Abbey Books

This is a strikingly beautiful book that discusses the history of the cult of saints in Medieval Europe. In a largely illiterate world various saints were championed by their follwers largely through the use of visual media. This book brings together for the first time all of the medieval hoopla associated with this phenomenon in a fascinating and highly informative text. Like NFL fans today, fans of various saints carried on public campaigns cheering their favorite saint, collecting funds to purchase relics and displaying visual stories in public venues telling the miraculous story of their saintly guy or gal.

This text offers an excellent background to the historic currents that shape the modern Middle East.

I bought this book to give to my friends and their children when they moved into their new house. It was a godsend. With gentle humor and grace, Abbey O'Hagan addresses the concerns children have when they move. After their children read the book, they were actually excited about their move and looking forward to meeting their neighbors. This book is beautifully written and illustrated. I would highly recommend it to anyone with children, especially if they are thinking about moving.

A fascinating, extremely well-written look at the life of a major figure in the history of the Roman Catholic Church in North Carolina, and while that may seem like a limited audience is available, it is a fascinating biography for any reader interested in a nuanced look at a complex figure, which Leo Haid certainly was. Baumstein, who is a specialist in the life of Haid, brings a compassionate understanding to the life of a man who judged himself not completely successful, despite the raft of accomplishments at his death.

This slim volume contains Joachim's classic statement of the "coherence theory" of truth and knowledge, which was vastly influential on Brand Blanshard's own formulation of the same theory in _The Nature of Thought_.

Either volume should be a cure for recent misstatements of the theory. Recent discussion has tended to characterize "coherentism" (as contrasted with "foundationalism") in terms that would have bewildered the Idealists as to whose theory was being discussed. Joachim's coherence theory could, in today's terms, be described as both "coherentist" and "foundationalist" in a sense, and yet really as neither one.

For the classical Idealist theory has nothing to do with "propositions" (in the current sense of the term) and everything to do with judgments (from which "propositions," to the extent that they can meaningfully be discussed at all, are abstractions). On the Idealist view, and especially on the view elaborated by Joachim, a judgment just _is_ part of the self-development of reality, and the act/object dichotomy is a bad dream induced by a diet of abstraction.

On Joachim's view, what "coheres" is _experience_ -- or more precisely (to borrow a bit from Bosanquet), the single tremendous "judgment" which, for each of us, comprises the "world" forced upon us by experience. There is no question of abstract propositions cohering with one another and thereby gaining status as "truths." (Joachim does write that only propositions are capable of truth or falsity, but by "proposition" he essentially _means_ the asserted content of an actual or possible judgment.)

Truth, for Joachim, is a matter of degree -- roughly, a measure of how much a judgment would have to be modified in order to fit into the systematic whole toward which reflection strives. And as he notes in _Logical Studies_, the possibility of false _propositions_ is neither here nor there as far as this theory is concerned; his claim (and the Idealists' claim generally) is that no _judgment_ is purely/wholly true or false just as it presently stands, not that it's impossible to make up a pure falsehood that isn't forced on anyone by experience anyway.

Is the theory defensible? I'll let the reader decide -- and I recommend a look at _The Philosophy of Brand Blanshard_ for some of Blanshard's later modifications and retractions of his own theory. But at any rate Joachim's little book is an invaluable source for what the theory really says.

My husband and I received this book from friends right after the birth of our first child. Each page has just a short bit of wisdom about being new parents and a whimsical illustration to accompany each piece of advice. It is especially good for sleep-deprived people who really don't have time to read. It was a fun and special gift.

Valuable asset for adherents to late David Brower's promise to restore Glen Canyon as wild river. Read Scott Slovic's 21 page afterword...& understand that Glen canyon Dam may soon be by-passed,standing, as a concrete artfiact to man's defamation of nature. (See Cadillac Desert, late author-Reisner)

Nigeria and the Politics of Unreason: A Study of the Obasanjo Regime [A book Review Presented at the Launching of "Nigeria and the Politics of Unreason," May 8, 2004, Oakland, California]

By Lady, Lolo Agatha Ekeh, MSN
(...)

Book Author: Victor E. Dike
Publisher: [London: Adonis & Abbey Publishers, Nov 20, 2003]

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen!

We are here this evening to celebrate the handiwork of one of our own, one of the authors of the present times. We are here to present to you a study of the regime in our home land Nigeria from the year 1999 to 2003. This period marked the actualization of the `democracy-experiment' in Nigeria. But how well this supposed `democracy' process has been managed by the current Chief Obasanjo administration is what Victor E. Dike has ventured to put in perspective in the book - "Nigeria and the Politics of Unreason: A Study of the Obasanjo Regime."

