History Books

I originally purchased a copy of this book for a research paper I was developing for a college course. It was only one of about twelve that I had to read for the paper. After reading Gentry's book, I found that when reading the other books, I would frequently go back to refer to Gentry's. This book presents a pretty solid case for a dating of Revelation prior to 70 A.D. This book can easily be described as a cornerstone for any effort in trying to establish any solid foundation in the dating of the book of Revelation.

This book may be one of the MOST vital books written in centuries.
The author has taken extensive time and intellect to research and compile critical evidence that the Book of Revelation was written about 65A.D. instead of the widely accepted date of 90A.D. by John.
The Revelation was a book of warning that added to the Olivet Discourse by Jesus in Matt. 24 in which the Jewish Believers were warned to flee the city of Jerusalem when they saw the "signs" appearing. Josephus, the Jewish eyewitness of those event, records some of those signs in the Jewish Wars (Book 6, chapter 5). Jesus told the people that the "end of the age" (i.e. the Old Covenant) would end with the destruction of the Holy City. He told them to flee, and Eusebius reports that not one of those Believers died because they followed the instructions of Jesus (which he told them about 40 years before Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman Army.
Christianity today is riddled with misguided theology that is based on Revelation being a book that was written AFTER the fall of Jerusalem. With such incorrect dating, the Revelation becomes a book of historical extrapolation that defies the mind, logic and reason.
This book gives clear, concise EVIDENCE that Revelation is a book of Prophecy written in the Apocalyptic style (which the Jewish people did understand over centuries of time). The metaphorical and radical style of writing was very much in tune with the "signs and wonders" that Jesus spoke of in the Olivet Discourse of Matt. 24 and following.
Every Christian who believes in the Dispensational view (which was started in 1840 by one man) should receive enlightenment by this fantastic book which has never been held up to any ridicule in over 10 years since its publication.
As a Biblical student with more than 40 years of study in the Revelation, I can readily testify that this is one of the most vital books ever written. It has the realistic power to expose major mistakes in modern theology.
This book will rank alongside Dr. John Noe and his expose on the historical evidence that bears the truth about God's Word that has been desperately mishandled by misguided human agents of falsehood.
The book End Times Madness also shed the same light on the real truth of prophecy.
Cudos to this author for "rightly dividing the Word of Truth"!!

If you are looking for a scholarly presentation of the view of the early dating of Revelation, this book is a must read. The author has done an amazing job of gathering sources from ancient historians and church fathers alike.
~Roger

Whether you agree with preterism or not, this book is a wonderful addition to any Christian's library. This book carefully examines all of the arguments and assumptions of a late date for the orginal manuscript for John's apocolypse and shows the strength of early date arguments.

This book is a gem of scholarly research. When all the data is pieced together the preterist eschatology is quite compelling. Gentry respectfully reviews the arguments from the late-date scholars and shows that most (but not all) of the evidence comes down to one quotation of Irenaeus. Then Gentry pieces all of Revelation's internal evidence together with the historical record to provide a very convincing case for the a pre-A.D 70 date. When everything comes together, the book of Revelation is far less mysterious. The preterist viewpoint also resolves many problematic prophetic verses from Daniel and the Olivet Discourse.

This book is such a great collection of tiki decor and knick-knacks that you don't even need to read the captions to enjoy it. My wife and I want to turn one of our rooms into a tiki bar. We thought we would need to do a lot of looking to get a good idea of what real post-war tiki bars were like. Well, look no further. This book has it all. If you type in "tiki" in an Internet search engine, it wouldn't come up with this many ideas. This book reviews everything from the blue prints to the big tiki restaurants down to the coasters underneath the amazing assortment of tiki mugs. The title could not have been more appropriate. This is the definitive book of tiki. Have great fun looking through the book. Depending on your age, it might make you nostalgic for those lost days.

If you have the slightest interest in the subject, you have to have this book. it is an amazing piece of work, and a visual feast. It is one book I pick up again and again, and always notice something new. Buy it.

