Living History Books

In this short, succinct book, a collection of three lectures given in the 1980s, Stegner sums up the history, problems, and ever-so-bleak future of the American West. He paints the clearest and most inarguable case that has yet seen print against the overdevelopement of the West's water, land, and resources and, jarringly, recants his youthful appelation of the West as "the geography of hope."This should be required reading in every high school, every college, and every home in the West--make that the entire country--no, make it the world.

These three essays are crisp, clear statements of Wallace Stegner's beliefs about the influence of the American West on American consciousness.

Please note, however, that these three essays appear with 13 others in Stegner's book _Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs_. With a total of 16 essays, that book is a much better value than _American West as Living Space_.

In the same genre as "Married to the SAS," this book looks at the SAS from the wife's perspective. Quite an insightful and interesting account, particularly when compared to "Married to the SAS." To Jenny Simpson and her husband's credit, their relationship does survive the SAS. She also offers a great deal of insight into the family pressures and strains that are caused having a husband in the SAS. Whilst also being somewhat critical of the "support mechanisms" that are in place for wives and families.

The usual Brit class thing comes thru in the book too. There's the "officer's wives", with typically Brit upper/upper middle class attitudes, and the NCO/Troopies wives, usually Brit working class. For those who are not Brit but have worked with them, it's a real Brit problem that most of them really don't realize or see coz they've grown up with it and it's embedded in their psych. Quite fascinating to those of us who grew up in countries without the whole "class" thing.

Behind the bravado and heroic derring-do of the Special Air Service lies another story, the one you have never read about in the spate of "tell-all" books about these bold British commandos that have surfaced in recent years. Jenny Simpson pens a heartfelt story of the families of SAS operators and the lives they lead, which are in some cases every bit as demanding as those of their gutsy men. These true stories of both the hardship and the immense psychological pressure endured by courageous women like Simpson bring a long overdue, more human face to the hyper-efficient "Killing Machine" persona that the SAS wears in pop culture. No library about the SAS would be complete without this volume, for it serves to give real depth and dimension to the SAS mythos. On the other hand, readers of macho spec-ops books like "Rogue Warrior" would probably be turned off by this read, since it doesn't have much in the way of action, save when the SAS decides for a time to get spouses involved in firearms training and the "Killing Rooms", which in itself is fascinating. Highly recommended.

The Boy Who Saved Cleveland is the wonderful coming of age story of Seth Doan. Although this is a work of fiction, Giblin has based the book on actual events. In the summer of 1798, the small settlement of Cleveland experiences a malaria outbreak. Many of the founders fall ill to the "shakes and fever" and it is left up to Seth Doan to supply food for the entire settlement. Seth has been protected from hardwork by his father, who fears something may happen to his only surviving son. Although, understandably terrified by the task ahead, Seth sets out to try and save his family and the rest of the settlement his father has worked hard to help establish. This book is great for children in grades 3-5. The sentences flow smoothly and has a vocabulary that will challenge young readers. In addition, the historical setting is sure to captivate young history lovers.

James Cross Giblin is known for writing extraordinary nonfiction books for young adults. His books have a reputation for being accurate, readable, and above all enjoyable.

THE BOY WHO SAVED CLEVELAND is a departure in some ways from your typical Giblin book. It is a fiction book for young readers--I'd estimate second to fourth graders. Definitely a "chapter-book" look and style to it, clear, easy-to-read, straight forward text, short chapters. Also, the book is fiction not nonfiction.

THE BOY WHO SAVED CLEVELAND is based on a true story of a young boy who saved his small settlement in 1798 from from a malaria epidemic. As one by one his family members and neighbors get sick it is his responsibility to take the corn to the mill to grind. Each day his burdens become heavier as more neighbors add in sacks of corn to be taken to the mill. This young boy has a great responsibility, and a newfound purpose. He is proud of his accomplishments...and is taking his first steps to manhood.

Overall, while not as 'fascinating' to adult readers like his YA books are...it's hard to have a 'fascinating' chapter book...it is an enjoyable read that I hope many children will enjoy.

The illustrations by Michael Dooling are also impressive.

