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For anyone who wants to understand the origins of Christianity, MACCABEE is essential reading. Rubenstein tells the story in a meaningful, understandable, and entertaining way; and yet this book pulls no punches. Wow! Some terrific book!

MACCABEE is a remarkable excursion through a bloody time in Jewish history....one of the...most enjoyable books I have ever read....Rubenstein [has a] remarkable feel for the rhythm of language....I could happily quote this book...verse after verse.
--Donald H. Harrison, "Jewish Sightseeing" (jewishsightseeing.com, January 7, 2005.

Maccabee: An Epic In Free Verse is an astounding modern-day epic poem based upon the the Biblical books of the Maccabees. Praising the valiance of those who resisted tyranny, as well as condemning the murder and slaughter of oppressors, Maccabee presents the violence of the Old Testament saga in plain terms, without glossing over atrocities committed. Of especial note are the comments about people who strove to comfort themselves by claiming that those who suffered and died were martyrs, when they were in fact murder victims and Torah law forbids human sacrifice. A moving and powerful way to experience a bloody chapter in history. The children of Israel kindle lights / for eight days each year / during the holiday of Hanukah / to celebrate the rededication of the Temple, / their survival as a people, / and the rededication of their lives / to justice, liberty, and peace. // There is a light / within the righteous / and courageous spirit / that burns longer than eight days. / It burns forever.

I loved this book! I did not realize the important contribution of the Maccabees to Western civilization until I read this book. I did not know that people were fighting for freedom of religion as far back as the second century B.C. Howard Rubenstein has told the story beautifully.

From 1982 to his death in 1995, Murray Rothbard wrote a monthly column for the Ludwig von Mises Institute's newsletter, The Free Market. In these columns - which are collected here - Rothbard commented on the economic affairs and policies of the day. While these pieces generally use certain current events as the starting point, Rothbard used these events as a springboard to discuss Austrian economics. Taken as a whole, they provide an excellent introduction to economics from the Austrian school.

This book also contains a few unpublished pieces. The best is Rothbard's analysis of the 1994 elections. As usual, Rothbard gets to the crux of the issues involved, dealing with the characters whose actions (often behind the scenes) were decisive. Reading this piece reminded me of how much we lost in Murray's death - not just a brilliant theoretician, but a man whose comments on the events of the day were a constant source of illumination. Make sure you also get THE IRREPRESABLE ROTHBARD, his collection of essays from the Rothbard-Rockwell report.

This is a great book to fill the void if you are lacking in free market economics. Murray Rothbard, a profound Austrian Economist, wrote most of these articles in the Free Market I believe. Each article deals with certain issues and policies. He uses rational thought and logic to come to a free market solution. This book can be read within a matter of days, depending on how fast you want to read it. And you don't need to have a degree in economics to be able to understand the literature. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to gain insight into economics, especially free market economics.

Murray Newton Rothbard tragically ceased to be "the State's greatest _living_ enemy" when he died in 1995. But his thought lives on in this posthumous collection, mostly drawn from his monthly essays for _The Free Market_ between 1982 and 1995.

These essays cover a wide range of topics, from the welfare state to Clintonomics to fiat money to U.S. intervention in the Middle East -- and Rothbard is uniformly sharp, clear, incisive, and witty wherever he turns his pen.

This collection should also be of interest to those of Rothbard's readers who have heard that he somehow changed his views near the end of his life; the fact is that Rothbard was as strongly laissez-faire and libertarian in his later years as he had ever been.

Some of his readers had simply failed to recognize that the earlier Rothbard was not at all "libertine" but socially quite conservative; they were therefore surprised that he found anything good to say about Pat Buchanan (as he does here, several times) or against allowing illegal aliens to have access to the vast machinery of the welfare state (as in a passage regarding California's Prop. 187 in the book's final essay, a previously unpublished commentary on the November 1994 elections).

As the essays in this volume make clear, it was those readers, not Rothbard, who were guilty of inconsistency. Rothbard was uncompromisingly and consistently devoted to liberty throughout his entire career; he simply did not, as some of his readers have done, confuse antifederalism with moral nihilism.

Also, the penultimate essay provides an overview of the history of the Ludwig von Mises Institute (Auburn, AL), of which Rothbard was Academic Vice President until his death. By the time readers reach this essay, they will be unsurprised that, when Austrian economics sprang again to life in the 1980s and 1990s, it was wearing a rumpled jacket and a bow tie.

