Bingham Books

This is an excellent book. It has a lot of good information and a very practical approach. The books first emphasis is on training safely. It covers everything from preparing to train to recovery post race. Its got 8 different training plans to choose. I highly recommend this book.

Reading this book with the expectation that you'll be a better runner once you finish it is unrealistic. If you're in need of help with your training, either as a complete beginner or someone looking to take his running game to another level, the personal touch is leagues better. Just as a garden-variety self-help book is no substitute for speaking with a psychologist or confidante, MFM won't nearly offer the kind of assistance you'd get from a personal trainer, coach, or even a more advanced jogging partner.

That said, Marathoning does offer a lot of practical advice, and is a good place to start before seeking more detailed information elsewhere. I'm looking to make some changes in my running regimen in order to improve my race times, or- gasp- graduate from half-marathons to full, and I took some notes from MFM on what kinds of improvements I could stand to make (e.g., lose the cotton socks for synthetic; do a better job of hydrating during my runs; examine my arches and tailor my next sneaker purchase accordingly).

It's an easy and fun read, and has the potential to be kinda inspirational, too, assuming you find anecdotes about people's running achievements more encouraging than corny. [There are a lot of these accounts of personal triumphs interspersed liberally throughout the book's more practical points, and while they can get to be a bit much, at least there are a few stories for every type of runner and walker.] In fact, if author John "The Penguin" Bingham was even half as lazy and unfit in his pre-marathoning days as he comically describes himself, it ought to inspire any reader to sign up for a long-distance race tomorrow.

This book contains a lot of great information for first time marathon/half-marathon runners. The book is well organized and written in a clear and readable style. In addition to the 8 customized training programs and accompanying advice, there are also special sections on deciding which race to run and when, injury prevention, nutrition, gear, race day strategy, and recovery.

This is the best such book I have read on the topic.

This book inspired me to train for longer races. The plans and strategies it provided were helpful and sound. My training and results improved after reading this book, as did my confidence.

This is an excellent book for beginning runners who aspire to conquer the marathon.

This book is a must have for anyone who enjoys running and wants to train for a marathon or 1/2 marathon. I've already read it once and loaned it to a friend and decided to get another copy to read it again. Easy read and enjoyable. Well written in a fun and amusing manner.

Excellent book. You can relate to the writer, he has a food sence of humor while still giving you important information on how to run and the runners lifestyle.

I recently returned this book because I have the book "Courage to Start" by the same author John Bingham. I felt like I was reading "Courage to Start" all over again just a different title.

The book is good and I like all the fun stuff that Mr. Bingham writes in this book - I was laughing a lot and I could relate to a lot of things that is in this book.

It really does give you a good motivation jump start but it did not give me anything new from what "Courage to Start" did.

If you have "Courage to Start" and you need some additional information re-read the book. If you do not have "Courage to Start" this would be a good book for you.

I was NEVER an athlete. I started walking before I turned 40. Walking got boring after a while and I decided to add a bit of jogging to the walk. I purchased this book on the recommendation of a friend. It was fantastic! Funny, motivational, and inspirational. It's been 2 years now and I'm still running and looking forward to a half-marathon in my future! I bought this book as gifts for others who wanted to start running and they loved it too.

No Need for Speed is just a recap of his earlier book, The Courage to Start. Unlike The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed has two whole pages of actual useful running advice, as well as a handy 12 week training program (again, two pages).

So, this book really only has four pages of new, relevant material. I'm not sure it's worth buying. Check and see if your local library has a copy.

Bottom-line...if you're out of shape and always dreamed of running, but could never figure out how to begin, then this is the book for you. John is kind, gentle, honest, and he gives all the right information to feed your motivation, no matter how far back in your mind and heart it may be.

"The Reason Why" by Cecil Woodham-Smith and written in 1954 came as a recommendation through a friend of mine who is currently a major in the British Army. My familiarity with the Charge of the Light Brigade, which occurred during the British, French, and Turkish campaign against the Russians during the Crimean War up until reading this book was lifted from visual snippets from my childhood when my dad would watch the 1936 Hollywood production with Errol Flynn, by the same name, but taking place during the wrong war for the wrong reasons with all the wrong characters, and the often quoted Tennyson poem from which the title originates.

"Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred"

I'm glad I read this book and straightened out my truly twisted sense of British history on this one. I also learned a great deal more. This book is a masterpiece and I will feebly attempt to explain why. To understand what really happened during the Battle of Balaclava, Woodham-Smith starts to illustrate the political and military culture within Britain starting just after the turn of the Century and then directly after the British victory over Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. It is very important to understand that British officers did not attend formal professional military schools nor did they move up through the ranks, they bought their commissions and either learned in the field, engaged in self-study if they were interested in subjects such as warfare, or they lead and managed men based on instinct. Officership was entrusted to and required of only the upper social strata -- those who had a stake in the country were those best fit to lead the military, and more importantly were those less likely to turn the military against the social elite, themselves. This was how the stability of the British aristocracy was balanced and maintained -- in peacetime it works -- the military is not going to over-throw the country. During times of war -- it also works since the military with it's sabre now unsheathed, is typically sent abroad. When sound military leaders emerge and victories are secured, the system is self ratifying. When defeats occur abroad, however, the facts can be easily distorted to hide the incompetence of the officer elite and then too the system ratifies itself, or the aristocracy quietly takes care of it's own. The reason why, not the title but the reason the Light Brigade trotted ceremoniously, not galloped, into the valley of death had everything to do with why the British system of officership was a failure and must be changed.

The book is a masterpiece because it combines the domestic sagas of a Jane Austen novel complete with social circles, sex-scandals, and racial prejudices into a great discription of the reality of a military campaign in progress. Not just from the tactical descriptions of the battles as they were set-up and ensued but the logistics of supporting the infantry and the cavalry to get to those battles. After she describes in great detail the unlikely British victory at the Battle of Alma she quotes the Duke of Wellington who said, "Next to a battle lost, there is nothing more dreadful than a battle won", and from her descriptions of the pain and human suffering inflicted on both sides, the Duke was right. Yet Woodham-Smith adds even more to this book, the pure high drama of military incompetence at it's highest as Lord Raglan unwitting observes a battle unfold from his perch deep behind Russian, the enemy, lines. And of Lord Lucan, who want's to be in charge but is never in the right place at the right time. And to the Charge itself, when Captain Edward Nolan, who carried the charge order to Lord Cardigan, and who in a moment of his own clarity, the coup d'oeil that he himself had written about in the calvary manuals he had penned, gallops to the front of the charge to correct Cardigan's fatal misinterpretation of the charge and is ironically cut down by canon fire just before being able to divert the Light Brigade's direction away from the valley of death. High drama, ferocious battle, scandal, intrigue, incompetence, and an outcome that would forever change the way we train our military officers. A must read for every member of the military -- grunt to general officer, for every history buff, and for those who just like to poke fun at the British way of doing business or to understand why it is they do business their way.

I'm a student of history, both with a B.A.degree and a continued hunger to learn more about such events that brought about the Crimean War, 1853-1856. The book The Reason Why reads like a suspense novel. Only in this case the story is true and told with good accuracy. I don't believe there is a better book on the subject of the true characters and personalities of the officers who directed and fought in the Crimea War particularly The Ones that were part of the Charge Of The Light Brigade. Hurdrey-Angus Jordan

The actual events of the fatal day are covered in a chapter. The first few hundred pages set the scene. She spends a lot of time discussing personalities and the lives of 2 of the principle characters...but neglects other important characters and disregards any discussion of other interpretations. If you want to read a lot about why Lord Cardigan was disliked, read this book. If you want to know what happened, red 'Hell Riders'.

Outstanding. An in depth look at the actual people involved. Everybody knows what happened, here's how, or why if you will.

At the battle of Balaclava during the Crimean war, two incompetent, megalomaniacal aristocrats led a brigade of cavalry into a deadly gauntlet of Russian artillery. The charge of the Light Brigade has been immortalized by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Cecil Woodham-Smith seeks to explain how such a tragedy occured.

Lord Lucan and Lord Cardigan were brothers-in-law who detested each other. Each possessed deep character flaws. To make matters worse, neither had led as much as a single soldier in battle and were completely unfit for command. Yet, British army command was based on social rank, not experience, thus these two supercilious fools were to attain positions of power that inevitably led to slaughter.