This is a short, quick read where Dr. MacArthur attempts to answer the question, "Can God Bless America?". The simple answer is, "Of Course, God can do what He wants." The question should really be WILL God continue to bless America? MacArthur believes God will only continue His blessings upon America if the people of America turn back toward Him and repent of their sins, learn His Word and obey it.

God has clearly stated His conditions for blessings throughout the Bible. MacArthur uses James 4:7-10 to give a list of 10 commands that show God's conditions for divine blessing. The problem is, according to MacArthur, many of the Churches and "Religious Right" are focused on fixing problems in America by changing laws, rather than proclaiming the Word and enabling God to change hearts.

Overall, this was an OK book. It is only about 100 pages and doesn't have a nice "flow" to it at times. This could probably have been a better article than a book. This is probably not a book I would recommend buying, but it is worth a read if you happen to come across a copy of it or get a good price on it.

The concluding paragraph really sums up the answer to the question (page 96-97)

"Moralism isn't the answer to what ails America. The gospel is. Higher moral standards alone won't earn God's blessing on this country. Our only hope for that lies in the transforming power of the gospel. And our calling is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth, regardless of what unbelievers in our nation do."

"Can God Bless America?" by John MacArthur, is a non-fiction work that addresses theological and ethical issues. The book is a challenge to the evangelical Christians of the United States in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

MacArthur expresses skepticism about the "widespread revival" of the slogan "God bless America" after the terrorist attacks. He asks the fundamental question: Should God bless America? The essence of the author's challenge to his fellow Christians is given in chapter 3: "We must confess our guilt, revive our consciences, turn from our sin, and turn to God."

Yes, at times MacArthur goes after some obvious targets (Ozzy Osbourne, environmentalists, homosexuality, etc.). But the best part of the book is a spirited and cutting critique of the "Religious Right," its moralistic crusades and its political alliances. He offers a devastating 16-point critique of the Religious Right's brand of moralism.

I'm not an evangelical fundamentalist Christian myself, so I very much approached this book as an outsider. And I found it to be stimulating, daring and well-written.

I'll keep this short, but I must say that I found this book very well laid out both in words and pictures. Worth buying!!!

This book somehow gets lost in the space between entertainment and education. It's too dry to be entertaining, unless you are just dying to find out what an SCBA is. And it's really too light to be of any use for education. Make up your mind about what you want and go for either "Fighting Fire" by Caroline Paul (entertainment) or "Essentials of Fire Fighting" for educational use.

We found this perfect book to go with a lego reader book space adventure and of course a set of legos with a similar space exploration theme. Our nephew loved the gift for Christmas!

Linda is an astronaut. Her fourth mission involves repairing a telescope in outer space. Combining color photos and illustrations with a simple vocabulary makes this another winner in the DK Eyewitness Reader series. It can be easily accessed by those starting to read on their own. Fact boxes are scattered throughout the book and interesting space facts are on a separate page. The details of an astronaut's training and work are woven into a story which will hold the attention of almost any reader.

I bought this book for my daughter's summer reading list. It was a truly touching story, beautifully written and illustrated. My daughter loves animals, and to read about one who truly loves people was wonderful. My family really liked this book.

I gave this book to my six year old daughter as a Christmas gift. We read it together as a bedtime story and her first reaction was : "I want you to read it again right now!". In fact, she would have liked me to read it several more times that night. It is a beautifully illustrated, lovingly written story about a special dog who helps sick children get well. It touched each of us emotionally without being falsely sentimental. We both found it very interesting that it is based on true events. I certainly recommend it for children from 3 to 8 and feel older children would also find the story interesting. It is a wonderful book to give as a gift.

While some reviewers might object to the "updated" terminology of Lebell's adaptation of Epictetus' philosophy, I must say that the reason that this edition is so effective is largely because the "abstract", "scholarly", "dry" language that one usually encounters (with conventional translations of Epictetus' philosophy) has been replaced with a pleasing approximation of how Epictetus himself would likely speak TODAY (assuming his native tongue were English).