Truly a wonder of nature this Book of Tiki. Chances are, you might so your parents or grandparents in the pictures, from the days before you considered them old.

The text of the book goes briefly through the various sources of Polynesian pop-culture, and where it branched off. From Michener's South Pacific, to the Lanai apartments in Anytown, USA.

The pictures, brought through the archives of time in the form of various postcards and of the now empty lots that once were Tiki bowling alleys and apartments, show us a fascinating time of tehnicolor wonder and primitive naivete. This was before PC was PC.

All around, a fantastic read, whether you're a full on tiki freak, or you simply wonder why grandpa wore a Hawaiian shirt to your wedding.

Like all Taschen books, this book is visually STUNNING! Just leafing through the pictures never gets boring. The real treat is the book is also jam packed facts, folklore, drink recipies, and so much more. More information about Tiki than I ever knew existed.

Plenty of eye-candy in this book, but very well balanced with informative and fun content. A must have for the Tiki enthusiast!

This book is a must have for anyone interested in Tiki or kitsch art. Describing themselves as "urban archaeologists" seeking remnants of Tiki culture, the authors provide a fun and informative look at this vanishing art form. The book does an acceptable job presenting the evolutionary history of Tiki, from the 1920s to the present. Key events, such as the establishment of Trader Vic's, and the Kon Tiki craze of the late 40s, are looked at in further detail. There is also a good look at the "artifacts" of Tiki art and architecture throughout the United States. The book is packed with color photos of Tiki mugs, matchbooks, buildings, and much more.

However, the book does lean a bit too much towards making the book eye candy. The Book of Tiki uses intense colors, and ultra-hip page compositions that make it difficult to read (typically Taschen, but I still found it distracting). Also, a consolidation of information would have made it easier to reference, such as a table differentiating the different "Trader" Tiki businesses. Also, some of the text ("Exotica and the Tiki style were denounced as contrived rituals of the imperialist establishment at the same time that the Vietnam war developed into and ugly mistake, with native huts and palm trees burning on TV."), had me wondering if they were being tounge-in-cheek, or were actually serious.

Nevertheless, this book is the current bible for Tiki aficionados, and is well worth having on your bookshelf.

Wow , this author did a lot of research for this book . He started out researching info on his own family member (adolph Korn) and found lots of other info on the children that was captured by the indians and raised with the tribes (White Indians) , The children were captured in indian raids and some were taken as they were out working in the fields , taken at a very young age they learned easily the lives of the salvages . Eventually all the children would be returned to their "paleface families" but then they never fit in and some even choose to go back to the commanches and live with them . These white indians never had a good life and were misserable even after their return to family . Adolph Korn disliked the white mans ways so much that he choose to go live in the diamond caves in TX , most of these white indians never had material possessions even in adult life . During the raids by the indians people were killed and some scalped , and they even took the white male indians on raids with them where they would still horses , cattle and even kill people .
This is really a great read if you are into genealogy and have found some indian hertiage in your family line or if you just want to know more about the various Indian tribes and their way of life .
These kids were captured very harshly and went for days sometimes without food or water until they reached the indian camps , but once there they seem to be treated Ok other than the males going on the warrior raids . They also learned how to live off the land by killing buffalo & etc with a bow and arrow that they learned to make from dogwood trees . After the capture some indians raised these white indians like their own children .

Very well put together book of white captives abducted by the Indians.
Scott Zesch did a great job at researching information to put to this book together.
This book tells the life of the captured and also helps the reader to understand how the captives became Inianized with in a short time frame.
The transformation of being taken from the captives white family to become Indians, then being recovered back to their birth parents gives the reader a better understanding of what they had to go threw.
Thank you Scott Zesch.

This is a must have book.

My 7th grade Horizons English class enjoyed this novel immensely! We used it as an extension of Texas History, combined as an interdisciplinary unit.