Lucan was appointed divisional command of calvary while Cardigan received command of the light brigade. Two people completely incapable of working together would comprise a superior/subordinate relationship. Woodham-Smith provides interwoven biographies of both which culminate on that fateful day of 1854.

The Reason Why: The Story of the Fatal Charge of the Light Brigade is an excellent book. Swiftly-paced, well-written, and suspenseful, Woodham-Smith's effort contains that quintessential British literary charm found in historical works of mid-20th century and earlier. It's a charm which lends itself to extended and pleasurable reading. As a history buff, I can't get enough of it and appreciate the abundance I found here. 5+ stars.

Thanks for timely shipment. I will use this as a guide for homeschooling my children.

This book offers a wonderful overview of some of the most magificent writers who have written very well renown books from philosophers like Aristotle, Plato, Homer, the infamous Greek playwrights & scientists, Machiavelli, Sir Isaac Newton, Thomas Paine, Mary Wollstonecraft, to Thoreau, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud and more. Depending on one's interests you'll find yourself skimming some sections and enveloping your total all to others. It's a great historic view that will enlighten anyone as to 'how things actually came to be'. Books do have impact globally (and this one does the trick for that needed 'intellectual stimulation' that we all need every now & again).

The sixteen books Downs chooses as having changed the world are : Machiavelli's The Prince, Thomas Paine's Common Sense, Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, Malthus' Essay on the principle of population, Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, Karl Marx's Das Kapital, Alfred T. Mahan's The Influence of Sea Power Upon history, Halford Mackinder's The Geographical Pivot of history, The scum's Mein Kampf, Copernicus De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelsestium, William Harvey's De Motu Cordis, Newton's Principia, Darwin's Origin of the Species, Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams, Einstein's Relativity ;The Special and General Theories.
This is a list which deliberately excludes religion philosophy and literature. Perhaps it should have been titled 'The Most Influential Books from the Sciences and Social Sciences' The book has a very interesting opening chapter explaining its reasons for choosing the books it has chosen. It claims that the books it has chosen have had lasting and permanent influence. It seems to me that claim goes a bit too far and some of these books clearly had a great historical impact at a certain time, and may or should not have an impact in the future.
In any case this is a very worthwhile book built around a most interesting idea. I am surprised that there are not more books close in theme to this one.

I bought this book used from a library, along with a dozen others, a decade ago without much thought of what I was buying. Wow! I ended up with a lifetime of excellent reading. I've since had this book at my bedside, off and on, for the last ten years. So much excellent information is packed into this book that you can keep coming back to it and learning the most important writings of civilization.

This book summarizes the works for you. With just a little reading you can say something like, "What Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity did was radically change our perspective of time and space, and matter and energy. He showed that all motion is relative, and that the velocity of light is independent of the motion of its source. The implications are profound. To illustrate..."

Or, "What Socrates means by his definition of love, as written in Plato's Symposium, is that love is the pursuit of the beautiful; a desire for the immortal though reproduction. This, at its highest state, is manifested in a generalized love of universal beauty - beautiful souls, thoughts, laws, institutions and the immortal afterlife."

Everyone needs to read these works, and here is a condensed way to do it. It's a small investment in your education.

The author himself acknowledges that such books or articles that assert a universal list of "the world's most important books" are mostly of opinion and purely subjective. Though many books may share space on many lists, there are always differences of opinion. Despite the imperfect science behind inventing such a list, such as the author does, this book is a delightful read and a well-rounded education for all.
I find that the book did indeed reach the books of great significance, occasionally skipping some of the modern-day literary classics. You will not find any literature, per say, following the authors discussion of the Greeks. However, surely Dickens, Shakespeare, or even Hemminway, should find space on such lists as composed by the author. Nevertheless, Newton, Darwin, Copernicus, Augustine, and Stowe all find a presence and the author does great justince to them. This is certainly a list of books whose focus is founded from the perspective of scientific impact-- whether socail or political. The title may be best changed the The Most Influential Books of Political and Social Science-- and Behavioral (i.e. Freud).
In the end, I found the list fairly accurate and the presentation good but not consistent. Some books receive pages of insight as another may get a page and a half. The reader wonders if the author truly meant to include a book by the discussion and focus it receives. Some books I had never heard of and, as an English major, I can't figure how they made the list and others did not. However, the authors discussion of Stowe, Freud, Marx, Hitler, and Adam Smith shows great knowledge and insight.
This is a book worth reading and hopefully inspires new lists.

