Companies Books

"Bullwhip Days - The Slaves Remember, An Oral History" is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of slavery in America. It is edited by James Mellon. But with respect to Mr. Mellon, it is not his story.

During the Great Depression, the US government created work programs for a besieged economy. One of these was the Writer's Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Someone realized that the last generation of African Americans who had been slaves was dying. Writers were dispatched to interview these ex-slaves and record/write their stories.

This work is a selection of transcripts from these vital historical records.

It is suspected some of the slaves may have moderated their comments to appease the interviewers sensibilities. I really doubt that. Having read a number of personal memoirs of people in their later years, I find their candor amazing. Just because an ex-slave speaks fondly of their former owner does not mean they are lying or have skewed perceptions.

There's no definitive slave experience. We have the account of one woman owned by the Vice President of the Confederacy, Alexander Stephens on a plantation operating entirely by slaves (including the overseers). Another woman agrees to be bred only because her `kind' master had agreed to buy her in addition to her parents.

One elderly couple had diametrically opposite experiences. She had an idyllic family existence with gifts and new clothes for Christmas. He was separately from his parents as a child, starved and beaten. Decades later, he hears of a child abused like himself. Despite being elderly, he and his wife take the boy and raise him as their own.

There is one major theme through the interviews. How a slave was treated was entirely a function of their owner. They had no rights, no recourse to the law. If caught without a pass, you were fair game for the infamous "paddyrollers" (patrollers). Even after freedom, the Ku Klux Klan terrorized the fomer slave population.

Another thing that I found interesting was the mortality rate after slavery. In multiple interviews, these old people were alone with no children or grandchildren surviving. A lifetime of slavery did not equip them well for freedom.

This is the first book I would recommend to anyone interested in the subject.

I have used this book as part of my Black history classes for 5 years now. It would be impossible to make up the stories that actually happened to a people held against their will and it is riveting to read about the memories and nightmares. This book gives a name to slaves, personalizes it and makes the suffering immortal. These recollections, though they belonged to individuals, makes the suffering universal. The experience of one is the experience of all. But yet, these people on occasion find some humor in various memories and you can share there collective joy over 150 years later. I highly recommend this book to anyone, not just students and historians.

I first read this book back in 1991. Even today, I will occasionally reread it. It is very informative and very much real. I can truly say that I love this book and this is a must have. You will truly enjoy it. My people have come a long way.

Wow...That's all I can say. This is a wonderful book and a must read for everyone. I read this as part of a book club discussion for Black History Month. What a way to open my eyes to a part of American history. Very moving.

This is the real deal. Ex-slaves telling their own experiences; a few not-so-bad, many extremely heartbreaking. This is one of the best insights into what slavery was really like during the 19th Century. This is the story, in there own words, of how a people were totally dehumanized during America's most shameful period. A country claiming "liberty and justice for all" while denying that freedom to millions of fellow human beings. And many still ask the question, "why do African-Americans still lag behind in so many areas, while other ethnic groups had to struggle as immigrants also?" This book is a reminder that blacks were forcibly brought here, and denied-for-years even the simplest education. Maybe the reading of this book, will help some realize the continual uphill struggle, blacks have tried to achieve in a few short decades since the Civil Rights Movement. Trying to make-up for Centuries of bondage, and inequality. Just as we can never forget the evils of the Holocaust, so it should be equaly true with the era of slavery.

I came to the novel "Captain" by something of a back door. Years ago I saw the screen version and loved it. As a matter of fact, I first read Prescott's history as a teenager and have been entranced with the Conquest ever since. In the last number of years I decided to write and, being a true aficionado of Mexican history, I explored the possibility of writing about the Conquest. Surely, I thought, there has been abundant English-language fiction written on this, one of the most phenomenal conquests in history. I was wrong. Except for Schellabarger, there seem to have been few novels written on the Conquest...from the Spanish point of view.

Having decided to write on the Conquest and, recognizing that Schellabarger and I would necessarily be walking on the same ground and contending with the same people--and recognizing that my novel[s] must be entirely unique--I purchased his book and read it thoroughly and critically. I believe I succeeded and my novels, "Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God", are the result. Are my insights and is my writing as good as Schellabargers'? I obviously can't answer that question myself. It's up to the reader.

My lead character, Rodrigo de la Pena, is a far darker character than Schellabarger's Pedro. Rodrigo is no "Count of Monte Cristo" and his relationships with women and Hernan Cortes are more tortured and complex. This doesn't mean that I don't enjoy Schellabarger's tale. Quite the contrary, I love it and think it is one of the truly great novels.

Ron Braithwaite author of Mexican Conquest novels, "Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"

I'll be brief. If you're a fan of adventure, of swashbuckling, of novels like Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo" - this book is for you. It's a thrilling novel and a great story in history and Pedro is an extremely interesting character that you'll come to love, even through all the mistakes he makes. Buy it, read it, and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I picked this book up for twelve cents (yes, twelve cents) at a used book sale, and it was by far the best twelve cents I have ever spent. I had previously read Shellabarger's Prince of Foxes while on a swashbuckler kick last summer, and so had reasonably high expectations for Captain from Castille. This book went well above and beyond my expectations. I find it hard to express just how good this book was. The reason I like the genre of swashbuckler books is that in them one finds the truest expression of the unbridled youthful imagination. From sword fights and pirates to code of honor and witty dialogue, this genre is the embodiment of the imagination of every young man. I have rarely, if ever, encountered a book which so stirs this sort of imagination as this book does. I think Shellabarger rises above even Dumas in this category. I am still amazed at the greatness of this book. How it is so unknown is beyond my means of explanation.

Captain from Castille is the account of the adventures of Pedro de Vargas, a young Spanish nobleman from Castille. He encounters the corrpution of the Spanish Inquisition, flees to the newly discovered New World, and joins Cortez in his war against the Aztecs. I have never read such an accurate depiction the journey of an innocent boy into a worldly-wise man as Shellabarger has created in this book. The transition is so smooth and seamless that it is not until the end of the book that you suddenly realize how far he has developed. It is only then that you can look back and see how incidents slowly shaped Pedro's thinking. In respect to innocence, Shellabarger seems to me to be exactly half-way between the childlike innocence of Robert Louis Stevenson and the crafty/worldy Dumas. Stevenson's books were born of the imagination of a young man confined to his mind by illness. Dumas' were the product of real-world experience. Shellabarger has sucessfully combined the two, managing to retain the innocent imagination of Stevenson along with the real-world practicality of Dumas. Pedro himself makes the journey from the one to the other in this book, and in the end rejects the latter for a newly-understood version of the former.