I liked this book because it tries to fill in the gap in the free-market literature of today. I find too many free-market many books on general topics like taxes, education, antitrust, money, and economics in general. However, I like to see real-world opinions of a noted libertarian on topics of the day. This collection is just that. Here, I can see how Rothbard applied his fundamental beliefs and knowledge to the contemporary news stories. The essays range from 1982 to 1995. I can compare his views with views of other commentators, both leftists and conservatives. It's too sad he did not live through all the Clinton years, I'm sure he'd have had much to say. I learned much from these short essays because they _are_ short and to the point.

Greatest book there is, best time ever spent. Go buy it

This is a prodigiously researched and exceptionally well-written history of manhood in America -- something every man should read, and something every man COULD read, given the author's engaging, accessible writing style. I'm enormously impressed by the wealth of information contained in it and the author's wide-ranging understanding of American history, culture and popular culture. When you read this, one realizes the historical precedent, for one thing, of electing presidents of limited capacity. This is a seriously good book.

I found Michael Kimmel's book to be a fabulous portrayal of the roots of American sex roles. He uses 3 categories of manhood to describe American men: The Heroic Artisan, Genteel Patriarch and the Self-Made Man. What is very interesting is that he explains, with excessive evidence, how business interests have effectively devalued the latter 2 models, leaving the Self-Made Man as the only thing for American men to strive for. Even more interesting, is the way he documents what this ideal does to the marginalized; minorities, women, immigrants, and working class men. Fortunately, he disagrees with Robert Bly about the need for men to run off into the woods and bond-men have been doing that for years. Instead, he calls on men to embrace feminist philosophy as they (feminists) are not man-haters, but those who really love men, because they "love us enough to believe that we can change." All in all, this is a great book for all men and women who are uncomfortable with gender roles in today's society and who want to learn where they came from. This book truly provides real hope for men.

This is a very interesting historical survey of American manhood from the early American Republic to the present day (at the time of last publication). Kimmel draws from a variety of sources to illustrate how ideas, images, and events shaped and were shaped by a continuing construction of a unique American understanding of masculinity. I understand that it is currently out of print, but I've heard rumors of a new printing fairly soon. If this is the case, then I heartily recommend this book to those interested in gender studies or cultural history. Even if you're simply interested in historical ideas of manhood or how current ideas of gender roles are in fact historically- based, this is a book for you.

Service was exccellent. Exactly the book with the exact description was recieved, with-in excellent time frame. Great work!

I use this book in my television production class and I must say it is a great book. It is easy to read and easy to understand. The photos and up to date articles make it even better! A+ for this book!

This book has been very helpful and interesting. I teach Communications at a Community college, and this book will be a great addition to the fall curriculum. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in a good communications book. I would also like to thank djtom33; the book I bought from him was in excellent condition and was delivered swiftly.

This book is the best text book I have seen in years. With easy and fun to read chapters, color photos and the CD aide, you can't go wrong with this book. Wheather you are using it for a class or just want to learn about Mass Media, this is the book for you.

Expertly and knowledgeably written by Will Marshall (an experienced businessman whose corporate and financial expertise includes twenty years as Treasurer of the 2.5 billion Nalco Chemical Company), Money Ain't Free: The True Cause Of The Crisis In Corporate Responsibility is a hands-on, insider look on the real causes and possible solutions to modern-day crises in corporate fiscal responsibility. Portraying the financial woes of corporations as a far more complex problem than simply the blind greed of a few highly placed individuals, Money Ain't Free is a down-to-earth guide portraying its concepts via example for ease of comprehension. Informed and informative, Money Ain't Free is very highly recommended reading for non-specialist general readers wanting a more complete and comprehensive understanding of the current and continuing crisis in corporate management -- and what can be done about it.

The book provides useful insight into the motivations of management, advisors, accountants and other professionals. By "following the money", one can appreciate the motivation of individuals who can impact valuation and modify their approach to investing accordingly. The book is written in a conversationalist style that allows the layperson to stay engaged. A good, thought-provoking read.

THIS BOOK IS EASY TO READ AND OFFERS A FRESH APPROACH TO EVALUATING THE PERFORMANCE OF A PUBLIC COMPANY.IT IS A MUST READ FOR ANY INDIVIDUAL TRYING TO EVALUATE HOW TO INVEST THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY IN THE STOCK MARKET.THE AUTHOR POINTS OUT HOW OUR CURRENT ECONOMIC METRICS DO NOT PROPERLY EVALUATE MANAGEMENTS PERFORMANCE AND AS SUCH CAN MISLEAD INVESTORS.THE BOOK PROVIDES EASY TO USE METRICS FOR COMPANY PERFORMANCE AND MANAGEMENT EVALUATION.