There is a great Gluten free recipe in this book to make Cream of Chicken condensed soup. Great for any recipe that calls for this.... for example that great Green Bean casserole your mom used to make. Of course, use GF tater tots on top.

My wife has a lot of food based allergies--wheat and cow dairy to name a few. This bean book is amazing for us! We recommend it to anyone with food allergies (especially if you have a wheat intolerance).

Is a great way to turn whole beans/peas into "fast food" with the help of a grain grinder. Refried beans in just 5 minutes! Wonderful ideas.

This cookbook provides recipes for simple and tasty meals using dried beans that can be found in any grocery store. I have other bean cookbooks that call for exotic beans that are difficult to find. My only problem with this book is that half of the recipes call for bean flours that are not so easy to locate. Health and specialty food stores may have one or two types of bean flours such as soy but not all of them called for in this book. The only place I could find pinto bean flour (used in many of the recipes) was in online stores with high shipping charges. The author directs the reader to Bob's Red Mill in Oregon but their web site did not offer any bean flours which may not be available anymore. Because I really wanted to try many of the recipes and I was intrigued with using bean flours in cooking, I took the author's advice and bought a K-Tec Kitchen Mill to grind my beans at home. I am happy with it and I think the instant refried beans made with pinto bean flour is tasty and will be a money saver over time. The soups thickened with bean flours will also be a healthy and tasty way to eat. If you are not interested in searching for bean flours or grinding them at home you may want to look at other bean cookbooks before you purchase this one. Although, this cookbook would be helpful for those allergic to wheat because the recipes show how bean flours can replace products containing gluten.

This is another favorite book by Rita Bingham that is full of information as well as recipes. Like her other books, this is a compendium of healthful cooking. Mrs. Bingham recommends a grain mill that I have on my wishlist for now. But happily I discovered a COFFEE mill at Sam's Club for $30 that grinds what I need, with very little mess. If you are on a budget but want to get started you can read my review of the little Cuisinart Coffee Mill. If it breaks, there's no big loss!Cuisinart DBM-8 Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill

In this moving free verse novel a 15-year-old Jane is attacked by a shark one day at the beach. The doctors are forced to amputate her right arm.
Jane is stricken, she needs her arm to become an artist.
Jane is also tired of getting sympathy from people she has never met and being stared at.
There also seems to be a riffed between her and her friends.
Jane soon begins to wonder what kinds of jobs she will be able to do. Jane struggles and starts to overcome her disabilities step by step.

I thought it was a very good and fast read. But i also felt that the end wasn't quite satisfying. I wanted to see Jane accomplish more things.
I also thinking writing the book as a free verse might have taken away from the story. I wanted some details on things.


If you liked this books you might also like:

I Heart You, You Haunt Me

Shark Girl is a book about a regular girl like anyone else who one day goes to the beach and ends up leaving the beach with one less arm. She becomes very shy and very self-conscious about the way she looks and feels. Jane,( the main character) becomes best friends with a nine-year-old boy at the hospital. This boy,Justin, really understands Jane having lost a leg himself. They really connect and end up spending a lot of time together after visiting hours are over. This book really is heart-warming and likeable. It really taught me to be gracious and thankful for having all of my limbs. We all usually take having two legs and two arms for granted. This book taught me how to respect those less fortunate, and to appreciate my body as a whole. I also really liked this book because the author uses poems, letters and newspaper clippings to get her message out to her readers. This book is a definate must read!

Written in poetry form, the novel is a fast read about a girl who goes through the stages of grief and matures as she faces life after loosing her arm in a shark attack. I'm a high school media specialist who purchased the book for my library; but I would recommend it to both teenagers and adults. A wonderful first novel....I read it in one night! Jan

The minute I saw this book I was hooked on its premise; I can't remember having read too many novels that deal with the aftermath of a shark attack and so I snatched it up right away. I wish I had flipped through the pages first, because as soon as I opened it I was disappointed to see that it was written largely in poems. No doubt some will find this edgy, but I find it lazy in something passing for a novel. It requires far less writing when most of your lines don't even cross the page, at the expense of description. As a result, I feel that what could have been a rich, deep story barely skims the surface of events.

