Cultural Books

- As an author myself, I recommend that you purchase this book for personal study. "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" is a fascinating book and video that helped me understand one of my relatives.
Author. "Knowledge For Tomorrow" Quinton Douglass Crawford

Once you read Douglass's narrative, you will be surprised that Douglass learned enough to be able to write the first narrative written by an uneducated slave. This is one of the most moving narratives you can read -- I challenge any reader to read this and not understand the irony of the white people supressing black people's accomplishments for hundreds of years. The story of Fredrick Douglas in inspiring on many different levels. Once you read it, any reader will understand why this is mandatory reading in any American literature course. It is impossible to understand life after the Civil War without reading this moving, touching novel about how a slave learned how to read and write. Douglass's autobiography is a great literary achievement which should be savored by all who read it both as a historical and literary document.

Frederick Douglass (1818?-1895) was the greatest African American leader of the Nineteenth Century. He was born a slave on the Eastern Shore in Maryland and grew up on plantations on the Eastern Shore with several years in Baltimore. He was a physically powerful, highly intelligent, and spirited youth and developed quickly a hatred of the slave system. As a slave, he taught himself to read and write, and learned the art of public speaking from the church and from a book of orations popular at the time that feel into his hands. He escaped from slavery at the age of 20 and moved to New Bedford,Massachusetts. He became part of the Abolitionist Movement and achieved fame as a public speaker. He became a newspaper editor and writer. During the Civil War, he assisted in the recuritment of black troops. He met President Lincoln on several occasions and became a great admirer. In later years, Douglass was aligned with the conservative "stalwart" wing of the Republican party and continued to speak out for the rights of African-Americans, to oppose (somewhat belatedly) the end of Reconstruction, and to work for the life of the spirit and the mind.

Frederick Douglass wrote three autobiographies which are given in this volume. The first, shortest, and best was written in 1845, seven years after Douglass had escaped from slavery. It tells in graphic and unforgettable terms the story of Douglass' life as a slave, the growth of the spirit of freedom in himself. and the early part of his life as a free man in New Bedford.

The second autobiography was written in 1855. It repeats much of the earlier story and describes Douglass's visit to Great Britain. A higlight of this volume is the Appendix in which Douglass gives the reader excerpts from several of his speeches, including his perhaps most famous speech "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July."

Douglass wrote his third autobiography in 1888 and edited it substantially in 1893. It describes Douglass's relationship with Abraham Lincoln and John Brown. I also enjoyed the section of the book in which Douglass describes his trip to England, Italy, and Egypt near the end of his life. It is highly intelligent, perceptive and reflective travel writing. There are also excerpts in this final autobiography from Douglass's speeches and letters.

The most striking incident in all three volumes is Douglass's story of how he stood up for himself and became in his own eyes a man of dignity and courage. Douglass had been sent for a year to live with a small farmer named Covey who had a reputation for breaking the sprit of strong-willed slaves. Covey whipped Douglass unmercifully for the first six months. Then, after a whipping which left Douglass scared and weak for several days (he ran back to his old master who ordered him back to Covey) Douglass fought back. Covey attempted to whip Douglass and Douglass resisted. The two men fought hand-to-hand for hours. Douglass could not assume the offensive in the fight (it was enough to resist at all) but more than held his ground and had the better of it. Covey at last walked off and never whipped Douglass again. This incident is strikingly told in each autobiography and marks the moment when Douglass showed he could stand up for himself and not have the spirit of a slave. It is inspiring and it grounded his actions for the rest of his life.

There is much in these books that transcends the resistance against American slavery, utterly important as that is. We have, as I have tried to explain, in this book the voice of personal freedom and self-determination which is something every person must learn and undestand for him or herself in deciding how to live. In addition,I get the impression that as Douglass aged he became increasingly committed to the life of the mind and the spirit. This is apparent from his writing and from his interest in travel, in European high culture, art, literature, and music. Douglass learned the meaning for freedom. He tried to devote himself to matters of the spirit in addition to his lifelong quest to improve the lot of the former slave. I think there is still a great deal to be learned here.