I enjoyed reading Will Marshall's "Money Ain't Free: The True Cause of the Crisis in Corporate Responsibility". It is thought provoking, timely, and educational. Part of the book outlines the problems with basic financial measurement systems and financial "distractions" and how those problems have created an environment in which recent financial scandals can take place. It argues for changes in those measurement systems and a new financial report - the "Valuation Statement" which would help investors more easily evaluate corporate performance. On this level, the book is a call to action for change in corporate governance and oversight. What takes the book to another level is Marshall's application of the lessons of Enterprise Value and their use in the selection of stocks. The basic premise is if you can calculate the Enterprise Value of a company and its projected rate of growth, you can identify undervalued - and overvalued - stocks with a much higher degree of reliability than using conventional methods. Unlike many books on finance, Money Ain't Free is written for the non-finance person, using a conversational style. The style may take a little getting used to, but the book is very readable. Both finance and non-finance people would benefit from the book. I would recommend it both to people who want to understand current events in the market and to those who are looking for tools to help them invest in the stock market.

More Than A Label: Why What You Wear Or Who You're With Doesn't Define Who You Are by teenager Aisha Muharrar is an informative examination of teenaged society's tendency to label and pigeonhole one another into categories like "jock", "geek", "preppy", and so on. A survey of more than 1,000 American teens offers insight into how teenagers across America think and tend to automatically label one another. Various chapters address what labels are, how they can make people feel, and how one can break the label habit and help others do the same. The central message of More Than A Label is "Labels don't define you. YOU define you." It is a message that young people today desperately need to hear. More Than A Label is strongly recommended for high school and community library self-help and social issues collections.

So you're thinking about reading more than a label? I ask you one question.
>>Why havent you already read it?
This book is a must read for everyones list. After reading the first chapter, your eyes will have been opened. You will see the impact that labels have had on so many individuals, and on our society collectively.
My suggestion to everyone; pick up a copy of this book, read it, and learn something from it. We all have a long way to go, but this book is the key to a step in the right direction. Spread the word!

I suppose I must be a teen at heart because I truly enjoyed this book, "More Than a Label." Teen author Aisha Muharrar does an outstanding job in making one stop and think
of all the times we, as individuals, label each other and why!

Giving teens input from their peers, the author shares a survey that more than 1,000 teens from across America took part in, as they explored labeling and what it meant to them. How they felt being labeled a Geek, Freak, Jock, just to name a few. Quite an eye opener!

She breaks her book down into three parts:
"What's in a Label?", "How Labels Make People Feel.", and "What You Can Do About Labeling." In each section she tells others experiences, asks the reader questions and
interacts with you, the reader. Very good job at making one think about what they are reading!

I not only recommend this for teens, but feel adults would benefit from this read, as well. After all, do we stop labeling because we turn 21? I think not!

A book that will make you know that you are more than a label, and why. Good job Ms. Muharrar, I hope to review other works by you in the future.

My mom had me read this book for her since she might be selling it in her store. I'm one of those people that doesn't go with the crowd & my friends are the same way. This book has a really great message in it and I agree with pretty much everything she says. I bet if every high school person read this book, I bet they'd have a better understanding that labels aren't everything. This book is really good & I'd recommend it to pretty much every teenager on the planet!!

This cookbook is a must-have for any holiday season. Has superb, easy to follow recipes and ideas and has some fun things you can do with your kids. The Peppermint Cheesecake and Reindeer cookies were a very big hit at our holidays and there are several more I can't wait to try.

Mr Foods christmas is great for starting traditions, and making the holiday fun. It is easy to read and interesting all the way through. you can't put it down till you've searched it out to the end !

Mr Foods christmas is great for starting traditions, and making the holiday fun. It is easy to read and interesting all the way through. you can't put it down till you've searched it out to the end !

There are two things that really captured my attention in this book, one is the simplicity of the recipes and two is the presentation of the final dish. The pictures in this book made me want to try the recipes right away. I enjoyed reading this book in July and I know it will be invaluable for that HUGE family dinner on December 25 (what possessed me to volunteer? ), not to mention bake sales, kids' school parties, and holiday entertaining. It's terrific!