Shark girl was a very intresting book I thought it related to life in many ways like how tuff it would be to be in a shark attack. Jane must have been one of the luckiest girls that survived in a shark attack. Life would be so hard to live without half of a arm but Jane got threw it . This book was one of the books i liked. There were some boring parts but then it just got better and better. I hope that there will be another book like this one .

What a wonderful book protraying Mark for who he was. I had the honor of knowing this fine man. It was wonderful to read about different things that happened in Mark's life and remembering him telling me about those times.

September 11, 2001, brought many heroes forth. I do not think people in our nation really knew what others would do for others and and what cost to themselves. Mark's selfless acts were a modest reflection of the many things he did for others.

His story is extremely well told and will give you more insight into the day will now think of as, Patriot Day. He was truly a patriot. His actions and those of all the people on board Flight 93 have given us hope since they fought the first battle against terrorism.

This book has been successfully written to tell the story like it should be told. Mark Bingham and the others on United Flight 93 have given new meaning to the term Hero!! This book is a wonderful addition to any collection of the events of 9/11!! Mark stood up in the face of terror and paid the ultimate sacrifice. It is because of him and the other heroes, that an even greater tragedy was avoided. This day could have been much worse if not for the courageous efforts of people like Mark Bingham!!!

Reading this book was the most moving experience I have had in a long time. I really wish I had the honor of having known Mark Bingham, but now I find that I mourn his loss just as if I had. He, along with the others of Flight 93, should never be forgotten for their ultimate act of bravery. It will take me a long time to get this short account of such a rich and full life out of my mind, and it will never leave my heart. We must all promise ourselves never to forget Sept. 11 and stick together the way Mark did with those he loved. Rest in peace, Mark, and God bless all of you.

In the aftermath of 9/11, several news articles mentioned that Mark Bingham was gay and a Republican. As a gay Republican myself, this naturally interested me. However, according to this biography, he was actually a Libertarian, though like most Libertarians he agreed with the GOP on many issues and on at least one occasion he worked for a Republican's campaign.

What's really striking about this biography is how very normal Mark Bingham was. He was nicer than a lot of people, and he did show a protective instinct all of his life; once he attacked a mugger to protect his friends from him. But aside from this, he was a fairly ordinary young man with career successes and failures behind him, working and having fun with his friends and wondering if he was doing the right thing with his life and if he was ever going to find a life partner.

It was also a little amusing that the biographer tried to gloss over one of the few qualities in Mark Bingham that would be likely to offend some: he was a "bear" and like some conventionally masculine gay men, effeminate gay men bothered him. Barrett mentions this as briefly as he can and then emphasizes the more tolerant comments Bingham made about effeminate gay men, trying to imply that Bingham knew his distaste for them was wrong and was striving to overcome it. Maybe that's true, but I could see that Barrett was concerned that this bit of personal taste might prejudice gay readers against him.

All in all, it's a good and balanced study of an ordinary man who became a hero because the opportunity sought him out. It's inspiring to know that such an ordinary man can be so heroic.

This short biography of Mark Bingham, who died on Flight 93 that terrible day of September 11, 2001, most likely as a member of a heroic group attempting to thwart the hijackers who had taken over his plane, is carefully written and researched by one of the senior editors of the Advocate. He's done the best job possible of presenting Mark Bingham as the human being he was, which includes the fact that he was a gay man. The parallels and differences drawn between Bingham and the gay man who saved Gerald Ford from possible assassination by Sara Jane Moore are very striking and food for thought. Most of the quotes are carefully chosen and only occasionally, as in a long string of e-mail correspondence between Bingham and a friend, is there a suspicion of padding.

Ultimately the impact of this book is muted solely by the fact that no words can adequately reproduce the impact of the attacks that changed America forever, and too many facts tend to obscure, rather than clarify, the subject and its attendant emotions. The short quote from Mark Bingham about his philosophy of life near the end of the book, as related by one of his friends, is more moving in context than anything else. If you know what I'm talking about, it's not necessary to read the rest; if you don't, it's worth buying the book just to read that.

