Benedict Books

This story is a nice addition to our growing collection of train books. My boys (ages 2 and 4) love to study the minutely detailed pictures as we read the story. My only quibble with The Runaway Train is that it's more repetitive than another 'Little Red Train' book by the same author, The Great Big Little Red Train (my boys' favorite, and the inspiration for buying a second book in this series)

My children love this book! The story is cute. It is about this little red train that takes off without its driver, who left the train to help a little old lady. The remainder of the book covers all of the adventures the driver goes through in order to catch up with his engine. The illustrations are beautiful and full of detail. We spend several minutes studying each page, looking for all of the minute detail in the picture. My children have had this book for two years (now 7 1/2 and 5) and they still enjoy the book.

Excellent for developing pre-reading skills with repetitive phrases building up the drama of a driver requesting help from everyone he meets as he tries to catch up with his train. The gorgeous, detailed illustrations alone will keep children busy, seeking out all the helpers as they reappear in every scene.

What a look back at the events leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor. We get to read about the historical events, but Roosevelt and Churchill are talking to us! Rich characters and settings make this the book of the year for me. Highly recommended!

I'm the "child" of a World War II vet and heard far too many stories of the War in my youth to think I'd ever be interested in another account of what happened at Pearl Harbor. But this book, "A String of Pearls," was a delightful surprise. Extremely well written, it takes you from the Oval Office and the witty mind of Winston Churchill to the ship's galleys where we meet enlisted men, officers (and the women they love) and my particular favorite character, the USS Arizona herself. Reading this book allows you to experience a fictional account of the early Twentieth Century world and the events and attitudes leading to the Japanese invasion at Pearl Harbor. (I heard Glen Miller as I read.) Highly recommend.

My maternal grandfather served on the U.S.S. "Arizona" as a radio operator after World War I and my mother still has mementoes from a Christmas party aboard the battleship a couple of decades before the attack on Pearl Harbor. I knew that "A String of Pearls" would have something to do with the "Arizona" since the cover shot shows the memorial that was erected over the ship sitting on the bottom of Battleship Row and a blueprint of BS-39, commissioned at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on March 16, 1914 by the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt. That is the Prelude in Benedict A. Baglio's novel about the fate of the "Arizona," which tells the story of Pearl Harbor from an interesting revisionist perspective.

The best known conspiracy theory about the attack on Pearl Harbor argues that FDR provoked the attack by denying the Japanese access to raw materials in the Pacific, knew about the sneak attack in advance, and covered up his failure to warn the Navy and Army commanders in Hawaii. An Army Board panel in 1944 found that everything the Japanese were planning to do was known to the United States and the argument goes that FDR needed the attack to get Hitler to make the mistake of declaring war against the United States since the American public and Congress were overwhelmingly against fighting another war in Europe. Consequently, Roosevelt is seen as setting up Pearl Harbor by denying intelligence ot his commanders, misleading them into thinking negotiations with Japan were making headway in avoiding war, and sending false information about the location of the Japanese carrier fleet in early December 1941.

However, that is not the conspiracy that Baglio is playing out in "A String of Pearls," which makes the guilty party a desperate Winston Churchill, who is afraid that the United States will only fight the Japanese and not help the British against the Germans in Europe. It took me a while in reading this engaging book to figure out that it was a revisionist interpretation (I do not read back covers until after I have read the book) of the well known events leading to December 7th, and even given the book's premise the conspiracy is more a part of the developing narrative than a full-blown argument. For that you would have to check out James Rusbridger and Eric Nave's "Betrayal at Pearl Harbor: How Churchill Lured Roosevelt into World War II," which I assume Baglio has read (his novel is certainly compatible with the book's conclusions).

"A String of Pearls" will strike some as a lighter version of "The Winds of War," in that you have FDR, Churchill and Hitler running around, and a cast of fictional characters who get to be in the right place at the right time. Each chapter is divided into sections that are introduced by date and place (sometimes time) and Baglio is rather relentless in paring down his narrative to what is essential to play out the conspiracy. As a general rule, whenever he covers historical events that are easily recognizable to those who are quite familiar with the Japanese attack Baglio keeps it relatively simple. But the same thing happens with his characters, such as Captain Andrew Seghesio of the U.S Marine Corps whose chance meeting with Mae Leland at the General Motors Futurama exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair defines the novel's key interpersonal development.

