Adamson Books

This collection of essays by some of Britain's leading Shakespeare scholars provides an overview of some of the distinctive features of Shakespeare's dramatic language. How exactly does Shakespeare make a passage dramatically elevated? What figures of speech does he use? (Be prepared for a formidably long list...) A wide range of subjects is covered, including some material which would be of particular interest to actors of Shakespearean roles. There is a good deal of fairly technical discussion, but it is explained clearly enough to be accessible to the interested non-specialist (such as myself). The essays are not all of equal interest, but no one with a passion for Shakespeare's plays will regret reading this book.

I live in a very health-conscious state and even I didn't know half the information in the book! This handy guide can fit in the glove compartment of your car for easy access anywhere. If you're serious about getting healthy, you need to check out "Are the Blueberries in Your Waffles Really Blueberries?" It just makes good food choices easier. - T. Spruill, California

I found this book to be clear and very understandable in teaching the basic foundations of law. The many examples in the book, of how the law works, that the author gave also proved to be quite helpful to my students. This book would not only be helpful to the busines student, but to any person who has an interest in learning about the many aspects of law.

In my opinion, Born Free is the very BEST cat-book ever writen! Recommended to nature/Africa lovers. You'll enjoy it!

This book captures the history behind Bugs Bunny and all of the other Warner Bros. characters. It provides interesting information on how and why these horrorshow cartoons were made. A few in-depth sections may bore the average reader, but for the most part, the book is filled with intersting tales of car wax.

It is a little known fact in the history of philosophy and ideas that many of the writings and principles that we have and consider as standard 'Western' products came to us through the Arabic traditions. In some cases, this was preservation of earlier materials (Aristotle is but the most famous example of this), but in others, the original product of the Arabic philosophers influenced mathematics, science, art, theology, and philosophy in the West in ways still being discovered.

This volume, edited by Peter Adamson and Richard Taylor, is an important contribution to re-establishing this connection and recovering lesser known traditions, as well as holding up the history of Arabic philosophy in its own right. The tradition of Arabic philosophy is almost as old as Islam itself, which established in its early days bright centres of learning and international communications that inspired a blossoming of ecumenical philosophical traditions cutting across Christian, Jewish and Muslim lines.

During the formative stage, the figure of Avicenna looms large, with his synthesis of falsafa (philosophy both Aristotelian and Neoplatonic) and kalam (Islamic doctrinal theology). The classical age of Arabic philosophy, in the ninth to twelfth centuries C.E., took advantage of their Aristotelian inheritance, preserved and commented upon by Averroes (Ibn Rushd), an Andalusian philosopher (think Spain). Other strands of thought, both more 'practical' and more mystical, are explored by the authors. Some chapters concentrate on particular time periods or historic figures, and others look more generally at topics in philosophy (logic, ethics, metaphysics, etc.) across the broader range of Islamic history.

There are also chapters on the relationship of Islamic philosophy with Jewish philosophy, with the translation (linguistic, political, theological and philosophical) into Latin, and modern trends in Islamic thought. Contributor Steven Harvey writes, 'It is not a coincidence that philosophy emerges in Islam and Judaism in the same period and in the same lands.' Many of the Jewish communities of the time were in Muslim lands; there was a large Jewish community still in Baghdad, one in Alexandria, and a growing community in Muslim-ruled Spain. Latin rulers in Europe occasionally encouraged multi-cultural connections, and in many places and times Arabic rather than Latin or Greek was the preferred 'intellectual' language, described by Charles Burnett. Finally, Hossein Ziai explores Arabic and Persian trends into philosophical development, avoiding such terms as 'mystical', 'theosophical', and 'Oriental'. He writes, 'From the sixteenth century to the present, Islamic philosophy has been dominated by a scholastic tradition that continues in its interpretation of the ideals of classical Arabic philosophy,a nd leads to the final acceptance of philosophy by religion.' Ziai writes that far from being an exclusively mystical or theologically oriented task, there is much 'genuine philosophy' being done in the tradition today.

As broad a text as this is, it is in fact just a taste of the larger body of work in Arabic philosophy. Generous bibliographic and end-notation information is provided for further research, both generally and topic-specific. There is a useful index, although one might be a bit confused at time until getting accustomed to the transliteration (theirs is a fairly comprehensible style, but still takes some adjustment to those used to other forms - they do make the concession to Western readers and leave the names of Avicenna and Averroes in their more familiar forms).

This is a fascinating text, good for the student or scholar of philosophy and the history of ideas.

this series is always good and fast paced.
sometime predictable , sometimes not.
Enjoy with a cup of joe and a cat.

I though this book contained a lot of information that I had forgotten or was unknown to me at the time. It is a very interesting and easy to read take on the famous story. I highly recommend this series for most students including ESOL students and those with limited reading skills.

If you're looking for your typical romance novel where the action comes on fast and strong and is 100% escapist logic, then this is not the book for you.

However, if you want a book that contains some interesting and thoughtful insight into the social politics of America, both between whites and blacks, and especially between blacks and each other, then this book will prove to be a worthwhile read. It's a BW/WM relationship, but it starts off with a BW/BM relationship that is every bit as engrossing as the end story.

The initial action in the story occurs in the late 1970s just as more Americans were becoming aware of Apartheid in South Africa, and just as the social demonstrations for racial and gender related justice in the U.S. were coming to an end. In short, this is a Book Club type of novel. There is a lot to discuss here especially about how American blacks see themselves and others.

I think that this story is an introspective examination on the part of the author that envelops the reader and makes one think about one's own experiences and feelings. In many ways this book reminded me of the film Crash directed by Paul Haggis. Just as with that movie, you may not like everything that is being said, but it still tends to be true none the less.

As for the $24.95 price tag, I'm sure that this is because the author and publisher want to make money even if only a few copies are sold. I went with the significantly cheaper $6.00 E-book offer and I thoroughly enjoyed my read. An added bonus, no matter which option one selects, is that the book is a decent length - 445 pages - so I really felt that I got my money's worth.

This book is truly excellent and I hope that it makes on to Oprah's Book club list. It's just that good!!!

The Cruthin are the earliest inhabitants of Ireland to whom a name can be given. Ian Adamson traces their legacy from the stone-age monuments of the Irish countryside to the shipyards of modern Belfast. More importantly, he contends that they were the common stock onto which the Celts, Gaels, Vikings and Anglo-Normans were later grafted. They therefore offer the bitterly polarized Orange and Green a shared heritage. 'The Cruthin' was the first of several similar books ( 'The Identity of Ulster' and 'The Ulster People') by Adamson, whose work was a major influence on Rene Frechet, founder of the Institute of Irish Studies at the Sorbonne. Scholarly and devoid of stereotypes, 'The Cruthin' is essential reading for anyone interested in Ireland.