAD STATS WEREN'T CLOSELY KEPT FROM THAT TIME PERIOD, FOR THE NUMBERS THAT JOSH PUT UP ARE PROBABLY TRULY BREATH TAKING. HE WAS THE BABE RUTH, JIMMIE FOXX, AND MARK MCGWIRE OF 1930'S AND 40'S. THE BOOK DOES A GOOD JOB OF SHOWING US JOSH'S TRIUMPHS AND HIS DARK SIDE. HE WAS WITH FAULTS, BUT THAT MADE HIM EVEN MORE INTERESTING. THIS BOOK ALSO TREATS US TO SOME INTERVIEWS WITH MANY OTHER GREAT PLAYERS OF THAT ERA AND AN IN DEPTH HISTORY OF THE NEGRO LEAGUES. WELL WORTH READING ABOUT A GREAT PIECE OF BASEBALL HISTORY.

Josh Gibson was a great baseball player in the 30s and 40s in the Negro Leagues. This book chronicles his baseball career, as well as the life in the Negro Leagues and playing in Latin America during the winter months and some summers as well. William Brashler does a fine job writing about Gibson's passion for the game, to the point that I feel like I know him as well as any current major leaguers. In addition, Brashler explains in detail what life was like for Negro League players; the horrible way they were treated in many places in the south; the winter months that they played in places like Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba and other Latin/South American countries. There are also separate short chapters on Cool Papa Bell, Jimmie Crutchfield and Sammy Bankhead, as well as plenty of interesting information on Satchel Paige. I'm glad I had a chance to read about the great Josh Gibson and the Negro Leagues. I believe anyone interested in baseball history would appreciate this book.

This is among the very best books I have ever read. Easily the best biography and the best book on baseball (of which I have read a lot). Brashler's account of Gibson's life and the Negro Leagues engrosses you like a great novel. I could not recommend it more highly.

Beginning in 1930 with his debut with the Homestead Grays and extending through a career which featured several years with the Pittsburgh Crawfords and stints with various winter league teams in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico, Josh Gibson was quite simply the greatest hitter of his era. While he is often referred to as the black Babe Ruth, the black press and fans of the Negro Leagues during the 1930's called Ruth the white Josh Gibson. Though records are sketchy, Gibson is reported to have hit as many as 70 homeruns in a single season and it can safely be assumed that he hit more than 800 round trippers in his career. There are stories indicating that Gibson actually hit a homerun completely out of Yankee Stadium, a feat no major leaguer has accomplished, and although Brashler's research disputes this claim, there are countless other tales of tape-measure blasts. There was a 525-foot homerun that landed in a Puerto Rico prison, a one-handed homerun in Indianapolis, and a doubtful claim of a 700-foot blast out of Chicago's Wrigley Field. Whether or not the stories are believed, the overall perception cannot be ignored. As the most imposing hitter of the 1930's and 40's, Josh Gibson was larger than life. He was posthumously inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1972.

Most baseball fans are familiar with the legend of Josh Gibson, but Brashler brings readers behind the stories of one of the greatest hitters of all-time. Along with the glory accorded a player of such talent, there were disappointments as well. The death of his first wife and the subsequent abandonment of his children haunted Gibson throughout his playing career, and he often felt overshadowed by the showmanship of Satchel Paige. These concerns, combined with the disappointment of not being able to play in the major leagues, likely led him to alcohol when his body began to break down late in his career. When he died in 1947 at the age of thirty-five, months after Jackie Robinson broke in with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Gibson was buried in an unmarked grave. His family couldn't afford a gravestone.

Brashler's biography of Gibson is complete and honest in its approach to Gibson's character and accomplishments. In addition to Gibson, he briefly profiles his peers, men like Satchel Paige, Oscar Peterson, Judy Johnson, Jimmy Crutchfield, Cool Papa Bell, and others. There can be no discussion of the Negro Leagues without comment on the discrimination which made them necessary, but Brashler avoids the trap of becoming overly sentimental, focusing instead on the facts. For a more complete picture of the players and teams mentioned by Brashler, try Only the Ball Was White, Robert Peterson's comprehensive history of the Negro Leagues.

