By Subject Books

I discovered Chesterton about fifteen years ago and I have been continuing to discover him ever since. One can never get enough of this great man. Claimed by both liberals and conservatives, he defies modern categories just as he defies modern thought.
Along with C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, G. K. C. is a pillar of wonder and joy in an age of sarcasm and despair. A devout Christian, his generous thought is characterised by humility, humor and a sharp brilliance that both awakens and renews the mind.
This volume is a wonderful summary of Chesterton's vast library of work. I challenge anyone with a real interest in truth to read a selection from this book and not want to read more. One of the great things about Chesterton is that he wrote about everything and wrote well. His thinking is original and fresh, but also ancient and deep as the deepest streams of philosophy.
If you can read just one book by Chesterton (yes, I said it) read this one. This is the cheepest way to buy a Chesterton library. You will never be the same.
Enjoy!

There are two kinds of people, runs the old joke: those who divide everyone into two kinds of people, and those who don't. Belonging firmly to the first group, as regards the subject at hand, I hold that there are two kinds of people: those who have never read Chesterton, and those who want everyone else to. The problem for the first group is where to start. The problem for the second group is how to get them started. This book, I humbly suggest, meets both needs.

As usual, Regent has gone all out to produce a beautiful edition of a classic book, earning them high points on my list of best publishers. This one was originally a hardback from Eerdmans, published in 1985. There have been other Chesterton readers, so how does this one, edited by Robert Knille, the late avid fan and founder of the first eastern chapter of the Chesterton Society, hold up? Quite well on a few counts.

The problem for those in the second group compiling bits of Chestertonia for novices in the first group is to know how to group them. GKC wrote across the board; nearly everything piqued his interest, and nearly all he wrote displayed his sparkling wit, whimsy, and insight. Nearly all of it also contained some common sense idea at the heart, and nearly everyone from the first group who reads so much as a sentence, or even hears it quoted, at once dives headlong into the second group.

Chesterton collections really don't need any headings, and those supplied cannot help but be more sedate and boring than the lively bits below them. In that regard, this volume is no exception. There are three sections of poems, but nothing stops the reader from wildly reading them all together. The book starts off with selections from the autobiography, the last thing Chesterton wrote, not the first, published in 1936, a few months before his final farewell. This is one of the few collections to quote at all from the so- called Catholic books, which is to say, those published after 1922, or for that matter, to quote any Catholics. Most of the best- known non- fiction, including Orthodoxy, and the best known novels, including The Man Who Was Thursday and The Ball and the Cross, however, not to say the first Father Brown mysteries, were published long before that time.

One very helpful feature of the book is that each selection includes the source from which it is taken, which enables the interested reader to track down the books which catch his or her fancy. The selections range from a paragraph to a few pages, to an entire story, in the case of the Father Brown mysteries. Now that Ignatius has embarked on its publishing project, the Collected Chesterton, the lesser known titles are easier to obtain, and, for that reason, more widely read. But even those with well- thumbed GK books lining the library shelves will find this volume a valuable guide to finding (again) that zinger that lies buried in the stacks somewhere (who knows where), and which converted the reader, a former member of the first group, to a true believer.

A world apart from his words, movies, and actions, this team effort with the famed japanese photographer will surprise. The centerfold image with a sledgehammer starting straight up at the lense is chilling. Black and white photos are offset with unique use of monochormatic coloring to further shock the eye. 10 years after finding this one I am willing to part with it. If you are a interested collector contact me at mmurd@hotmail.com

It took a long time for me to find this book (courtesy of Amazon.com) but it was definetly worth the frustration! This book of photography is a MUST for serious Mishima / Hosoe collectors and fans - it offers not only a set of beautifully taken photos but a deadly and not insignificant insight to both the photographer and his tempramental subject. Buy, beg, steal but whatever you do dont borrow it because you will be a sad man when the day of parting comes........

