Cultural Books

I FELT A SENSE OF BLESSEDNESS, YET A SENSE OF DISTRESS. THE AUTHOR IS MY BROTHER. TO READ ABOUT YOUR FAMILY AND YOURSELF OPEN MANY CLOSED DOORS. MANY TEARS AND MANY SMILES COVERED MY FACE. THIS BOOK WAS WHAT MY FAMILY NEEDED TO ADDRESS OUR BELIEF THAT THERE IS A TIME AND A SEASON FOR EVERYTHING. FOR ME ," I AM NOT AFRIED TO DREAM", IS SEASONABLE AND TIMELY. IT TAKES A QUALITY OF MIND TO WRITE ABOUT A FAMILY THAT YOU ARE AN ACTIVE PART OF DAILY. I WOULD SAY THAT AUTHOR IS COURAGEOUS.

This book made me laugh and cry, sometimes both at the same time. I couldn't put it down until I finished reading it, and even then, I didn't want to!

Dr. Lester's depiction of his early childhood is one of the many "bests" of this book. In fact, I would have purchased the book if it had contained only the story of his early life in a small town in south Georgia. It reminded me so much of my own childhood!

But there is so much more! The rest of the book brings the author from that idyllic-sounding childhood, on through a tough adolescence and young adulthood, and finishes with the telling of just how he achieved his ultimate dream. And how his dream continues to this very day.

He peppers the book with well-placed humor, gracefully adding a whimsical touch to even some of the more heartbreaking situations in the book.

Woven throughout the entire book is the author's awesomely-detailed appreciation of his Creator, a refreshing difference from most of today's autobiographical fare. Rather than TELLING the reader about his faith, he SHOWS it - the mark of a truly spiritual person, in my opinion! No matter what the reader's religious preference, there is a lot to identify with here.

He tells his story with humility, freely admitting his mistakes. His description of the prisons where he worked was chilling, and is one of the best depictions I've ever read of what it is like "in there." After all, Dr. Lester WAS "in there," even if only as a member of the professional staff. Who could better tell what it is really like?

The chapter about his sister Gwyn also touched my heart, because I believe it is an excellent example of how a good family pulls together when one of the family needs them to.

Yet another thing I enjoyed about this book is that the author is not afraid to address cultural and racial issues head on. It certainly taught this old white lady a few things! Most importantly, it taught me that no matter how different we may SEEM to be, we are more alike than we may know. :-)

Who should buy and read this book? Anyone who wants inspiration and motivation. Anyone who wants to "think outside the box," and anyone with an unfinished dream or two of their own. THIS is the book that will inspire you to pursue that goal, and to never give up!

While reading the book, I realized just how good a tool it could be for youth. I have two teen sons, and I have encouraged them both to read this book. In fact, I'd really encourage librarians to make this book available to young people. I firmly believe that the author is the type of person that I'd like my OWN two boys to become!

I encourage anyone who is looking for a good summer's read to choose this book. You won't be disappointed!

Wow!!!...sad at times, funny at times, truthful and sobering all the time...life. The author becomes transparent and acknowledges both the source and sustainer of life, moreover the one that makes it all possible. Author makes it abundantly clear that everything that has been done through him has been done both in-spite of himself and due to faith and perserverance. Definitely refreshing to see someone in today's society to give credit to where credit is due and not become self-absorbed. Eagerly anticipate more good work from this first time author.

I Am Not Afraid to Dream provides an autobiography of a black man who triumphed over obstacles ranging from poverty to a difficult family background, including his grandmother's murder of his grandfather. This surveys the author's growing religious faith in the process of explaining the processes by which he gained inner strength and self-acceptance. An uplifting, moving account.

This truly amazing book tells two stories. The main story is of course the beautiful, modern love story between Michael and Andi. Everyone that has been in love can relate to the stories of their first couple dates, the playful yet intense arguments that you get into when first finding out about each other and the overall feeling of just wanting to be next to the person you love. The tragic end to their relationship literally made me break down and cry. It only took me a couple days to read most of the book, but it took an additional couple days just to read the last couple chapters. The final chapters are so overwhelming that I needed to stop reading every so often just to collect myself.

The second story is about the war in Iraq. I have read hundreds of books and stories about the current conflict and no other book so fully explains the war better than "I Lost My love In Baghdad." Everyone should read this book in order to fully appreciate what is happening on a day to day basis to our troops and the Iraqi people.

I fully recommend this book and encourage everyone to read it. You will not be able to put it down.

Reading Michael Hastings' book was something that I could not put down. I even stayed up reading it into the wee hours because I was so engrossed in the tragic story about his significant other. There are other words for me to say except that it was written beautifully as war can create greater impact on the most intimate of human relationships.

