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I was able to use this book with my student's to assist them in their own understanding of death, forgiveness, grief, as well as trust, joy, and courage. I was able to use the stories, and then discuss them with the children, many of whom have witnessed the death of a parent, friend, and who are either in the child welfare system or with the corrections facility. With these stories, I am able to assist them in resolving their conflicts.

Life seems to be one continuous gift, even in times of great darkness. I am at such a critical place in my own life now, grateful that darkness holds the promise of great discovery and healing.
These healing words; these remarkable stories not only bring me much solace, but also the necessary loving nudge to dare me to continue to live in the tension of the questions before me.

While living in Scotland, far away from my support sytem of family and friends, and struggling with a myriad of physical, emotional and spiritual difficulties, I received this book from my mother. Words to describe what a blessing this book has been elude me - so I'll borrow some of yours... All I can say is I have "Gratitude", "Peace" and "Optimism" for the first time in a very long time. Your words, Ms. Goldman, and message "Comfort" me and, I'm sure, many others. May we all have "Laughter", "Joy" and "Play" while we "Heal" and have "Wellness" on our "Journey". Thank you for sharing your "Wisdom" and "Spirit" with us.

This book has renewed a piece of my spirit that has, through a series of tragedies and crisis, been sadly damaged. Inspiration comes in many forms and none more lovely, welcome and effective than this God-send of a book. The light your words shed on my shadowed soul prompted me to send a copy to my daughter in Scotland who was also battling health and life issues. We have regained some peace of mind and are healing - mind, body and spirit. Thank you, Ms. Goldman, for your healing words.

This was given to me during the middle of chemotherapy, when I was quite discouraged. This book is a wonderful resource - it does not confuse healing with a medical cure, but uses a broader definition of healing.

I have given four copies of this book to friends who have either been diagnosed with chronic illnesses (cancer, diabetes) or who have undergone wrenching life changes. All have called or written with stories of how this book has helped them have a new perspective, and to see hope.

The essays are also short enough that someone who has very little energy can read the book. Although some of the book is faith-based, it is not faith-specific. It was written after the author and her family underwent a dreadful series of diseases and disasters, and calls on their experiences and faith for some of the illustrations.

Affirmation books are generally wishy-washy. I find "new age" stuff to be full of pabulum. This book pulls no punches, and the writing carries an honesty and vigor that is refreshing. This is an excellent book, in every meaning of the phrase.

Buy it, for there shall surely come a time that you will either need it immediately, or will need to give it with little warning.

I have some real mixed feelings about this book. On the one hands I really like how Mr. Whyte used such unconventional ways to get his point across (he uses poetry to point out the flaws in the corporate world), but on the other hand, a lot of the points in the book made me scratch my head and go 'huh?!'.
The material is very deep and even where there is supposed to be just a small, simple message, Whyte seems to make it complicated so that the meaning looks to be more profound.

How much of our corporate productivity is impeded by pettiness and posturing in the workplace? Seems a corporate healer like David Whyte is needed to stand for finding and reminding folks of a different bottom line.

Whyte has a unique capacity to make powerful connections between the inner core that fills us with emotion and caring and the places we do our work, sometimes even at the place where our job is located, though not often. His observation that we leave as much as 55% of our true self "in the car" each day when we go in our office to work is so powerfully true. I dare say there are few among us who cannot relate to that feeling. And yet, it is the 55% of ourselves that the company we work for really wants and needs but rarely gets. Unfortunately because of the patriarchal environments that many organizations (not always corporations or even private sector businesses) create we all too often find no real fulfillment in the workplace. That is sad because I never have read any mission statements that pronounce "We ABSOLUTELY are not going to have fun or like one another around here." That makes me think that the realized, oppressives outcome are not intentional. However, we often find ourselves working in and hating very dysfunctional cultures, even if not by design. Whyte introduces the concept of hope in a effort to replace the all-too-present doubt and hegemony of the workplace. We may not be able to express ourselves freely at work but Whyte allows us some freedom to dream of that possibility during our reading of this book.

Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant! If you have a soul, buy this book. If you are not sure....buy this book. This book is an excellent exploration into the meaning of life + my job the incubus = a poetic awakening. David Whyte is a wonderful philosopher.