A few years back, Scott Zesch was doing family history when he ran across a grave of a long-lost ancestor named Adolf Korn. Scott eventually learned that Adolf had been a captive of the Comanche Indians for several years as a boy. After being "rescued," he was always strange, and ended up living his life as a hermit in a cave.

Zesch expanded his research, and the result was "The Captured," a fascinating book about children captured by the Comanches, their experiences, and what became of them in later years. Zesch discovered that children younger than puberty tended to assimilate almost immediately; they forgot their native language (English or German) and even lost their attachment to their mothers. Zesch examines this heartbreaking psychology through his research into the lives of the individuals, which he relates in vivid detail.

"The Captured" is a thoughtful book that both sweeps you up in human drama and leaves you with a lot of things to think about.

Reviewer: Elizabeth Clare, co-author of the historical novel "To the Ends of the Earth: The Last Journey of Lewis and Clark"

picked up my first copy of this book in Fredericksburg, TX where I happened to be eating some BBQ and looked across the street to see an old settlers outpost fort. I wandered around to check it out and the volunteer guide there showed me the book and said it was an amazing story about a little known niche of our history - children kidnapped by the Indians to re-populate their own tribes thorugh a process of "the strongest will survive and be good warriors" they rode the kids hard and if they cried or shoed signs of weakness, they killed them on the spot, figuring they wouldnt be worth the effort to train and raise. if the kids were able to endure the introduction phase, then they began living life like kings, training to shoot arrows, ride horses, fight, and hunt all day. leaving the domestic chores to the women. nearly all of them eventually were returned or sold back to the white settlers but some refused to go and a number of them ran away and rejoined their indian families.

it reads like an adventure book and proves that real life is better than fiction. the Author does a great job o story telling and is very diligent to accurately reflect true historical data as pulled from historical interviews, military records and newspaper articles.

I have always loved this book, it is one of my favorites of this author's works. It is a sweet story, not very long, and has a way of sticking with you. Patricia McKillip must have a very interesting way of seeing the world!

This is a storyline with a unique plot, although I did find some flaws within the story that made this somewhat difficult to read. This is the first Patricia A. McKilip book that I have read and so I am not sure of her writing style as of yet, however the characters were rather empty. If she didn't state plainly that one character was in love with another, by the story surrounding them, I wouldn't have known. The protagonist is even distant as well and reading this story felt like taking a peek at snipets of the lives of others and drawing my own story from what I saw and coming to my own conclusions. This is common in books for young adults however, and being an adult reader used to epic novels, I don't know if I would be fair in faulting it for that. The character dialog was also hard to follow and at times it was hard for me to tell who was speaking. This is makes for a very choppy read at least to me.

This is still a special story that should have been written in novel form and not short story from, as there is som much more potential for it. Peri is the main character of the story and The Changeling Sea begins by describing her hatred for the sea that stole her father's life and captured her mother's soul, spellbinding her. Peri is an unkempt teen who works at the local bar/inn scrubbing the floors and keeping the inn clean. She never dreams of adventure or excitement at all, only wanting to one day escape the sea that so destroyed her life. Peri, no longer receiving the affection and caring from her mother, spends many nights at a village elder's home. The old woman looks after Peri and teaches her spells and hexes. Then one day the woman is gone, no where to be found or heard from again. Most likely lost to the sea, Peri thought. She had had enough of losing people she cared for to the sea and decided to hex it. The story builds from here with adventures of the Prince who becomes her friend and a lost sea-dragon and his mysterious appearance and trying to find answers as to his sudden apparition. She receives help from a mage and works at putting everyone's life together again, fitting in all of the pieces of the puzzle. At the end of the story she succedes in putting the pieces of her own life together as well.