I am only giving this book only four stars rather than five. This is because there were times that I thought that Andi, his significant other, was annoying to read since she seemed to be very emotionally needy.

Hastings' book is a phenomenal introduction to young love and life in Baghdad. Throughout his story, there is a unique perspective on Iraq and daily life there. I could sense the intensity and constant danger ubiquitous in the country. More importantly, this story really makes me regret not having the opportunity to ever meet Andi Parhamovich. He portrays her as a beautiful, noble, vibrant young woman and her loss feels tragic even to the reader.

From prologue to last page, "I Lost My Love in Baghdad" draws its strength not from the sense of tragedy and ambition of Macbeth but the sense of tragedy and tumult of Romeo and Juliet. The war in Iraq and its healing were the proximate causes which kept Michael Hastings for Newsweek and Andrea Parhamovich for the National Democratic Institute in Baghdad but the final cause was their young love.

There is a plague on both houses in Iraq and the feel for scorching heat, armed clashes in the day and night and the indispensability of hired security hasn't come through as strongly in other visions of the war. The tragedy of every war is confirmed here and the final pages envisage Andi's final moments in all the horror of immolation, but the last line could still have been Romeo's to Juliet, "Thou art not conquer'd; beauty's ensign yet is crimson in thy lips and on thy cheeks. And death's pale flag is not advanced there"

Well worth the reading.

Mr. Hughes, in my opinion, is the best African American writer, whom describes the life as a balck man traveling throughout the world. This book is poignant and evokes a sense constant despair and the writer confronts different predjudice throughout the world.

When I started writing here on Amazon reviews I was thinking of placing pieces of my memory from books that shaped our family so that my daughter who was reading and living on-line might share a few minutes with me as I reflected back on things that might tell the stories of us. Being very ill it seemed a logical kind of thing to do. One of the reasons I waited until Christmas to write this particular piece was it fits, the title of this story taken from an Appalachian melody of Christmas, among the most beautiful I know for my playing on dulcimer. The tune which inspired his title is just a simple,hill country piece of handiwork. The other reason I waited was having made an Amazon friend who is inspired at a fundamental level by Hughes and who is dear to me, it gave me awhile to think about what to say here of this book. I know he lives in close connection to Hughes spirit and may indeed embody and carry this work and truth. Not an easy thing at all...but the world is better for this. I hate to do it a disservice and I'm inadequate to the task, and yet the book is among my most favorite ever read. I'm surprised that it isn't reviewed by many more here , this volume for me one of the most amazing secrets ever kept. It is an autobiographical journey, a tale from his life; it serves to create inner spaces, visceral visual ones, to consider Hughes and to look upon his perspectives. All I can conclude is something I find tonight as I type, it's daunting to write to the book and do it any real justice. It is worth purchasing for anyone, especially for someone who loves to read of the times of our lives in the 20th century..

Hughes opens the book, which covers time from 1931 to 1938 as a piece to carry on from The Big Sea his first autobiographical work. As I read them out of order I cannot say I am sorry this was my first. It stays solidly in my head. He tells of traveling in a car on a reading tour in the South and the west. On opening the tale of wandering we are where he was reading his work in small often rural settings and revealing black community and his meager circumstances as he was essentially becoming the writer. He becomes involved in a film project and goes to the Soviet Union which is such an amazing thing to read....it is a project that doesn't work out and he stays and continues traveling. Just to know more about this time in history from his perspective in areas we could not know enough about is worth the book....and it is these observations and how he finally returns to the US, I found the most compelling of the narrative. I felt I was wandering, wandering free of some of the limitations of American political shaping, looking at the Soviets as they took on the start of building their country, listening to Hughes describe the adventure, what he sees. Hughes is not given to excessive internal dialog, he is almost remarkably absent of this-which of course is a vehicle he creates-he relates what he sees and it has a kind of universal journey construction...almost ...so perfectly of those times, so completely crafted that I lose my "self" in the pages...I am a train, or a days delicious seafood with boiled bananas and Spanish rice learning to rumba. I am ill equipped to summarize but Hughes is a genius, creating a kind of tableau that for me stands as visually there as the great human artists of these times, this he does so easily. And I feel this trip across Russia as an experience. I think what moves me is that Hughes recounts human interaction, the simplicity, the everyday as it might be felt by myself or was felt by himself. I've spent most all of my life living in teaching in ordinary everyday, poorer worlds by choice learning of the dignity and indignity, suffering, laughing, discovering others, in the valid and real lives of ordinary people. It makes me anecdotal and determined to honor lives. And I note in the book foreword him stating, "I've now cut out all the impersonal stuff down to a running narrative with me in the middle of every page...the kind of intense condensation that, of course, keeps an autobiography from being entirely true, in that nobody's life is pure essence without pulp, waste matter , and rind-which art, of course, throws in the trash can." Ah always genius.