Douglass had much to say about the nature of American freedom and democracy. He loved and had faith in them, in spite of the horrible stain of slavery. Here is a wonderful observation from the third autobiography in which Douglass' describes his activities during the Presidential campaign of 1888.

"I left the discussion of the tariff to my young friend Morris, while I spoke for justice and humanity....I took it to be the vital and animating principle of the Republican party. I found the people more courageous than their party leaders. What the leaders were afraid to teach, the people were brave enough and glad enough to learn. I held that the soul of the nation was in this question, and that the gain of all the gold in the world would not compensate for the loss of the nation's soul. National honor is the soul of the nation, and when this is lost all is lost. ... As with an individual, so too with a nation, there is a time when it may properly be asked "What doth it profit to gain the whole world and therby lose one's soul?"

There is a spirit and a wisdom in Douglass that still has much to teach.

As a man of the Nineteenth Century, Douglass tells us little in his autobiographies of his personal life. Upon his escape from slavery, Douglass married a free, uneducated black woman. Upon her death, Douglass married a white woman, which (as we see briefly in the book) caused shock among American whites and blacks alike. We also see little of Douglass' relationship to his children. The reader who would like to learn more about Douglass' personal life needs to read a biography, such as William McFeeley's "Frederick Douglass" (1891)

Douglass' autobiographies are are precious work of American literature and a testimony to the free human spirit.

Frederick Douglass is a role model for all mankind. He showed us how we can do anything we want in life if we are persistant and have the right attitude. Having nothing in life, not even a chance to become educated, he used every situation as an advantage for himself. He remained positive in adverse situations, had a good work ethic and is a person all races should take lessons from and succeed

This account of Frederick Douglass'
life and time by Henry Louis Gates
is the personifaction of Excellence
in Achievement through the Human Spirit.
In spite of the hardships of slavery, Frederick Douglass continued his fight for freedom. His dynamic oratory and leadership helped him to move barriers for all people. This self educated man rose to great prominence to serve as a testament to the world that if you have courage, persistence and faith in God, you can achieve anything that you set your mind to. He knew the power of education and the spoken and written word, which is manifested in his creating the NorthStar newspaper to communicate to others. Of course you have to have mortal men who believe in you and your abilities.

I believe that Mr. Gates captures this strength, this conviction and the essence of Mr. Douglass' spirit and his commitment to make a better life for himself and others like him. His dynamic use of the language allows you to feel conviction and essence of Mr. Douglass' concern. It was like listening to Mr. Douglass speak to me through those pages.

I found this book very intriguing and educational. It has something for the world to learn from.

Thanks to Mr. Gates and others for bringing this great American (World) hero to the forefront. We need to know and share in the histor and spiriti of this great man. By the way I was named after Frederick Douglass. I strive to be like him as much as I can. I am still working on my oratory!

Fantastic book. Reading it is like exploring the vanished world of polish stetels. Although I found only one chapter regarding Szczebrzeszyn I highly recomend the book. I wish there would be more translations of Yizkor Books.

This book contains selections from seventy of the more than five- hundred Memorial books of Jewish communities in Poland. As the editors make clear in their introduction 'the memorial books' aim to make certain that the destroyed world of Polish Jewry will not be forgotten.
The books provide in some sense a record of the town they are written about, and often a picture of the people themselves. They connect up with the Jewish traditional Literature of Lamentation. In the words of the authors, " The memorial books came to be seen as substitute gravestones. " The memorial books are structured on a continuum from simple acts of naming to highly elaborated acts of narrative." The authors make clear that even a list of names serves the purpose of remembering. In their introduction the authors quote Shlomo Pultusker," When I review in thought my life in Rozhan, events, splinterrs of half- forgotten memories, appear before my eyes. People , formerly flesh and blood and everyday Jews, were transformed by the tragic events into figures similar to heroes in the dramas one reads.Of all the people of that time, individuals stand out whose names stick in memory..And to these people, most of whose remains lie in no cemetary, may my humble words about them serve as an eternal monument and redeem them from merciless oblivion. With trembling and fear of God I write my modest words, which are no more than a pale reflection of what was in reality."

Three million Polish Jews were murdered in the Shoah.
These books are the fragmented, inadequate witness of what they were.