I would've given this book (these books) a three, except for the fact that I did really enjoy the characters. Lisa Bingham's _Call of the Wild_ was really more silly than funny and Nellie, the gorilla, has more romantic dates than Alana, the main female character in the story, but, for the most part it was okay. I have the feeling that people who know more about gorillas than I do would cringe at reading the story, but the tension between Alana and Jake was fun to read. Susan Peterson's _Everything But Anchovies_ was my favorite of the two stories, although even it had its problems. Josh, the handsome supercop, gets partnered with Quinby, a rookie who keeps messing up and who has an incredibly long resume. Quinby was great and I loved Josh, but it felt like Peterson had some problems with Harlequin's page number restrictions. For example, it's mentioned that Josh's ex-wife wants to take their son far away from him, something which bothers Josh a great deal, but this issue is never actually resolved. It felt like the son was only in the story in order to cause a little temporary tension in Josh and maybe to add a cuteness factor.

delightful, funny... a bit of a mystery! really enjoy this book, sue has a wonderful talent with words story flows so nicely. hope to see more books by her soon!

I can't say enough good things about Susan Peterson's EVERYTHING BUT ANCHOVIES. The characterization is excellent, the pacing is fast, and the one-liners are hilarious. Quinby Parker is a true original. Fresh, funny, and brilliant, from the first line to the last, this book is a definite keeper. Like a previous reviewer, I wish the author would write a bigger book--I'd sure like to stay with her characters longer. I'm in the middle of CALL OF THE WILD, and I have to say, it's also quite original and well-written. All in all, this Duets is one of the freshest category romances I've read in awhile.

Unfortunately, although Bingham shows she can write, the heroine in "Call of the Wild" is one of those romance heroines whose lives come to a halt when they meet A Man and suddenly the entire universe revolves around him with no room for the heroine to shine on her own. (And frankly, this Man doesn't seem worth it.) The setting held great promise with the fascinating premise of gorilla behavior contrasted to the life of a radio relationships advisor, but unfortunately fell flat when that premise was given a simplified, saccharine and sexist coating.

However, Susan Peterson's entry is wonderful, well worth the price of the book and then some. Funny, romantic, heartwarming, and down-to-earth. The only negative thing about it is that it was too short and the father sub-plot was resolved off-camera, the son sub-plot was unresolved (unless the dance with the ex was supposed to signal in some way that it had been resolved), and the unusual foster family was not examined more closely.

That was the main problem. A great read like "Anchovies" cried out for a longer book where we could really dig into the characters of these diverse, fascinating and funny people.

"Call of the Wild" by Lisa Bingham. When Nellie the gorilla rejected her eleventh suitor in two years, Dr. Wilhelmina Bush, owner of the Maratonga Behavioral Institute and Zoological Park decides a change is needed. She informs researcher Jake Grisholm that she hired radio sex therapist Alana Childe to assist. Alana learns the hard way that her client the "goddaughter" is a gorilla, but even more difficult is that Jake is the one man whose seduction years ago remains implanted in her heart and soul. Likewise that night of ecstasy is Jake's dream moment. With a gorilla and her godmother interceding, how can this couple fail to mate? A gorillas in the midst of a relationship turns this work into a charmingly humorous tale.

"Everything but Anchovies" by Susan Peterson. Between filling in at the restaurant making and delivering pizza and working as a tyro police officer on the Bracket City, New York force, Quinby Parker has no social life. Part of her problem is a lack of time, but a major dilemma is that no one wants to date a cop. However, Sergeant Josh Reed, the most decorated cop on the force, sure looks good to the female rookie, but the supercop has a kid and besides why would he date a klutzy police officer like Quinby unless love sentences both of them to a lifetime together. Two cops and a pizza are the right ingredients for a jocular romantic story.

Once again, the two stories in the Duet line are fun and amusing, as readers will enjoy the latest Duets.

Harriet Klausner

Some people consider him the best-selling Christian author in history. I'd say that at least half of his stories and writing is non-religious. He will be best known for THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, soon to be out as a scary movie. I like scary movies, so I took out the children's classic to prepare myself for w world of his wildest imagaination.