The result is that the book is quick read even though I think the story is compelling and the characters interesting enough for the author to take more time in telling the tale. There are plenty of books where I wish an editor had helped the writer pare it down to improve it, but "A String of Pearls" is one where another fifty to a hundred pages would have made it even better. Too often I thought scenes were being sketched out, in the manner of a film script, when clearly Baglio has material with the weight of a solid novel. Hopefully these characters will be back in a sequel of sorts, where Baglio can tell their stories without being encumbered by revisionist argument, because certainly there are more stories to tell about the battles from Guadalcanal and Pelelieu for Patsy and the rest of us.

This book is a good introduction to the contemporary Baudrillard, it is the last step as he leaves behind the last vestiges of Marxism and ventures into something original and "fatal". Contrary to the first reviewer, Baudrillard does not assume an "Essentialist" position (namely, providing necessary and sufficient conditions for 'such and such' to be 'such and such'). Instead he operates between wildly poetic description and (implied) moral condemnation.

This means, mostly, that his comments on meaning and media are striking. It also means (unfortunately) that he provides little in the way of concrete or rigorous argumentation. Thankfully, this is not a problem if we consider the book a collection of inter-related aphorisms. In any case, Baudrillard "the poet" instead of Baudrillard "the theorist" allows us to conceptualize the expanding domain of media technologies in a different way. Whether there actually -is- anything to his claims will have to be shown by someone else.

Since this book has had something of an influence on art criticism, I recommend it (albeit, with strong reservations about its basic claims)to anyone interested in cultural theory, the arts or any sort of contemporary "critical theory".

Break out your dictionary; here is Baudrillard in all his ontogenetic glory. A wildly entertaining if ultimately depressing journey through the end of the millenia; what could be more shocking than to see J.B. bewail the lost hippy ideals of the sixties? Less a postmodernist than an essentialist critic of postmodernism, Baudrilard bwetrays a startling lack of imagination when it comes to technology and apparently views the computer screen as the fourth horseman of a Marxian apocalypse. Imagine if your kvetching grandfather had attended Yale in the '80s.

Sometimes a brilliant thinker as Baudrillard lets his own theories and perspectives confuse what is reality. Even though all the so-called revolutions and liberations have played themselves out, sexual,cybernetic,political,artistic, there are still powers in the world in all the above categories that are shaping the world in their own image. What is globalization? than the structure of the world surrounded with capital,shaped by it directing the poverty and foodchains of the world. I think Baudrillard forgets this, that there still is someone who creates and directs,and manipulates,and politicizes,and innoculates the populace to soften them up for consumption,controlled if possibly.

This collection of essays are brilliant in that Baudrillard knows how to probe beneath the surface of art,of culture, like Madonna, Michael Jackson or current Hollywood, and the politics of Europe,of the demise of communism. He does it within a formant structure,with many levels of meaning spewed out in all directions. He is a virtuoso in that respect.

What structures material reality? what directs it is not probed however with any degree of conviction and I think that is where his focus should be.You needn't be a Marxist to harbor these convictions simply ahumanist concerned with the direction of the world.

I bought this book long before the new Pope Benedict in order to understand World War I and perhaps find some additional insight into how it affected my mother who lived in Europe during this time. This book not only does an outstanding represention of a great Pope, but also gives an inside look into the politics of the different countries during the war years. And, it contains some political surprises. I would recommend this book highly to anyone looking for additional information regarding World War I and how many of the countries involved limited the charitable works and role of the Papacy in trying to establish peace during that time period. It is extremle well written and very easy reading. You will certainly treasure this book.

There has of late been something of a cottage industry for Twentieth Century Vatican history, partially due to increased openness of Catholic archives. Pope Benedict XV is not only the unknown Pope of John Pollard's title, but surely the last great figure of World War I to be the subject of a modern biographer.

Lacking the sensationalism that has been a recent hallmark of some Catholic history, this work combines substantial original research in Catholic and State archives in the Vatican City, Italy, Britain and the United States with an exhaustive analysis of printed primary and secondary sources in an array of languages.