I really have little else to add that has not been said by previous reviewers. A few reviewers have been bothered by some of the chauvinistic remarks in the book, or by the justification of the conquest of the Aztecs. I think they have entirely misunderstood Shellabarger himself to be promoting these things. He was simply writing the book from the perspective of someone living in the 16th century. He actually spent a significant amount of time researching the people, places, and events he wrote about in this book (which is remarkably historically accurate), and what he wrote of those subjects in the book could easily have flowed from the quill of a 16th century writer. The fact that Pedro struggles with the morality of killing the natives, and in some cases tries to prevent it, shows that Shellabarger understood the problem, but purposely wrote it from the perspective of a Spanish man fighting the Aztecs. To those who decry the savage portrayal of the Aztecs as lying human-sacrificers: well, it's actually quite accurate. It is hardly fair to call Shellabarger culturally insensitive for accurately depicting the Aztecs.

In short, if you like swashbucklers in the style of Dumas, Stevenson, Sabatini, etc., you need to find a copy of this book. For a long time The Three Musketeers has reigned (in my opinion) as the best swashbuckling book, and the Captain from Castille is its first significant challenger. If Shellabarger's other books are nearly as good as the Prince of Foxes and this book, he well deserves to be enshrined alongside Dumas in the lists of great authors.

Overall grade: A+

This one had a lot of promise. Written by a fairly reputable author, still in print after fifty years, a best-seller in its time, and with the Cortez conquest of Mexico as its backdrop, it seemed like can't-miss historical fiction. Well, it isn't awful or anything, but there is much, much better out there.

The story is about Pedro de Vargas, the scion of a Spanish nobleman. His family becomes ensnared by the Inquisition through machinations of the one-dimensionally evil Diego de Silva, and they must flee Spain. The father and mother make it to Italy, and Pedro goes to Cuba, where he meets up with and joins the Cortez expedition.

This, of course, makes up the bulk of the novel and as far as it goes, it's pretty good. You really can't go wrong with subject matter such as this; my goodness, this has to be one of the most thrilling stories in history. And Shellabarger gets the details right: there's Cortez burning his ships, there's Montezuma as a Spanish captive, there's Alvarado massacring the natives, and there's the Spanish retreat on the night of tears.

The problem is that there's nothing especially illuminating about any of this. The Cortez character is about what you'd imagine him to be, no more, no less. The same for Montezuma, the vacillating emperor. History shows that he was weak-minded. He's weak-minded in the novel. The Spanish soldiers lusted for gold and were devoutly Catholic; the Aztecs practiced human sacrifice and lived in the stone age. Just like we've all been taught.

In the meantime our hero has a book-long love affair with a cabaret dancer and a book-long faithful friend who suffers his triumphs and tribulations along with him. The tension comes from de Silva who follows him all over the place to give Pedro and us something to worry about, and also the pretty but empty-headed noble girl he left behind in Spain and whom he feels guilty about not marrying.

Again, this isn't a terrible read. But for adventure, Sabatini and G. M. Fraser are more entertaining; for fiction with this subject matter, Aztec, by Gary Jennings, is more imaginative; and for a strictly historical aspect, The History of the Conquest of Mexico, by Prescott, though a history, is frankly more exciting.

"The dream, not the realization; effort, not fruition; battle, not victory - these were life." -Fray Bartolome Olmedo (CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE)

The words of Father Olmedo fire the spirit of young Spanish nobleman Pedro de Vargas for glory, riches, fame, and honor in the New World in 1518. Falsely charged with the crime of heresy by The Dominican Inquisitor of Jaen, Father Ignacio de Lora, and the scheming and greedy aristocrat Diego de Silva, Pedro and his family are imprisoned and condemned to suffer unspeakable torture and certain death. From this exciting beginning of CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE we follow Pedro and his two closest friends Juan "Bull" Garcia (recently returned to Spain from the Indies with gold in his purse and adventure in his blood) and Catana Perez (a poor but beautiful dancer and servant girl at the Rosario Inn) as they leave the decadence and corruption of the Old World behind to explore the promise of the New World with Captain General Hernan Cortes and his small Company of Conquistadors. Along the way, from Cuba to the Yucatan Peninsula and then to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, they discover a strange world that is both enchanting and frightening, beautiful and savage, and forge the bond of friendship that will be severely tested in the coming years and will carry them through many harrowing adventures and confrontations with Aztec warriors and Spanish evildoers alike. This is an extremely well-written novel rich in history and full of excitement. I highly recommend it.

A few readers may be put off by the author's portrayal of the indigenous people of Mexico during the 1500s as being brutal and bloodthirsty. The Aztecs did practice human sacrifice by tearing the beating hearts out of their captors and then cannibalizing their corpses. One reviewer expressed a concern that Samuel Shellabarger condoned the thrashing of a wife by her husband. In the 16th century, women were considered to be chattel and fathers and husbands had the power of life and death over them. Mr. Shellabarger's novel brings to light the realities of the time.

We beg that you disregard ALL the other reviews on this book. CLEARLY these 'people' are dillusional, as they cannot see past Gwen Bistrow's pathetic attempt at a novel.
By definition CELIA GARTH = selfish, vain, overly confident, flirty, horrible morals (a bad example for any wholesome girl).
If you want to keep your daughter safe, we highly recommend that you stay AWAY from CELIA GARTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like some of the other reviewers, I read this when I was 12..actually re-read my mama's copies to pieces! It was out of print for the longest time, and you couldn't find it in libraries that much. It was so wonderful to see it in a Charleston bookstore (at about $50), and then to see it re-issued and available on Amazon. It's a great mixture of history, romance, great characters (did anyone else want to marry Luke?),and it's still one of my annual summer reads. The history is well-researched, and Bristow captures Charleston so well. Read this, and then go to Charleston. Immediately!

Gwen Bristow's Celia Garth may have been published in 1959, but it is truly a classic that is just as timely today. Charleston is always associated with the Civil War, but most Americans do not realize how much fighting went on in and around Charleston during the Revolution. In fact, there were more Revolutionary War battles in South Carolina than in any southern state.

In Celia Garth, we follow the life of a 20 year old seamstress. Celia goes back and forth between a Charleston townhouse and a plantation on the outskirts of town, and we receive a look at what it was like to live during the Revolution. The book ties in many historically documented facts including Francis Marion and his men, the British bombardment of Charleston, the siege of Charleston, British atrocities to plantations, the rebel spy network, actual battles and many famous military leaders. It is fascinating to read how Charlestonians were forced by Patriot troops to give up all their food supplies (except for rice), causing townsfolk to starve. Life was definitely not easy.