I would reccomend this book for the young adults who have minds capable of seeing and reading between the lines where an adult's can't with a fantasy such as this. Although the story is a little slow throughout the telling, and the tale is implanted with a constant need to "just finish" the story so that one can see what is really happening, this is still a unique story and it is enjoyable. A collector of her works shouldn't pass this book up.

this was a great story. i love this author, she just has a certain style that brings whatever she says to another level. this said, the story isn't perfect. the major relationships between the main character and those around her aren't very strong, not strong enough anyways. at the end, not to spoil it, but she asks someone to come back for her, but the relationship between them wasn't strong enough for her to ask that of him... or at least we the readers weren't privy to it. they don't have to be ridiculously close or anything, the perceived distance between the characters is fine, but the draw between characters must make sense to the reader. if the author spent more time fleshing out relationships i think the story would've been better, because the relationships are very compelling, we just know too little of them. peri says she enjoyed certain people's company because they needed her. unless she is so weak and needy that someone recognizing her existence would make her go crazy, which i don't think she was, there is a part of the story the readers don't know about, or have to fabricate for themselves. so in a way it felt like she was grasping at straws, and the introductions of some characters, namely the workers at the inn, were kind of awkward.
criticism aside, it was a wonderful story. the plot was well thought out and kept me interested. i thought the author did a great job of characterizing the sea. Kir was a great emphasis for this because he was half of the sea himself, so we had the sea both as itself and humanized in Kir. periwinkle was ok, not the strongest heroine but compelling in her own way. i liked her name though, periwinkle, you get few characters with such whimsical names.
it was a great story though. it was short, i read it in a couple of hours, and it left me feeling kind of whimsical .

I'm still at a complete loss as to why I had never heard of this book before. The storyline is delightfully complex for as short as it is. The descriptions are lush and beautiful, but not so much as to bore. As a new English teacher, I plan on using this book for my classes during our study of fantasy-based romance. The characters are deep and very profound, and it would be an excellent read for people of all ages. Don't be deterred by how thin and short it seems, it's length doesn't make it any less powerful. I, myself, am extremely picky about what I ready and even more so when I'm reading anything with romance in it. I prefer a strong central female character, which Peri truly is, and of course a strong male central character who isn't questionable in his morals. This book checked all the blocks for my standards and I've put it promptly among my favorites.

This is the first book I ever read of hers and it remains one of my all-time favorite books ever. It enchanting and beautiful, haunting and wonderful. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy. McKillip's writing is so fluid and beautiful, she transports you to her worlds effortlessly and you don't want to leave.

Crazy Horse has held a deep and sacred passion for me since childhood, I thoroughly enjoyed Mari Sandoz's book but can not understand why her account has Hump dying at the hands of the Snake's and in a time frame before Crazy Horse's own death(1877), one has only to read Dee Brown's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" and view a photo of Hump dated in 1890 at Fort Bennett, South Dakota, additional research indicates that Hump died long after Crazy Horse. It would be greatly appreciated if someone could clarify this for me.

I must say what a noble man. I just wish there was more about him. it was a beautiful story. one that should be read in every highschool along with sitting bulls bio, black elks six grandfather etc.

The 5 star reviews are right-on. When I first read "Crazy Horse" six years ago, I ranked it as one of my two favorite books ("Grapes of Wrath" being the other). One hundred books later and it still retains that ranking in my list, along with Grapes and, now, Katz's "Battleground" (a bullet-proof presentation of Jewish claims to Eretz Israel) and Fischer's "Paul Revere's Ride" (which brings that event to life brilliantly). Sandoz writes and retells magnificently. This is a great book.

I had never read Mari Sandoz so I can't compare this to her other books. The writing style is unique and pleasant. It is a very interesting, and unfortunately sad story about Indian life on the great plains. The book seems very well researched and therefore more interesting to read since it is about history. The Indians suffered strategically from a lack of organization, but their whole life style was about independence and in fact a much more pure form of democracy in selecting and de-selecting their leaders. In reading the story with regard to the lies and deceipt of the white men it reminded me that world politics and war is no different today than then. Crazy Horse had attributes that leaders should aspire to, he wanted to help his people and he was not vain about himself as leader. In the end he was tricked into surrender by his own people.

I thought it was one of the best books of Indian life and history that I have read.