Because I had read a great deal of these times interested in Lillian Hellman and many other figures, his recounting his story with Arthur Koestler was so interesting. Again threaded through this personal anecdote was so much good information and his perspective. He talks of Haiti and I've given these pages many times to friends connected to this country, of Cuba, China and Japan ending in Carmel in an area I lived with close life there for 9 years, which was remarkable for me as I first encountered the book reading it sitting in a bookshop in Carmel and wandering the streets reading and thinking and enjoying thoughts of his times there. These were times of Communism, Marxism, the Scottsboro Boys, and only a bit becomes part of the book though I was discerning much because I did know of the times from my interests, reading and from reading more to understand his times.

I have stated in writing I've done of my teaching life that Hughes lived writing of black America, of politics, of difficult constructs, from his background, then his education, from his broadening views, from traveling, meeting such a wide spectrum, he was writing of the lives of the poor, living the lives, but also a writer, thinker, a man apart. I sense his frustration as much as I can from my inadequacies in trying to speak to these issues of fairness, of poverty, of the travesty of greed, of human lives affected by prejudice and economic and political failure. I write anecdotally of teaching in South Central, in migrant areas trying to reach out and tell the stories of kids hoping those that read can draw conclusions and understand better their real realities. I sense Hughes left to his readers a responsibility to use his journey, his insights, to think about how to make America a fairer place. How to work to create a just world. And to understand how broad a world it is.

I read in the forward about the books reception as "shallow". And I wonder....as I too wander. There is an elegant powerful truth that Hughes carries, a silent power in a poets voice spoken in the face of revealing things no one can hear or will hear. There is a basic return to the voyage as meaning itself, a telling of a life, a looking at life as a movement forward. I just cannot find that shallow. I find Hughes as ever one of the touchstones of my life.

As the sequel to "The Big Sea", Mr.Hughes again speaks the language of a poet so well that he makes the reading of his life seem like a first-person experience. After his travels on several ships and the taste of his first successes(and failures), he simply explores and writes: of Paris, Russia, and Cuba, and shares his experiences with the reader. His writing is so rich and vivid that he makes every location in the world seem like poetry in motion. This book and "The Big Sea" should definitely be on reading lists everywhere-or, if you have a friend or relative who feels like they're a "wandering spirit", these books would make great gifts. Mr.Hughes touches on everything human: from the strained relationship with his father to the blatant racism he encounters everyday; to the women he becomes fond of and his neverending thirst for experience and knowledge; to the countless sights of wonder in the world that one never sees when they are ignorant. Beautiful writing by a true poet.

IN THIS BOOK , MR. HUGHES REALLY OPENS UP AND LETS THE READER INTO HIS WORLD. IT IS NOT HARD TO IMAGINE BEING IN THE PLACES THAT HE DESCRIBES. THE EVENTS AND CHARACTERS POP OUT AT YOU. THIS BOOK IS AN ENJOYABLE READ

I couldn't put this book down. It's a fascinating window into the times and I came away with a much better understanding of it. Some of it was shocking, to be honest. I highly recommend this book.

Canada's role relative to slavery in the United States - little-known by Americans - is excellently told through the life story of a couple born in slavery. The Blackburns' escape from slavery calls out for dramatization in a movie or at least on PBS' "American Experience." It would also make a fine children's book.

I cannot overstate the importance of this book. It is a moving, heart-wrenching story. Additionally the Kentucky material was of particular interest to me since my own ancestors were in Mason COunty, KY for a good portion of the story of Thornton Blackburn. I have not finished reading it as of this writing.

One would have to read this book several times to completely absorb its multifarious layers, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

First and foremost, it is the compelling life story of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn. They escaped from slavery boldly using forged documents to travel by steamboat to Cincinnati (appropriately arriving on July 4) then settled in Detroit and were subsequently incarcerated under the Fugitive Slave Law. The community (white and black) rose up in their defense, sparking what history records as "The Blackburn Riots of 1833." After their hair raising escape to Canada and subsequent incarceration while appealing extradition under provisions of the Fugitive Offenders Act, they finally settled in Toronto, where Blackburn established the first cab company. The couple acquired affluence and influence - though they always lived modestly - and assisted many other refugees escaping slavery and intolerance before, during and after the Civil War.

Equally fascinating is the process by which their life story was reconstructed. Both Thornton and Lucie remained illiterate, and no one recorded their memoirs. This book is the result of over 20 years of painstaking research and - as the author states in the introduction - no small amount of "historical coalescence." It perfectly illustrates the creative approach historians must take when attempting to break through what genealogists call "The Wall of Slavery." The author relies on everything from Bibles to court documents to glean information and put all the pieces together, and her extensive bibliography alone is worth the price of the book.