What this book does, like nothing else, is to recreate the diversity of Jewish life in Eastern Europe prior to the Holocaust. Carefully selected excerpts from hundreds of memorial books in the YIVO library, this book isn't just about some shtetl, but about Zionists and Misnagdim and town councils and about town that, well, "most towns have a town fool, our town was so small that our village idiot was only half-crazy."

Rarely is a book published that causes an entirely new genre of studies to open up. This was the result of the first edition of this book printed in 1983. Before 1983, some scholars, librarians, and genealogical researchers knew of yizkher bikher in general, but up to that time there had not been a major focus on these books as social, historical, and genealogical sources of first-hand knowledge of destroyed communities, to some extent because of language barriers. But as more lay persons began searching their roots in the late 1970s, with interest building in the 1980s and exploding in the 1990s, they started to tap into these remarkable books. The publication of From a Ruined Garden, containing over 70 translated excerpts from Polish yizkor books, illuminated for many lay persons the lost world depicted in these books from which they had been cut off because they could not read them in their original languages, primarily Yiddish and Hebrew. The first edition has long been out of print, but again, in another bit of fortunate timing, a second, expanded edition has been published.

This is a truly splendid compendium of excerpts from various memorial books written after the Holocaust to commemorate the vanished world of Eastern European Jewish life in the shtetlach of Poland. I read it in a sitting and will re-read it in the future. For anyone with the slightest interest in this vanished world, I URGE you to buy this book - give it to your friends, as well.

In Good Neighbors, Bad Times, Mimi Schwartz writes a highly nuanced account of the Holocaust and how it affected the small German town where her father was born and which he remembered fondly until his death in the 1970s. While other reviewers have suggested this memoir for a Holocaust shelf or course, I recommend it to Christians seeking to understand how religious prejudice can blind us to the humanity of those who worship differently.

Schwartz writes engagingly of growing up in a neighborhood of mostly Jews and longing to break out. She did this by first attending the University of Michigan and later (after marrying her Jewish boyfriend) assimilating into the predominantly Christian town of Princeton, NJ. Schwartz seems to have identified more with her mother, a city girl, than her father, who was born into a cattle trading family and left the village referred to here as Benheim to fight in World War I. As a soldier, he saw how Jews were treated in Russia and when, in 1933, he attended a rally at which thousands of enthusiastic Germans saluted Adolph Hitler, he knew to leave.

While Arthur Loewengart and his brothers came to the United States, other villagers emigrated to Palestine, which was still under British rule. In the end, all but 89 of the village's Jews escaped. They were deported to camps where only two survived. Throughout her childhood, Arthur told Mimi that people in Benheim were different, kinder and more principled than the typical Nazi. After he died, she wondered if what he said was true. She began to connect the dots between survivors in New York and Israel and the German village where no Jews live today.

Her journey both physical and metaphysical is told here. It is a story of small kindnesses (and cruelties) in the midst of unimaginable larger horrors, and how truth is deeply textured but well worth knowing.

"Before Hitler, everyone got along," according to the author of "Good Neighbors, Bad Times: Echoes of My Father's German Village". This a true story of decency and compassion in a small German village and how its generosity stood in the face of an empire of Nazi hatred. Author Mimi Schwartz recalls tales from her father and goes on a journey that spanned over three continents and a dozen years to get the more complete story of her father's village and learns interesting details about it all from every interview and discussion. "Good Neighbors, Bad Times: Echoes of My Father's German Village" is highly recommended for Holocaust studies shelves and for anyone seeking a more upbeat account of 1930s Germany.

As those who lived through the Holocaust are rapidly disappearing, this sensitive and open-minded work captures the anguish and inner conflicts of Jews and Gentiles living in a small German village during the Nazi period.
Knowing a number of the people Mimi Schwartz depicts, I can enthusiastically attest to her accurate portrayals.
For those of us born after this time, but still bearing some of its burden, there are important questions: What was the flavor of 400 years of mutual tolerance? How did this harmony disappear? What can we understand about ourselves in reflecting on the daily moral challenges of life lived under an evil regime?
There are no easy answers here, but a moving and true story.