David Whyte writes in a truly inspiring way. When I worked at the Monterey Bay Aquarium many of us read this book as we struggled to grow better as an organization. This book was the catalyst to many personal "AH HA!" moments. Not just for me, but for many of my colleagues as well. From there I found myself in love with poetry again too. David's poetry is powerful and meaningful. The heart aroused is your own, and worth coming back to.

I've read a few commentaries on the Heart Sutra, but I found this one to be the most beautiful and helpful. I have been baffled by traditional commentaries that articulate the "negative" aspect of emptiness (e.g., no this, no that, etc.). I can see why the casual observer of Buddhism gets the sense that it is nihilistic. But Thich Nhat Hanh describes emptiness as actually being full of everything. Thus, there is no unique self, because everything is everything else. "Without this there is no that." His language is deceptively simple, but I suggest a thoughtful reading to let it really sink in. I will certainly be referring back to it many times. Highly recommended!

This is one of the most simple, clear, concise and understandable commentaries on this very important buddhist sutra. I have read several throughout the years, and consider this one of the most important books in my library. Highly recommended!

When I first read the heart sutra I didn't understand. After reading and studying with TNH's commentary, it is alive.

We chant the Heart Sutra several times a day at our center. I never really understood the complete thing. Initially I read a book by Red Pine and that was an amazing in-depth discussion of the minutia of the sutra. However, my thick skull could not wrap itself around Red Pine's discussion.

Venerable Thich Nhat Hahn presents the material in common-sense beautifully simple writing. If you are at all wondering about the emptiness of form please check out this wonderful book.
Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bhodisavha!

This 54-page book is compiled from a series of talks that Thich Nhat Hanh presented to large groups of Americans at retreats and lectures in the United States. A master and enlightened communicator the author explains the aphorisms of the famous ancient Buddhist teacher, Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and his five elements that comprise a human being--form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness.

Thich simplifies would-be difficult topics in a flowing easy to follow manner. He takes the time to translate and define foreign terms and provides vivid examples to help the reader visualize concepts. He skillfully shows how all things, life, and thought are part and parcel to one another.

While this book was short, it was well-worth the price. It's not often that a truly enlightened person has the ability to transcend culture and relay the essence of such great works in such a succinct and enjoyable manner.

I recommend this book to all people who want to better understand themselves and their relationship to their environment, life and death. For an equally enlightening book by this author, I recommend Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life.

Buy this book now. You will not be sorry.

i have'nt read the whole book let but i will be buying it because the sample stories were so great i am setting tears rolling jusst over that so i know this book has to be great.

What can I say to make you want to buy this book? If I tell you I'm the author of "My Little Brother" which is included in this book - would that make you order it? Probably not. If I say it's one of the best collection of short stories I've ever read - would that make you order it? Again, probably not. So why should you order this book? You'll know the answer to that question after reading just one or two stories. I promise you will experience the joy of laughter and the healing of tears. This is one book that will be talked about for a very long time. But hey, don't take my word for it. Take a chance and buy it. This is one book you won't want to put down!

The book is perfect (in content and size!) When I joined Heartwarmers.com some months ago, I figured, why not, it's free, what do I have to lose? Well, it has actually changed my life. Now I wake up and look forward to my days, rather than getting hit with the usual negative news. When I heard Heartwarmers.com was coming out with a book, I was so happy. Now I could share these wonderful stories with friends who were not on the Internet. When I got the book, I was thrilled and got several more. Oh, this would make a great Mother's Day gift too! (My mom already has hers, I couldn't wait.) I hope they come out with more books soon. I want to start a collection. Brenda

What can I say to make you want to buy this book? If I tell you I'm the author of "My Little Brother" which is included in this book - would that make you order it? Probably not. If I say it's one of the best collection of short stories I've ever read - would that make you order it? Again, probably not. So why should you order this book? You'll know the answer to that question after reading just one or two stories. I promise you will experience the joy of laughter and the healing of tears. This is one book that will be talked about for a very long time. But hey, don't take my word for it. Take a chance and buy it. You won't want to put it down!

I am one of many authors who donated some of their best stories to this book (for free) so that people might be inspired by the goodness of others. Be ready to laugh, cry and feel good while reading this book. There are stories that can make you laugh. There are stories that can make you cry. But this is the book that can make you laugh and cry at the same time....