It is also fun to read about sites that are still in Charleston, and how they figured in the struggle. St. Michael's Church steeple was painted black to make it harder for British warships to see. Also, Patriots stored over 10,000 pounds of gunpowder in the basement of the Old Exchange building so that it would not fall into Loyalists hands. The British never did find it-even after they took control of the city and the Exchange Building.

The story itself is riveting, and I found myself staying up extra late to keep on reading. I couldn't wait to see what happened next. Although this was written with teenage girls in mind, don't let this be a deterrent. The 300 plus pages and the heavy dose of history make for extremely interesting reading. So, if you can get your hands on this classic, you've discovered a true treasure.

This is the tale of Celia Garth, a 20 year old woman trying to make a living as a seamstress in Charleston, South Carolina during the Revolutionary war. The author does a great job of setting up the scenes of the town and plantations, and the history of the time. We follow Celia and her friends through the seige of Charleston by the British, living through the constant shelling and lack of food until the final surrender.

At first, things seem normal after the surrender and Celia begins to build a new life, but tragedy strikes after the British go back on their promises and Celia must start life afresh. This time, while working as a seamstress she is also a bit of a "spy" for the colonials.

This was a wonderful story of love and courage, with a great dose of history thrown in. I don't know enough about the period to say how accurate it is, but I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in another century for a day or two. This is also a good choice for a younger reader, as the "love scenes", if you can call them that, are extremely chaste.

The book is out of print and readily available used, but I had no problem finding it at my local libary.

O.K., I've never before felt compelled to write a review in defense of a book, but I'm doing it now. Larry Brown's brief but nasty review of Gwen Bristow's "Celia Garth" as an immoral character is the most ridiculous thing I've ever read. Celia is as moral as they come! As a mother and as a Christian, I wouldn't hesitate to reccommend this book, or any of Gwen Bristow's books to my own daughters. In fact, I have. My older daughter has read them all, and my 16-year-old is reading them now. Celia Garth is probably the most moral of them all. I suspect that Mr. Brown never finished the book. A flirtatious smile at a good-looking soldier in the first few pages, and an incident a few pages later where mischievous Celia tries to imagine her battle-ax of an emloyer with no clothes on, are the only things in the whole book that I can imagine, (by a very great stretch of the imagination indeed) to be called immoral. And, yes, Celia, an intelligent young woman, realizes that she is pretty and that she is good at sewing, but I would not call her vain. She wants to be more than a mere apprentice, and struggles to get someone to notice her sewing talents. Perhaps Mr. Brown is one of those antiquated gentlemen who feel that Celia should have married rather than try to have a career. Give me a break. Celia does eventually manage to get a good job sewing for a wealthy but hard-to please woman, but the war is coming to Charleston, and she is in love with a soldier, so the career is on hold. Her romance with Captain Jimmy Rand of the militia is passionate enough to keep any woman reader happy yet chaste enough to suit any mom. They wait chastely to be married, even though she is alone in Charleston with only a maid for chaperone and he may die in the war. Now that's love! When their romance ends in tragedy at the hands of "Butcher" Tarleton and his Tory troops, Celia not has the courage to start over, but to use her resumed sewing job to help spy on the British and aid the American rebels in their struggle for freedom. At last she falls in love again, with Luke, a continental soldier serving under Francis Marion, "The Swamp Fox" . After being, yes, chastely married, she helps him send messages to Marion's men, even when she's pregnant and living with Tory relatives where the danger is very great. Cele Garth is an exciting and excellently written piece of historical fiction. I highly recommend recommend it. Ignore Mr. Brown and read it today!!!!!

I bought the version of T W Parnells book that came with two audio CDs. I had two weeks to prepare for my postal exam and would not have scored in the top 5 percent of my testing group without this excellant book. The audio practice test CD replicated the exact time and instructions of the real test. I went into the exam knowing exactly what to expect and had practiced all of the helpful test taking tips numerous times. I finished each section of the test before the time limit, giving me time to review my answers and correct any mistakes. I am now near the top of the list of eligible candidates for employment with my local post office. I strongly recommend buying the pencils too. Thanks Mr. Parnell and good luck to everyone waiting to take the test. Buy this book and you will do great. Gary Fetters

WHEN I RECEIVED THE LETTER FOR THE EXAME I STARTED A LITTLE SEARCH FOR BOOKS TO PREPARE MY SELF FOR WHAT WAS COMING, AT ONE POINT I HAD 9 BOOKS AT MY HOUSE BUT NONE OF THEM WAS JUST FOR THE 473 EXAME. I'M SO GLAD I SEARCHED ONLINE FOR THIS ONE, THE BOOK IS SO EASE TO UNDERSTAND AND THE CD YOU CAN PLAY ANYWERE YOU WANT, HALF OF THE BOOK IS EXAMES PREP LAID OUT JUST LIKE THE REAL ONES, YOU CAN TIME YOURSELF AND BE READY. I DID IT, THE EXAME WAS VERY EASE FOR ME AND I FINISH ALL THE QUESTIONS WITH TIME TO SPARE. GREAT BOOK!

This is a fantastic book filled with great information, tips and wonderful practice tests....IF you ever even get a chance to take the post office exam. I ordered this book as well as another post office book a few weeks after applying for the exam hoping to prepare. Well, it's been over three months, the books came and I am prepared...but I still haven't even heard word back when I will, and if ever will be scheduled to take the exam. I didn't know this before (the book even states it) but it can take many months, even up to a year or so to be scheduled for the exam after applying for it. Even AFTER the exam (and passing), it can take YEARS to even get an interview. That's even if you get selected and you haven't been thrown out or forgotten about. You may even have to take the test again (and go through the whole waiting process and exam AGAIN). Regardless, The book is great and is a wonderful help and is essential if you want to do well (preparing) for the exam. I wish I could give feedback on how it really helped me, but I don't know yet. I recomend this book, but you don't need to rush out and buy it right after applying for the exam. You won't need it that soon. It won't hurt, but if you do, you will have PLENTY of time to prepare.

How can I put this? I got the job!!! If you only buy one book this year, other than the new Harry Potter one obviously, then THIS is the book to buy. Of course I am assuming that you WANT to have a job with double the pay of any other entry level job, immediate full benefits, and job security out the "wazoo".

I used Mr. Parnell's book as an aid in preparing for the 473-c postal exam. I read it cover to cover, went through each of the practice exams, and found that my confidence and speed improved dramatically with each testing. After grading my practice exams my scores went from the high 80's to the high 90's. This book is a godsend!

