Arthur Books

Reading a carefully researched, painstakingly compiled academic book is always a pleasure for me. As a former academic myself, I know what it takes---the hours, the millions of details, the checking and cross-checking of facts, the gathering of bibliography and weighing the arguments of all the authors, the mental absorption of months and years. You can never get free until it's done. So, when I find a fine book like ANCIENT MAYA, I'm always glad, but I hold a respectful admiration as well. OK, so Demarest's work may not read like some best seller or pop history. If you don't like references scattered thickly on every page, you won't like his book. You've got to get the sequence of Maya culture's stages [archaic, early preclassic, middle preclassic, late preclassic, classic, postclassic, colonial, modern] firmly in mind in order to follow a lot of the text, and if you don't want to be consulting the maps (good ones) every five minutes, it would be good to have some idea of the geography of the region too. It's not bedtime reading, but if you are interested in a wonderful overview of Maya civilization, you've come to the right place.

The first five chapters don't really discuss the Maya, but "how we know what we know" and "theories about the practice of archaeology" if I may put it like that. The reader gets a crash course in the history of Maya archaeology, various weird theories that have been propagated over the years, modern archaeological techniques, and the beginnings of Maya civilization as dimly perceived through archaeology. The description of Classic Maya society begins with chapter six, on agriculture and ecology. Many of the "old chestnut" theories about the Maya are put to rest here. Drought and erosion were not major causes of the "collapse" of Maya classic culture. The Maya secret was to know how to build an advanced civilization in a rain forest environment. In short, they used techniques that mimicked the diversity and dispersion of species in a rain forest. They used many styles of agriculture, no one predominating. The subsequent chapters deal with the overall economy, ideology and power, the political units and history, and the idea of "collapse". There wasn't a real collapse....it was more a transition to other types of society after a period of intensive wars and overpopulation. He calls this period a "rapid decline in complexity". Actually in some parts of the Maya world, new, vibrant political units sprang up after the end of Classic Maya times.

You can learn in great detail about Maya agriculture, trade, statecraft, religion and ritual, mathematics and astronomy, and the glyphs from which we have learned so much about them. You will encounter interesting sketches, photos, and charts. In short, ANCIENT MAYA is a compendium of modern knowledge about that fascinating ancient civilization. I will not tell you it's easy reading, but it's probably the best book on the subject these days.

This is a must read for anyone interested in the ancient Maya and why their advanced civilization that had achieved so much under such harsh conditions suddenly collapsed and disappeared for parts unknown. Demarest argues that the collapse was political rather than the most widely accepted paradigm that it was ecological. He concludes that the collapse was due to a proliferation of royal elites competing for power, similar to the present situation in Saudi Arabia. Warfare between these competing elites caused a collapse during a 100 year period that resulted in a depopulation of major cities and a drastic reduction of palace and temple construction. The book is worth reading if only for Demarest's description of the Wizard of Oz type power structure where Mayan royal elites held power through fantastic ritualistic displays that captivated the masses. He describes the Mayan royal elites as a combination of rock stars, evangelical preachers, and circus performers that dressed in elaborate costumes with feathered head dresses, lit fires with pyrite mirrors, and engaged in public displays of blood letting. Demarest even relates the Mayan architecture to theater with temples high above plazas where the masses could observe rituals. The book is easy to read for layman.

This is a reprint of a book published in the 19th century. A source book for all other books on the Adena and the Hopewell. A Must have.

Ancient Monuments (more familiarly known as "Squire and Davis") is the undisputed primary reference source on Indian mounds in the eastern US till the mid-1800s. While there were a few others (such as Caleb Atwater's book), Squire and Davis offers the grandest illustrations of what remained of the unbelievable civilizations that inhabited this continent. Even as they published in 1848, hundreds of mounds were being plowed into oblivion; so few are still extant that theirs is the only guide to what was lost. The text is enjoyable on many levels, and can be forgiven for any lapses of scientific accuracy. They trekked over Ohio at a time when we weren't even sure who made the mounds, so everything they recorded is gold. The engineering prowess, the sheer magnificence and scale of some of the works, is astounding.