Written in the 1970's, and finished by a colleague, David Potter's depiction of the 1848-1861 timeframe is a finely researched book on the subject. Most importantly though, unlike other writers and historians (in particular James McPherson) who look back on this time with modern day hindsight, Potter writes a book which follows this time as it was, with all the issues and ebbs and flows of that era. Potter gives us refreshing perspectives such as:

- The Republican Party, upon rising to prominence in the mid-1850's, were fellow travellers in many ways with the nativist "Know-Nothing" Party.

- Not only was 1860 a sectionally divided presidential election, but so was the 1856 contest. The Republican John Fremont was a non-factor in the southern states, while Millard Fillmore (with the Know-Nothings) ran strongly in that region. The opposite was true in the northern states (which allowed James Buchanan to win the election).

- The reputations of Buchanan and Stephen Douglas fare much better in this book. Douglas in particular is portrayed as one of the few people who could see how the electoral divisions were going to lead to secession, unlike the Lincoln/Seward Republicans.

- The South's tactical victories in the Compromise of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act and Dred Scott decisions were actually strategic defeats. The South became more isolated as a result of these events, and less powerful.

Many books on this subject present the Civil War as an inevitable result of the 1850's, yet Potter illustrates many examples where the middle ground may have prevailed and possibly prevented the conflict. Other issues were important in this day, particularly the tariff issue which created the same sectional rivalries that slavery did.

Overall it's a refreshing, well-researched book that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in this era.

This is the best account I have ever read about the events leading up to the Civil War. Mr. Potter does an excellent job presenting the information and carefully analyzing it without taking sides. Whether you sympathize with the Union or the Confederacy, if you have an interest in the Civil War, you will enjoy this book.

This is without a doubt, one of the greatest books on the Ante-bellum period. I read this book when I was in college in 1991 and was impressed with it. It remains one of my favorite books to this day on the Ante-bellum period. Your library is truly not complete without this work.

Potter's insightful history leading up to the Civil War is a must. He explains the culture, the split, the issue of slavery in easy to understand language to edify the reader's understanding of the things leading up to the secession as soon as Lincoln was nominated yet before he took office. Anyone interested in the history of this time period, it is the best book I have read on the subject. Potter not only discusses the politics, but also gives us a look into Lincoln and his actions to prevent the war.

Abraham Lincoln's 1860 election as President of the United States was the catalyst that set off the American Civil War, but this book traces the political processes that led to that result during the just over a decade between the end of the Mexican War in 1848 and the start of the Civil War with the firing on Fort Sumner in 1861.

Today it is easy to look back and regard the entire process as inevitable. What David Potter does in this classic, first published in 1976, is present the politics behind each step that pushed the sections of the country apart over the slavery issue. One apparent mystery has been what drove the astute politician Stephen Douglas to force through legislation tearing up the Compromise of 1820, which had extended a line from Missouri westward, north of which slavery would not be permitted. It was a colossal blunder that opened what had been a more or less settled issue, fanning the flames of sectionalism needlessly.

His Kansas-Nebraska Act opened those territories, north of the line, to a concept of popular sovereignty, in which those supposedly living in the territories would be allowed to vote on the issue. This may have sounded democratic, but it led to a wave of Abolitionist settlers from New England, and pro-slavery visitors from neighboring Missouri, resulting in "Bleeding Kansas", with attacks and massacres from both sides, and very little democracy. Potter shows that Douglas started from a powerful need to organize the territories so a Pacific railroad could be built, preferably from Chicago in his home state of Illinois. That simple point of departure led him into a series of moves that only deepened the sectional divide.

Potter describes how the southern slaveholders won a whole series of meaningless victories that did nothing to extend the slave territories but did intensify feelings against slavery in the North, from the Mexican War and Kansas-Nebraska to the Dred Scott decision and the hanging of John Brown. He traces the rise of the Republican party out of the ruins of the Whigs and the Freesoil Party, and exposes the latter not as advocates of rights for black people, but driven rather by a deep-seated racism aimed at keeping blacks out of the territories. Complicating the 1850's political map of America was the American, or "Know Nothing" party, dedicated to stopping the recent flood of mainly Catholic immigrants from Europe.