He was an Oxford Don and Cambridge Professor when a young divorced woman with a son entered his life and changed it forever. He'd been considered an "intellectual prig" but he fell in love and wrote his own "Ode to Joy" called SURPRISED BY JOY, and A GRIEF OBSERVED after she died and he felt that he would, too. He also wrote C.S. LEWIS ON LOVE; he was doubting his Christian beliefs when Joy and her son entered his world and changed it for the better. It made him human. A good biography is JACK: A LIFE OF C.S. LEWIS by George Sayer.

During the war, he broadcasts on BBC his imaginative Christian truth and influenced the listeners with his use of Medieval and Renaissance English. These became his internationally known book, MERE CHRISTIANITY. I'd say he was a genius who needed a woman to bring him down to earth.

He'd written THE SPACE TRILOGY (early Science Fiction), devotionals, inspirational writngs like 'JOY'FUL CHRISITAN and MIRACLES. He became known for THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS and played with A PILGRIM'S PROGRESS; his book was called THE PILGRIM'S REGRESS.

Besides the bulk of his religious work, he also wrote such things as THE ABOLITION OF MAN, THE GREAT DIVORCE, VIRTUE AND VICE AND PRESENT CONCERNS. His physical ails and Joy's debilitating illness which took her form him left him doubting God. He has many concerns and questions of the faith which had let him down. We all have "present concerns" mine are looming large at present.

For children, he WROTE THE HORSE AND HIS BOY, THE DARK TOWER, and many others including the marvelous NARNIA series, not just THE LIAN, WITCH AND WARDROBE. He left quite a legacy in words. "His life is beacon for all who struggle with doubt and faith in Christ."

Derick Bingham lives in the county where Lewis did his writing and shows how the environment of Belfast and the County Down influenced Lewis' imagination. He has written THE WILD-BIRD CHILD and twenty-two other books. He is a teaching pastor with ChristChurch in Belfast. Who knows, he may become the next C. S. Lewis for Christians everywhere.

Derick Bingham has produced an inspirational portrayal of the "man on the inside" of C.S. Lewis.
This is a very well researched journey through the experiences that shaped the life of C.S. Lewis and developed his intellect and integrity.A combination forged in the wisdom of a sovereign God which so effectively sought to reach his fellow man.
A facinating record too of the challenges, both personal and national, that "Jack" Lewis faced. Encounters that thrust him out of the security and privacy of his imagination, to confront that other world of the barren plains, sunless valleys and dark forests of mankinds hearts and minds, blinded and held captive by the great deceiver.
Using wit, imagination and intelligence, C.S. Lewis reflected light from the Light of the World into very dark times.
A Shiver of Wonder is an excellent biography which serves as an invaluable introduction into the works of this giant of Christian literature.
I am confident that those who read it will find themselves on the threshold of adventure, determined to discover the wonderful works of C.S. "Jack" Lewis.

by J. Alan Haskins

Derick Bingham's biography of Lewis is not a dry scholarly work. It looks for the everyday human being that was C. S. Lewis, living in a very real place that helped create the writer we love, and it finds him again and again. This book is a delightful read. Bingham knows his subject, man and place, and he gives us a flesh-and-blood account of it. I highly recommend the book.

Bingham's style is captivating. He makes this biography of CS Lewis into a delightful trip through time, including breaks along the road to enjoy the scenery. His deep insights concerning Lewis' life give this book a real depth, and yet I found it was really fun reading too. Bingham's knowledge of the subject, and of related topics, results in a masterful tapestry. I just wanted to keep on reading, even at the final chapter.

I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone as the author has meticulously researched the life and works of Lewis. I was encaptured into the atmosphere from the very first page. CS Lewis was known to me as the author of 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' but after reading this book I feel the need to read further works by Lewis. 'The Shiver of Wonder' is so delicately interwoven into each page and the book shines with the author's love for his subject and his deeper love for the Saviour of mankind today. Read this book and you will feel 'The Shiver of Wonder' and not want the story to end.

If you have not read any of Lewis's books you will want to after reading this and if like me you have read his children's books you will definitely want to read his other books.