While detailing the Blackburn's encounters with the legal system of the time, the author explores the evolution of jurisprudence in both countries: to maintain the Peculiar Institution in the states, and to guarantee civil liberties (and in no small part, autonomy from the U.S.) in Canada. Some slave owners doggedly expended inordinate amounts of time and money to retrieve their "property" and to punish anyone who might have aided their escape. Consequently, there are voluminous court documents related to the Blackburns as their owners pursued them here and abroad, and legal precedents were set which still have impact today. For example, people are often surprised to learn the Ohio River is actually part of Kentucky - that boundary was established to ensure this particular "highway to freedom" remained "slave territory" and this decision was relevant in the lawsuit filed against the steamboat captain and his company.

For American readers, the fact that this book is written from a Canadian's perspective adds yet another interesting layer. (Oh, to see ourselves as others see us!) Yet while pointing out the obvious hypocrisy inherent in U.S. "freedom," Frost does not turn a blind eye to racism and hypocrisy among Canadians. She notes that while Toronto harbored fugitive slaves, it also welcomed slaveholders and Confederate soldiers seeking asylum during the Civil War. Doubly mind boggling is the fact that the Blackburns had personal connections with some of them...and a few of them probably rode in his cab.

In the standard American narrative, slaves escape to Canada and vanish from our story. While many - heartened by the promise of Reconstruction - returned to the United States to reunite with family after the war (only to migrate north again as Jim Crow and sharecropping reinstated the antebellum power structure) the Blackburns lived three-quarters of their highly productive lives as African-Canadians. This book and the work which went into creating it are welcome revelations. I hope they inspire further research into the lives of those who crossed over into Canaan Land.

NB The book describes the role played by the Blackburns in the development of the Elgin Settlement and Buxton Mission, a colony for fugitive slaves south of Chatham. The modern village of North Buxton is still home to about 200 descendants. Several years ago I visited the Buxton Historic Site and Museum and highly recommend it...plan to spend several hours! BuxtonMuseum dot com

This is a great start to this fun new series. Sophie Green is a young British single working a boring job that she keeps wanting to quit. She works in an airport in check in and has a crush on one of her hot Swedish co-workers, while being intrigued by a hot Italian co-worker. Being in the right place at the wrong time leads to a series of events that have her being picked for a super secret spy group. She maintains her cover to her friends and family while trying to save the world and her cat, Tammy. She is 5' 10'' of blonde bombshell, but doesn't seem to have any self confidence. This story has it all, mystery, romance, steamy love scenes and humor. Can't wait to see what happens next!

...so says ParaNormalRomance Reviews. "Kate Johnson has created a wonderful set of characters. This is one book...I would have on my keeper shelf!"

TwoLips Reviews called it "...an outrageously funny story... I Spy? was one laugh after another. It is good to see that a ditsy blonde can save the day and when Luke and Sophie finally hook up readers will just not believe where! I Spy? is one hot read and too funny for words. Readers enjoy!"

Once Upon A Romance compares it to Janet Evanovich's bestselling books: "If you like the Stephanie Plum series, I believe you will like I, Spy? ...This book is modern, quirky, ironic and sassy. I can easily see how this will spin out into an excellent series."

The next book in the series is Ugley Business (Sophie Green Mysteries), available now.

Sophie Green isn't looking for a job in the spy arena, but it finds her and, well, when the offer comes from gorgeous Luke Sharpe, what red-blooded woman could say no? Mayhem, mailed fingers, and manhunts follow, as well as some brilliant humor and sarcasm. You need this book!

actual warning found on this book--

"Warning, this title contains guns, swearing, dark thoughts about cheerful people, incomprehensible Britishisms, and painful sarcasm."

Kate Johnson, whose breezy style fits first person beautifully, writes the sort of book that's perfect escapist fun. Yes, it's chick lit, but it's GOOD funny chick lit and with a plot, too. Sophie and Kate rock.

Grades 5 and up will find this an excellent biographicalcoverage of the mother of the civil rights movement, providing 178pages packed with facts and black and white illustrations. Thisexamines the life and times of Ida Wells, considering her early years, her civil rights campaign, and her anti-lynching campaign which succeeded in nearly abolishing the popular practice. An eye-opening account of not only her life, but her times. Highly recommended and vivid.

Ida B. Wells needs to be better known among the American public. This book introduces her to middle and high school students, and it is very well done. She is one of the early voices in Civil Rights.