As skillfully as early landscape architects planned the Blue Ridge Parkway to "lie lightly upon the land," author Tim Pegram has crafted a delightful journey in words to pay tribute to his years as a National Park Service park ranger and his endeavor to be the first person to through-hike the linear park's 469 miles. I don't know when I have enjoyed a book more! From the time I opened the box from Amazon and first held "The Blue Ridge Parkway by Foot: A Park Ranger's Memoir" in my hand, it has been a constant companion. I have chosen to read, and reread, it at a leisurely pace, much like Pegram's 41-day walk, or a relaxed drive along the Parkway. That way, I can stop at all the overlooks, savor each person, place, view, milepost, story, and insight, and look forward to what lies around the next bend, on the next page. Written in a personable, engaging style, this book is sure to become a treasured favorite of everyone who loves the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Tim Pegram captivates the reader with memories of his career as a parkway ranger, and his story of hiking the entire Blue Ridge Parkway. This is an extremely unique book that covers a subject on which few books exist. A must read for Blue Ridge Parkway lovers, hikers, fellow Park Rangers, and BRP history buffs.

Never underestimate the power of images! the book portaits in a very succint way, the causes of illegal immigration and why our borders are so porous. Good book if you are used to think and go beyond propaganda.

BORDER FILM PROJECT: PHOTOS BY MIGRANT AND MINUTEMEN ON THE US-MEXICO BORDER could also have been featured in our 'arts' or 'social issues' sections, but is reviewed here for its outstanding documentary value. The authors distributed hundreds of disposable cameras, along with means of returning them, to migrants and Minutemen so they could document their own border and immigration experiences. BORDER FILM PROJECT gathers these images under one cover, pairs them with personal stories which go far beyond the usual news report, and accompanies a traveling exhibition. It's an outstanding documentary highly recommended for any collection strong in photography, social issues, and immigrant issues.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This is probably the original source for information of pirates. It contains such a vast compendium of information that it is difficult to select anyone in particular. The cruel reality of pirates is sometimes terrifying; however, in the context of their times this may not have been so shocking. Each reader will take away what they find most interesting. I find that the interaction between the pirates and the indigenous people of these island most intriguing.

This is a book about buccaneering written by one of the participants. Esquemeling was a Dutch physian who went to the Caribbean during the heyday of the Spanish Main. He was the surgeon to Henry Morgan's expedition against Panama City.

Like many educated men of his time, he tried to be a scientific observer of the New World. As a result, you'll see descriptions of flora and fauna of the Americas mixed in with anecdotes about the famous and near famous of the period. The phraseology can be stilted in places, but that is how people spoke at the time.

Is it worth reading? I certainly think so! It's valuable in the same way that Bernal Diaz's account of the conquest of Mexico is valuable, it gives a flavor for how the participants saw themselves. So, if you want real, this is it.

A must have for all Designers interested in understanding how products are ultimately judged within their context-by thier effectiveness and usefulness.The six levels of Design Caplan outlines is a great measuring stick for all disciplines of Design and Engineering.

This outstanding book is said to be aimed at design students, professionals, or anyone else who could benefit from af uller appreciation of the design process. And yes, I have to agree, it is.

More important to me however is the presentation in this book of the essence of what design is all about. This is the kind of book that the financial people behind a new big hotel should read. It is the book that a product development engineer should read before he starts working with his industrial designer. This is the book that nearly any business manager from marketing, to engineering, to sales, should read.

The first time I travelled to Scandinavia I was struck with the simple elements of design that they do so much better than we do in this country. Simple things like the design of hotel doors, no more expensive than what we do here, just better.

And the sub-title, 'why there are no locks on the bathrobe doors in the Hotel Louis XIV' -that's a great story, it makes such eminent sense. A special problem, a great design, see page 179.

I am a teacher of students with learning disabilities at a secondary school. This is the best book I have found that shows that people with disablities can excel, without downplaying their struggles. I use this book while teaching a self-advocacy unit. My students identify with the struggles and accomplishments that are outlined in this book. It is well worth the hardback price.

As the mother of a disabled child, I found my voice on each page of this wonderful book. Rarely do I run to find a copy to purchase, but this one is a must buy. I will read it again and again to reinforce I am not alone in my struggling, my child is not alone in his world, and there is hope at the end of our rainbow. ANYONE dealing with a "special" child (or themselves), should read this book. It's comforting, supportive, and affirming. I plan to share pages of it with his teachers, doctors, and someday when he's ready, with him. The mix of voices put to pen is varied and catches the sense of the spirit of this matter from every side. Bravo!!

I have had this book for years, I still never get tired of it. I wish the author/photographer would have done another book

This is not a book for people looking for architectural or landscape photographs of Naples; the pictures focus solely on the people (mostly female children) of this ancient Italian city.