When I went to take the real exam, I wasn't nervous; I was prepared! I found that I was completely at ease and that I was able to focus on the questions, rather than the jitters. Mr. Parnell's book is precisely the same format and question types that you will see on the current exam.

After receiving my score back from the post office (6 weeks is about normal), I had my first interview within a month. The interviewer informed me that my score was the highest (unadjusted for military service) that he had seen! Oh, did I mention, I got the job!!!

I was SO satisfied with this study guide, I'm now looking at the other study guides in preparation for advancement exams to help with promotions to higher paying positions as well.

Buy the book. The very first hour you work at your new job will pay for it twice over. How can afford not to?

This book is produced in three versions to suit your study preferences. These are:

The Original Postal Exam 473 & 473-C Study Guide -- This version is text only. It has reference material and sample exams with many test taking tips.

Complete Postal Exam 473 & 473-C Training Program with 2 Test Prep Audio CD's -- This is the same book, but two audio CD's read it to you while you follow along in the book. Using two senses, eyes and ears increase the retention of information.

New Postal Exam 473 & 473-C Computer-Based Course -- This is again the same book, but there is a CD that contains both test prep classes and realiztic practice exams, you'll need an internet ready PC with Windows to use this version.

If you want a job with the Postal Service as a Clerk, City Carrier, Mail Handler, etc. you have to take the 473 Exam. You MUST score high if you want a career in the Postal Service, and in order to score high you need this book. This study guide was the best investment I have ever made. Straightforward and to the point, very precise. This is THE one and only Postal Exam 473 study guide to purchase. Using this study guide, I achieved a very high score, and could not have done so without diligently using this guide by Mr. Parnell. The audio CD is just like the actual test. The most valuable part of this book is the section on Coding and Memory, the strategies presented for this section have to be the best you will find in any study guide on the market. This study guide will help you to achieve a top score if you use it diligently. In addition to using Mr.Parnell's study guide, I purchased his Speed Marking & Test Scoring Pencils, and they make all the difference in the world! When I took the test, other test takers spent unnecessary time coloring in the ovals on the answer sheet. With the special pencils I purchased, I filled in the ovals in half the time! Customer Service is also top notch, Mr. Parnell is very friendly and knowledgeable of this test and the Postal Service. If you want a career with the Postal Service, start by purchasing this study guide, use it diligently, and you will achieve the score you want!

I've enjoyed all of Cotton Smith's novels (Dark Trail to Dodge, Brothers of the Gun and Behold a Red Horse, etc.). His style is straightforward and action-packed drawing in the reader and keeping him entertained. But it's all the melancholia beneath the surface that really hits home; the uncertain morality, tormented and haunted characters where the past never quite lets go, and the drive to dig out a personal destiny.

I just read Dark Trail to Dodge after reading Cotton Smith's newest novel, Behold a Red Horse. Both westerns had great characters & stories! His books are perfect for any western lover -- or anyone who likes a fantastic read!

After reading all the great reviews on Dark Trail to Dodge, how could I not read it? It was great from page one. I'm a huge fan of Kirby Jonas books, and he'll always be my favorite--better than Louis L'Amour. But Cotton Smith is not far behind. With Cotton Smith and Kirby Jonas and maybe Elmer Kelton, you really don't need anyone else! If you like this book, try Legend of the Tumbleweed, by Kirby Jonas.

I really liked this book. I've read a lot of westerns, from Shane to you name it. This one ranks right up there with the best. John Checker is the lead character; he's a former Texas Ranger with the intriguing and surprising past. I can't wait to see who plays him in the movie! Maybe Tom Selleck -- or even Tom Cruise. Of course, years ago it would have had to be John Wayne. Read this one. You'll be glad you did.

If you enjoy cattle drive adventures, this is the master handbook. Nice little story too.

I couldn't put the book down from beginning to end. I was stirred by the lack of awareness I had about the tensions between Polish people and those who were of Jewish descent. So much so that it made me think about the levels of anti-Semitism that still exist today. It raised the issue of how we need to continue educating our children to be mindful of what they've gained through the pains of our ancestors and that they still bear a responsibility to learn and keep watch while also (as seen through Ellen's and Marek's relationship) stay open to others' plights.
The second emotion I had was the impact of the loss of living European ancestors on our newer generation. How much of our strength and humor have provided us backbone from the immigrants, and their Yiddish, as seen through the translations of Rafael's and Friedl's words that are lost to our children of today.
Finally, the meaning of beshert is fully appreciated as these three generations are left to individually and silently confront their faith and relationship with G-d.
Thank you Ms. Rosenbaum for a wonderful book. I hope you write others and will look for them.

Rarely do I come upon a book that is readable, lyrical,charming, and an example of good literature. Rosenbaum's book is one. Her novel will not be a challenge for the average reader. Yet, the strong reader will be able to enjoy the lyrical language and the various levels of meaning the book offers. We meet Itzik the patriarch, Nathan, the very assimilated American born Jew, Ellen, Nathan's daughter, Friedl, a spirit who can find no rest, Rafael, the last Jew in Zokof, and Marek, Ellen's Klezmer playing Polish boyfriend. The story opens with Itzik fleeing from Zocof after breaking Friedl's tombstone and ends by an attempt to reconcile Poland's terrible history of anti-semitism and its Jewish heritage through art. The author uses techniques of magical realism, Jewish mysticism, character soul searching, Yiddish cadences, Yiddish phrases and romance to take the reader on a wild ride. Friedl's spirit cannot rest until she fulfills the prophecy inherited by all Jewish women. She must pass down Jewish traditions and history to the next generation. With the ghost as a literary device the author reveals the importance of passing on one's history and especially an ethnic history to the next generation. So many immigrants tried to abolish their ethnicities upon landing on these shores. So much history was lost as recent immigrants tried to become "real Americans." With this novel the author is telling us that our immigrant histories are part of the American experience. As such they should be treasured and revered. I did not want this book to end. It is both an immigrant story and a holocaust story. It is a tale both of scholarship and performance, of curse and redemption. To call it a ghost story is an oversimplification of the role played by Friedl's spirit.

I really loved the family story behind this book. Every character was beautifully developed and compelling. The book has its own momentum, taking the reader from generation to generation, leaving you wanting to know more at the end of each chapter. I didn't want it to end - how about a sequel?