Having also pursued researches in the Vatican's Secret Archive I can testify that this must have been no easy task.

What emerges is a portrait of Pope Benedict XV balancing delicate issues between the Allied and Central Powers in the face of continued difficulties with the Italian state, but also a compassionate man who cared greatly for those around him, and for the sufferings of war.

Adopting a broadly chronological approach, Pope Benedict XV's origins, ascent to the papacy, role in the war and relations with Italy, humanitarian relief, peace diplomacy and post-war relations with Italy and the rest of the world are all covered seemlessly.

A seminal work which points the way ahead for church history and will surely prove the inspiration for further work on Pope Benedict XV and the role of the Papacy in the Twentieth Century, this book also deserves to be read by anyone with an interest in World War I, humanitarian aid, diplomatic and Italian history.

More uncommonly, this work is written in a clear style. John Pollard continues to hold the reader's attention and employs a light touch to explain the many curiosities of a pre-Vatican II pontificate.

Joseph Ratzinger's selection of "Benedict" as his regnal name, and his statement that he chose it at least in part to honor his predecessor Benedict XV, has begun to shine a bit of light once again on this important but largely forgotten leader and statesman. Readers looking for English-language resources on Benedict XV don't have a lot of alternatives. Fortunately, one resource they do have -- this book by John F. Pollard -- is a very good one.

That said, I don't think all readers will find this biography equally satisfying. I happen to be (finally) getting around to reading David McCullough's massive biography of John Adams, and the contrast between the two is great. Unlike the current trend in popular bios, of which "John Adams" is a good example, "The Unknown Pope" is not really a deep personal and psychological exploration of Giacomo Della Chiesa. A mention toward the end of the book of his "besetting sin" of irascibility came as a bit of a surprise, for example, because Pollard hadn't really emphasized that sort of personal portraiture before. Likewise, a discussion of Benedict in his role as governor of the Roman Catholic Church and his devotion to the Sacred Heart take up only a few pages in the final chapter, although they were evidently a pretty significant part of the man's own life. So I think it's fair to say that readers may come away from "The Unknown Pope" with Benedict XV remaining somewhat of an unknown pope -- at least by, as I say, the standards of current personality-driven biography.

Nevertheless, I still argue this is a fine work of history. Pollard does an excellent job of placing Benedict XV in his historical context with a particular emphasis, as the subtitle says, on "the pursuit of peace." Benedict deserves to be remembered as the man who, more than perhaps anyone else, tried to end World War I in a way that prevented slaughter and national humiliation. The fact that he singularly failed to do so is hardly due to his lack of honest and intensive effort. Perhaps also forgotten these days is Benedict's role in restoring peace to the church after the anti-Modernist purge overseen by his predecessor Pius X. If the current pope is intending to work for peace in the world and harmony within his Church, he couldn't have chosen a better namesake. Pollard gives us a fine overview of all of this, with an emphasis on the tightrope Benedict was walking, given the uncertain diplomatic and political status of the Holy See at the time. Readers without a grounding in Vatican history of a century ago (readers like me) may be surprised by the large role Italian politics plays in this story. Here too, Pollard does a good job cutting through a pretty complex knot in a way most general readers should be able to handle.

Personally, I've admired Benedict XV for some time for his efforts to end the Great War, though admittedly my knowledge of the man was pretty sketchy. Even without this volume being an intensely personal look at a private and apparently somewhat introverted man, "The Unknown Pope" helps rescue him from an obscurity he certainly does not deserve. If Benedict XVI truly sees Benedict XV as someone to emulate, then the Church and the world should be in for some interesting years ahead. Benedicamus Domino!

I purchased this item because I was curious to know the 10 things and because I have heard John Allen on television. I am happy with this small book. I am pleased for three reasons.

First John Allen writes well. He is easy to read and his writing holds my interest. Second, his summaries of Benedict's teaching seem to be accurate and clear. For example, his treatment of Benedict's teaching in God is Love is concise and true to that wonderful encyclical. God Is Love: Deus Caritas Est Third, the ten ideas that Allen presents are worth knowing.