He also demonstrates that the Unionist candidates did better than generally believed in the four-sided presidential election of 1860, and that the voting system itself gave the secessionists of late 1860 and early 1861 far greater strength than their actual numbers.

If you want to get deep into the politics that split the powerful Democratic Party and ultimately the nation, this book has what you are looking for.

My boyfriend and I checked this book out from the library so often that I finally bought him a copy! The all of the recipes that I've tried have been quite good, though many in the book are quite heavy. Some of the dishes have become staples, especially the delicious meatloaf. The highlight of the book is the Kennedy trivia and family photos, not to mention the lovely food photos (the desserts are pure eye candy!).

This book contains recipes and recollections of a great American family, the Kennedy's. It contains the family's favorite, Meat Loaf. I made this on 4-27-07 and it was incredibly delicious! The Lobster Stew is a rich stew which is quick to make and elegant at the same time. The Honey-Pecan Sweet Potatoes are so good, you'll want to slap someone! You will also enjoy the family fotos included in the book and the little stories that go with them.

Interesting collection of recipes & anecdotes, spoiled for me by the overly servile tone of the authors. Actual recipes that I've tried are delicious, easy to follow & easy to cook. Wonderful photography. Well worth buying

I love the Kennedy family and I love New England. This is the best cookbook I have ever read. The photos are amazing, and the stories are wonderful. Everytime I read the book it makes me hungry for authentic New England seafood. It also makes me wish I lived in New England.

I bought this book as one of our prizes for out annual 4th of July races. I skimmed it and copied a few recipes before placing it on the prize table. Wonderful stories with every recipe. The three recipes I made have been excellent. The meatloaf is the best I've tasted and easy to make.

I plan on ordering another copy for myself and trying more recipes.

This is a MUST read! I can not wait for another book by Shonda Cheekes! I read "Another man's wife a couple of years ago and I just finished "In the Midst of it All".... I am now going to read the first again. I can't get enough!

I think Shonda Cheekes is a superb author! I read "Another Man's Wife" first and loved it. I had to read the second part of the book. I would love to find out what happens next. Does she have an upcoming book on Alex and Yani? Asia finally got married; I was happy about that too.

In the Midst of it All is the portrayal of two sisters whose lives seem perfect but with each passing moment they become more complicated. Asia Fenton has found a new relationship with Detective Johnny Johnson after her ex-fiancé broke her heart. However, the love she has for Johnny is overshadowed by her attraction to her new neighbor, Ray, and the chemistry she still has with her ex. Yani, Asia's sister, and her husband, Alex, have been through the storm and rain and seemed to have made it. However, Yani's ex-husband has come to dally in her marriage once again, but this time from the grave through his children from his second marriage. And In the Midst of it All, September 11th changes everything.

I read this book in one sitting. I was pleasantly surprised. With this novel being a sequel, I did not have the benefit of having read the first book. However reading it was not necessary. Ms. Cheekes does a very good job of giving a reader enough of the previous information to keep them up to date with what was currently going on. This book definitely stands by itself. I also liked the characters who were complex and real. Although as a reader one may be drawn to a character for personal reasons, I enjoyed that there were no evil villains or hapless innocent victims. These were grown men and women making choices that sometimes work and sometimes do not. And ladies and gentlemen that is life. The input on the September 11th tragedies add another dimension to the story especially with it being in recent history. In some ways it eclipsed that which came before in the story causing this reader to leave the plot and ponder on the events of that day. Nevertheless, Ms. Cheekes uses this tragic day in history to turn her story in some predictable ways and yet revealing some unpredictable circumstances. Ultimately reminding us that life is not always fair; we just need to thank God for letting us in the game.

I really enjoyed reading this novel and look forward to more.

Kotanya
APOOO BookClub

This was an excellent read. Superb writing skills and a story line which kept your interest. This is the sequel to "Another Man's Wife" which was outstanding also. I have recommended both books to my friends for a group therapy discussion. In life we never know what lies ahead however if we can continue to keep our heads up to the sky "In the Midst of it all" that itself is a blessing....Can't wait for her next book.

The second part is way better than Another Man's wife. Even though it still left alot of stones unturned, I enjoyed it. You really don't need to read the first book to catch up with the second. I say save your money and just buy In the Midst of it all.