Mimi Schwartz tells the stories of real people. Her book is a new and provocative look at a small German village through fascinating interviews with Christians and Jews who had lived side by side for generations. Readers of all faiths and backgrounds will appreciate her research and writing.
Emily Rose, author, Portraits of Our Past: Jews of the German Countryside.

2008 marks seventy years since the tragic events of Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass. On November 9, 1938, the Nazis unleashed a wave of destruction against Germany's Jews. In the space of a few hours, thousands of synagogues and Jewish businesses and homes were damaged or destroyed. Mimi Schwartz, author of "Good Neighbors / Bad Times: Echoes of My Father's German Village" wasn't born yet. She would be grow up in Queens, New York, on milkshakes and hamburgers, and her father's stories of life in Germany, a life she had very little interest in. Her father grew up in Benheim (the name of the village has been changed to protect privacy), a little village of Christians and Jews in southwest Germany where according to all accounts Jews and Christians lived peacefully side by side. No allied bombs fell on Benheim during WWII so much of it is still preserved. The synagogue which was attacked during Kristallnacht is still there, now as an Evangelical Church. One can still visit the Jewish cemetery with 946 old graves.

Schwartz was in a village in Israel when she saw an old Benheim Torah and was told that "the Christians of Benheim rescued the Torah for us during Kristallnacht." That story sent her on a quest to discover all that she could about this little village, to determine if, like her father had always told her, Benheim was special in that the people there got along and would do anything to help one another.

In "Good Neighbors / Bad Times" Schwarz interviews many old Benheimers, some in Israel and some in America. She also visits Benheim several times, a village which now has no Jews. The Jews that were there either escaped in time or were killed in the concentration camps. Only two Benheimers who were interred in the concentration camps survived. The other eighty-seven were murdered. On her journey, Schwarz discovers a series of individual stories and individual perspectives which each tell part of the whole story. She discovers both the Jewish and the Gentile perspective on what happened. She struggles with knowing what everyone knows now versus what people knew then. There was a large swastika that had been erected in the town in 1934, but as one Benheimer stated, "It was not important; no one knew what it would mean." She learned of other kind deeds that occurred in Benheim and of a second Torah that was saved and is now located in Burlington, Vermont. She learned of how good people struggled to live through such difficult times, of people too scared to take a stand and the punishments that came to those who did. She learned of children being indoctrinated with hate in the local school and parents who struggled to fight against it.

"Good Neighbors / Bad Times" is a valuable work of social history. It is so important to preserve the stories of those who lived through these tragic events. In the end, Schwartz decides that Benheim was special, that decency managed to prevail there despite the Nazi hate that infected the land. As Schwartz states, "decency is often such a solitary act; it's evil that draws a noisy crowd." "Good Neighbors / bad Times" is recommended for anyone who wants to learn more about Jewish / Christian relationships during the World War II era. It would also make a wonderful text for a college course on the topic.

Duncan's sister loaned me this book. It has taken me several years to get to the point of reading it and I am glad because I wasn't ready until now. Duncan's insights and thoughts are provoking and life-changing. The most significant, yet recurring thought in this book is that we are NOT doing what Christ tells us in the NT. Even those of us who are well-meaning need to examine our motives and our actions. Duncan explains this in a way that is illuminating. I love the story where Duncan accompanies a friend and his family to the country to see a cross that has been erected. The Christian father of Duncan's friend is torn by the image and wants someone to pay. Duncan points out that even the best of us sometimes do not understand. Jesus HAD to die on that cross. Read the book, it will change you. Surely the Holy Spirit is working through Duncan.

Oh, Duncan, youre book speaks volumes about the inner butey of youre soul. It's like a pristine window into the center of youre ever-deepening mind's eye. Every time I open this masterpeace, the cup of my soul is refilled from the bountiful reservoir of youre knowleje. You and your incredible understanding of the inner-workings of my eternal being will never cease to amaze me. I can't begin to express these feelings in words, let alone vocal thoughts.

This book shines a new and very bright light on Christianity. It made me have a great awakening about my views and ideas about Jesus and my life.

This book has inspired me to change the way i have been living. Duncan, a single 45 year old english teacher, is able to put a new spin on religion throughout his humerous book. I enjoyed it greatly and hope you will take the time to read it too.