First off someone obviously made an error when originally posting this title -- cause the book just isnt l200 pages; its more like $l20, but the price is right anyway when you consider all the information you are going to receive upon cracking this book open.One thing you will not find is a book of lofty thought and religious philosophy -- in fact this is more of a how to book; a how to contact you guardian angel guide.For the authors see the subject in a ore magickal light, believing that angels are basicly invisible beings we can contact for guidance and protection and to bring riches and prosperity into our lives. There are all sorts of catagories of angels and benefits we can look for and ways and means to actually contact them and have them answer our prayers.There are even, say the authors, good times and bad times to try and communicate with these other worldly beings -- and you can even smoke them out sort of by burning candles and incense (in this regard also get yourself a copy of CANDLE BURNING WITH THE PSALMS, by Wm Alexander Oribello)to attract their attention.If you are a non believer this book will do nothing to convince you. But if you are looking for a practical way to find out all about your own individual guardian angel this is probably the best book available on the subject!

Have you ever wondered if you have a guardian angel? The belief that a benevolent presence is watching over us on an individual and personal level has persisted throughout the ages, and there is a huge amount of folklore and modern day true-life experiences that serve to reinforce the ancient belief that we have someone to watch over us when the game gets rough.

In "Angels of the Lord," coauthors Arthur Crockett and Timothy Green Beckley tackle the daunting task of explaining a subject for which not much raw data exists. You may be surprised to learn that just how little we really know about angels, but the authors do their utmost to fill in the gaps of mystery and uncertainty that come with the territory of what angels are and how they operate in our earthly plane.

The book includes an overview of many of the angel-related verses from both the Old and New Testaments. The implications of those verses teach us many things, such as the fact that angels sometimes appear in human form, usually without wings, and even eat and drink along with their mortal hosts. Stories such as the rescue of the prophet Daniel from the lions' den by an angel and the angels who came to minister to Jesus after his struggle against the devil in the wilderness remind us all that angels played a key role in many of the events in scripture.

But stories from more recent times are included as well. Particularly interesting are the reports that have come down to us from soldiers who fought in the wars of the last couple of centuries. There is more than one account in which the tide of a battle is mysteriously turned by the presence of a battalion of angels who step in and rescue the Allies from total annihilation by the Germans.

Just as fascinating are some of the real life anecdotes about people who are delivered from near-fatal accidents or other tragedies by the sudden appearance of an angel. There are many books filled with those kinds of stories, but it's always wonderful to read some new ones. These are instances where the angel's intervention was seen and understood, but, the authors ask, how about the numerous other times they were present to help us and we didn't see them at all?

As to the authors' claim that one can be taught how to contact one's own guardian angel, perhaps that is best left to the individual reader's discretion. Still, the reader may be surprised to learn that many experiences that had been filed away as bizarre and difficult to understand were actually instances when a guardian angel had come to the rescue once again. One might see certain experiences in a different light after reading "Angels of the Lord."

In any case, Crockett and Beckley favor us with an all too brief but nevertheless quite marvelous look at the historical and practical aspects of angels that not only informs and educates but also inspires.

This is an extremely good book that contains a series of lectures delivered to lay audience by this great physicist. It reveals the deep meaning behind the mathematical symbols and equations in modern physics. It's incomparable in this regard. The book is very easy to understand. The writing flows smoothly and beautifully. Great metaphors comes out effortlessly, one after another. It is very enjoyable reading.

This book started me on physics, way way back. I wish it were in print gain.

This photographic biography lures us into the brilliant mind of poet Anne Sexton. Furst's beautiful pictures portray her as intelligent, thoughtful and sensuous, haughty and pensive, and we are drawn into the rich complex verses written in her own hand. We are allowed to peek at her personal correspondence, and look inside the poet to the woman and her spirit. Surely, this book is a "must have" for those who are looking for the real Anne Sexton.

Furst's intimate photographs are the centerpiece of this book. It is a chance to gaze into the face of one of this incredible poet. The portraits enable you to feel Anne's pain and the joy. These images are as revealing as any of her poems. This book is a must for all sincere Sexton readers.

My older siblings and I never forgot this childhood charmer. In fact, my 47-year-old sister still reads it out loud occasionally for anyone willing to listen. It's funny enough for adults to enjoy, and not in a silly manner at all. I always remember Arthur's argument with his mother over eating the black ants (good), and the red ants (healthy but taste awful). My other favorite scene is when Arthur is off to school one morning, but has to return over and over to run upstairs for something he forgot. Whenever a similar situation happens in real life with someone I know...or with myself...I think of Arthur and his mother saying to him, "What did you forget this time Arthur?"

I loved this book when I was a 5 year old some 30 years ago, and now my son loves it also. It's fun and clever, and the illustrations hark back to a different era when 6-color printing wasn't necessary to hold a child's attention--this one uses just two colors--and yet the illustrations are wonderful.

Of course, I may be a bit biased because my name is Arthur!