Mazel Tov! to Lisa Pearl Rosenbaum. This novel is a wonderful, thoughtful, finely woven, well-researched, beautifully-written read.
The stories, the characters, generational connections and variances, the mystical and the struggles all resonated with me. I especially related to the questions asked by Nathan and Ellen in their wrestling and the wisdom offered them.
A neighbor, who had a copy for her book group, loaned it to me. Wanting a copy of my own, I bought one the day after completing it.
Nancy Smiler Levinson, Beverly Hills, CA

My mother recommended this book. Said she couldn't put it down, so I bought a copy. I struggled a bit with the first chapter, but once the story got going I really got pulled in and also found that I couldn't put it down.
Maybe it helps to say that my father's family came from northern Poland, that I am the president of a landsmanschaft (organization of Jews who came from that particular area) and an amateur Jewish genealogist, and also administer the cemeteries for my landsmanschaft, so this story struck many personal chords for me.
It is very well written for a first novel, well produced, richly imagined. At times the dialogue becomes heavily didactic, but not so much as to detract from the overall thrust of the story.

Great book for reference and self study if you remember your circuit analysis and laplace transforms. Very detailed with out making ones eyes gloss over. Do wish it had a few more d examples but overall cant complain.

This book can be an excellent resource for any Analog Integrated Circuit Design Electrical Engineering student or practicing engineer. The book can assist in the modeling of IC devices such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors. It also sensibly covers the building blocks of analog integrated circuits: gain stages, output stages, level shifters, current sources and mirrors.

The reader is expected to have a general understanding of electronics, frequency-domain analysis procedures, and understand basic Pspice operations. The book generally covers enough material for a half-year of courses at the upper-division/graduate level although the book could certainly be useful for a single class.

The material generally starts out as basic and proceeds to a complex level. There are helpful figures and diagrams on nearly every page and the organization is generally sensible and intuitive. There are many worked examples and hundreds of end-of-chapter problems. The text is supported by a website that offers downloadable design projects, additional examples, and design software. Franco has done an admiral job at presenting a complicated subject.

Here's a brief description of SOME of the topics found in each chapter:

1) Basic amplifier concepts and arrangements are explored. Also covers negative feedback, the loop gain, and basic circuit analysis.

2) Current-to-Voltage & Voltage-to-Current Converters, Current, Difference, Instrumentation, and Transducer Bridge Amplifiers.

3) Active Filters. Transfer Function, 1st order, KRC, multiple-feedback, state-variable, audio, and biquad filters.

4) Filter Approximations, switched-capacitor, universal sc filters, and cascade design.

5) Low-input bias-current Op amps, low-input-offset-voltage Op Amps, Op Amp Circuit Diagrams, and Input offset Voltage.

6) Open and Closed loop response. Transient Response, Input and Output Impedances, and effect of Finite GBP on Filters and Integrator Circuits.

7) Noise Dynamics and Properties. Sources of Noise and Low-Noise Op Amps.

8) Stability problems. Stability of CFA Circuits and in Constant-GBP Op Amp Circuits. Internal and External Frequency Compensation.

9) Schmitt Triggers, analog switches, voltage comparators, and precision rectifiers.

10) Sine, Triangular, Sawtooth, and Monolithic Wave Generators. Also Multivibrators and V-F and F-V Converters.

11) Voltage References and Regulators. Switching, linear, and monolithic switching regulators.

12) Performance Specifications, D-A and A-D Conversion Techniques. Oversampling Converters and Multiplying DAC Applications.

13) Nonlinear Amplifiers. Phase-Locked Loops, Monolithic PLLs, Analog Multipliers. Log/Antilog and Operational Transconductance Amplifiers.

Mulling through some old reviews, I noticed that I left a technical error (more of a technical glossing-over) in my review of Franco's opus. It's high time I corrected it, since it's been there for more than a year, no doubt befuddling readers who thought they knew something about analog electronics. Specifically, I had said that the designation of the input terminals as '+' and '-' really made no difference: it's more reflective of convention, sciz. (assuming something other than a difference amplifier), the significant input network is attached to '-'--with '+' grounded--if the configuration is inverting, but to '+' (with '-' grounded) if the configuration is non-inverting. That's the truth, but it isn't the whole truth. When we examine border cases--those that tax the operational limits of the device, straying outside the "passband," analogically speaking (yes, I know, that typically refers to a frequency range, but here I use it to address an input voltage difference range)--the otherwise cosmetic or mnemonic choice of '+' or '-' terminal becomes rather more manifest. Remember that the amplifier actually amplifies the input voltage difference in the microscopic sense--even though it implements a semantically notable linear operation in the macroscopic sense--relying upon the feedback network to remanufacture an appropriate input voltage difference that maintains the nominal purpose of the circuit. When things go ape and the input voltage difference is much too high or, alternatively, much too low (and that may be a tough nut to crack), the output characteristic will be dependent upon what was connected to '+' and what, to '-'.

Now, wasn't that as clear as mud? Remember, I'm constrained to use words, and words alone, as my medium of communication, and, since I have only a fraction of a thousand words, I have only a fraction of a picture!

This is an excellent book on linear circuit design, the best I have read to-date. It covers feedback theory, ideal op amps, active filter design & most importantly practical op amp limitations. It also covers voltage regulators, voltage references, ADCs, DACs, op amp noise & more. What I liked most was the combination of mathematical circuit analysis & practical design. Too many books show useful circuits without bothering to explain anything about how they work. It also has plenty of exercises to tax the brain.

Really a top notch book on op-amps and almost anything you'd ever do with them. Has math where it's needed and rules of thumb where it isn't. Actually is just a great analog design book altogether. Really the definative text on the subject of designing with op-amps.

These stories set in Mr. Parkhill's classroom at the American Night Preparatory School for Adults ("English -- Americanization -- Civics -- Preparation for Naturalization") are wonderfully humorous and warm. They reflect a generous humanity and a keen ear for language in author Leo Rosten (1908-1997), who first wrote the stories for The New Yorker using the pen name Leonard Q. Ross.

When Rosten wrote the stories in the 1930s, the debate that had roiled American society over the high levels of immigration at the beginning of the century had ended with passage of the restrictive Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924. Readers of The New Yorker could well remember the rancor and the stereotyping of the debate.

Rosten countered the prejudice against immigrants by portraying Mr. Parkhill's students, drawn from several national and ethnic groups, as earnest learners eager to know about and join American society by first learning the English language.

When people from different cultures meet, there are bound to be some collisions. A dark side take on those meetings is the ethnic joke. The bright side is this book, finding humor in the encounters that all can smile at.

