References Books

It is always great to have the chance to glimpse the work process of the masters in photography. This book provides enough information for anyone wanting to better their work in black & white and to learn from the best.

Inspiring, fascinating, revealing. Ansel Adams writes "the story
behind the pictures", the why, the how. Not necessarily or always the
"technical" details, but certainly the "artistic" inspiration.
The reproductions of his photos are good, although having just had
the pleasure of seeing the actual photos in Washington DC, they
simply cannot convey the complete splendor and impact of the originals.
Well worth reading!

I bought this book to give to my kids. My mother gave me one 20 years ago. Ansel Adams took portraits of my Great Grand Parents and put it in this book. I want my kids to have copies. If you are a photographer, there is a lot of info about how he took the pictures.

Nice to be able to go back to basics in these times of megapixels and gigabytes.

There are many great books about photography, of which this is just one, but there are relatively few books about how to be a great photographer. On the latter topic this book is exceptional.

Ansel Adams was clearly both a gentleman and a gentle man, who lived to create great images for the pleasure and education of others. We are exceptionally lucky that he left us both his wonderful pictures, but also a few books which explain not only how, but also why some of them were created.

This book covers a photography career of over 60 years, taking 40 of his greatest pictures, and describing how they were made. Although much of the technical advice is still valid today, a lot of it requires on the fly translation from the language of large format cameras and glass plates to the world of digital SLRs, with tiny sensors and vast memory cards. That exercise might put some people off, but it makes you think harder about his advice, and that's a good thing.

However, where this book really scores is with the human stories of how and why Adams made certain pictures. Two examples stick in my mind.
Firstly, how one of his iconic views of Yosemite was made after a day's hard hiking with a full size view camera, large wooden tripod, and just twelve glass plates. He suspected that he had wasted the first eleven, and had just one left for a favourite view of Half Dome. He took extra care with that one, and the results are still thrilling 80 years on.

Then there's his tale of photographing 50s Californian farming families. This is a charming insight into how a great photographer of people develops both trust and ideas, lubricating both with an appropriate supply of beer. You suspect these days were not so hard for Adams as the great Yosemite hikes.

"Examples" also contains some remarkable philosophical insights into the process and role of photography. The one which now sticks foremost in my mind is that enthusiasm for a subject will not create great photographs - you have to visualise the image and its impact mentally, then make it. This is perhaps the single most powerful piece of advice in the book.

In 1935 Adams was concerned that the advent of 35mm would result in a vast number of bad photographs. Yet he was keen on the new medium, because he could also see its benefits. The same page could be written ten times over about digital photography, but you know that had Adams lived a little longer he would have been a keen PhotoShop-er.

This is a good book on photographic technique, but there are others. But there are few books which give such an insight into the soul of a great photographer.

This book provides the reader with many common sense points of advice that are all very relevant and helpful. It covers many circumstances on an international scale that allows you to feel more at home taking the picture of someone you don't know as well as helpful advice on payment for the picture. This book is essential for anyone with an interest in this sort of work... Bravo to Mr Sammon for writing yet another great reference.

I found this book very helpful. It has great photos that illustrate his points, and it is easy to understand. The thing I would have found more helpful is if he had included more about where to take the exposure, etc., but I realize that is covered in another book..... I loved the book and will reread it many times. Very inspiring. Thank you, Mr. Sammon.

After reading Peterson's books (understanding exposure, beyond portraiture, understanding shutter speed, and more) this book feels not technical enough. It misses technical information that would be very useful to people who'd like to learn, such as f-number, shutter speed, distance from object, metering mode and method etc. Though this information did appear in a few pages, it was not available throughout the book.

Still, the pictures are very appealing and the author does explain how he took them. A lot of emphasis was put on the social side of potrait photography. How to approach, how to get friendly, how to share your pictures. Also, the artistic sides are covered, how to "direct" your model, how to give attention to details (background, framing, light, shadows, etc.). Some technical aspects are indeed mentioned and a few tricks on exposure and light metering and white balance. Also the last few lessons in the book are some photoshop "how-to"s.

I liked the book. I enjoyed the pictures, I did my best to learn the messages from the lessons and liked a lot the authors attitude and explanation way.


To get a good understanding of what lessons are expected in the book take a look at the table of contents. Lessons are titled by the main tip that they deliver.