This book is an inspiring piece encouraging us to look at god in our lives completely different. It moved my life and I hope it will yours.

Robert Grudin is one of my favorite writers, consistently presenting deep topics, such as the meaning of creativity and the dangers in liberalism that even liberals must eventually admit. He writes with a clarity and wit that is all to rare these days, and this is his best book.

My twin brother Peter and I read this book aloud to eachother on a car trip from Boston to CT. -- and back again. We couldn't stop til we were finished reading the entire book. It felt as though we were being charged with electricity with every turn of the page. Writers, artists and animators ourselves, we value this kind of recharge! Kudos to Robert Grudin for one of the world's most useful books!

Robert Grudin gave me a gift in this book. His insight into the creative process gave me what I needed to change careers in my mid-forties. He looks at innovation vs. creative thought and shows how "great things" get "done. I refer to it often, particularly the "Diplomacy of Invention". Thanks Robert. His "Time and the Art of Living" is also very insightful.

The topic sentence of this book is "We see human civilization as having risen to eminence among other species through political, scientific, and technological innnovation." This sets the tone for a humanistic course the the forms of creativity through history. For someone who comes from a technology background (read: geek), this book was an unexpected suprise. It gave a social context to the value system that the technologist depends on, and the legacy that supports the innovator of today.

I was inspired me over and over again. I kept on finding gems, and thinking "that's a creative way to get unstuck." For something that has so many references, it's balanced well with the discourse. I've got a reading list now, and a few biographies to read.

There was a spiritual quality to this book, grounded in history and human experience. In comes through in the sense of reflection, and the connection to great humanists through time.

A note of caution. The wordsmithing in this book is tight. While not a bad thing, that may lesson the appeal of this book for some. Also, the title doesn't exactly reasonate, since the theme of "grace" is never dealt with, and while Creativity is one of the great natures, it seems a stretch.

Had I not met the author in person, I would have never considered reading this book; Now, I wonder if it would be possible to take a class from him.

If you are looking for an exceptional find, this is one.

This book is a study of creativity in the social and ethical contexts, and of creativity as a result of innovation. It can also be used as a guide book for leading a life promoting innovation through creativity.

The book has three distinct but closely related parts: The Creative Mind, The Ethics of Creativity and The Politics of Innovation, explaining how the building blocks of creativity - inspiration, imagination, sense of beauty, integrity, persistence, vision and learning - all lead to innovation. While one could use this as a resource for inspiration and as a guidebook for practicing and promoting creativity in everyday life, the author makes no efforts to sell the book as such. Instead, he has opted for a conversational style that aids critical reading, and inspires further thinking. This helps to frequently stop and think about the material, and to inquire the logic. The language is very crisp and to the point. The editing is very sharp. One could read the book just for the anecdotes, both historic and the contemporary ones, which are plentiful in the book. The notes at the end is really an annotated bibliography, which can also be very useful.

This is a great antidote for the current day world where success is often wrongly equated with "fast", "immediate", "creating powerpoint slides", ... and the likes; where, the examination of things is becoming increasingly superficial, and the critical evaluations are frequently regarded as a hindrance to "productivity", and where the incompetence is frequently promoted for the resulting political expediencies. Dr Grudin explains why some people despise the concept of "working the system" to your advantage, and why they often take routes that look more elaborate and longer. He explains what is it that some people who get paid for forty-hours but seem to be always at work, are seeking and what drives them to voluntarily opt for such practices of hardwork and dedication. He explains why some people seem to take so much interest in every project around them, and seem to bounce back to success and happiness, from every failure they encounter. And, finally, he convinces us how creative work, even at the modest levels, can be the key to happiness.

By not casting its title with something like "N-practices of super-creative people" or something akin to that, and instead giving it the current title, and thus choosing honesty and class over marketing, Dr Grudin has put to practice what he preaches in the book. But if that makes you not consider this book, it's your loss!

A great baedeker for people and organizations wanting to promote creativity, and through creativity, innovation.

I truly enjoyed reading the book and learning of my Aunt Alma's point of view. I have grown up hearing of Pretty Shield and truly am blessed with having an aunt that shares her story and pictures.

