Associations Books

When packing for a trip to the Smokies, the double checked list of essentials that I pack include a camera, cash, and this book of trails.

I highly recommend this book. It's not filled with lots of photos and graphs that make the novice feel comfortable about hiking in the Smokies. It's exactly what you need before the trip to plan a good hiking trip. I use it before day hikes and multi-night trips. I highly recommend this book. However, the 2003 version can be bought on the publisher's website for $20 + $6 for shipping.

This book is an excerpt from a broader history and was written in the 19th century. It chronicles the struggles & persecutions of a European fundamentalist christian sect. It traces the Waldenses' roots back to the 11th century. If historical chronicling is tedious to you, I recommend James Byron Huggins' epic historical fiction work titled RORA. It is an easy read and might entice you into reading "The Waldenses".

The Waldenses were a people that lived in the Italian Alps and, despite living hundreds of years before the reformation, made the Bible their only rule of faith and rejected such papal innovations as the mass, the celibate priesthood, confession, purgatory, indulgences, and infant baptism. The Waldenses rejected the whole complex of pagan practices adopted by the Roman Church during the middle ages, and held that the Pope was anti-Christ.

This work is excerpted from a much longer one; it is a reprint of the Sixteenth Book of Wylie's "History of Protestantism." This is a obviously a protestant view of the Waldenses, and assumes the correctness of their religion vis-a-vis the Roman church. For a Roman Catholic perspective, read the article on the Waldenses in the Catholic Encyclopedia, or read the recent book by a Euan Cameron that is listed on Amazon.com.

Most Catholic and liberal protestant scholars have accepted the view that the Waldenses began with Peter Waldo, a rich man of Lyon, France, who, around 1160 AD, gave all his money to the poor and became an itinerant preacher. The Waldenses themselves, however, who might better be called Vaudois, traced their religion back to apostolic times. Wylie notes that even some Catholic researchers admitted that the Vaudois were "not a new sect in the ninth and tenth centuries . . ." Even if they only date to the 12th century, the Vaudois religion predates the reformation by 300 years.

The Vaudois translated the Scriptures into both Italian and French. From their mountain strongholds, the Vaudois sent out traveling salesmen whose real mission was to witness and give away copies of the Scripture in the people's language. These missionaries were liable to be imprisoned or burned at the stake if Papal authorities discovered their clandestine religious mission, but they were not typically molested in their homelands. Notable exceptions were in the years 1400 and 1488, in which unsuccessful attempts were made to suppress them.

Ironically, the most savage persecution of the Vaudois began only after the protestant reformation was well underway in northern Europe. A major campaign of extermination was mounted in 1561, but again met with only partial success. Finally, in 1655, the valiant Vaudois were very nearly wiped out. Wylie considers the atrocities committed against this simple and inoffensive people too grotesque to be described in detail. The 1655 massacre was so infamous and terrible, however, that the government of England, then under the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, lodged a protest with all of the governments concerned. John Milton was inspired to write the sonnet which begins:

"Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, who bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold,
Even them who kept thy truth so pure of old
When all our fathers worshiped stocks and stones,
Forget not: in thy book record their groans
Who were thy sheep and in their ancient fold
Slain by the bloody piedmontese that rolled
Mother and infant down the rocks."

The one bright spot in the story of the 1655 massacre was the remarkable leadership of Joshua Gianavello, of the Village of Rora. Gianavello has become the subject of an historical novel "Rora," for sale on Amazon and glowingly reviewed by no less than Newt Gingrich.

The work of extermination begun in 1655 was nearly completed in 1686, when the remaining Vaudois were either killed, imprisoned, or exiled to Switzerland and Germany. Remarkably, Henri Arnaud led a few hundred of the Vaudois back to their mountain stronghold in 1690 and reclaimed by force their ancient patrimony. Thus, the Vaudois have continued on to the present time.

Interestingly, in 1893, a company of Vaudois migrated to the United States and founded the town of Valdeses, Burke County, North Carolina. At the time, a local newspaper wrote:

"All the little Waldensian children are taught to read and write at a very early age, and their knowledge of the scriptures would put to shame many of our church people of maturer years. They speak both French and Italian very fluently, and are all apparently very bright and intelligent and very anxious to learn the language of this new country."

This tome is definitely for the in-depth holistic care giver.
Every aspect of care is covered in a complete and organized manner. This includes the very over looked self-care subject.If you are seeking the 'Bible' in holistic work, search no further. I can not imagine another source as complete as this one. A big thumbs up.

I bought this book because I admire the author's wonderful biography of Florence Nightingale. This is an essential reference for all nurses who want to be compassionate and effective care givers and who would like to be conversant with holistic medicine. We have so many patients who ask about that now that we owe it to them to be properly informed.

The review written in 1999 is accurate and I won't make comments along the same lines as it does so sufficiently.

However, an alternative to building a system is buying a system. They ain't cheap so the book is the better buy. However, one should know that systems are out there offered by people like Aquatic Eco Systems (their Fish Farm series) and Crop King.