Rick Sammon is known for his travel and adventure photo guides, but FACE TO FACE offers something different: a focus on the art of making people pictures using a range of methods to capture subjects. These take the form of lessons contrasting different approaches to images and people, using Sammon's own subjects and methods as examples. It's an excellent guide for any photography library, particularly those specializing in portrait photography.

Face to Face by Rick Sammon is one of my favorites books on portrait photography.

It's full with stunning pictures of people from many places around the world. The pictures alone are worth the price of the book.

But in addition to the great pictures, the text is also very informative and entertaining.

Part 2 is my favorite part of the book and full of useful stuff. For example, Rick explains why you should not place the subject in the center for most shots, or why shooting both horizontal and vertical is a good idea for most subjects.

I like the authors writing style. The book is easy to read and the text is a perfect fit for the beautiful images. It never gets boring or too technical. It's clear that the author knows and lovers what he is doing and this is reflecting in his images and his writing.

If you want to improve your photography, I highly recommend this book.

Great book. I became interested in this book from watching the A&E movie "Lost Battalion". THis book gives you an accurate point of view that could not be expressed in a made for TV movie. Not a tough read for any WWI buff.

Robert J. Laplander has written one of the best unit histories I have read. This book is a public exposition of this private historian's lifelong passion in search of the Lost Battalion. His approach is markedly unique. His research has set a true benchmark for the accolade, "exhaustive." His style, while occasionally non-standard, is clear, simple, and often vivid. Every chapter reveals this artisan's uncompromising pride in getting it right. The cumulative effect is a labor of love, and a clearly superior achievement.

This is an outstanding book. This is not a casual read. My rough estimate is 200,000 words, or twice the standard historical narrative. I was not surprised to learn Laplander cut the length in two from his initial draft; the quality and quantity of his research and analysis suggest there was much more that he just could not shoehorn into the final cut.

American attacks in the Argonne were relentless, repetitive, and gruesome. Like the battle, this book grinds you down; it leaves you emotionally drained. But Laplander recounts the sacrifices of these men and they call you back to see them finish their dirty job.

Laplander's understanding of American infantry tactics is remarkable. His explanation of how the doughboys fought at the squad and company level, which he derived from personal accounts, is straightforward and worthy of citation by professional historians.

I found Laplander's biographic study of the Lost Battalion's commander, Major Charles Whittlesey, the most compelling passages in the book. The author examined this complex and tragic figure and revealed his uncommon leadership and his personal demons with respect, integrity, and humanity.

I would compare this book favorably to other diamond-in-the rough regimentals such as Warren Wilkinson's Mother, May You Never See the Sights I'Ve Seen: The Fifty Seventh Massachusetts Veteran Volunteers in the Army of the Potomac 1864-1865, Joseph Balkoski's Beyond The Beachhead: The 29th Infantry Division In Normandy (Stackpole Military History Series), and Shelby Stanton's The 1st Cav in Vietnam: Anatomy of a Division. I highly recommend Robert Laplander's Finding the Lost Battalion to armchair historians, military professionals, and Great War enthusiasts. This is a must-read for students and enthusiasts of the American Expeditionary Forces and the Meuse-Argonne battle.

Here for the reader is a great historical work supplementing the Author's first book on the same subject. I found it precisley what I was looking for as a avid WWI Historian and amatuer sleuth to see for myself what history had preserved for us younger Americans the deeds oof our fathers
long ago in the confines of the Argonne Forest and "The Pocket" of the
action. The maps, though hard to read, were only used as an indicater for orientation to any reader familiar with the subject. If this work does not peak your appetite to delve into the other actions by the American Froces in this 90th Anniversary year of the events, then little else will.

It is a highly recommeded book and a treasure for any WWI or Military library.

This is one of the finest books on the US Army in WW1 I have ever read, and I have read them all. It is well researched, well written and is not only the best work I have seen on the lost battalion in a scholarly way, but reads smoothly. The tale itself is a great one, but it often gets sensationalized. I don't know how Laplander did it, but he found a lot of material that others have missed and seems to have left no rock unturned in digging out the facts.

It's big, thick, and the text is a wee bit small - but I cannot see any even semi-serious library of WW1 AEF books with out this one. Seriously, I'm impressed and that does not happen often.

Author Laplander's work is simply the definitive book on the Lost Battalion and its commander, Major Charles Whittlesey. For over 60 years the best book on the subject was the "The Lost Battalion" by Thomas Johnson and Fletcher Pratt published in 1938, but this book by Laplander published in 2006 far eclipses all earlier publications.