After writing for two newspapers in the greater Los Angeles area, I moved to Yuma and was called to be on a five week jury trial about a man who alledgedly murdered his wife.
The opening statements were so bizarre, I was captivated at once and knew that I had to write about the case. And so it was that I took copious notes that were taken away from me at the end of the trial! I felt that it should be public information at that point and was miffed to say the least! After three years of not getting it off my mind, I decided to go to the Clerk of the Superior Court's office and begin to take notes from the transcripts. I gained insights that the jury wasn't privy to. I also obtained a copy of the huge police report. Just taking notes took me six months as I didn't have a lap-top computer at the time.
So after about chapter 13 had been written, I became seriously ill and was diagnosed with a brain tumor and severe electrolyte embalance. I was in the ICU for eleven days and the hospital a month. I was like a three year old when I got out. I didn't know my husband or children at first. I couldn't remember words. I was brain damaged for two years and a doctor told me it was permanent. I knew that after all the years of college, it was a great loss, as I'd always valued my knowlege most of all.
Finally, after two years, my brain seemed to re-route itself and much of my long-term memory came back. It's been a long road and difficult to finish the book, now that I'm fighting spelling problems and typing problems that I never had before. I have amnesia for 2003 and some of 2004. Just two days ago I figured out that I got out of the hospital four years ago instead of five, like I thought, which makes the pets younger than I thought, but somehow I'm still the right age! So time is still difficult for me and short-term memory loss is embarrassing.
Despite my problems, I am getting so many compliments about the book that are so heart-warming. It's nice to know that people can relate to everything that I wrote. Some have said that they felt like they were there on the jury too. I even got compliments and quotes from one of the prosecutors who wanted to know why I changed his name! He even bought a book for his dad too.
I was, according to the doctor, "just hours away from dying" when I arrived in emergency and happy to have come back to this world to finish writing my book for people who have enjoyed reading it. And those of you who are pestering me for the next one, I'M WORKING ON IT! Best Wishes, Cher

'Murder by Gravity?' is a true crime drama that captures ones imagination and keeps one turning pages long into the night. The cast of characters is so strangely interwoven that it leaves the reader with questions that only real life is capable of presenting. A thoroughly enjoyable read, I find myself looking forward to her next offering.

I think the book is well written and the characters facinating. However, not the type I would invite home to tea. I honestly felt as though I was sitting in the jury box. I do recommend it to any one who enjoys Ann Rule and true crime stories. The story delivers all that's promised in the blurb

This is a perfect murder mystery. I was engrossed by this book from beginning to end. It was hard to believe it was a true story. Just the fact that one person could do that to another! Can't wait till it's made into a movie. Looking forward to her next book. She's a wonderful writer.

The format is fun for my daughter to record her current likes, dislikes and activities. By having a guideline and "fill ins" it helps prompt her about what things might be fun to read about when she is much older.
Its well made and she is enjoying it very much.

I am 9 years old and I got this book for Christmas. I think it's great! I loved laying out all of my pictures and finding a place for each one. It's so fun to be able to put all my photos from the past into one place. The pages hold places for family vacations, favorite T.V. stars, awesome friends, and the Hall of Shame where just plain bad pictures go. This scrapbook is certainly high on the list of my favorite things I got for Christmas.

My daughter received this scrapbook for her 8th birthday. She absolutely loves it! She goes to bed working on it every night. She can't put it down. It's a great gift for any child. I just purchased several more copies to give as gifts.

I know that a lot of my friends, including me, would love to have scrapbooks that are actually WORTH looking at. We've seen moms do it but we never seem to do it just right. This scrapbook was great because it provides so much for you. You don't have to spend hours cutting things, like trees or schools, out of paper because it is there for you! I wish they could've made it longer, but it is still a fantastic gift. All you do is provide pictures and information! The rest is there. They even have stickers! This is definately a great gift. I bought it for my friend's birthday and I ended up going back and getting another one-for myself! Buy this and you, or the person you are giving it to, will NOT be dissapointed.