Little is known about Crazy Horse in comparison to other legendary chiefs, warriors and heroes due to the quiet-spoken and solitude-seeking nature he possessed. Indeed, Crazy Horse was considered "strange" due to standing true to his ideals and who he really was, instead of the conventional ways of others no matter how traditional. Born of lighter hair and skin, young Curly stood out as different from the beginning of his days. Most humble and purely strong and good-hearted, Crazy Horse grew to be the truest and most brilliant leader of the Lakotas. Self-sacrificing even to the bitter end, Crazy Horse earned his place of honor as a hero to be respected.

Combining interview information of Eleanor Hinman with survivors who knew Crazy Horse, with Mari Sandoz's meticulous research, gives "Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of The Oglalas" clout in accuracy of detail and fact in the day and time of Crazy Horse. I very highly recommend this book.

This is a must-have in your personal library. A complete book from E. Allan Poe. AMAZING!

As a child, I couldn't put any of Poe's short stores down, now a few decades later, nothing much has changed. I was thrilled to add this book to my collection, it is well made, and comprehensive collection. All of this at a great price.

The book arrived just in time and it is in excelent conditions. This edition contain all my favorites works of Edgar Allan Poe. I recommend it!

Despite all who have attempted the genre since, Poe remains the supreme master of the horrific short story. From this collection I select "Berenice" to comment on, not only because it is a classic example of Poe, but also because it deals with a subject so typically his, that of obsession.
There is little point in trying not to "spoil" a Poe story by avoiding telling the final outcome, for in this story, as in much of his work, the fascination lies not in a teasing or elaborate plot leading to a surprise revelation, but in morbid, gristly dwelling on the awful texture of misery, melancholia and near madness. One can read them repeatedly, and they still taste satisfyingly rank and vile.
In this short story of brooding obsession, Egaeus looses his wife, Berenice, to illness, and in a fit of abstraction and obsession opens her grave and rips out the part of her that his mind has fixated upon: her teeth. Nasty and simple, but unforgettable.
There is little joy in Poe's world. Love, hope and happiness are only shown as a prelude to loss, to provide a fading dusk against which the blackness of the tragic end stands out more clearly.
It's interesting that some of Poe's readers complained to the editor when Berenice was published in the Southern Literary Messenger in 1935. This was early in Poe's career, and he reports the subscription list of this periodical as 700. In December of that year he was made editor, and by the time he left the subscription list numbered 5,500. Obviously then, as now, there was quite an appetite for horror amongst readers.

Graham Worthington, author, Wake of the Raven

I've bought a few complete Poe collections over the years, and this one is my favorite. The font size is not squashed down to save pages at the expense of my eyes, and it does seem to be complete. It's also an attractively put together book.

Poe is essential reading for anyone interested in horror, and for any apsiring writer. He not only is a master of horror, but he's credited as being the inventor of the detective story.

"The Raven", "The Pit and the Pendulum", "The Cask of Amontillado", "The Black Cat", "The Masque of the Red Death", "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", and everything else you're looking for plus stories and poems you may never have heard of yet are all in here.

This is a great volume at a great price. I'd also recommend: The Best of H. P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre, Cold Streak, It (Signet Books), Coraline, & Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance.

Sin duda es una de las mejores novelas que jamás se han escrito.
En ella se puede encontrar un relato sobre las guerras
napoleónicas y la participación de Rusia en ellas, pero también
un retrato de la vida de la alta sociedad rusa de la época. Estas
situaciones tan diversas están narradas con una gran viveza.
Aprovechando el trasfondo histórico de la novela, Tolstoi nos
proporciona también sus visiones sobre la Historia y
el papel que los hombres representan en ella. Estas impresiones

no rompen la narración, sino que la complementan de forma
magistral.
El gran volumen de la novela puede asustar a algunos lectores,
pero en el caso de esta novela merece la pena: cada página se
lee con verdadero placer.