The reader may be surprised to find out, for example, that Whittlesey's battalion twice became surrounded by the Germans forward of the main line during the Meuse-Argonne offensive, but generally attention is centered solely on the second time.

The scholarship here is simply superior, the writing crisp and never tedius or boring, and the reader's questions concerning personnel and what happened to them are answered almost before they arise. Frankly, I can think of nothing negative to say, even the maps are extremely helpful.

In short, if the prospective reader has never read a book on the First World War, this is the one to read. Explanations abound, the human interest story is riveting, and one comes away with a full appreciation of combat at the time.

I unreservedly recommend this book.

I highly recommend "Firewalls" by John Vacca. I found the book to be extremely helpfully in understanding the configuration and maintenance of firewalls as well as a great reference for the different types of security infrastructures that can be implemented using the technologies available today. "Firewalls" is an excellent knowledge base that I would recommend as a must read for anyone in the computer security and system administration fields.

I have witnessed the proliferation of data networks over last fifteen years during which time
network security has grown to multi-million dollar business. I have taught and consulted on
design and implementation of network security.In today's corporate and SOHO network, secuirty
is extremely critical to protect and safeguard data. Firewall technology provides a defense
mechanism against unautorized access to data networks. This textbook provides a comprehensive
treatment of firewall from introduction to management and advanced configuration. The appendix
has a list of current firewall vendors that should be of extreme helpful to any reader. I would
highly recommend this text to anyone before they decide to purchase firewall to secure their network.

This book covers firewall implementation, configuration and maintenance with excellent references and examples. John Vacca starts with installation and setup and then moves into implementing and maintance. Along the way many real life experiences are used as examples. Before you start or before you do any updateing on your firewall be sure to read this book.

Having worked in the computer network/security field for the last 16 years, I found this book to contain most everything you need to have a working knowledge of firewalls. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that needs to come up to speed quickly and/or needs a refresher course. I find myself now to be in the later category but I wished this book had been written when I was first starting out as it would have saved me a ton of time.

I fell into the category of "I know what a router is but I hope I never have to set one up." Our routers were handled by another talented memeber of our team. When she left, I gave it shot using some manuals we had from cisco and some other informatin passed down from project to project. Completely lost, I decided to start from the beginning. This text was just the ticket to get me started!

I use this book as a grammar reference and conversation stimulus in my ESL classes and private tutoring.
It's very well organized although the cd only contains every 4 chapters which is a bit disappointing. However the students like it which is essential.

I love this book. It should not be used as a reference but for practicing your American English. Perhaps the exercises should be a little harder. It is well organized into sections and explains things in a clear way.

Great grammar book for anyone whose grammar is rusty. This would be a great tool for ESL teachers because each 2-page lesson is self-contained with grammar explanations and exercises. I like the format that lets someone do one lesson at a time at his/her own pace.

Students love this book and so do I as their teacher in English as a Second Language or ESL in the El Paso TX area. This puts the polish on the vocabulary, comprehension, pronunciation, and confidence I attempt to instil in my students...the answers are in the back to aid self study and the CD allows them to hear correct pronunciation prior to coming to class so the class acts as a review for thier homework. Thank you.

My children studied the basic version of Grammar in Use. As non-English speaking family, I am happy that our children are enrolled in GT classes or in a Magnet school. They have gotten 'A's in Reading and/or English. Now they are learning this version. Well organized expressions and rich examples are guiding them to the 'fast track'.

I just moved to Bangkok and have found this map so immensely handy that I had to get another one (my husband kept stealing our shared copy!) Now we have copies of both this edition and the updated one. While this is great, do yourself a favor and get the updated on with the sunset photo on the cover.

I visited Thailand for the first time last year. My first night there, I took a cab from Bangkok, followed the tout cabdrivers advice to to go to a certain hotel "bad mistake". I stayed at an awful, expensive, and overpriced excuse for a room. I was so disgusted by this experience that I left for Pattaya the next day. Pattaya was very nice, but I think I missed out on the true Bangkok experience. I bought this guide before I go on my trip this year, and I am very impressed with it. It has many words of wisdom from an experienced traveler. I enjoy his sense of humor and fun practical map. The graphics are excellent and having locations written in Thai as well as English will increase your chance of getting to your destination. Two thumbs up!!!