I have been blessed not only to read this book but to have met the author. She is both fascinating in person and in printed word, and her story is enlightening, educational, and entertaining. If you have any interest in Native American history, you'll be glad you read this book.

I truly enjoyed this book. It was written in plain language and seemed very personable to me. It is a true story about Alma's life growing up on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana and how she was deeply influenced by her grandmother Pretty Shield who taught Alma the old ways...she was a grandmother's grandchild. Pretty Shield was pretty smart I think. She had an appreciation for the natural world not seen too much anymore in our modern lives. I found these "old ways" interesting. This has influenced Alma for sure and she is able to reconcile this as well as the hardships of life with her deep Christian beliefs. God Bless you too Alma!

Grandmother's Grandchild,Alma Snell, shares memories of one of the first recorded Female Indian Elders..Pretty Shield. Pretty Shield was written about in the 1930's when women were too often overlooked. Pretty Shield saw the buffalo leave and the reservations begin. Alma shares the experience of making the transition to Reservation life with Pretty Shield by her side. This book is a refreshing and deeply personal life story that manages to state facts without undertones of judgement. BEAUTIFUL! READ IT!

A wonderful book! While much of the poverty and oppression of Indian people is painful to read, one can see the wonderful connections between families in Ms. Snell's book. The love and care for Indian children by extended families is probably one of the greatest reasons the Indian people and traditions have survived. We in the "dominate culture" could learn much to change the disintigration of American families by learning more about Native American people.

The 102 Great Ideas are definite intellectual qualities that led to our current Western civilization's cultural mindset. From the many dozens of books that have been labeled 'the classics' have been culled 102 Great Ideas. Each idea is followed from the earliest of writers to modern times. Very fascinating book. A definite shoe-in for nomination for an only book to have on a desert island.

Mortimer Adler guides a discussion across the ages, addressing profound questions ranging from the foundation of our universe to the composition of our selves. He paints the landscape of philosophy and science from thinkers as disparate as Plato, Nietzsche, Faraday, and Mill.

The Great Ideas can help readers who seek answers to matters such as whether moral absolutes or practical utility should guide one's decisions, when a de jure authority merits obedience, and what duties a person owes to his society. An educator may benefit from Adler's exposition on whether morality can be taught and his summary of views on the responsibility of teachers to socialize or liberate youth. An economist may enjoy Alder's discussion of the value of labor, which touches upon the theories of Veblen, Marx, Weber, Keynes and other influential thinkers. Physicists may gain insights into the progression of the experimental method and the role of aesthetics in the formulation of scientific theory.

Adler does not answer the timeless questions, but he brings to light their complexity. His book is ideal for readers who want to grasp the range of ideas. Readers must then draw their own conclusions about each Great Idea. Or, like Adler, they may leave each question of philosophy open for debate. The human race forever seeks answers, and sometimes the best questions simply require a few centuries of pondering.

I have more than 2,000 books in my library, and I cherish none more than this great compendium of Western intellectual thought.

The book has 102 chapters, covering every imaginable topic under the sun: such as Justice, War, Peace, Liberty, Freedom, Sin, the World, Intellect, Knowledge, and dozens more. Each chapter is about five pages, two columns each, of dense thought expressed throughout the ages -- from Plato through James, from Homer through Tolstoy, from Copernicus through Einstein -- highlighting the best that ever has been imagined or thought.

The author synthesizes the great and important ideas arising over the eras, taking no sides, but expositing the different and divergent ideas these great thinkers committed to writing for posterity's benefit. It's like reading the whole library of the Great Books of Western Civilization in a thematic, rather than, serialized, manner.

I've grown accustomed to reading a chapter a day, and then rereading these chapters as ideas pop up in other contexts. In these chapters I find such disparate sages as Jane Austin, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Aquinas, Descartes, Aristotle, Darwin, and everyone else who has something to contribute. This tome is truly encyclopeadic and catholic in scope and reference.

If I had the time and the means, I would read these original sources for myself and develop a card catalogue of the massive resources for the mere pleasure of knowledge for its own sake. But as time doesn't permit such a rigorous endeavor, I find Adler's synthesis to be the next best thing.