Infidelity is a life altering event for most people and can be a horrible thing to try and find reconcilation with. This book offers insight into the many different aspects of it. It can't change the situation for the people who are the dealing with this issue but it does help to answer some of the millions of questions that plaque the minds of those afflicted by this most heartbreaking event. It is certainly worth the time it takes to read.

This book is truly a "How to" on getting through what may well be the worst time in your life. It is written in plain language and offers advice on other reading and selecting a therapist, if you feel that you need one. No one expects to find themselve in this situation and this is a great guide to help you deal with the pain and move forward.

I thought this book was a tremendous resource in helping me better understand my perspectives on my relationship. It provides valuable information that helps the reader develop language for positive communication, and also offers insight that can be helpful in trying to understand your mate's feelings and motivations. It helped me organize my thoughts and gave me the vocabulary to clearly define my emotions, my expectations, and my situation. I would recommend this book to anyone who has had an affair, who has considered an affair, and especially to any individual whose mate has had an affair.

This book lays out a very tough subject in an approachable way. I felt much better after reading this guide. As the recently betrayed I was looking for so many answers, and this book pointed me in the right direction. My cheating spouse also found this a helpful, "easy" read.

This is a brief and succinct book on the subject of infidelity. While much of the material is addressed to couples experiencing marital difficulties, the counsel and advice provided is helpful to unmarried couples in long term relationships also. Too often, the term "infidelity" is used as a polite euphemism for adultery. While infidelity can include adultery, a more narrow term which has both legal and moral implications, infidelity is really a much broader concept that relates to betrayal, disloyalty and faithlessness. Infidelity is all about breaching trust. As Lusterman correctly observes, while adultery always involves illicit sexual activities in violation of marital vows for at least one of the parties in the triangle, infidelity can encompass even purely emotional affairs that do not necessarily include sexual intimacy in all instances. Someone who maintains that a long time confidant is just "a good friend" may very well be involved in infidelity nonetheless by violating the exclusivity of another relationship with an innocent third person. One may be engaged in infidelity through dishonesty and unfaithfulness alone. Since communication is a key element to the success of any meaningful relationship, constant lying or omitting to speak the truth often rises to the level of infidelity. While many couples are able to rehabilitate their relationships by renewing communications after an episode of infidelity is exposed and improve themselves in the process, Lusterman warns that such recoveries are impossible with offending individuals who fail to admit their faults despite evidence to the contrary and who refuse to express any remorse for the harm that their actions have caused to others. The best one can do in these instances is to admit the obvious and move forward. Lusterman has a doctoral degree and a lengthy career record as a therapist. This concise book addresses the pain and shock that often accompanies the discovery of infidelity, often after lengthy periods of suspicion, and methods for coping with the hurt and recovering a sense of one's own self esteem. In an era in which many people rely upon the Internet to maintain regular communications and in which long distance relationships are increasingly common as a result, one needs to be prepared. Bad things sometimes do happen to good people. Lusterman's book is a valuable reference tool. It may even serve to promote a sense of healing for some people who have been victims of infidelity and allow them to forgive those who committed the acts of infidelity.

This book gave me great insight into how a people are injured by the lies of their government. I learned a lot about the Japanese culture.I could easily see myself in the mothers of Japan. I bought this book at a garage sale where the owner was selling all of the books they read in their Asian studies program at college. I was honestly shocked and heartbroken to read about the Japanese point of view.
The really scary thing is how current the idea still is that an uneducated populus can really be driven to a horrible end by their government's lies! Now I am learning Japanese (another garage sale find!) from tapes. I will visit Japan with a greater sense of their history and culture.

This was a very good well written book! It is easy to follow, and takes the reader down numerous paths of the war years and the scars that were inflicted on those who lived, and died.

I believe the book was initially utilized as a text in some colleges, but it is not written like any text book I ever had to read.

This book is an accumulation of oral interviews that helps the reader to visualize, smell, and even taste the sadness and poverty of those who fought the war; not just on the high seas, or the jungles of the South Pacific, but...on the streets of Tokyo, Nagasaki, Kyoto, and Hiroshima.

This book examines a proud culture and the utterly devestated people who lived within it.