I read The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N as a teenager in the early 1960s. Though I do not recall negative attitudes about immigration in my family, school, or suburban New Jersey neighborhood in that decade, the book surely shaped my attitudes and feelings about immigrants and immigration in a positive way. Hyman Kaplan taught me immigrants make America a better and richer society.

Each time I look through the book now, I worry whether Rosten crossed any of our modern "PC" redlines that would cause it to be crossed off reading lists. The book's humor ("comic dialect" is the scholar's term) depends on the rendering of accents, not much used at present. I found one use of the N-word (misspelled, in accent, not in anger) by a student character. On the whole, however, the book stands up well.

I give copies of this book to friends who are ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers. Leo Rosten's own nights as an ESL teacher, while he was working on his Ph.D., gave him the inspiration for the stories.

The shape of our nation's immigration policy is certainly a licit issue for debate and disagreement. Current immigration has some different countours than in the 1930s. Some voices, however, get carried away and tip over into negative stereotyping. They should take a break, have a cup of coffee, read this book, and meet Mr. Kaplan.

-30-

Think you can read an uproariously funny book without laughing out loud? Think again. Adventures of an English-as-a-second-language class for new immigrants in 1950's America.

Having just begun teaching English As A Second Language to a group of Asian adults, a relative thought I might enjoy "The Education of Hyman Kaplan". The novel takes place entirely at the American Night Preparatory School for Adults. There under the tutelage of Mr. Parkhill, Hyman Kaplan, Miss Mitnick, Miss Caravello, Mrs. Moskowitz and an assortment of Jewish and Italian immigrants struggle with the complexities of the English language, anxious to master the language and learn about the history and culture of their newly adopted home. The irrepressible Mr. Kaplan takes center stage in the classroom with his singular logic in using the English language. Abraham Lincoln becomes Abram Lincohen, King George III of England is an autocrap, and Valley Forge becomes Velly Fudges. Kaplan conjugates the tense to die as "die, dead, funeral", and when talking of the contents of a newpaper he can't understand why he must say "it said", instead of "he said", since the paper is decidedly of the masculine gender. It's the Harold Tribune after all. This is a hilarious yet touching book. We are never laughing at Hyman Kaplan's linguistic foibles but with him, as we appreciate the struggles of all immigrants, those seventy years ago, or those today to come to terms with becoming Americans and learning the language that binds us together.

As a new ESL teacher, my husband thought I'd enjoy this book. H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N* is an irrepressible immigrant to the US, struggling to master English, but that doesn't stop him from communicating at every opportunity. Waves of malapropisms spoken with a thick Eastern European accent don't get in the way of his enthusiasm. Set in the 30's, this is a world where teachers and students are Mr., Mrs. and Miss, immigrants worked in garment factories, and all still believe in the American Dream. Even Mr. Parkhill, the god-like teacher, can't help but be infected by Mr. Kaplan's unique interpretations of the great works of English literature--the Shakespeare story was a classic. Definitely dated, certainly politically incorrect, these stories hail from a simpler, but maybe tougher time--Leo Rosten originally wrote under the name Leonard Ross. A lovely little collection of stories!

This book, along with its sequel, "The Return of H*y*m*a*n K*a*p*l*a*n," (and don't be fooled, those stars are important) is a beautiful work and one that I'm surprised hasn't been rediscovered by critics and readers alike. Originally published as a series of stories in a magazine, these stories were finally collected into book form and later combined with its sequel in a grand form called O, K*a*p*l*a*n, My K*a*p*l*a*n (which is now out-of-print, but worth reading if you find it in a library or rare book store, since it was edited and improved by the author, with new characters and stories).

The stories all revolve around a group of immigrant adults attending the American Night Preparatory School for Adults in New York City in the 1930s. Under the tutelage of the fastidious, but patient and kind, Mr. Parkhill, the book chronicles their challenges in learning the English language. This is in and of itself a masterpiece: Leo Rosten (who had to publish the stories under a pseudonym since he wrote them while living off a fellowship and did not want to let his professors know that he was working on totally unrelated research) has found humor in GRAMMAR!! He not only shows how difficult English is to master, but how irrational and arbitrary the grammatical rules are that we all, as students, desperately try to commit to memory. Moreover, he writes with an expert ear, hearing the subtle differences in the accents and common foibles of English speakers from various language backgrounds. The fact that these passages are life-out-loud funny (and not at all in the sense of laughing at any character's mistakes but at the English language itself for torturing non-native speakers so) is astounding enough.

But this is the story, however, of a true comic hero - Hyman Kaplan. Leo Rosten has created a character as complex and poignant as Shakespeare's Falstaff, or John Kennedy Toole's Ignatius J. Reilly. Hyman Kaplan is a force of nature, yet distinctly human -- irrascible, dogmatic, determined and yet sensitive, noble and joyous. He is a man who refuses to kow-tow to the rules and guidelines of the English language and who truly relishes the joys of wrestling with learning. Since his exuberance leads him into constant conflict with his fellow students, his character is one of the greatest literary devices ever devised by an author. The stars emblazoned in red, green and blue crayon that are part of his signature, only serve as the ultimate monogram, defining this character as one worthy of the ages.

While this book is about efforts by foreigners to assimilate as Americans, it also highlights the glories of America's immigrant, melting-pot past -- a heritage and tradition that is sadly rapidly being forgotten and lost in this modern globalized world. Moreover, with the advent of the politically correct era of hypersensitivity, it is likely that this book will never experience a renaissance of popular support that it richly deserves. This is a true treasure -- I discovered it as a teenager and have often enjoyed returning many times to visit with these charming, inspiring characters. I cannot recommend it enough!

A book that will never get dusty, always something to look up. Wonderful addition to my library and desk.

This book is a great tool for engineering students and expeienced engineers alike!

This book is a newer version to the one my father lent me while on my first internship. I recommend this book to any engineer, since you can find all the formulas you might ever need all in a nice pocket size book.

This a must have for all engineers, it contains the simplest to more complex formulae required for day to day engineering calculations & design.

The fun thing about this book is that it has everthing you learned (or should have learned) getting your Engineering degree. It's all there! It usually takes some time to sort thru what all the vaiables mean, and often you have to flip between look up tables, but it is so charming to find EVERYTHING in one spot in a book so small you can carry it in your front pocket.

This review mostly concerns the Enquiry. The Letter is primarily a defense of Hume's earlier Treatise of Human Nature, while his Abstract is an anonymous review of the Treatise. It strikes me as very funny, though not surprising, that Hume would review his own work. Funny because any author would give his right arm to get at least one favorable review when all the other critics are completely missing its point. Unsurprising because Hume was probably one of the only people alive at that time who could truly grasp all the facets of his radical philosophical claims.