The photographs in this book are not technically brilliant, even by standards of the time, yet the dark shadows are rich with secret meaning: a woman in a doorway is seen only as a skirt and arms holding an infant, for example. The essay does a dutiful job of answering questions about why the photographs were taken in the loose fashion that some of them were, and why they are mostly focused on girls, but is neither boring nor compelling.

However, the real reason to get this book is to get a sense of the living, breathing city, both old and young, in its extremes of glamour and squalor, that makes you both wish you could go see that time and place and hope that it has vanished.

The Civil War: A Concise Account By A Noted Southern Historian from the collective studies and historical perceptions of Grady McWhiney (Founder of the Grady McWhiney Foundation) is an invaluable compendium providing the reader with an overall understandings and historical survey of the American Civil War. Diligently compiled within 144 pages, The Civil War is inclusive of 11 maps with very detailed and in-depth depictions and essays of the Civil War's battles, campaigns, victories and demises, vividly and accurately detailing key particulars of the conflict. The Civil War: A Concise Account By A Noted Southern Historian is very strongly recommended, to all students of American History, most particularly those with an interest in the Civil War for its informative study not found elsewhere.

In less than one-hundred and fifty pages McWhiney details events leading up to the War Between the States and the major battles and events of that war. After all the many books any of us interested in the history of this terrible event have read, such a small volume may appear to be a triviality. I thought so when a friend proposed I read it, but upon scanning it I found out otherwise. This is both a great aide memoir for those familiar with the subject and a fine introduction for the new reader . There are a number of reasons I say this: first, after an introduction by Donald Frazier giving the geographic circumstances of early nineteenth century America, Mc Whiney takes his reader in short, clear paragraphs through Clay, Calhoun And Webster and the Fugitive Slave Law. The Missouri Compromise,the Kansas Nebraska act and the admission of Texas are neatly discussed, and what this meant to the election of 1856 and the role of these events in the Lincoln -Douglas debates follows. The Dred Scott decision and the Supreme Court's upsetting legislative compromise is also touched. How the split in the Democrat party and the Know-nothing elected Lincoln is the eventual consequence of all that. From there to conflict, with useful maps and details, the text works its way through the war.
Second, while the politics of the era is discussed, it does not stand alone. McWhiney provides numerous examples of data which put events in context. For example, one chart/map shows slave populations in 1810 and 1860. A surprise is the comparative slave populations of secessionist South Carolina and unionist Maryland. The dwindling slave population in the north, New Jersey for example goes from 12, 000 to 2,000 in these thirty years, leads to some understanding of how slavery was expected to wither as an institution, but the increase in the south made for conflicting experiences. Throughout this volume, such telling data surface: populations, production, agriculture, exports arms manufacturing and the horrifing casualties.

Finally, the clear, precise English of the author is a joy. No obscure theorizing, no guessing. Paragraphs announce the topic sentence and move detail by detail through proof of the statement. A writing teacher could use this as a guidebook on the art of the expository essay.

In closing, I have read numerous books on these events, have walked many of the major battlefields, and have had more than a few discussions of the war. I am happy to have added this volume to my library and would tell anyone, including scholarly authors whom I know, that this is an essential.

This is a wonderful collection of poems from an era when the world was at war--though not fighting everywhere--in many ways not dissimilar to our own era, when many supposed allies are in truth enemies.

The poems are unique, adept and cunningly capture the essence of an era at the same time more frightening and simpler than our own. People knew, then, that there were things of which they should be terrified, and that crystal understanding registers in each of these poems.

What is most terrifying today is that people are not sufficiently frightened, but live in a fantasy land, dreaming of peace while mass warfare against the West is planned everywhere.

Strangely enough, one finds hope in these poems.

A great book, eagerly anticipated by lovers of the serious poets of the era. Especially appreciated are the critiques and commentary of the works of the late Hyam Plutzik, whose major work, Horatio, has been called brilliant by many reviewers and readers, over the last forty years, and who still has a following among serious students of poetry.

Brunner's introduction provides an important historical framework for his discourse. It reminds one of the push-pull between mass culture and classical ideals that existed in post war society, and the way this reality fueled the work of serious poets and artists at the time.

Hats off to Dr. Brunner for taking the time and care to provide a critical and historical perspective of poets who should be more widely known that the Beats, but aren't.

The issue is how to get a book like this to a wider audience.