Sin duda es una de las mejores novelas que jamás se han escrito.
En ella se puede encontrar un relato sobre las guerras
napoleónicas y la participación de Rusia en ellas, pero también
un retrato de la vida de la alta sociedad rusa de la época. Estas
situaciones tan diversas están narradas con una gran viveza.
Aprovechando el trasfondo histórico de la novela, Tolstoi nos
proporciona también sus visiones sobre la Historia y
el papel que los hombres representan en ella. Estas impresiones

no rompen la narración, sino que la complementan de forma
magistral.
El gran volumen de la novela puede asustar a algunos lectores,
pero en el caso de esta novela merece la pena: cada página se
lee con verdadero placer.

Sin duda es una de las mejores novelas que jamás se han escrito.
En ella se puede encontrar un relato sobre las guerras
napoleónicas y la participación de Rusia en ellas, pero también
un retrato de la vida de la alta sociedad rusa de la época. Estas
situaciones tan diversas están narradas con una gran viveza.
Aprovechando el trasfondo histórico de la novela, Tolstoi nos
proporciona también sus visiones sobre la Historia y
el papel que los hombres representan en ella. Estas impresiones

no rompen la narración, sino que la complementan de forma
magistral.
El gran volumen de la novela puede asustar a algunos lectores,
pero en el caso de esta novela merece la pena: cada página se
lee con verdadero placer.

Sin duda es una de las mejores novelas que jamás se han escrito.
En ella se puede encontrar un relato sobre las guerras
napoleónicas y la participación de Rusia en ellas, pero también
un retrato de la vida de la alta sociedad rusa de la época. Estas
situaciones tan diversas están narradas con una gran viveza.
Aprovechando el trasfondo histórico de la novela, Tolstoi nos
proporciona también sus visiones sobre la Historia y
el papel que los hombres representan en ella. Estas impresiones

no rompen la narración, sino que la complementan de forma
magistral.
El gran volumen de la novela puede asustar a algunos lectores,
pero en el caso de esta novela merece la pena: cada página se
lee con verdadero placer.

Sin duda es una de las mejores novelas que jamás se han escrito.
En ella se puede encontrar un relato sobre las guerras
napoleónicas y la participación de Rusia en ellas, pero también
un retrato de la vida de la alta sociedad rusa de la época. Estas
situaciones tan diversas están narradas con una gran viveza.
Aprovechando el trasfondo histórico de la novela, Tolstoi nos
proporciona también sus visiones sobre la Historia y
el papel que los hombres representan en ella. Estas impresiones

no rompen la narración, sino que la complementan de forma
magistral.
El gran volumen de la novela puede asustar a algunos lectores,
pero en el caso de esta novela merece la pena: cada página se
lee con verdadero placer.

I have a friend whose son is adamant that the Federal Income Tax is illegal(16th Amendment)...so I purchased this book...looked up the 16th amendment...and sure enough it is VERY LEGAL...only kooks try to avoid paying it...well I copied the pertinant pages from this book and gave them to her so that she could pass them on to her law-breaking son...If you really want to know what the LAW OF THE LAND is ...then read this book...read it multiple times and please read it to your children...so that they understand our Constitution.

This is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to understand the U.S. Constitution, but especially for high school and college graduates who know they want to go into law as a vocation. My grandson, who just graduated from high school, was really pleased that I gave it to him, since he's planning to study Constitutional Law.

With each clause of the Constitution placed in historical context and reviewed in light of recent Supreme Court precedents, this academic tome brings together the brightest young and old minds in conservative and libertarian legal thought, including Eugene Volokh, Nelson Lund, Claire Priest, and countless others. Indispensible guide to anyone interested in an original meaning view of the Constitution. Not a better guide out there for originalist scholarly thought.

Every American Citizen should read this book. Understanding the relationship between citizenship and the rules by which the people authorize governance are very well described. With the press for democracy in the world, we tend to forget that the United States is not a democracy but a republic. Likewise, compliance with the Constitution prevents the establishment of an aristocracy. With the current arrogance of elected officials, we as a people have an obligation to become better informed on the roots of our sovereign law (which comes from the people) and what should be enforced; and that enforcement comes from our knowledge of the Constitution! The Heritage Foundation has done a superb service for all Americans in preparing this guide!