I liked this cool and hip guide which told me where to go for bars and clubs. I also liked the fact they had a gay section. The map is laminated so it wont tear or get wet. It is pretty cool and you wont feel dumb carrying it around with you as you tour the city.

This map has all the necessary highlights on sights, restaurants and hotels. The map is laminated so it can take alot of abuse during your travel. It really prepares one well prior to the visit. One of the best maps I have ever used.

I bought this map and guide expecting it to be a cute add-on and I didnt think I would actually use it for real info on my trip to Bangkok. BUT not so! I used this Groovy Guide way more than the guidebook I brought with me. Its packed full of really good info about temples, places to visit, what to avoid (scams and fake tour guides, gem scams and tuk-tuk scmas) what to defeinitely do (best views, best river trips, best massages) and what to eat (amazing street food!!) I totally used this map to bits for my stay and was worth every cent. I would say it was way better than the other guide books and stuff I had and didnt really use. The maps is easy to carry around with you. Highly recommend.

An excellent intro to freshwater invertebrates. A good dose of science and terminology for people who want to know how things work. It starts with a conceptual approach of what affects biological life in fresh water But it doesn't go too far off topic; it stays focused on invertebrate life.

The illustrations are superb. You don't need a college level understanding of chemistry or biology to read this, but the biology would help. This book stays on topics specific to limnology addressing substrate, water chemistry and other topics. You'll learn about lotic and lentic and other words to confuse your friends and spell checker, and impress the biologists within hearing distance. The only thing it runs short on is variety of bugs. But at 400+ pages adding the somewhat less common would create quite a tome.

The first section is the only part that needs to be read from beginning to end the rest is written for reference starting with illustrations, then going into detail first on the order, then on specific (common) families. You wouldn't want them all, this part takes up more than half the book.

A great book for a hobbyist that isn't afraid to put plants in an aquarium and find out what else nature keeps in its limnos. Best of all you won't have to feed your fishes after reading this book. They'll feed themselves after you've collected a few invertebrates to fill out the food chain.

As others have already reviewed, I am a fly fisherman who purchased this book to get a better understanding of freshwater invertebrates other than mayfly and caddis species. (For a highly detailed description of mayflies and caddis for the fly-fisherman, I would recommend the titles "Nymphs, volumes I and II".)

This guide is well-written and not too difficult to follow, even for the beginner. There is a focus on stream ecology and some tips on how to collect and identify various species. Be clear - the focus of this book is not specifically on fly-fishing, but more of a biological guide to aquatic invertebrates.

For a beginner, this book is a great place to start, but is also a nice reference for those with a little more experience. The color drawings are detailed enough to help determine the differences in various species. All in all - Excellent Book.

This books is easy to comprehend, and the plates are well defined. Extremely useful for ID'ing aquatic creatures.

My teaching partner and I will use this in our Freshwater Ecology class at the secondary level. It is a great basic guide that will be used as a reference tool and identification resource at an introductory level. Excellent for the money.

This book contains easy to understand pictographs for beginners, plus distinguishing characteristics for experienced entomologists. A major plus to any and every watershed association out there, and every limnology, water pollution biology, fisheries, etc. class offered at the collegiate level.

A definate must have for nymph fishermen as well!

Well done for a price that doesn't take a bite out of the pocketbook!

Parker Palmer takes the title of this book from Thomas Merton who claimed that "There is in all things...a hidden wholeness." Parker draws on his own experiences and work with educators, clergy, politicians, community organizers, parents, doctors, lawyers, and people of other walks of life to build "circles of trust" where the shy soul can speak its own truth with conviction without denying the truth of anyone else's soul.

The first chapter offers images of integrity - "the state or quality of being entire, complete, and unbroken....unimpaired, unadulterated, or genuine state, corresponding to its original condition." Through his own stories of disclosure, Parker Palmer invites the reader to look deeply within for the dividedness of life - where we extinguish parts of ourselves - and to embrace brokenness as an integral part of who we are. The signs of a divided life are explored in Chapter 2.

In Chapters 3 - 5 Palmer outlines how the soul and role in life can be reunited into a life of wholeness. Drawing on his Quaker roots, Palmer invites the reader to consult the "inner teacher," which Thomas Merton called the true self, Buddhists call original nature, Hasidic Jews call a spark of the divine, and humanists call identity and integrity. Palmer explores the paradox of our solitary journey toward an undivided life in community - a special community of trust, a circle of trust.