The Enquiry was written after the Treatise. Hume, though he claimed the opposite, seems never to have really recovered from the blow he took from seeing his Treatise "fall dead born from the press." As a result, his Enquiry is far more cautious in the steps it takes. (For those of you who have read both, yes, I swear, Hume IS more cautious. Compare the claims.) A more robust philosophical stance is taken in his Treatise, while a more focused stance is taken in his Enquiry.

The Enquiry is mainly a work of epistemology and as such, scrutinizes our methods of acquiring knowledge. Making perhaps the most radical (and poignant) claim in all of modern philosophy, it posits, and supports, that there is NO causation, only conjunction. That, for example, when we see a glass drop and break, we cannot say we know gravity caused this (in the way we know two plus two equals four). All we see is constant conjunction. The connection is lacking, i.e., it is not inconceivable that the glass wouldn't bounce, turn to ash, or dissolve into sand (the way it is inconceivable that two plus two equals five). This, in effect, nullifies all the so called "laws" of nature that are formed by science. (Note that this does not state that there are no laws of nature, just that we really can never make the claim that we ever really know there are laws of nature.)

This could be thought of as the philosophical shot heard round the world. Agree or disagree, Hume must be answered. Hume has historically been charged with creating an intellectual and philosophical cul-de-sac with his skepticism. To paraphrase Bertrand Russell, Hume makes a claim which none can refute, but at the same time one which none can accept. In effect, Hume's philosophy seems to bind the human mind, stopping its journey of discovery and ultimately accomplishing what his predecessor, John Locke, set out to do, i.e., map the extent of human knowledge.

However, where one may see Hume's philosophy as shackles and fetters in the search for truth, one could also equally see his philosophy as liberation. Implicit in his philosophy is the idea that ANYTHING is possible. There are no shackles, no fetters, no limits; only those that we create for ourselves. Our limits are self-imposed, constructs of our observance (and inference) of connection. In this way Hume appears in the same light as the Eastern masters seeing that reality is not what we have (through experiential knowledge) believed it to be. It is something much more wondrous. In Zen, our causal thinking is the only barrier between the person and enlightenment. Hume could be seen as implying that when the idea of causality is removed, with only conjunction remaining in its place, the state of true knowledge and wisdom (true zen) is achieved.

This, of course, is only idle speculation. But it is stated so as to demonstrate the richness and immense possibility Hume's philosophy possesses when seen in the correct light. Instead of saying, "Nothing is certain," after reading Hume, one can say, with equal validity, "Anything is possible." The first statement approaches philosophy with despair. The second approaches it with a sense of childlike wonder and hope at the immense possibilities of reality. It approaches life as a beginning, not an ending. It approaches life as the philosopher approaches it.

If one accepts the methodology of Descartes in applying scepticism to reason and the senses, in effect denying the existence of all things but a "thinking thing," two entailments are logically consequent: Either Berkeley's idealism or Hume's scepticism. I don't accept Descartes' starting point, so I find the entailments confused and incoherent. But if one does accept Descartes' starting point, then the two extremes must be heeded. If for no other reason than observing the absurdity of either man's conclusions, it is valuable to read both entailments. But in their confused process, both men bring certain salient features to light.

Hume accepts Descartes starting point, making it his own. But to Descartes method, he adds Pyrrhonist scepticism: That all reason leads to infinite regress, and that all sensations (or impressions) can not be trusted.

Hume begins with the conclusion that all sense perception is either an impression or idea. Even memory and imagination, two other faculties of the mind, are conflated into these two species of perceptions, as impressions. Their difference is one of degree (vivacity), not of kind. Hence, Hume is the author of what is known as the "Copy Principle." Instead of unmediated, direct perception through the ordinary senses, all perception is mediated by the imagination into impressions and ideas. From this follows certain resemblances, contiguity, and causal associations between impressions or ideas, and from this association we develop a sense of self. But even the notion of causality here is one of implied inference, not of actual inductive reason. Hume denies there is any real causality that can be known, although we operate "as if" we infer cause from effect. Even probability is reduced to a mere association of ideas and/or impressions; because neither reason (which always leads to infinite regress) or senses (which can always be deceived) can actually be true. The Enquiry also treats of miracles and the testimony of others derisively; but don't we rely on the testimony of others who claim the earth is round rather than flat, just as we rely on others who testify to miracles in a byegone era? After all, few of us have direct experience with a spherical earth (Popper makes this observation).

Hume's method incorporates five kinds of scepticism: (i) methodological, (ii) conceptual, (ii) nomological, (iv) explanatory, and (v) reductive empiricism. His commitment to scepticism is not without some capitulation. While he denies absolute causality and inductive inference and probability in an actual senses, he relies on them for practical purposes. One can't remain a pyrrhonist for long; some elements of reason and some degree of confidence in impressions is necessary for ordinary life. But if one starts with Descartes' starting point, extreme scepticism is a necessary entailment. Which, after seeing Hume deny so much intuition, is it really worth starting with Descartes' scepticism? Answering that question is what makes Hume interesting.

David Hume was perhaps the leading light in the Empiricist movement in philosophy. Empiricism is seen in distinction from Rationalism, in that it doubts the viability of universal principles (rational or otherwise), and uses sense data as the basis of all knowledge - experience is the source of knowledge. Hume was a skeptic as well as empiricist, and had radical (for the time) atheist ideas that often got in the way of his professional advancement, but given his reliance on experience (and the kinds of experiences he had), his problem with much that was considered conventional was understandable.

Hume's major work, 'A Treatise of Human Nature', was not well received intially - according to Hume, 'it fell dead-born from the press'. Hume reworked the first part of this work in a more popular way for this text, which has become a standard, and perhaps the best introduction to Empiricism.

In a nutshell, the idea of empiricism is that experience teaches, and rules and understanding are derived from this. However, for Hume this wasn't sufficient. Just because billiard balls when striking always behave in a certain manner, or just because the sun always rose in the morning, there was no direct causal connection that could be automatically affirmed - we assume a necessary connection, but how can this be proved?

Hume's ideas impact not only metaphysics, but also epistemology and psychology. Hume develops empiricism to a point that empiricism is practically unsupportable (and it is in this regard that Kant sees this text as a very important piece, and works toward his synthesis of Empiricism and Rationalism). For Hume, empirical thought requires skepticism, but leaves it unresolved as far as what one then needs to accept with regard to reason and understanding. According to scholar Eric Steinberg, 'A view that pervades nearly all of Hume's philosophical writings is that both ancient and modern philosophers have been guilty of optimistic and exaggerated claims for the power of human reason.'