Edwin Meese was head of the editorial board for this guide, which is put out by the Heritage Foundation. That might suggest to some people that there's a conservative slant to the guide, but those people would be wrong. The Heritage Guide was first brought to my attention by a very liberal aquaintance who praised it to the skies, and then by a very conservative colleague who likewise praised it highly. They both had good reasons to praise it.

The Guide takes you through the entire text of the Constitution, line by line, article by article, starting with a three-page discussion of the preamble. It's written by around 100 contributors, all of them well-regarded experts in law and political science. Their discussion of even contentious topics (e.g., Amendment II or privacy rights) is dispassionate and clear, laying out for the reader the history and the case law behind contemporary constitutional issues and avoiding value judgements. The contributors write without legal jargon and with admirable directness, making the Guide accessible (not just accessible, but even enjoyably readable) to anyone with a good highschool education. The sophistication of their discussion, though, makes it suitable also for university students at all levels and for anyone who has any interest at all in the U.S. Constitution. No matter what your position is on presidential war powers or gun control, you come away from this guide with a clear and concise understanding of how the legal debate got where it is now. Each article in the Guide is followed by cross references to other passages in the Constitution, suggestions for further research, and a list of significant cases touching on the particular Article and Section of the Constitution discussed. Thus the Guide isn't just good reading on its own, but an excellent tool and springboard for further research on any constitutional topic.

This book should be required reading for university undergraduates, and for at least those few who will fall under my power next year, it will be. I intend to use this book in my classes on "Law and Literature" and "Law and Economics" as required supplementary reading. It will help clarify class discussions that revolve around constitutional issues, improve student papers, and make my students better informed citizens of the United States. That last one is the real payoff for everyone. I recommend this book far beyond the mere number of stars by which Amazon allows me to rate it.

In my home, if you don't love Jane Austen you just don't fit in. I support my mother who has loved Jane Austen since childhood, having read every one of her novels many, many times. I, myself, have only read them a few times. Not only has my mother read Jane's novels, but also read just about every biography written about her and the letters Jane shared with her sister and other family members. I really thought there was nothing left in the realm of Jane Austen that my mother might enjoy until I saw this book in the library. With a title like "Jane Austen for Dummies" I was a little hesitant. However, as my mother read the book, cross referenced the material with data in the biographies and letters and the re-read the novels I learned that this book was well done and a must have.

For those who are not quite so in to Jane Austen as my mother, let me share with you some of what this book contains. You learn about the do's and don'ts of society in the 1800s. You learn about child rearing and parties and how young ladies behaved in company. After you read this book and then watch one of the Hollywood movies based on a Jane Austen novel you'll shout out loud "She would NEVER do that!". You might even attempt to read some of Austen's novels with a new understanding of her wit and charm. Even if you don't care for Jane Austen novels, if you enjoy the occasional "historical" novel, read through this book. You'll enjoy it immensely and get a chuckle as you see modern authors subtle mistakes.

"Jane Austen For Dummies", by Joan Klingel Ray, manages to be a gentle introduction to Jane Austen for those unfamiliar with her work, and a goldmine of interesting information for those already addicted to her novels.

In carefully chosen, sometimes tongue-in-cheek prose, Ray introduces the reader to Miss Jane Austen, the author. We find out why her carefully crafted novels have been such a continuing success all these many years. We learn the social manners and customs that underlay her romantic comedies. We discover the harsh realities of the politics of courtship that provide the drama in the lives of Jane Austen's distinctive heroines. At the end of the book, Joan Klingel Ray offers her opinions on the sequel novels and various film adaptations of Jane Austen's work. Although dated 2006, Ray was able to forecast the productions aired on PBS Masterpiece Theater in 2008.