The ten things Allen explains are:
1. God is Love
2. Jesus is Lord
3. Truth and Freedom are two sides of the same coin.
4. Faith and Reason need one another.
5. The Eucharist is the Heart of the Christian life.
6. Christianity is a positive message.
7. The Church forms consciences but stays out of politics.
8. The importance of Catholic identity.
9. Christ and the Church are Inseparable.
10. The Virtue of Patience.

Some of the explanations may surprise you. For example, in number seven, It is clear that, although Benedict wants the Church out of "politics," he pushes for progress. He calls for Rich nations to cancel the debt of poor states so the poor countries might grow their economy and care for their people.

I recommend this book. Although small in size, it contains much treasure.

This is a short book with "pearls' scattered throughout the pages.
The Pope wants Catholics to learn and return to the basics of Catholicism.
The author John Allen uses the Pope's original writings and gives us 10 things the Pope wants us to know starting from God is Love to Christianity is about Patience. It is well written, precise and needs to be re-read to get the pearls and the message that moral relativism is deadly to the truth of Christ. John Allen does an excellent job of representing Pope Benedict's principles and well worth the time.

After his reconciliation and death, examination of Father Leonard Feeney's thought has fallen into two camps: 1) apologists (some quite radical, some reasonable) who advance and promote his memory (and cause? For.....?), and 2) those who search for evidence for their accusative catalogue of Jansenism.

Neither camp will be satisfied with this wonderful work, but both will likely submit it in evidence. For this is the fireside chat side of the late Fr. Feeney's thinking, all straight food for the contemplative layman. But his explications here departs little from what scholastic scholars also advanced, for this is more the memory of the Church retold in modern prose. Fr. Feeney's distinct style belies nothing of his supposed prickly reputation, and abrasive manner. In fact, if you took his name off the authorship and slapped on some other attribution such as "by a Catholic Priest" one would hardly notice these lessons beyond their remarkable serious devotional tone and classic traditional nature.

This book is comprised of lectures that were given by Father Feeney. The book shows us that though you can be justified by Baptism of Desire, you cannot be saved until your receive Baptism by water. Without Baptism of Water there is no salvation. The book also teaches us the important difference between Justification and Salvation.

The book also covers the differrent aspects of the Blessed Eucharist. Including the Real Presence, Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament and the most important, the Sacrifice of the Mass. The hidden Treasure on the Altar. And the great talks from a Father with such great devotion to Mary, Mother of Jesus.

Benedict Ashley is a Dominican, a member of the Order of Preachers. Like one of his most famous predecessors, St. Thomas Aquinas, he reveals a tremendous intellectual comprehension and organization. Perhaps he attempts something here even greater than the synthesis of Catholic doctrine and Aristotelian realism, as he compares and contrasts the major world views and value systems, Humanism and Confucianism, the Emanation religions (Buddhism and Hinduism), and the Creation religions (Judaism, Islam, Christianity). This is not merely a "religions of the world" survey, however, as Ashley provides a system to determine which of these world views and value systems passes the test of universality, unity, holiness, and apostolicity (growth as development of historical background). According to that system, Ashley presents an apologetic that only Christianity, in the form of the Roman Catholic Church, fulfills those goals. Ashley is brilliant, not always as a stylist, but certainly as a thinker, as he examines these world views and value systems with intellectual rigor and practical criticism. It's a fascinating exercise; for one in Ashley's choir, who has never really been outside, I wonder how effective it would be. It seems like a good guide to making a choice of what world view and value system to choose and follow. I've made my choice, and Ashley certainly confirms that it is the right one.

In a time when modern day Catholic theological scholarship has depreciated "the classical apologetics" in an ecumenical age, Ashley's book fills a tremendous need by emphasizing that the defense of the faith still matters. He argues that evangelization and apologetics are in fact a necessity for the Christian life. Believe it or not, my Catholic brethren, but significant doctrinal and theological differences still separate us from being "one" with Protestants and other world religions. This is why we still need the classical apologetics. And for that reason, his book, in my estimation, is the best Catholic apologetics book out today. We as Catholic Christians need more professional theologians and philosophers who are willing to do this kind of work. I cannot recommend this book too highly enough.