It often amazes me that most students get out of high school with no appreciation of how science is done or how difficult it is to extract information from nature. In James Powell's book, "Mysteries of Terra Firma: The Age and Evolution of the Earth" these themes are repeated again and again as we learn how difficult it was to get away from Lord Kelvin's 20-100 million year estimate of the earth's age, escape the idea that the continents were stable and did not move, and counter the view that asteroids could not have caused the moon to be ejected from the earth. A similar debate is now raging over global climate change, but eventually all of these arguments fall to the weight of evidence. Now (as Powell says) we know that Lord Kelvin was wrong and all of the modern estimates for the earth's age are concentrated around 4.5 billion years. We know that sea-floor spreading, continental motion, and volcanoes and earth quakes, are all tied together by convection in the earth's mantle. We also know that many asteroids and comets have struck the earth, other planets and our moon, and that several caused great disruptions, including separating materials from the planet struck as was the likely case with our own moon. This was brought closer to home by the spectacular impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy's on the atmosphere of Jupiter, an event who's resulting marks on Jupiter's clouds could be observed (as I did) easily with a ten-inch telescope.

On my cabinet I have a rock from South Africa dated at 3.5 billion years. The depth of that long corridor of time is truly difficult to even comprehend, but the secret of this little rock was one of those hard-won from nature. The history of that struggle is exactly the story we need to teach in order to make science understandable to young people. Powell's book is a good place to start.

James Powell has a rare talent for explaining the concepts of science while making the story fresh and exciting. As in his previous book, Night Comes to the Cretaceous, Powell explores the revolutions in our understanding of the Earth's history that took place during the 20th century. Here he selects the three really big discoveries that transformed our view of the world on which we live: dating the Earth (the discovery of deep time), developing the theory of plate tectonics, and recognizing the role of impacts by comets and asteroids that shape the surfaces of both the Earth and the other planets and satellities. I found this to be one of the best books about science that I have read in recent years -- factually accurate yet crafted with the skill of an adventure story.

Mysteries of Terra Firma: The Age and Evolution of the Earth written by James Lawrence Powell is a very well-written, cogent, lucid, and extremely lively book that is about the age of the Earth. Through discoveries in deep time, tectonics and extraterrestrial impacts, the mysteries of time, drift and change have established with admirable clarity how geologists came to discover the true nature of the Earth.

This book is a story of three parts... time, drift and change these three profound stories have affected the Earth and life as we know it today. Without knowledge is these three disciplines the true nature of our Earth would still elude us.

Have you ever asked yourself, "How old is the Earth, the Universe? How firm the the Earth? How do meterorites affect the Earth? Well, this book takes on these tough questions and gives us some startling answers.

First, time... How can we understand the ground on which we walk, or how that ground holds the key to the greatest secerts of deep space time. Lord Kelvin and Ernst Rutherford helped set the stage for the calculations for the solution of the age of the Earth. When they were finished a number 4.5 billion years of geologic time was the answer... the universe is 13.5 billion years old, enough time for our solar system to die and another to be reborn. If this were all condensed to a 24 hour clock, man would only be found on the very last second.

Second, drift... Without drift, life would no exist. What the author is talking about is plate tectonics or continential drift. Believe it or not this theory was not accepted when first proposed, by a German meteorologist and polaer explorer Alfred Wegener, espicially in the petroleum industry. So, how firm is Terra Firma... well that depends upon where your perspectives lay... but for all intents and purposes, yes the Earth moves.

Third, chance... Throughout geologic time meteorites have been bombarding everything in the solar system. From a grain of sand to a mountain-sized meteorite have flown through space, struck the Earth, killed the dionsaurs and almost everything else on Earth, leaving a very small mammal the size of a hamster as our ancester. Powell says, "The chance of that happening again is essentially zero."

Ernst Mayr says much same thing, "...highly intelligent life originated only 300,000 years ago, in a single one of the more than one billion species that had arisen on Earth. These are indeed long odds."

If you are looking for a book about the study of the Earth, geology, and plate tetonics, this is a very good choice considering no more than the rocks beneth our feet.

Mysteries of Terra Firma by James Lawrence Powell, author of Night Comes to the Cretaceous, is an excellent introduction to what are arguably the science of geology's greatest contributions to humankind's knowledge of the universe. These great discoveries are the age of the Earth [4.55 billion years old], the theory of plate tectonics, and the knowledge that the impacts of comets and asteroids are an important force in our solar system, including here on Earth. In each of the three sections of the book, Powell takes the reader through the convoluted histories of each of these great discoveries, showing geology and the geologists, warts and all. These histories illustrate the fact that science can be slow and imperfect, but ultimately does a good job at pushing our knowledge of the universe forward. Mysteries of Terra Firma is an excellent read and should be enjoyed by anybody with an interest in geology, the Earth, or the history of science. I also recommend that college and high school earth science teachers append this title to their supplementary reading lists as soon as possible. I thoroughly enjoyed Mysteries of Terra Firma and I think you'll enjoy it, too.