Palmer uses a metaphor to describe the deepest part of our being: the soul is like a wild animal.

Like a wild animal, the soul is tough, resilient, resourceful, savvy, and self-sufficient: it knows how to survive in hard places....If we want to see a wild animal, we know that the last thing we should do is go crashing through the woods yelling for it to come out. But if we will walk quietly into the woods, sit patiently at the base of a tree, breathe with the earth, and fade into our surroundings, the wild creature we seek might put in an appearance.

Chapters 5-9 outline the preparations required to embark on the journey to wholeness and describes in detail practices necessary to create a community of trust where the soul feels safe enough to show up and make its claim on our lives. The final chapter challenges the reader to use the principles and practices developed in the book to walk the path of nonviolence.

This book is a rich resource for all who yearn for greater wholeness and integrity in life.

I was inspired to write page after page in my personal journal after reading the first few chapters. This book was used as the foundation for facilitator training for a week long retreat for The Center for Formation in Higher Education. I especially appreciate the use of metaphor to illustrate the many paradoxes in our lives as we call upon the shy inner teacher. The explanations and examples are clear.

Mr Palmer has distilled his life experience for us through his authentic and well written book. If know you are on a journey go no farther until you have read this book for its practical and uplifting content.

The guiding image of this book is a rope tied from a house to the barn, which helps the farmer back home in case of a blizzard. The book does exactly that. It helped me find my true self in the midst of a storm.

What an excellent book! Parker Palmer has quickly become one of my favorite authors. The imagery of the midwestern blizzard and early farmers lost in storms in thier own backyards as an analogy of the social and psychological turmoils we face today was masterful. Palmer's outline of steps toward awakening and the promise of the continual journey toward wholeness was inspiring. I highly recommend this book to all of us who are aware of the infinite potential of mankind and are struggling to maximize our own potential.

Only a small section of this book - a "FAQ" - is devoted to "how to agent your agent. Most of this book is a very well written insider's look at what an agent does, with lots of anecdotes from Rainford's work as an agent. Great if you don't know what agents do, but if you're a professional looking for that edge - I'm working, how to I get more out of my agent - there isn't that much you won't have figured out already.

This book is wonderful. Humorous and informative; my favorite combination. I am not an aspiring actress, and have only delt with Two Literary Agents in the sale of my first 4 books; however, I found Ms. Rainfords book an excellent resource. I would recomend this book to anyone who has an Agent; is thinking of getting an Agent; wants to become an Agent; or is thinking of leaving her Agent. Or anyone who is going to HOLLYWOOD to PITCH anything.

It's hard to believe Nancy Rainford hasn't written more books. Perhaps a humorous novel about her business? The book flows with the ease of a best selling novel!

5 stars to this one!

Marsha Marks

As an agent, I have a love/hate relationship with this book. On the one hand, I hate it for exposing so many of my secrets. But on the other hand, I love that it's so direct and honest. Nancy ran her own successful talent agency for many years and she obviously knows what she's talking about. So if you're my client, please don't buy this book. But if you're not, I suggest you pick this one up right away.

Could also be the name of Nancy Rainford's insightful and energetic book. How to Agent Your Agent is at once a fun breezy read and the advice every actor needs to set up for themselves a realistic philosophy and strategy creating their success in the wild business of show. To all but brandname actors the interior life of the creature called agent is a mystery. Ms. Rainford dismantles so many myths there's little choice but to draw clean slate on what you think you know about agents. Comparable to "The Art of War," the hunter must understand the nature, habits, and motivations of game sought. If you believe in the value of your craft and take your business seriously read this book not once but over and over. Take a walk in the agents shoes so the agent can walk with you.

This is a great book, I couldn't put it down. My husband and I are both actors, and we actually fought over who got to read it first (we alternated). I have already recommended this book to all of my friends who are actors. It is that valuable and should be required reading for every actor in Hollywood.

The book is not just a primer on the Hollywood protocol and pecking order, but "How to Agent Your Agent" goes into such wonderful detail so as to demystify how an actor should handle his/her agent. So many actors are constantly in a quandry of how to handle a situation with their agents, or they are downright dissatisfied with their agents. This book helps an actor to define what you have control over and what you can change. Years of experience are in this book to help keep actors from making mistakes when it comes representation.

Thank you, Ms. Rainford, for telling it like it is (and being such a great storyteller).