Ida B. Wells was an African-American woman of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. She was born and grew up in the South, born in Mississippi during the Civil War. It is significant the impact of the legacy of slavery on her life -- she recounts how her parents, who were married as slaves, remarried each other as free persons after the war. Wells was a determined and intelligent woman -- her parents died while she was young, yet old enough to be left with the responsibility of her younger brothers and sisters. At the age of 14 she found herself at the head of a household with five younger children.

She worked hard to make sure that her education did not suffer, and eventually (a rarity for women of any colour in America at the time) went to work for a newspaper.

In an incident that foreshadowed Rosa Parks, she was once removed from a train for sitting in the wrong section, despite her ownership of a valid ticket for the seat. She sued the railroad and won (newspaper headlines read 'Darky Damsel Gets Damages' without concern for the racist tone), but the judgment was overturned on appeal, and she later discovered her lawyers had been paid off by the railroads, and the appellate judges had thought she was just being uppity to pursue the matter.

Such was the state of the African-American community that none came to her assistance as she pursued this fight. This made her more determined to organise and fight.

Several of her newspaper partners and other friends in Memphis were lynched for these efforts, and Wells was threatened herself, and left the South, but did not give up her crusade. Where ever she went, through cities and towns in the North as well as over to Europe (where, she said, she felt like she was treated as a real human being equal with others for the first time) she decried the injustice of laws which dismissed charges or gave light sentences if victims were coloured, and prosecuted more strongly, gave out harsher sentences, or even resorted to lynch mobs if the defendant (who was often not guilty) was coloured.

'She fought a lonely and almost single-handed fight, with the single-mindedness of a crusader, long before men or women of any race entered the arena, and the measure of success she achieved goes far beyond the credit she has been given the history of the country.'

She continued speaking and publishing up to her death in 1931. She was never afraid of making herself unpopular, and often upset the African-American community by being critical of their complacency (especially the upper and middle classes). She became unpopular by standing against the military service during World War I, because of prejudicial and discriminatory practices, and never quite recovered in popular esteem from that.

But Wells had courage and determination that is rare in persons, male or female, of any colour, of any time, to take on such a task as the exposition and combat of lynching in the South during the post-Civil War decades. Talking directly with governors and even a president, Wells made her voice heard, and it was a difficult hearing in a difficult time.

It is a travesty that the name of Ida B. Wells-Barnett is not more widely known in the most common lists of American heroes. This great woman, though little in stature, was a giant in the fight for justice and racial equality in this country. This book was a very thorough look at the life of an early champion of the civil rights movement in America. After my chilren an I read about her being physically thrown off a railcar, sueing the railroad company and actually winning her lawsuit, we could not put the book down. Although many of the discriptions and photographs were gruesome, they offered a realistic and brutally honest look at the horrors of lynching. I would recommend this book for sixth grade and up.

If you are not familiar with Ida B. Wells and her work, by allmeans become so immediately. I will be recommending this book toeveryone I know, and I am a children's and young adult librarian. Ida B. Wells is one of the greatest Americans of all time, and most of us have never heard of her. What she did to better the lives of African-Americans and, especially, to stop lynching, is moving, stirring, and heartbreaking. I never knew that people were burned at the stake in the USA, but they certainly were--and the crowds who came to see them die were happy to have so much fun watching "the nigger burn". A great book.

This is an extensive and thoroughly researched examination of the ruinous consequences of the unbelieving thought that in the last hundred years has saturated our culture. Schlossberg argues that in all areas of thought our approach to reality is always determined by specifically religious assumptions, such as our theories of knowledge, history, value, and the future. These are assumptions that we rarely consider, but determine the results of our thinking, and subsequently, our action. As secularization in our culture has progressed, we have substituted what is created for the Creator, and placed the created reality at the top of our pyramid of values, with disastrous consequences. This constitutes the idolatry.

From this framework, Schlossberg examines many of the various idols that we have erected in this way. These include: history as an autonomous and inexorable unfolding of a closed system of necessary events; humanism, which elevates humans to the status of gods, but inevitably leads to a materialistic evaluation of them and a dehumanization of the people it professes to help; money, evaluated from the standpoint of an institutionalization of envy that believes that no one should have more than anyone else and the forced redistribution of wealth and crushing of motivation and incentive to succeed that it entails; nature, which is viewed through the lens of a philosophical naturalism that combines with secular humanism to dehumanize people; power, which resides exclusively in the state, and makes the state (and therefore the individuals who rule it) the source of, and therefore above, the law; and finally religion, which tends to blindly embrace whatever trends happen to be dominant in a culture and therefore ends up supporting, rather than casting down, the idols erected by the unbelieving world. In the final two chapters, he makes some predictions about where our idolatry will take us, and addresses how Christians should face the gods of an idolatrous age.