I have sought, over the years, to try to understand the nature of our enemies in war. Some wars, like WWI, were essentially fought over the issue of power and control. Some wars, like the US Civil War, get redefined periodically and often to the advantage of who's redefining it. Today, July 4, is a good day to reflect on our Revolutionary War and, although I don't do it annually like I feel I should, reading the Declaration of Independance is an excellent way to understand the grievances that led to war. It is WWII that had been my biggest challenge to comprehend and it was the Japanese side of this conflict that I understood the least. I can't say that one book clarified everything I didn't understand but "Japan at War: An Oral History" put me on the fast track to getting there.

This is an amazing book in many ways. First, the scope of the book covers the many different facets of the Japanese experiance in WWII. For example, the war begins for them with the invasion of China and the conquest of Manchuria; aspects we generally know little about. It has a chapter on the kamikazi's and the similar sailers who volunteered to man suicide torpedos. It looks to the glory of the height of conquest and to the chaos and destruction of the waning days. It takes a look at the little mentioned Soviet invasion of Manchuria (that began after The Bomb). It takes a brief look at post-war Japan as well. It does all of this through the interviews the authors conducted with a number of soldiers, sailers, officers, civilians, and conscripts. To their credit, the husband and wife team of Haruko Taya and Theodore Cook constructed their book by publishing the reminiscences of their subjects. We read the words they heard supplemented briefly by overviews provided by the authors. This first-person recounting of events and the reactions to them brings everything to life for us. Whatever passions we may have from our own perspectives are, at least temporarily, set aside with the riminder that war victimizes everyone it touches.

The Cooks have done an excellent job of finding persons who were not only first-hand witnesses but excellent historians as well. The stories that they were able to collect were so personal and down-to-earth that the one exception (a professor's educated treatise on the censuring of textbooks) sticks out noticeably in comparison.

The witnesses let us in on many events but it is their editorial perspective of how these events changed their lives (and the lives of other Japanese) that reaches across the animosities of war and touches us deeply. There are interviews with some of the volunteer suicide soldiers who would have carried out their mission but for time and/or equiptment failure. There are stories of Koreans brought to Japan and insights on how they were treated. However, the most impressive were the stories of the witnesses and survivors of the Atomic Bombs that fell on Japan. Whatever your feeling on this subject are (and mine affirm the correctness of our actions) these first hand accounts are stunning.

The Cooks deserve a lot of credit for their painstaking efforts to amass all of these interviews. Their editing appears to be minimal as is their background introductions to each new chapter. In other words; helpful without being intrusive. Undoubtably, there were many other survivng Japanese witnesses to war who would not tell their story. Many of those who did were reflective of having been misled.

The Japanese and Americans are solid allies these days and the birth of that alliance is found in these monologues of history. Countless eye-witnesses bore testimony to their individual discovery that the American soldiers were not the devils the Japanese leadership portrayed them to be. The gratuitous stories of the acts of kindness and generosity of the American GIs were really heartwarming to read.

"Japan at War: An Oral History" was everything I had hoped it would be; and more. As a Baby-Boomer, I carry not the scars of war but the legacy of war. The history of American wars is the eventual alliance with our enemies. This book, in an indirect way, is a reminder of that tradition. We can only hope that our current conflict can eventually end in the same Phoenix of peace.

Being an ethnic Chinese, though born after the war, I just couldn't understand the Japanese inability to accept that they have been behaving in a most atrocious manner during the war, given the massive amount of evidence that has been accumulated to prove that point. Despite there being so much evidence pointing to the fact it was the Japanese who started the war, and yet, they seemed to think of themselves as the victims rather than the victimizers. That was something I couldn't understand.

But now, having read this book, though I don't agree with them, I could, in an intuitive sense, understand them.

At the beginning of Part Four, on page 259, it's printed these words:

"Umi yukaba, misuku kabane...Across the sea, corpses soaking in the water, Across the mountains, corpses heaped upon the grass, We shall die by the side of our lord. We shall never look back."