The first time I ever stumbled on the word "numinous" was in a doctorate that proposed to analyse vampires as "numinous entities". Then, reading CS Lewis, I again crossed that word's path, and eventually, I decided to read the real thing.

In very short, the numen (from which the word "numinous" is based) is the mysterious, overpowering, and terrifying aspect of the Deity. It is "non-rational" in the sense that it is not to be grasped by concept and ideas, but something to be felt in one's flesh and soul, like actual fear, awe, and majesty.

Otto focuses on that aspect too often neglected by some religious people themselves: the mysterious and unknowable. Fanatics have a tendency to consider only that, to the expense of the rational side of the Deity. But both similarly denature It.

While this book is a classic, and a worthy reading for anyone interested in the subject of God and the studies of religions, I will say that, personally, I seem to have missed out on some of the things mentioned in the book. Maybe I badly read certain parts, or maybe the book is complicated and dense enough that a second reading is required to clearly understand it all. Or both.

In a way, Rudolf Otto gives mysticism the kind of analysis it deserves, and re-establishes those more obscure areas of religiosity as something worthy of our consideration, and undeserving of our scorn.

Like Schleiermacher, Otto wants to theorize a religious faculty completely distinct from the rational, moral, and aesthetic faculties. The object of this faculty is the "holy," which is fearsome, mysterious, and fascinating. Most importantly, it remains essentially distinct from the rational, moral, and aesthetic, which means that any language we use to talk about "numinous" reality will always be analogical. This is important because "the religious" as a distinct category has been under threat since the 18th century (or since Spinoza) by other discourses that effectively explain it away. Otto's contemporary, Freud, was about to deal the religious yet another heavy blow by reducing it to a vestigial remain of infantile narcissism. By only allowing an analogical relation to other discourses, Otto wants to preserve the religious from this encroaching secularization. Of course, it is not certain that his own theory is not a secularization. He does not, after all, make room for miracles (in the strong sense).

I'll admit I was a little surprised at the heavy Christian turn at the end, only because Christianity seems to tame the wildness of the "tremendum" and the "mysterium." All in all, a fascinating and useful read.

The best way to read this book is to HAVE READ IT in a state of obsession years ago and find that its general mood and the texture of its ideas exert a subliminal and subconcious influence on one's concious thought. Taken in parts it contains many assumptions or assertions that are actually quite disputable but in general, as an aesthetic device, it is necessary reading for any spiritual seeker. It is certainly a welcome anti-dote to those spiritual guides that make God out to be a divine butler waiting on his chosen humans beck and call. It also suggests a wilder and more flamoboyant spiritual universe than the one portrayed in so many lesser works. God, if he or she exists, is a wild, ecstatic, and uncontrollable force that transcends the vulgar, petty humanizations we force upon him or her.

The student of human religion is generally confronted with a serious problem; unlike say, science or philosophy, religion is much more strongly dependent on the subject and the social and cultural beliefs in terms of knowledge, practice and belief. It is harder as a historian of religion to divorce any 'essence' of religion or religious knowledge from its context and practice, especially given many of the leading lights of the world's religions seem to emphasize ineffable and unrepeatable subjective experience. Yet it is vital to try and understand religion and what role (if any) it plays in the human quest to understand the universe, and also ourselves.

Otto, a Protestant theologian, offered a concept he called the 'holy.' Also often called the numinious, this was a sense of something being sacred. Holiness gave Being a special set of qualities which set it apart from the universe and its furniture as we 'ordinarily' experience it. This experience is often one of terror and fear in the prophets of monotheistic religions (Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Moses, Abraham, Jesus and Mohammed) while in native and Eastern religions, it can be a sense of power or awe. In this work Otto applies the idea of the Holy to Christianity and other religions, and would later form a critical tool in the phenomenology of religion and religious experience.

This book is essential reading for any scholar of religion or philosopher interested in religion and questions relating to religion and religious experience.

Rudolf Otto(1869-1937) presents the idea of the Holy as that profound, overwhelming feeling of awe that can sometimes strike you regardless of your particular culture and/or religious affiliation, a feeling that's been a part of us since pre-historic times. He calls this feeling the "mysterium tremendum" or the "numinous" and proceeds to describe it in great detail, with examples. I liked the way the idea is first developed in a more general sense before emphasis is made of its Christian aspect, making it accessible to all people interested in the idea of the Holy and God.