Ray uses the "...For Dummies" format to good effect. The student in a hurry can scan through the principal points, while the Jane Austen fan may wish to linger over some of the trivia and the literary criticism. Although the popular novels "Pride and Prejudice" and "Emma" get their due, so do the more complex "Mansfield Park" and the rather abbreviated "Persuasion", written when Austen was already suffering from the disease that killed her. This reviewer thoroughly enjoyed the tour, although he wishes Ray had been a little less harsh on the visually lush but compressed storyline of the 2005 film version of "Pride and Prejudice."

"Jane Austen For Dummies" is very highly recommended as a study guide for high school and college English Lit students, and for Jane Austen fans looking for the next good read.

This is an awesome book. Everything you ever wanted to know about Jane Austen, her novels and the customs, environment, habits, etc. for the settings of her novels as well as for the setting of her own background is in this book. I practically read it from cover to cover when I first sat down with it. I had gotten it from my local library, read it, told a friend about it, loaned the library copy to her, bought my own copy. She read it from cover to cover also - couldn't put it down. Fascinating!!

Answers such questions as:
Why were some ladies/'Ladys' referred to by their last name and why were some referred to by their first name - i.e. Lady Jane or Lady Smitherman (if the lady was a LADY and her name was Jane Smitherman)?

What was the MAIN indicator re: whether a man was wealthy or not?

Lots of information defining each main character of each of her 6 main novels throughout the book.

If you are a Jane Austen aficionado or just want to know more about her and/or her writings - GET THIS BOOK!

A fantastic, light, accessible, engaging, and easy-to-read guide to Jane Austen, her life, her world, her novels, and her impact on our world. I have read all of Jane's books and some of her biographies, but this book still provided new information for me, explaining things I only had a vague idea about (concerning her characters and the world/manners). Whether traveling through Gregorian England or contemporary England, this book is a real help. My only complaint is that the author does do some interpretation of Jane that I might disagree with (i.e. characters, etc.) without making it clear that it was interpretation. Otherwise, a great read, for both the seasoned reader and the reader just beginning to dabble in Jane. I definitely will be recommending this one to friends. Grade: A-

Interesting background. More indept than I thought as it included societal and economic restraints

Anyone with a background in Boy Scouting will love and appreciate this book. Oh my gosh, the memories that it brought back. I will definitely read this again.

A great read, very uplifting.
Captures the positive difference that Eagle Scouts and Boy Scouts create in our world.

This is a priceless book for someone who is into scouting or who is an Eagle Scout. I bought this book for a family member who was extremely pleased. I would highly recommend purchasing this book!

A second class scout, I left Scouting at 16, became a father at 21, joined as an adult leader when my eldest of two sons turned 11. Two months later, the Scoutmaster announced at a Court of Honor that his job had gone away and I was taking over as Scoutmaster, and I was too surprised to say no. Steve came home from his first meeting and announced that he was going to be an Eagle Scout as soon as he could, and two years and 4 months later, his mother pinned his Eagle on his shirt, and I, as his Scoutmaster, MC'd his Eagle Court of Honor. His younger brother took a longer route, with more encouragement, and after I despaired of his ever getting there, he decided he also wanted the honor, and had his board of review the eve before his 18th birthday. I bought 3 copies of the book, after reading it, to give one each to my two Eagles, and one to the troop, which I still serve as a troop leader and counselor for several merit badges, in the hope that it will encourage several more boys to achieve. Years later, their Eagle awards opened doors for my sons, and in a way, I am still "paying thier dues".
As an adult leader, I have organised and led our sons and others to most of the high adventure bases, and many other high adventure trips, and as many of those quoted in the book, get more out of Scouting than I put in.

Legacy of Honor: The Values and Influence of America's Eagle Scouts This is a great book for all Eagle Scouts, both new and old. Makes a great gift for a new Eagle. Solidifies the importance of the rank of Eagle latter in life. I bought two and gave them to knew Eagles. It was a great hit. Not likely to be a duplicate gift and something to refer back to as the scout gets older.