This book seems to have been first published in 1983, but I think that the analysis and research are outstanding, and the conclusions are probably more inescapable now than they were 25 years ago. Some examples are: "We should understand totalitarianism to refer not to the severity of the regime . . . but rather the scope of its purview. A totalitarian regime is one that seeks to control every aspect of communal life, and to bring as much of private life as possible into the sphere of the communal"; ". . . the attempt to be contemporaneous, which is to say relevant, ensures the irrelevance of theologies and churches." I was amazed by the parallels between this book and Herman Bavinck's "Philosophy of Revelation" (1908), which are very similar in methodology and are well worth reading together, which I did by accident. I heartily recommend this book - it should absolutely be required reading for all western Christians.

The power of your worldview lies in the fact that it is hidden. It is a collection of your underlying beliefs and assumptions which color all of your thinking, yet is rarely examined openly. Idols for Destruction is a challenging read, but well worth the effort for those who would like to gain a fresh perspective on the worldviews that they have unconciously adopted. The author writes from a Christian perspective, and most people will probably not agree with all of his ideas, but he systematically goes through most of the 20th century influences on Western thought and compares them with a traditional Judeo-Christian world view. He does an excellent job in drawing out the implications of the various philosophical systems and providing examples of how they are manifest in modern culture. The most useful things I have gained from this book are first, a review of most of the philosophies which have shaped this century and a heightened awareness of what worldview is implicitly expressed by various thinkers and writers. This helps me to be a more critical thinker and to analyze people's arguments better. The second thing I have gained is the realization that there are other options then whatever worldview happens to be the most popular today. This has opened up whole new areas of thought and allowed me to understand a much broader range of ideas by people who have differing worldviews. This book is very well documented. It helps if you have had a college cource on Philosophy or have a quick reference book to help you to understand all of his references to philosophical and moral systems. It is not casual reading, and it will force you to do some hard thinking, but it is well worth the effort.

I've read this book three times in the last five or six months and will read it again before the year is over. Why? The language is elevated and the concepts are deep. Multiple reads are the way to mine this treasure for all it is worth.

As for content, I concur with the observations made in the previous review entitled "Examine your preconceptions". Adding anything more would be redundant.

A bit heady, but worth it. Schlossberg writes as a Christian and systematically goes through the 20th century influences on Western thought and compares them with a traditional Judeo-Christian worldview. This is a thinking book-and will cause you to think past your "in the box" notions about our faith. As the author quotes, "He who marries the spirit of an age, soon finds himself a widower."

Kamil Aydin wrote a very informative book on images of Turkey and Turkish people in Western literature predominantly focusing on stories and fiction written in English. Aydin draws our attention to a bulk of literary work which portrays Turkish people, history, culture and customs to their readers. This book shows how Turkish identity is constructed in the images of western writers in different periods of history. The author successfuly demonstrate the effects of social, cultural, political and religious factors in the portrayal of Turkey and Turkish culture throughout the centuries. This is an excellent book for students of social and cultural history as well as comparative literature. I recommend it strongly.

Dr. Talip Kucukcan, Istanbul, Turkey

Elmas Sahin from Turkey,Erzurum ... I suggest that you should read this book.Because you will find a lot of things about Turks and Turkish culture, costumes, beliefs and manners. You can also read ''The Images of Turkey in Western Literarure'' written by Assoc.Prof. Kamil Aydin in order to learn how Turkish lands becomes a focus of curiousity for Occidental people. Mr. Aydin points out some significant passages in many English or the other Europeans novelists,playwrights or travel writers such as Marlow,Shakespeare,Nerval, Faucoult, Kipling introducing Turkish or Islamic figures in their works. Most of the writers handle Turks from negatif points of wiev in many examples given by Aydin. Aydin foceses on 20 th century images of Turkey in his work, especially in the west popular fiction, travel writings, and motion pictures.He underlines how a non-western culture is rperesented by a western culture with very interesting examples such as Midnight Express, Lustfull Turk. On the other hand Mr. Aydin shows us some important passages in Orientalism written by Edward Said . As Said writes in his book ,Orientalism Mr Aydin also writes about Orientalist approaches related to Turks.But Aydin's book is quite different from Said's work. Said only tells about Arabic and Islamic culture handled by English French and American imperialist thoughts. Whereas Aydin draws attention to Turkish images reflecting in the Orient (West). Shortly you should read this work as soon as possible. Why? Because you will find in this book very more things than you will never think about Turks or real Rurkish identity, Turkish Culture or Turkish way of life .