This book is an excellent introduction into home schooling today. As a home school graduate I think he captured much of the spirit of the movement today. However, he misses one point. He looks to Holt as the beginning of the movement. His bias towards the secular home schoolers blinds him to the private school movement that led to Christian home schools. The exodus of the Christians started during the time that Holt was writing. Thus, both movements were happening around the same time. He misses the fact that Christians such as R. J. Rushdoony were writing before Holt on the need to leave the public schools. Thus, the Christians were seeing the danger in the schools at the same time if not before the secular crowd. The Christians did not hijack a secular movement.

The Mitchell Stevens does a great job of accurately representing the two broadest classifications of homeschoolers. As someone who lives in the county with the highest homeschool population (13,000+) I can tell you every homeschooler I ever met was accurately represented in this book.

I am a conservative Christian (what the author labels "Godly Women") but I practice Attachment Parenting (what the author labeled "Natural Mother"). I spend a lot of time and know lots of people in both camps, and I can tell you the author did an outstanding job of respectfully explaining them. He also explains how the different philosophies/world views have led to legislative and media domination by the conservative Christian homeschool organizations. With that knowledge new homeschools are given insight to as to the cultural divisions in open vs. closed support groups. Being familiar with both cultures can help avoid unnecessary conflict.

This book covers the first wave of homeschoolers. There are essentially 3. I Saw the Angel in the Marble by Chris and Ellyn Davis covers all 3 in one of the essays. It is an excellent companion book to Kingdom of Children. It covers the roughly 6 different ways people homeschool, the 4 different subcultures homeschoolers fall into, and the chronology of the 3 waves of homeschooling.

The Davises call the first wave "Pioneers"- people who were not happy with institutional settings for religious or philosophical reasons. They emerged throughout the 1980s. That's who Kingdom of Children is about.

The second wave are called "Settlers"- people who are not categorically opposed to institutions, but are enjoying the academic excellence and flexible lifestyle that homeschooling affords. They showed up in the early 1990s after the test scores of pioneer kids were widely publicized.

In the late 1990s and after the turn of the new century the flood gates opened and group 3 known as "Refugees" poured in. They are fleeing a failed system and are unable to access a private school of their liking. They are probably the fastest growing group where I live. They are not steeped in homeschool philosophy, and usually mimic school at home. (They are also called "school at homers" instead of homeschoolers by current Pioneers and some of today's Settlers.)

SPOILER ALERT!
I was surprised Kingdom of Children let the cat out of the bag. The author's observations led him to the conclusion that women homeschool. No matter what camp they are in, no matter what they say about biblical hierarchy, in the end women develop the educational philosophy and research materials and do the work of teaching. Women set up support groups, networks, and enrichment activities. They also handle the lion share of the child rearing and household management at the same time. There are books and convention workshops that tout the idea of father significantly participating in and overseeing the process. How can they? They are working so hard to provide for us so we can enjoy the amazing and challenging experience of being a homeschool mom, it leaves little time for hands on instruction by dads. We're so appreciative that they do. Anyone considering this lifestyle needs to be ware of that reality.

Dads-read Help! I'm Married to a Homeschooling Mom by Todd Wilson. Your wife will be soooo glad you did!

Mitchell Stevens provides the first in depth study of the American home schooling movement. Instead of assuming that home schoolers are right wing fanatics or left wing bohemians, he takes the time to attend their meetings, visit their homes and read their literature. From his in depth study, he concludes that home schooling is an activity that grows out of long traditions in American politics and is an honest, and possibly successful, attempt at reconstructing education so that it meets the needs of children.

The focus of Mitchell's book is the division between home schoolers who view home schooling as a form of Christian education and those who view home schooling as a secular activity. Mitchell's thesis is that this division defines much of the discourse, organization and politics of home schooling. It also reflects concepts of womanhood, childhood and family.