Since discovering this audiobook (an excellently judicious abridgement of Lebell's conventional-book edition) some years ago, I've found myself listening to it over and over and over, and I expect to do so for the rest of my life! I certainly can't say THAT about any other audiobook (albeit the audio edition of "How to Stop Worrying" by Dale Carnegie is, for me, a noteworthy--but distant--"next-best").

I suggest you purchase the "audio download" edition of this audiobook so that you can have it as either a conventional compact disc or as MP3 files (for your iPod, MP3 player, computer, etc.). [As of this writing, you can find Amazon's "audio download" edition by first "searching" on the ISBN number of the CASSETTE edition (1574530887) and then clicking on the "Also Available" audio download edition link near the top of the page.] The price for the "audio download" edition is remarkably low; indeed, it may well amount to the greatest "self-help" bargain you'll ever encounter!

This book is not a translation of Epictetus' writings. Rather, it is an interpretation written by Sharon Lebell, who is identified on the jacket as "a philosophical writer and musician who lives in Northern California." No other qualifications are listed.

Unfortunately, Ms. Lebell's interpretations, in trying to be contemporary, tend to distort Epictetus' thoughts. Readers interested in learning what he really thought and wrote should read the Enchiridion [ISBN 0879757035] or the Loeb translations of his work [ISBN: 0674991451, 0674992407]

To the Stoics, everything is part of the natural order, including cruelty, pain and death. The function of the individual within this world is to suffer with dignity, restraining anger and being tolerant of the acts of others, recognizing that anything they do is in their nature and the natural order of things. The Stoic philosophy is basically pessimistic - Life's a losing battle, but in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter because we only spend a brief time here, before being recycled by nature.

A pessimistic view, certainly, yet taken as a whole, Stoicism provides useful information for dealing with life's unpleasantries, most of which involve living the simple life - being modest and grateful for the good things that one has enjoyed, treating others politely and fairly, being indifferent to superficial honors and indicia of status, and living life honorably, simply and well during our brief moment on the stage. And if things aren't going well? We'll be dead soon enough, and after that it won't matter.

It is a philosophy particularly well suited to the ascetic and/or military life; Admiral James Stockdale credited Epictetus for his survival in a North Vietnam POW prison.

The foregoing sounds simplistic and depressing, yet the effect of the philosophy is positive, perhaps because we all recognize that we are capable of being better people.

Readers who wish to pursue Stoicism further should consider:
* Seneca's "Letters to Lucilius;" and
* Cicero's "On the Good Life."

I have bought this item by the web on Amzon, unfortunately this book is thought for children not for adult. So I'm not fully satisfactory.
By the way, it's quite integresting, good images.

Ages 8 and older will find Flag Lore For All Nations an excellent reference which covers the histories of flags in nations around the world. Each small color flag is accompanied by a paragraph of background on the date it first flew and the meaning behind its colors.

Although "unique"--as one professional reviewer put it--that doesn't necessarily mean a brilliantly conceived book will be enjoyable. I started, but didn't get very far, so far. The style is opaque with trendy deconstructionist jargon that must first be deciphered into plain English (this is serious sociology, after all). Understanding Wright's own words can be difficult, true, but fun. This is not, so far. (Contrast the fresh air quality of the opening Wright passage with Satler's ponderous text.) Although the book title speaks of "Living Space," note that this book focuses on Wright's early WORK spaces (Larkin and Unity Temple) rather than his houses. Nor are the tiny B/W pictures of those buildings either plentiful or good. I hope to come back to this book after enjoying some others (e.g., G. Hildebrand's The Wright Space [Univ. Washington], or Susan Bandes' Affordable Dreams: The Goetsch-Winckler House [Kresge Art Museum, Michigan State Univ]).

I am pleased to say that this book's form does follow it's function. It is such a pleasure to read a book ,that really jumps out at the reader, and one feels as if they are walking through a tour of one of Wright's structures. The author seems like she really knows what she is talking about, unlike some authors who just research a subject and throw it together and there is a book. Gail Satler is a phenominal author and I'm, sure she is a great person to know. I look forward to reading more of her work in the near future. Everyone should read this book about one of the most influential architect's in the history of the world.