This book will be a great resource for the whole family, especially adults and adolescents just beginning their studies. It will be of great value to those of college-level, where many students are bereft of these great ideas, cast aside for more "politically correct" authors and ideas. This book is a suitable bromide against the myopia of modernity and its tendencies toward nihilism. Above all, it is the best that has ever been thought or said.

Rare is the author who can synthesize 2,500+ years of Western thought so ably and intelligently as Adler does in this wonderful collection of essays on almost every conceivable topic under the sun. This, to my way of thinking, is genuine philosophy, the study of wisdom and the importance it makes. This is not Anglo-American analytic philosophy, although Mr. Adler is very competent within its stringent criteria, nor is this Continental European ideology, although Mr. Adler is quite familiar with its panoply. This is, instead, a collection of essays on the most important issues that have confronted human beings since the beginning of time. They are crisply and perspicaciously written, drawing on the philosophy and thought of the major thinkers over the horizon of history. It is more encyclopeadic than spontaneous, and provides a great place for every student, regardless of age, to begin his/her inquiry into a vast array of subject matters. It's also a treasury chest to return to time and again.

Of all Mortimer Adler's various works, this one must rank at the top. It is a dynamic but reverent exploration of the 102 most important ideas of the Western World. These works eventually ended up in the Encyclopaedia Britannica's GREAT BOOKS OF THE WESTERN WORLD. They have now been published separately, a fact that all who are interested in advancement and civilization must applaud.

The ideas are explored in a variety of ways - from what ancient, medieval and modern philosophers thought to a discussion of the history of the idea to its influence in the modern world. These are the building blocks of the foundations of Western civilization. Until recently, people who did not practice or recognize these ideas were considered "primitive". Only recently has there been a celebration from certain quarters of the uncivilized, uneducated and uncouth.

Adler makes several presumptions, the foremost among them being that humans are rational creatures and that philosophical ideas are what really drives the world, with language being an adjunct of ourselves. Many of these ideas concern how we consider ourselves and not only the world around us. Throughout, Adler adopts a neutral stance toward support of a particular opinion but this does not mean he is morally or ethically neutral.

This is a good reference book and an interest coffee table addition - sure to enlighten and enhance any conversation.

While writing a book on magic in the New Testament I used Ogden's Greek and Roman Necromancy as one of my primary reference sources. This text proved invaluable for establishing details of Greco-Roman necromancy generally and while not specifically addressing New Testament issues, the author's commentary on the theory behind necromancy and what necromatic rites were though to accomplish assisted materially in illuminating a problematic passage in the gospel of Mark. This work is recommended without reservation both for those interested in the general topic and for those doing more technical work on the subject of magic in the ancient world.

I find the book to be insightful, concise, and filled with well-resourced information. A must-have for the Classical Historian, Mythographer or Thanatologist.

I wrote a research paper on ancient reanimation, and this is the only book (aside from Ogden's sourcebook) to have a serious discussion of the topic. It led to many new sources of inquiry, but still was my major source throughout. Anyone taking a class on ancient magic or wanting to look at necromancy more thoroughly must have this book.

This is a book on Classical necromancy that I find myself going back to again and again. Exhaustively researched, the book is filled to brimming with fascinating information on the attitudes and practices of necromancers in the Classical world. Each time I read it, I find new insights, and new, delightful nuggets of trivia that relate back to a variety of other magickal practices. Although this book is written with a scholarly audience in mind, I felt it was thoroughly accessible to the lay-reader without ever once stooping to patronize that reader. For magickal workers and occultists with an interest in necromancy and spirits, this book is a must-have.

In classical antiquity, there was much interest in necromancy--the consultation of the dead for divination. People could seek knowledge from the dead by sleeping on tombs, visiting oracles, and attempting to reanimate corpses and skulls. Ranging over many of the lands in which Greek and Roman civilizations flourished, including Egypt, from the Greek archaic period through the late Roman empire, this book is the first comprehensive survey of the subject ever published in any language.
Daniel Ogden surveys the places, performers, and techniques of necromancy as well as the reasons for turning to it. He investigates the cave-based sites of oracles of the dead at Heracleia Pontica and Tainaron, as well as the oracles at the Acheron and Avernus, which probably consisted of lakeside precincts. He argues that the Acheron oracle has been long misidentified, and considers in detail the traditions attached to each site. Readers meet the personnel--real or imagined--of ancient necromancy: ghosts, zombies, the earliest vampires, evocators, sorcerers, shamans, Persian magi, Chaldaeans, Egyptians, Roman emperors, and witches from Circe to Medea. Ogden explains the technologies used to evocate or reanimate the dead and to compel them to disgorge their secrets. He concludes by examining ancient beliefs about ghosts and their wisdom--beliefs that underpinned and justified the practice of necromancy.