"Umi yukaba.." is from a collection of poetry known as Manyoushu, which dated from around 700 AD, around the Nara, Heien period. This specific poem, "Umi yukaba..." was set to music in 1937, and after 1943, it preceded radio announcements of battles in which Japanese soldiers "met honorable death rather than the dishonor of surrender." In a flash,I understood the mentality of the time. They were really still set in the medieval feudal samurai mentality. The veneer of modernity was just that, a veneer of modernity. They might be able to build and master complex machinery of the modern twentieth century, the mentality was still of feudal Heien period. Their treatment of the conquered people was justified. That's how the Heien period warriors behaved. Their perception of themselves as the victims were justified. That's what samurai warrior would feel. They were all prepared, or at least indoctrinated to be prepared to die in the service of the emperor.

I cannot imagine any other country which would announce their battles lost with such a song.

The army doctor, Yuasa Ken, described his wartime experience, that of experimental surgery on perfectly healthy, well except for the fact that they have been starved, perfectly healthy Chinese. To them, there was nothing wrong. The Chinese were the conquered people. The Imperial Army needed doctors to treat the wounded soldiers, so many doctors were recruited into the army, including pediatricians, dermatologists, ophthalmologists and so on. These doctors have no experience in treating trauma injuries. How to train them? What better way than to use the Chinse as experimental animals for their training. Only in the light of the concept of "human rights", a concept developed in the West, was that kind of experimenation considered wrong. In the feudal samurai ethics, that was not considered wrong.

Now look at the situation this way. From the samurai ethics point of view, they had not behaved wrongly. But after the defeat, and the acceptance of the world view of "human rights", what they have done was definitely wrong. However, in their minds, they haven't done anything wrong. How to reconcile the one with the other? How to reconcile their internal moral judgment, "we have not done anything wrong", with the now newly developed and accepted concept of "human rights"? The only way out of this psychological dilemma is to deny that those atrocities have happened. The only way out is to deny that the Nanjin massacre had happened, that the human experimentations in Unit 731 had ever happened.

This is a most fascinating book, and is a MUST READ for anyone interested in how the Japanese felt and thought of the events of the time.

A compelling set of recollections from Japanese citizens and soldiers who lived and experienced WWII. These stories give an interesting insight into the psyche of the average Japanese citizen and soldier during the war. This is one of the few existing WWII books pertaining to the Pacific Campaign that gives you insight into the thoughts and feelings of the Japanese during the war. A must read for anyone wanting to see the perspective from the "other side". Highly recommended.

Jon Courson's commentary is wonderful. It is easy to read and gives great insight. It helps me to apply every verse of the Bible to my daily life.

Jon Courson's commetary application of the Bible is easy to understand and puts itin terms we relate too today. I advice you to purchase this and read it.
Laura E

good but test it to the word...also not fully detailed like some. John beleives in the gap theory as well as a few other small areas that are somewhat stretched. He is great, but like any teacher, we must test what they say to the word and its context. Also, this is not a full concise commentary - it is more of a devotional type with information. It does not go heavily in depth but is a great starter or application study bible. Thanks Pastor John for your time, effort, and servants heart.

This is a must have for your collection. Jon Courson brings a breath of fresh air and a new level of clarity. You will start to understand the Bible on new levels. I teach a class of adults and I am always looking for more indepth study materials. This is just an awesome tool. I now have all three books.

I am not the best reviewer or descriptive writer, but i will tell you this:

John Courson is an annointed teacher and this commentary will point you to Jesus Christ!!

a friend gave me his own commentary after i had mentioned that i was looking to buy one for the first time. So i began picking away at it on a daily basis, and it fed my hunger for the Word SOOOO much; more than i ever had experienced. It was like having a solid sermon preached on whatever text i was wanting to read. it really brings light to a lot of passages that are hard to understand, or sometimes informative on context/history of what was happening.

The commentary goes through the entire New Testament with a 'Background' section at the beginning of each book, and also has 'Topical Studies' which are basically mini sermons on different topics as they are brought up in the scripture. And for the most part, it's not necessarily single VERSE BY VERSE; sometimes there will be 3 or maybe even 5 verses that are commented on at once; and other times one single WORD will be commented on. so it varies.

anywhooo, it blessed me so much that i have bought numerous copies over the 2 or so years that i've had it.
i highly, HIGHLY reccomend this commentary if you are looking for one.

**i also think that it will be informative for you to read the review with 3 stars- because if someone is wanting commentary on each single verse, and in depth study of historical events, etc, you may want to look elsewhere.