This evening, I will be presenting to you the brief overview of the chapters in the book. "Nigeria and the Politics of Unreason" is divided into four parts. And each part is made up of two to three chapters, with each chapter analyzing issues that existed and still persists in our democracy.

Part one covers Chapters one and two. Chapter one is the overview of the political life and activities of the politicians in Nigeria, including their leadership styles. It highlights the benefits of ideology-based politics, and the impacts of its lack thereof, which leads to what Mr. Dike brands `the politics of unreason.' In chapter two, the brief history of political parties in Nigeria as we know it to date is reviewed and the role-played by historical figures is presented.

In part two, there are chapters three, four and five. Chapter three defines leadership, leadership types and who really is a leader. Chapter four goes on to present the challenges of leadership as evidenced by the endemic and epidemic proportions of corruption and the consequences, which everyone in the society experiences. Chapter five portrays the impacts corruption, or rather its residual effects, one of which is the dismal `poverty profile of the people'. To achieve this the book adopts a broader perspective of corruption and poverty and their true dimensions. As a matter of personal opinion, after reading this chapter, one would realize that as Nigerians, we are bound to feel the pinch of the dismal poverty profile of the people in Nigeria in the long run no matter where we are residing in the world.

Part three of the book is made up of Chapters six, seven, and eight. These three chapters present the complex relationship between the availability of basic education, functional economy and the dream of becoming technologically competent in our democratic Nigeria, in order to participate fully in the global economy. The importance of education in the development and sustenance of a democratic society such as Nigeria is also highlighted.

According to Dike (2003), education is not a mere learning of alphabets or numbers. It involves the transformation of the human mind that is involved in the process of learning for the betterment of the individual and the society at large. With such a definition, un-relenting efforts should be applied to developing the form of education that is carefully put together and maintained, because that means a suitable framework on which the productivity of the people rest.

Chapters nine, ten, and eleven are parts of Part four of the book. Chapter nine presents the sad fact of the pervasiveness of insecurity in Nigeria. There is nowhere to hide from criminals in the society, so to speak, because of political, religious, educational and economic instability in the present `Nigerian-style democracy'. So much for the real democracy, which connotes a political process where all involved citizens participate fully in determining the rules of law, that governs them daily. No life is too small to be wasted!

Chapter ten of the book points out a twist to that concept as it exists in Nigerian democracy. The concept of `God-fatherism' is introduced and how it affects the Nigerian `democracy-experiment.' Chapter eleven presents democracy in action, with a review of the 2003 elections. The challenges this period presented and the effects of the `predatory democracy' are well documented. Mr. Victor E. Dike concludes the book by suggesting possible ways and means of resolving the noted incompatible component of a true democracy that may have contributed to the anomalies prevalent during the period in review - the 1999 to 2003 politics.

In conclusion, the sad fact is that Nigerian politicians have been condoning and nurturing `the politics of unreason.' This book is a must read for any person with the interest of Nigeria at heart, because it will educate that person of the type of politics prevalent in Nigeria - one that involves political assassinations, `Ghana-Must-Go' bags, politics devoid of ideology, and unreasonable decampments and crude political God-Fatherism. This type of crude and senseless politics that is what Mr. Victor E. Dike brands `the politics of unreason.' Therefore, every Nigerian should endeavor to contribute his/her quota in our collective search for solutions to the myriad sociopolitical and economic problems facing our dear Nigeria, as well documented by Mr. Dike in "Nigeria and the Politics of Unreason: A Study of the Obasanjo Regime."

Thank you.

I love the time period in which Jane Austin writes-these books are very good and also very captivating

Where would Jane Austen be without film adaptations? Certainly not as widely read 190 years after her death as she is. Not being a purist in literature, I will admit that I saw the 2007 ITV adaptation of Northanger Abbey before reading the book. Thus far I have not been disappointed in seeing an Austen adaptation first. My reasoning this time around is that JJ Field as Henry Tilney is more perfect than I could have imagined, so I am very glad to have had him in mind while reading Henry's saucy lines.

Even though mystery, misunderstandings, and evildoings pervade the text, it remains a delight throughout. Chapter One, on introducing our heroine, Catherine Morland, Austen actually uses the word "stupid". And the rest of the book does not prove her wrong! However one does not dislike our heroine for it, on the contrary. While the "bad" characters ramble on and on-and oh it is so obvious that they are not to be trusted-Catherine, with the purest and most naive heart, trusts everyone. And that is why Henry and you, the reader, will love her.