I read this book''The Images of Turkey in Western Literature'' by Assoc.Prof. Kamil Aydin.Really It is a very important study in both Turkish and World Literature.You can see in it a lot of crucial examples about Turkish Literature, Týrkish Culture, Turkish way of life reflecing in Western literature and Movies .For instance Mr. Aydin emphasises ,in Renaissance,that Turkish lands became a focus of curiousity for Europens,especially, exotic costumes,beliefs and manners of Turkish people.He gives some significant passages in works of Marlow,Kyd and Shakespeare. These writers introduced Turkish figures in their works in a negative way. Aydin focuses in this work on 20 th century Images of Turkey in the West popular fiction and travel writings. He stresses how a western culture rperesents a non-western culture in its own writings,from a non -European perspective. Aydin points out the real identity of Turkish people througout Western versions of the history of the Turks within the oriental context. ''Although Turks have completely different origins, geographically,with a different cultural,traditional and linguistic identity, they have never been detached from other Islamic nations of the Middle East'' Says Mr. Aydin You can see many western historical descriptions about the Turks. Like Edward Said's Orientalism dealing with Arabic and Islamic images Mr. Aydin's book tells Turkish Images reflecting in the Western World.You must read this book if you want to learn more than this about Turks and their costums and cultures.It is one of the most famous masterpieces written in this field.

Well, first of all ,i really congratulate Mr.Aydin bcoz of his success.When you start reading this book you can start to a journey in time,coz you can absolutely witness some flashings of the Turkish world which were misunderstood by the world,well at least by europeans,coz Americans already dunno much about Turkey, then you can witness the reflection of misunderstanding of occidental culture's researches on Turkey and the Turks.Coz this outstanding book will be your guide to see the wrongs and the rights about Turks.In the early 20s, The Sickman of Europe stood up and fight for his natural rights to get them back ,even though the mass media misreflected something about Turks and they always get confused between Turks and The Arabs.You can also witness the difference between The Turks and The Arabs.I accept myself lucky ,coz i read this book and im honoured of having this masterpiece.If i were you, i never get confused and click on buy icon to get a masterpiece and reach this honour as we did.Thank You Mr. Aydin for this outstanding masterpiece at heart and also hope you continue your success in literature with other research books and literary books...Finally, all you have to do is to hit the buy button and enjoy yourself while reading this guide book!!!!Really really it is!!!!!!!!

This was one of the most informative books I have read on the subject of Impressionism. I found the writing easy to follow and Mr.Herbert's command of his subject matter is fantastic. The narrative was so that one could grasp the concepts and his writing style was a delight. If I were to rate this, it would be at the very top of my list of recommended reading, not only for artists or historians, but for anyone interested in the subject.

I must say that I've read quite a few Impressionist books in recent years. In no way do they come close to the entertainment and ease which I found in this book! As I began to read it, more for pleasure than anything else, I found that I was actually interested enough to continue reading it until the end! There was no overtly boring or tedious sections to the book and the full page photos only helped to enliven my imagination. An excellent read and an easy study!