This book has everthing that you need to get started into a aquaculture setup for your home. It explains the setup of your system and gives you the knowledge maintain it. They also show you how to build every thing from the bilogical filter to the clarifiers. large amount of information presented in an easy to read format.

This book is a blend of practical legal and management advice that is indispensable for homeowner association managers, directors and developers. It's organized logically in an easy to read format. I highly recommend it. Richard L. Thompson Regenesis.net

I discovered your book Homeowners Associations in the Roseville, Minnesota Library. I have read and purchased numerous books relating to condominiums, in my option your book is the best.

I telephoned your number and your return call has resulted in my ordering your excellent book. I have recommended it to three other condo owners in the Myrtle Beach area.

Anyone involved with condominiums, lawyers, owners, lending institutions should purchase your book!

My uncle sent this book to me and since my father died of ALS, I read it with great interest. I also found the book to be a starting point for me, a success story of sorts, as I battle with a recent diagnosis of another auto-immune disease without effective treatment. I'm the "monkey see, monkey do" sort, so I needed guidance from someone who's walked in very similar shoes and could offer perspectives and advice I'm not getting from the medical establishment. I am so grateful for this book, as it continues to help me persevere -- I recommend it highly to patients and caregivers alike.

David has an excellent way of telling his story and beeing able to beat his ALS. He has given me hope and a light at the end of the tunnel. It is a positive book that every PALS should read.

The effectiveness of treatment has routinely been attributed to the technique a therapist uses or the therapist using the techniques. Witness so much emphasis on the model of therapy at continuing education programs and in graduate education. Finally, someone has gathered together evidence about what really makes therapy work--or better said, who. Researchers Art Bohart and Karen Tallman have compiled a compelling, readable, and practical summary of the research on the client's contribution to change in treatment. As noted above, the client is the single largest contributor to change in treatment--accounting for the largest percentage of the variance in treatment outcome.

In the psychotherapy profession we spend so much time focusing on how therapists make therapy work. Bohart and Tallman, relying on numerous research studies, remind us that it is the client, not the therapist, who makes therapy work. Bohart and Tallman make clear we can do a more effective job as facilitors if we keep clear that the client, not our our techniques are what makes the difference. A great book, carefully researched, well-written and full of ideas worth thinking about. Phillip Ziegler, co-author of Recreating Partnership: A Solution-Oriented, Collaborative Approach to Couples Therapy

Don Maruska does a great job laying out his 10 steps to a great decision. Don's decision model is based on the assumption that there are two divergent groups or view points that need to come together for an important decision.

Don also includes examples, suggestions, and tips from his past experience for each of the steps. This is very helpful and provides further coaching into the decision process.

Each step builds upon the last step to insure all the participants, best options, right information, and optimal choices are effective, efficient, and have long term success.

Lastly, the book has a broader application since Don's 10 step methodology could be used for a series of decisions that form the basis of strategic planning, business planning, data modeling, or customer service improvement considerations.

I would highly recommend this book to any person, group, or business that is contemplating an important, emotional, or difficult decision. With Don's 10 step methodology, you will be more likely to be successful, save time, save money, and have lasting support for decisions.

I found Don's book to be insightful and practical. Don has a way of clearly communicating both the "why do this" and the "how to do this." His examples help illuminate how to apply his ideas to real world situations. The Putting into Practice sections eliminate the guesswork when it comes to applying the process details with groups. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to get effective progress towards making collaborative decisions that last.

As a home schooling family, we have found this book to provide the basics for a hands on science curriculum. The experiennts have been easy to perform and the materials needed easy to gather from home or the local hardware store. Our children ages preschool to fourth grade look forward to science due to the wide range of activities and "fun" educational projects. The directions and safety concerns are adaquate when the reader keeps in mind the title of the book is "How Parents AND Children....", and the book is enjoyed together. Group this book with a well stocked library for more indepth reading on the topics the book introduces and you have enough science for a year at least!

I bought this books years ago because I was attracted to its beautiful photographs. Now I am using it with my 11 year old daughter as part of her science curriculum at home. It can be used in many ways, but even if you don't ever do the experiments, just seeing the photos makes the complex easy to understand. Even after getting a master's degree, I find I am really understanding things that I supposedly learned years ago. I highly recommend this book.

I just bought a house and it may have completely fallen apart if I hadn't had this book. When my ancient solar water heater broke, I brought out the book and found a diagram of the collector. When the sewage backed up, it described the repair procedure. When the rose bushes needed trimming, the fireplace needed cleaning, and the gutters needed flushing the book described how to do it all. In fact, I haven't yet referenced it and not found what I was looking for. The book is very diverse. It covers not only home repairs. It discusses just about everything we do, almost every day. I couldn't find anything comparable at any bookstore or online site and I can't live without it.

An incredible book to have in your home. Whenever you have a question about things around the house, from how to set up a crouquet game to how to paint a room to how to clean your carpet. It is all there. Although it doesn't go into great detail about any specific subject, it gives you a great start on anything that you could want to know about. Buy this book! I am buying it to bring down to Guatemala with me where I live.