This is a wonderful book. However, the presentation does not alert reader to the fact that this Loeb library edition is a two volume edition and book advertised is only the first volume - need for second voume to have a complete edition is not clear in book description by these sellers.

This early prose work by a North African writer, _The Golden Ass_, is a classic. The protagonist is mistakenly turned into a donkey. Actually, the mind of a man is in the body of a donkey. While he has the body of a donkey, he has retained the mind of a human being. He overhears conversations and witnesses deeds that a human stranger would not be allowed to witness. It's a brutal, funny, and memorable tale, showing human nature very honestly, warts and all.

_The Golden Ass_ was written in Latin, and it may be the only surviving Latin novel of the period. The structure is episodic, as the protagonist gets into one predicament after another (as a donkey), much like Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels, or Odysseus in The Odyssey. I think it clearly influenced early successful novels such as Gulliver's Travels and Don Quixote.

The novel is bawdier than other works which survive from its day. The bawdy, ribald humor sets _The Golden Ass_ apart from other tales, and its place in the History of Literature makes it a classic.

This book tells it like it is! If you're going to have cosmetic surgery, you've just got to read it. It reads easily and I have bought a bunch of copies to give to friends.

This book is a question and answer book about cosmetic surgery. I used the book before my facelift and was able to properly select a real plastic surgeon, not one of those wanna-be's. I checked out his background, like this book says to do. I knew what questions to ask during my consultation. Everything worked out well and I now look 20 years younger! I can't wait for the author's next book.

Though I had read Eric Bentley's compilation of the HUAC hearings ("Thirty Years of Treason"), it was not as chilling as this dramatic reenactment of some of the more intriguing testimony. I wish it were on a CD instead of an audio tape, however.

Spy's? History? Real life? What could be better? Beautifully acted!!

It's a must have for everyone who is interested in arteducation.
Art and cognition are complicated subjects. The combination of the two is even more complex. Efland writes very crisp about it without any simplification. The book opened my eyes in several ways. I learned a lot.
The chapters are informative, the summary and diagrams adequate.

This is an important book that has already been a great help to me in my development as an educator. Efland builds a rationale for the necessary integration of arts learning in general education curriculum. Efland's effort stems from his belief that works of art require a particular rigor of intellectual inquiry to make meaningful sense, and become of value to the learner first and foremost because they are context-bound creations. Consequently, works of art may be understood as personally relevant artifacts only when they are understood in their interconnectedness with social forms and personal experience.

Efland boldly takes us then to where the positivist bias in the human sciences will not allow us to go-toward the proposition that reductivist and scientific methodology is not `the only way to procure reliable knowledge' (p. 5). Efland's aim draws upon an architectural metaphor: to `build a foundation for lifelong learning inclusive of the arts' (p. 6).

According to Efland's thesis, this all becomes possible assuming that one pictures the mind as more than a hierarchical repository of logical-scientific symbolic structures, more than reservoir of enculturated symbols mediated by parents, peers, and knowledgeable adults. Rather, Efland portrays a mind flexible enough to employ different strategies appropriate to the mastery of understanding in pre-packaged, generalizable, and well-structured domains of knowledge as well as ill-structured, broad and complexly fragmented arrays of knowledge. The mind is able to integrate the variety of knowledge domains and arrays into coherent and purposeful maps and models of the world.

Ultimately, the book purports the mind's imagination to be the most flexible and integrative of all the symbol-processing tools at our disposal, powerfully formative and capable of `creating new ideas or images through the combination and reorganization of previous experiences' (p. 133). The imagination can acquire other cultural tools such as language, mathematics and works of art and then utilize them in continually reshaping an individual's lifeworld in accommodation to the dispositions of the learner, also described as the learner's `habits of mind' (p. 118). Learning and the creation of new knowledge may thus be preceded by imaginative, even artistic, purpose and development.

Efland's point is that through the arts, learners discover that irregular and ad hoc transferences between a work of art and one's lifeworld are both conceivable and tenable as an extension of knowledge. A mind can thus made, remade, unmade, and made over; it is never finished. It has no certain form and every possibility.

Not relying upon conventional curriculum architecture, Efland seeks a fresh approach to general education born of a process melding conventional learning exercises with the sculptural sensibilities, the dialogic engagement of the senses and materials that is inherent to aesthetic experience. Efland's suggests that educators utilize key works of art as landmarks for cross-disciplinary and cross-social learning, that we recognize the role of metaphor and narrative in providing the basis for `an imaginative reality', and that we understand the purpose of the arts as contributive to the embodiment of `the myths that bind human social systems together' (p. 171), all for the furtherance of the exercise of human development. It is a bold integration and a great read!