This is the Official Commemorative book on Pope Benedict's 2008 apostolic visit to the USA April 15 - 20. This lavishly illustrated, large-size edition, has dozens of fabulous photos of all the papal visit venues during his historic visit, with inspiring, informative commentary on the various papal events, and also includes the texts all the Pope's addresses, homilies, and his prayer at Ground Zero.

This beautifully produced, high quality coffee-table book is a deluxe edition for all those who want to have a keepsake treasure of this powerful six day visit to the USA by Pope Benedict who won the hearts and minds of countless people with his inspiring words and gestures of love, truth, hope and compassion.

From his first stepping off the Shepherd One plane in Washington, to his White House visit and warm exchange with President Bush, the moving, festive Masses in two baseball stadiums, his inspiring address to the United Nations, his talks to U S Bishops, Catholic educators and to youth, and deeply moving visit to Ground Zero, the many memorable moments of Pope Benedict's apostolic journey are captured in moving pictures and words in this collector's edition.

This review refers to the volume published by Editions du Signe.

This new book commemorating Pope Benedict's April 2008 trip to the United States has many praiseworthy qualities. It covers the entire trip, comprehensively laying out the various events in the order they took place. "Christ Our Hope" (the name comes from the theme of the Pope's visit) also features a wide assortment of pictures and includes both useful commentary and the text of all the Holy Father's addresses and homilies. The Holy Father's visit made so many of us proud to be Catholic, and you'll smile your way through these pages in reminiscence. There are some flaws, however. The photographs are sometimes less than crisp and the stitched binding makes one wonder how long this keepsake will last. It will be interesting to compare the book with other similar efforts. In any event, for those of us who thoroughly enjoyed Pope Benedict's visit and want to share its highlights with others, this "coffee table book" is well worth having.

I feel that this book helps me relate the rule to my life. It is my evening reading.

Father Kardong, the foremost scholar of the Rule of Benedict in the U.S. today, offers short daily meditations based on the Rule of Benedict. He has chosen to present the meditations in no particular order in terms of either the rule, itself, or the calendar, thus providing the element of surprise: "You never know what you will run into on the next page." Thumbing through, we find colorful stories to illustrate some of the monastery-specific passages from the rule, background on monastic life that explains the reasons behind portions of the rule, and, in most instances, suggestions for applying Benedict's rule to life outside the monastery.

For example, the passage "Do not be habitually quarrelsome" is followed by a story of two monks who ended up in a fistfight. By contrast, in relation to Benedict's exhortation "Put your hope in God. When you see something good in yourself, credit it to God, not to yourself," Fr. Kardong suggests that spiritual life is not about who accomplishes what and who deserved what. "All we need to know is that God loves us and is present to us-even in our struggles."

I had been going through a critical life transition, was having some rich dreams, and was hoping to find a few books that might help me gain a bit of a better understanding of them. I got several notable, highly respected books on dreams, this being just one among many. Yet, not only was it the most helpful to me as an especially rich and grounding, illustrative account of working with dreams, but it also beautifully discussed and worked with several key aspects of Jungian psychology (key aspects of the individuation process in particular) and all of this in relation to a woman's developmental process. It was strikingly resonant for me in all three of these extremely rich areas, which speaks to the hard-won depth/authenticity/clarity through which Jean Raffa wrote this piece. It very naturally inspired, mobilized, great hope for healing and rewarding growth in me (something I was frighteningly losing sense of and knew certainly wouldn't emerge through easy or quick solutions), the best kind of hope: no simple, rose-colored glasses here. What a great surprise! A terrific and very surprisingly in-depth, especially resonant and humane resource for all three of these areas and so much that stems from, and gives rise to, them (for it's only 201 pp.!--often shorter pieces are the most difficult to write; quite an accomplishment; thank you, Ms Raffa...).

This is a fascinating, accessible book about Jungian dream work. I particularly appreciated the author's application of the theory to women's issues. Part One explains the basics of Jungian dream analysis and includes valuable suggestions about how to understand more about your dreams. Part Two is a collection of the author's own dreams and her interpretations of them. Often in this second part I was at a loss to see how she arrived at certain interpretations--but Raffa certainly deserves credit for taking the risk of sharing them with us!