The book "Impressionism: Art, Leisure, and Parisian Society" by Robert L. Herbert gives reader a very interesting insight into the lifestyles of Parisians of the early 1860's to mid-1880's. Generally received very well and highly recommended to broad audiences, the book makes an excellent material for course reading. The factor that makes it innovative and especially interesting for a wide audience of readers is the author's insight, his relation of emergence and development of Impressionism to the social institutions and changes in the lifestyles of the French and especially those of the Parisians. The book is very well structured and gives a good overview of the early Impressionism. The author refrains from using terms unknown to a common reader. The style of writing and language are very pleasant, which makes the reading rather delightful. What makes it especially interesting is the inclusion of the accounts by contemporary visitors, who express their ideas on the new "Haussmannian" Paris. The new Paris with its broad boulevards in author's opinion is directly related to emergence of the new trend in art, the Impressionism. Supplied with a broad variety of images (311), which include paintings of the leading impressionists, such as Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas, as well as contemporary prints and posters, photographs, plans and maps of Paris and its surroundings, the material is colourful and exciting. Each chapter of the book discusses in detail a particular subject, an aspect of Parisian social scene. Robert L. Herbert also employs an unusual comparison of the paintings in his book: rather than comparing impressionist pieces to works of earlier periods, he makes comparisons among the impressionist paintings always tying the theme of the pieces to the social situation. He also ties the main motifs in each of the artist's works to their social background and upbringing. Overall, the book is very interesting and the author expresses some innovative and intriguing ideas. Nevertheless some criticism can be made. The manner, in which Robert L. Herbert has divided his book into chapters, makes it evident that the book has been developed on the basis of lecture notes. Restricted timeframe, the period from the early 1860's to mid-1880's, and specific attachment to Parisian social scene bring out constricting boundaries on the development of the subject of Impressionism in general. Perhaps, that is the reason why the author overlooks some themes in the impressionism, such as still life, landscape, riverscape, portraiture, series paintings and painting in the Southern France, Italy and England. Such restrictions also permit the author to ignore late Impressionism as well as Post Impressionism, which could have made the book on Impressionism more complete. The book focuses on social history of Impressionism, and taking into consideration the above-mentioned restrictions, the book covers the themes of Parisian social life very well. Nevertheless, being a book on Impressionism the alternative manner of structuring such a piece could have been either by artist or in chronological order, which could have been advantageous in a way that the present structure could have been preserved to an extent, but there would not have been such a heavy reliance on only four artists, Manet, Monet, Renoir and Degas, and the author could have paid more attention to such artists as Camille Pissaro, Alfred Sisley and Gustave Caillebotte, whom he mentions rather marginally. The female impressionists are briefly represented by Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt, which indeed could have been developed into a topic on its own. The book gives a rather detailed description of style of life of the Parisians of the mid to late 19th century. However the author is rather limited in discussion on style of each artist. Moreover Herbert lacks an important topic: change of style throughout the course of the career of such artists as Degas and Monet, which could have made an interesting issue. Interesting parallel between the backgrounds of each of the artists, mentioned in the very last chapter of the book could have been broadened and perhaps supplied with a brief biography of each one of the key impressionists. In addition, although the author does it in several cases, he could have used more comparisons of the impressionist pieces to earlier works. This does not necessarily imply looking for similar themes in earlier pieces for each of the impressionist paintings. It would have been a little bit more exciting to have images of Titian's Venus of Urbino and Edouard Manet's Olympia next to each other, rather than having to be satisfied with a verbal comparison. It is evident that the approach taken by Robert L. Herbert toward Impressionism in his book "Impressionism: Art, Leisure, and Parisian Society" is that of a social historian, rather than that of a traditional art historian. Such manner brings out very interesting and often times omitted issues, such as the social structures, status and institutions and their role in the development of art. Certainly, this brings about a very peculiar angle to the subject. However it also limits the discussion to a particular physical setting, in this case to the city and surroundings of Paris, as well as to a limited timeframe, which clearly does not reflect the full extent of Impressionism. Instead the structure chosen by the author permits the reader only the review of the early Impressionism, rather the examination of the entire style.

I taught college level painting and art history courses for ten years. This is one of the most memorable books I used as source material. Usually a treatment of Impressionism will write of it as a movement in response to the paintings of the Academy; an inquiry into the play of light and instantaneity. Fine, fine, but how many books do we really need that say the same thing ? This book looks at changes in the architecture of Paris which changed the city from a network of villages into a web of wide boulevards and massive, sometimes monotonous buildings. People (many of them young) were moving into the city and feeling the displacement and dehumanization which we usually associate with depictions of Victorian era London.

Herbert spends a good bit of time looking at the clothing of individuals portrayed in paintings to ruminate about their social standing. His keen eye for gesture picks up a lot. Looking at an outdoor cafe scene by Manet, he notices that the young man at the table with a woman is actually kneeling next to her, not seated there. From this he infers that the man is trying to pick up the jeune fille. The rather prudish look on her face seems to confirm that this is what's happening.

The copious illustrations are wonderful. Many are of paintings which are infrequently reproduced in art books. There are also a lot of works by Gustave Caillebotte whose compositions are so fascinating. The writing is lively. I think this is a terrific book for a lover of Impressionism and/or a lover of Paris. It's a wonderful fusion of images and prose. I'm just so glad to find it available at such a reasonable price.

What a wonderful job Carol Spindel has done describing her year in an Ivory Coast village. So many writers have written about Africa from the perspective of "oppressed" colonialists or uninvolved observers. Ms. Spindel allowed herself to learn from the villagers, to earn their trust and friendship, and to become a contributing part of their circle. In turn, she becomes an effective teacher to readers who hunger to understand.

This book in incredible. I read the book while in the Ivory Coast and can account for it's authenticity. In fact, I have read it over three times as it brings back the culture and the people that are so dear to my heart. Through her incredible writing skills the author brings Africa to life and provides a more complete accurate picture of West Africa. Excellent book, a definite must read.

This is an extraordinarily sensitive portrait of a West African village. The writer really made the effort to know and understand her environment, and it pays off in a warm and tender account of her experience that brings the people and the culture vividly to life. I read this book six years ago, in preparation for a trip to Africa, and the strong sense of place she evokes stays with me still.

Spindel's book humanizes and softens our often bleak view of Africa. The adventures of the American student of West African language and culture remind us that people are not so different as they seem. Furthermore, she reminds us that before European interference, there was gentility and natural wealth in African society.

Highly recommended for those readers who desire another perspective on the continent's people.