Totally gorgeous pictures of one of the last great places in the world. Sun and sand and water and nature make up Robbin's oeuvre and he gives us pictures that are worthy of his subject--and elevates it to art.

Brandt's essay is particularly enlightening about Robbin's body of work.

A magnificent work of art transports you this land of beauty and charm. it leaves just enough for your imagination to interpet.

I would love to buy this book but the price prevents me from doing so...

Your Price is much too high!

These beautiful hand-painted and computer-manipulated photographs of the Hamptons transcend category and genre -- they are simply masterful works of art.

You don't have to have any familiarity with this part of the world to derive considerable pleasure from these images. If you do know this place, you will be amazed: It's as if you've never seen it before.

This exquisitely designed and produced volume has the feel of an instant classic.

Excellent story. As always the paintings by Jacob Lawrence are incredible. A must for every library.

Great story about a great woman, Harriet Tubman, american liberator. I read it with my children and they seem to delight in the cadence of the soulful prose and the beautiful bold art.

First published in 1968, this artistic book tells the awe-inspiring story of Harriet Tubman. It ought to be on the list of children's bestsellers, for it gives children the stories of two American heroes for the price of one. The first is the title figure, Harriet Tubman (1820-1913), who escaped from slavery but courageously returned south 19 times to lead more than 300 others to freedom. The second is Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000), who made this magnificent series of illustrations in 1939 and 1940.

The text is poetic. Early in the story, on a hot summer day in about 1820, "a group of slave children were tumbling in the sandy soil in the state of Maryland," Harriet Tubman among them. She dreamed of freedom and escaped, but returned to help others. The story builds as the selfless African-American leader risked her life many times to help others reach freedom. "Some were afraid, / But none turned back, / For close at their heels / Howled the bloodhound pack."

As the story closes, young readers find an enthralling figure of Harriet Tubman building support for the anti-slavery movement. At every convention within 500 miles, she could be found speaking in words and tones that brought tears to the eyes and sorrow to the hearts of all listeners.

Lawrence's paintings, made in tempera colors and poster paints, are poetic, too. Trained in the art workshops of Harlem in the 1930s, including the Utopia Children's House and the Harlem Art Workshop (sponsored by the New Deal), Lawrence became one of the finest African-American artists in U.S. history. His extraordinary talent was recognized when he was still relatively young.

Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, he moved to Easton, Pennsylvania and then at seven to Philadelphia. At 13, Jacob moved again, to Harlem. Drawing on Bible stories and the powerful Christian sermons, often given on street corners, Lawrence remembered orators who spoke with reverence of Harriet Tubman and determined to show the African-American struggle for freedom in his art.

The Tubman series was one of Lawrence's earliest. It predated by only a couple of years the 60-panel migration series that made Lawrence's career in 1941-42. Half that series was bought by the Philips Gallery in Washington D.C. and the other half by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

But Lawrence's Tubman work is among his best. This book's only shortcoming is that it does not reproduce all of the Tubman paintings. Several were excluded and can be seen only in an art museum, or the pages of an art catalogue. But don't let that stop you. Children will find themselves doubly enriched. Alyssa A. Lappen

This beautiful book tells the story of Harriet Tubman's life in pictures by Lawrence. The story is simply written but the art is the true draw. Many students know the story of Tubman before they get to 8th grade. I use this text to practice a prediction strategy. I had students only look at the pictures and write an outline for the story of the book. The stories were quite interesting, but all seemed to twist their stories to be about Tubman in the end. It makes a great short story portfolio piece.

This children's book helps us to better understand the true feelings of an African-American person in the south. It is great for those of us who don't really have a grasp of what was going on.