I feel D. Bingham has reached a wider audience with his accurate depiction of Lewis's real life. I so enjoyed his love of nature and the encounters with many other authors we all know today. The book is deeply moving and will leave the reader with a deeper understanding of the reasons behind Lewis's writings. I feel privileged to give this book 5 very well deserved stars and just want to share the joy with others no matter where you read this book.

I live in Northern Ireland so many of the places 'live' to me. By reading the book you will also enjoy all the 'little' snatches of life in Belfast as this is where CS Lewis was born.

I look forward to reading more CS Lewis books but will also look forward to more by D.Bingham who has a wonderful gift of writing.

This rather dry but well documented history of a Jewish family starts with the patriarch Jacob who moved from New York to a small southern town and ends with his grandchildren many of whom make their homes in the south. While the reader may be curious to know the family's situation in society at the end, this book is not a gripping page turner. If the reader wants a page turner, he/she should read The Other Boleyn Girl. Both books are historically accurate. One wonders why Bingham could not make this history come alive as Phillipa Gregory did in her effort. The author uses the extensive letters, journal entries, photographs, portraits,bills of sale, promissory notes and other documents preserved by the members of this family and various historical societies to craft a cohesive history. However, it is a history and should be read as such. The author provides a detailed generational chart in the front of the book to help the reader keep the characters straight. The author niether embellishes nor seeks to invest the reader in the characters' outcome. Thus, it is dry. However, it is informative. We watch as an evangelical wave similar to the one now gripping our nation successfully converts some family members while other members resist conversion. The anti-Jewish sentiments of the day forced the family to seek companionship and solace among each other. Thus they were quite insular. The family which owned a few slaves became seriously divided by the civil war. Major Alfred Mordecai graduated 1st in his class at West Point and served in high positions in the U.S. military. He declined to side with the south during the civil war. However, he declined to fight against his family for the north and sat out the war as a civilian in Philadalphia. This was seen as a betrayal by other family members. This history would have been more lively had the author told their story from Rachel, Alfred and Solomon's point of view. This is an immigrant's tale. I really wanted to love this book, but alas I cannot. Sadly, only five of the members of the family were still practicing Jews in the end.

While others have been captured by their story, there is no other scholar who has put as much time and thought into the fascinating lives of the Mordecai family, nor is there anyone else who has written about them with such care and obvious attention to detail. This is, indeed, an American family, and through their lives Bingham escorts the reader through many of nineteenth century America's most divisive and troubling dilemmas, while demonstrating the power of kinship to unite loved ones through such a whirlwind of influences.

Emily Bingham's biography of the Mordecais is beautifully researched and written. Thanks to the family's voluminous journals, letters, books, and diaries--and to Bingham's graceful style--we have a family history that compels us to keep turning the pages.
Three generations of Mordecais come alive, shedding light upon the complex history of the Southern Jewish experience. Among many individuals who stand out, perhaps the most unforgettable are Alfred, accepted at West Point at a time (the mid 1800s) when few Jews even applied, and Rachel, whose story would itself be a fascinating biography. Their relationship to their Jewish heritage--and the uses they put it to--are important additions to the story of other ethnic groups and their struggle to assimilate while still maintaining their identity.
Emily Bingham's solid scholarship and broad knowledge of the era she writes about make MORDECAI a fascinating biography of a people and a time.

I picked up Emily Bingham's book Mordecai An Early American Family while visiting my son and daughter-in-law. My intent was to give the book a quick glance and set it aside. By the end of the first chapter I was engrossed in the story of the Mordecai family, its hopes, its dreams, its successes, its failures. The family was depicted as tightly knit unit. Daughters were as well educated as sons. All worked together for the good of the family. Ms. Bingham's discussion of the family's struggles to maintain their Jewish faith and worship in the absence of a supportive Jewish community challenged me to reflect upon my response given similar circumstances. Rachel's conflict between Judaism and Christianity was poignant. From start to finish I found Mordecai absorbing and thought provoking.

Mordecai is a well- crafted and engaging novel centered around a very interesting aspect of U.S. history. Ms. Bingman artfully recounts the tale of an immigrant family struggling to seek religious truth in the antebellum south. This story of the Old South's Jewish experience is an important glimpse into our understanding of how the United States was formed. An indelible tale that makes a great read for all interested in understanding ideas about family, nation-making, truth, freedom and tolerance.