Some have seen Hume as presenting a fundamental mistrust of daily belief while recognising that we cannot escape from some sort of framework; others have seen Hume as working toward a more naturalist paradigm of human understanding. In fact, Hume is open to a number of different interpretations, and these different interpretations have been taken up by subsequent philosophers to develop areas of synthetic philosophical ideas, as well as further developments more directly out of Empiricism (such as Phenomenology).

This is in fact a rather short book, a mere 100 pages or so in many editions. As a primer for understanding Hume, the British Empiricists (who include Hobbes, Locke, and Berkeley), as well as the major philosphical concerns of the eighteenth century, this is a great text with which to start.

Hume, I and many others think, was the greatest philosopher to have written in English, and this is the book to pick up if you want to introduce yourself to Saint David's distinctive brand of classical empiricism. This is a must-read for anyone with even a passing interest in philosophy, and it's hard for me to see how anyone interested in the history of modern thought can avoid reading this book or the corresponding sections of Hume's Treatise.

As is well-known, the Enquiry concerning Human Understanding was intended as an encapsulation and popularization of the views Hume defended in Book I of his magnum opus, A Treatise of Human Nature. Hume assumed that book's commercial failure could be accounted for by its length, difficulty, and lack of accessibility, and so, being a man who desired literary fame, he hoped to acquire commercial success by presenting the same ideas in a more appealing and accessible manner. Unfortunately, it seems Hume misunderstood what the literati of his day were looking for in a philosophical treatise. For the Enquiry, like the Treatise before it, didn't bring him the fame he sought. Still, Hume did understand what goes into writing excellent philosophical prose, and consequently this book is a much easier read than Book I of the Treatise. Indeed, this book constitutes an excellent introduction to Hume's thought, and, except for maybe Berkeley's Three Dialogues, I can't think of another primary source that would serve as a better introduction to classical British empiricism.

Now, let's get to the ideas here. Hume, like the other classical empiricists, was primarily concerned with the psychological question of the origin of our concepts. About the answer to this question, the empiricists were all agreed--our concepts are furnished by experience, which includes both sensory experience and introspection (i.e., the experience of our own mental states). And the empiricists also agreed about the way we can justify our beliefs. Some beliefs are true (or false) in virtue of the ideas they contained, and we can know their truth (or falsity) simply by thinking about them; other beliefs are true (or false) in virtue of how the external world is, and we can know their truth (or falsity) only by drawing on our experiences of the world. According to Hume, all substantial conclusions about the world fall into this second category. That is, the truth (or falsity) of all substantial claims about the existence and nature of things in the external world can be discovered only by checking those claims against the evidence of our senses.

The traditional way of placing Hume within the story of empiricism goes something like this. Hume takes up the empiricism of Locke and Berkeley and pushes it to its logical conclusion. Whereas Locke and Berkeley hadn't been wholly consistent empiricists, Hume, the true believer, demonstrates that classical empiricism leads to a pretty thoroughgoing skepticism. Since he's wholly convinced of the truth of his empiricist premises, Hume is willing to accept the skepticism that goes along with them. However, those who aren't convinced of that his empiricism is obviously correct think that Hume has actually demonstrated the implausibility of his empiricism. If this is where empiricism leads, they think, then it's clear that we need to reject empiricism. Indeed, some, like Thomas Reid, view Hume's arguments as constituting a reductio ad absurdum of his sort of empiricism. On this interpretation, Hume's philosophy essentially presents a dilemma for all future thinkers: abandon empiricism, or accept empiricism along with Humean skepticism.

But a different view of Hume, one of Hume as proposing a wholly naturalistic account of the human mind, has recently emerged as a competitor to the general conception of Hume's place within philosophy sketched in the previous paragraph. This interpretation downplays Hume's skepticism and emphasizes his professed intentions to provide a positive account of the operation of the human mind that appealed to nothing beyond the evidence of our senses. According to proponents of this interpretation, Hume is most interested in a description of the operation of the human mind. He's describing what human nature allows us to know and what it doesn't allow us to know. Furthermore, he argues that our nature is such that, where it fails to provide us with the resources to acquire the knowledge we might want, it provides us with a natural habit of forming the right conclusions anyway. Even though our nature limits our knowledge of the world, it ensures that we possess the habits of mind needed to make our way in the world. Hume dubs all these habits of mind "custom."

If this view is correct, then Hume has abjured many of the normative aims of traditional epistemological inquiry. He isn't attempting to show how we can answer a skeptic or why we have good reason to believe what we think we know. Instead, he wants us to stand back from our everyday beliefs and think about the natural processes that result in them. How, exactly, do our minds operate? How do we come to think what we do about the world? Hume thinks that this sort of inquiry will lead us see that, at some point, the explanation of why we think what we think reaches certain brute facts about the operation of the human mind. When we reach these points, there is nothing more to be said. We simply can't help thinking in these ways, and we lack the resources to demonstrate that these ways of thinking constitute an accurate way to represent the operation of the external world. And, Hume claims, it turns out that many of the fundamental elements of our conception of the world--the belief that things stand in causal relations to one another, the belief that we can know that there is a world outside our minds, the belief the future will resemble the past--end up not being open to ratification by experience. With respect to beliefs of these sorts, we ultimately have to appeal to custom in order to explain their existence and popularity. Hume, then, can be seen as demolishing the pretensions of reason in order to make room for a wholly naturalistic account of human thinking.

First I would like to commend the excellent review of this book by CT Dreyer in which he correctly shows how Hume extended the empiricism of Locke and Berkeley to the point where skepticism seemed our only honest way of thinking about our knowledge of the world. Hume's questioning of induction, of how we can be sure tomorrow will be like today , his questioning of how we can trust our senses to know the outside world, his questioning of how we can hold our world logically together when analysis reveals that there is no necessary connection between ' cause' and 'effect' in everyday life action means he wakened not only Kant from his dogmatic slumber but Philosophy itself from the sense that it will provide absolute understanding.
Hume is a very clear writer. I remember reading the famous billiard ball account of causality in which our common sense view of ' before' and ' after' is questioned and taken apart. I believe Hume says after this account, something to the effect and ' still when we leave the room we leave by the door and not by the window'. A friend of mine in this class when the class ended opened the window ( on the ground floor ) and went out that way.
This is difficult and great philosophy. I do not pretend to understand it or its implications fully. A test of the mind and a necessary read for anyone who would know Western Philosophy.