From a sociological perspective, I think that this book's biggest contributions is an implicit critique of some themes in the sociology of education, where schools are seen as propagators of the status quo. Here, we have an example of how an institution, public education, is relaxing its grip and new forms of education are being created. This is not to say that public education is on the path to extinction, but this book shows how viables alternatives to dominant institutions emerge.

To summarize: first in depth sociological work on home schooling, takes home schoolers seriously as people, clear

writing and very little jargon and furthers our understanding of educational institutions and social change. A sure winner!

We have been homeschooling since the early 70's. earlier if you consider my homeschooling in the 50's. This is why I was eager to read this book and why I recommend it. Because the author gives the reader one of the most complete and balanced view from the outside, of who homeschools and why.

I also like the fact that the author was interested in parents and families and not simply whether or not the homeschooled child tests better, gets enough socialization, have their own friends and get into college. What the author set out to find is what drives the parent to homeschool. And what "practical household decisions" make homeschooling possible. Because as he notes "conventional parenting is a lot of work" and he "suspected that homeschooling is even more labor intensive." And he set out to find out "how people decided that they could afford the time, lost wages, and mental energy that homeschooling costs." And "how homeschoolers assemble the help they need to get the job done."

He also include the study in 1995 that sociologist "Maralee Mayberry and her colleagues released the best comprehensive statistical study of home educators to date." The authors fifty-six item questionnaire included measures of parental occupation, educational attainment, religious affiliation, household size and income and the divisions of domestic labour. Working with a sample of home educating families in Nevada, Utah and Washington the researchers painted a picture of a predominantly white, middle class and religious movement. Ninety-eight percent of the survey respondents were white 1 percent were Asian Americans, the rest a mix of African American, Native American and Hispanics. Most parents were under age forty and the vast majority or 97% were married. 43% claimed at least some post secondary education, and additional 33 percent were college graduate. Professional and technical and managerial and administrative occupations were heavily represented among the fathers some were craft or service workers and a few were ranchers or farmers. 57% reported incomes of between 25 and 50k, 26% reported less. Compared to the general public the respondents were better educated slightly more affluent and more likely to be white. They also found that homeschooling is heavily gendered. 78% of mothers do the homeschooling. Also of interest to is the religious aspect. 91% reported that religious commitment was very important. 78% claim they attend church weekly. Yet 20% say they are not religious per se. 12% didn't answer the religious question. What surprised me was the fact we know more Asian and Jewish homeschoolers that any group, so this study should have studied homeschoolers in NYC, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco as well in order to get a better read on a more diverse section. The states studied are higher income and better educated so the results make sense.

I also like the book because the author notes the SAT study by Jon Wartes of Washington State homeschooled students. Although these were done in the 80's. The author does note the HSLDA funded study by Lawrence Rudner and I was happy the author noted "The study's findings must be tempered by the fact the research was built with a nonrandom convince sample, financed by a highly interested advocacy organization, and has received criticism from both within and beyond the homeschool community."

The author also explains the while homeschooling is legal in all states that some states have strict rules as far as parents reporting to state educational authorities. This is often one of the first questions I get from a parent asking about homeschooling. Is it legal? How do I find out? And I like the fact the author noted the Sikkink study that shows that homeschool parents are more involved in cicvic life than public school parents.

And the history of homeschooling since the 80s is covered well. And I am glad ton see that John Holt and Holt Associates are given good coverage since this is the one organization we joined in the early 80s and was the most secular or accepting of all homeschool families. So often all I hear is that the majority of homeschoolers are conservative Christians, even though my experience since the early 1970s shows (yes I live in a more liberal area of California) that there are more secular homeschoolers, or at least ones who are free spirits.

This is a book that any fair minded person interested in homeschooling should read. This is one of my top 3 homeschool books.

Rather than tell you what the book says (see other reviews) let me just say that having read this just as we are beginning homeschooling with our children, I have a much deeper understanding of the people we are going to be relating to in the future. Many of his insights have already been borne out in my observations. I appreciated the fact that this book is fairly up-to-date (written in the late 90's). I think I will be able to relate to other homeschooling families in an understanding way after reading this book.