Brooks Books

This is the 1st edition of a truly epochal treatise in rationalistic theism. It is rare, having been printed in hardcover by Moody Press in 1957 in a printing of 2,000. Unfortunately, the plates were destroyed. Religious publishers aren't exactly the brightest stars in the universe when it comes to the importance of intellectual issues to belief trends in the overall culture.

Norman Geisler once told me in a phone conversation that Stuart Hackett is the greatest living Christian philosopher. I agree.

The book shows how to self-referentially analyze statements to eliminate the possibility of opposing views, and to argue from the impossibility of an actually infinite temporal sequence or an actually infinite set of discrete extra-mental objects to a cause of the universe. It then uses the purpose argument, to discover that this cause is the ultimate personal mind that sentient beings are limited approximations of.

Hence, believing that God exists is the result of a series of metatheoretic and first-order steps of inference, an intellectual cul-de-sac from which there is no logical escape, only a chosen one.

Analyzing statements that refer to or qualify themselves dominates the entire work, even in relation to self-referential analysis itself and the prior structures of conceptionalization through which such issues are adjudicated.

But the refutation of an infinite series, which is decisive for his cosmological argument, is ironically brief and cursory, so you'll have to check out other sources for a development of that refutation (Hint: using a principle of construction with no assigned limit does not imply an actual or actualizable infinite series.)

The whole point for the common person exposed to general universal statements about knowledge, truth, or reality---"Everything is X (determined, person-relative, illusion, maya, false, subjective, biased, hopeless, meaningless, futile, etc.)", is to ask: What about that statement ITSELF?

How can relativism mean the same thing to any mind from one moment to the next, as well as from one person to another?

Was Marx's view itself merely economically determined and therefore not capable of being true?

Do the anti-reason and anti-rationalist views mimic rationality in spite of their claimed point?

Once you start asking those kinds of questions, you realize that those views are always stated as if *they* get a free ride. Statements about statements.

The next time you hear someone throwing around universals, try asking that question. In time, the lights go on and you recognize self-referring/self-contradictory statements rather quickly.

Most of the time, you'll find that this boils down to someone not wanting anyone to do any thinking, while criticizing other views without any self-questioning or examination of their *own* background assumptions.

Sound familiar?

"You're so bigoted, and I'm so objective and dispassionate about bigotry."

Got it?

There's no mention of this convenient little self-exemption for a reason.

I became street-wise about these kinds of remarks, just by asking that simple question.

What about that statement itself?

There is still no single work that even *attempts* to cover virtually every argument and counterargument that has ever been put forth concerning the existence of God. Like business and software development, there is a failure to listen to what people are actually saying or asking.

There really aren't that many arguments, objections, or views. There's maybe two dozen irreducibly distinct philosophies. But by the same token you'll find very little concerning metaphilosophical mind-commandments, mind-principle relations and obligation, value assumptions of epistemology or reason, performative inconsistency, self-referential analysis, starting points and the burden of proof, and whether the nature of a deistic or theistic God implies any obligation to save the world. Theists and atheists are for the most part oscillating insanities with hidden agendas that protect their most basic second-order assumptions. The real questions are: who has the best arguments against their own views, do they blink when it comes to scrutiny about validity or ultimate assumptions, and are they genuine when it comes to belief optimization in relation to the imminence of death.

For a list of no-bs resources, see my Listmania List, "Atheism and God".

This is the 2nd Edition of an epochal treatise in rationalistic theism. The 1st Edition is extremely rare, having been printed in hardbound by Moody Press in 1957 in a printing of only 2,000. Unfortunately, the plates were destroyed.

The bottom line of this book is to show how to self-referentially analyze statements to eliminate the possibility of opposing views, and to prove the impossibility of an actually infinite temporal sequence or an actually infinite set of discrete extra-mental objects.

Hence, believing that God exists is the end of a long metatheoretic journey, an intellectual cul-de-sac from which there is no logical escape, only a chosen one.

Analyzing statements that refer to themselves dominates the entire work, even in relation to self-referential analysis itself and the prior structures of conceptionalization.

But the refutation of an infinite series, which is decisive for his cosmological argument, is extremely brief and cursory, so you'll have to check out other sources for a development of that refutation (Hint: using a principle of construction with no assigned limit does not imply an actual or actualizable infinite series.)

The whole point for the common person exposed to general universal statements about knowledge, truth, or reality---"Everything is X (determined, person-relative, illusion, maya, false, subjective, biased, hopeless, meaningless, futile, BS, etc.), is to ask: What about that statement ITSELF?

With relativism, for example, how can relativism mean the same thing to any mind from one moment to the next, as well as from one person to another?

Once you ask that question, you realize that those statements are always stated as if *they* get a free ride.

The next time you hear someone throwing around universals, try asking that question. The lights will go on, and you'll get to where you can recognize self-referring statements rather quickly.

Most of the time, you'll find that this boils down to someone not wanting anyone to do any thinking, while criticizing other views without any self-questioning or examination of background assumptions. Sound familiar?

"You're so bigoted and I'm so objective about subjectivity." Got it?

And of course you'll hear no real mention of this convenient little self-exemption.

Fortunately, very common non-intellectual people are becoming street-wise about these kinds of remarks, simply by learning to ask that one simple question.

What about that statement itself?

Drives the loud champions of intellectual humility absolutely crazy.


Unfortunately, there is still no single work that contains virtually every argument and counterargument that has ever been put forth concerning the existence of God. You'll find very little in print concerning metaphilosophical mind-commandments, mind-principle relations and obligation, value assumptions of reason, performative inconsistency, self-referential analysis, starting points and the burden of proof, and whether the nature of a deistic or theistic God implies any obligation to save the world.

For further investigation, see anything by William Craig, Norman Geisler (The Terminator of christian apologetics, in print but especially his many debates), or Germain Grisez; Joseph Boyle's 1975 dissertation, "Self-Referential Analysis: The Current Discussion"; Against Relativism by James Harris (possibly the finest refutation of relativism of all time); "Atheological Apologetics" (one of the most difficult but clever articles ever written against atheism) by Scott Shalkowski (American Philosophical Quarterly 26 {1989}, pp. 1-17).

I strongly recommend, for analytic background: The Nature of Thought (2 vols) by Brand Blandshard, Language and Reality by Wilbur Marshal Urban, Critique of Pure Reason, Monadology by Leibniz, anything by Alvin Plantinga, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer.

On January 6, 2002 on Stand To Reason radio (rebroadcast on strradio.org), Dr. William Lane Craig, a prolific Christian philospher and theologian, was asked about his favorite apologetic books. This book was high on the list as one that has affected him deeply.

My 3-year-old always selects this book as one of the 5 books we read each night before bedtime. The illustrations are beautiful and colorful and the story is well-written without being too long and drawn out.

My son loves books, but has a short attention span (as 3-year-olds do) and has, in the past, preferred books with only a sentence or two on each page. The Rooftop Rocket Party is so engaging that he pays close attention to the story, even though there are several small paragraphs on some pages, and asks a lot of questions about what's going on. There are enough fun characters and memorable lines that we act out parts when we read it together. We borrowed this from the library but he loves it so much I will have to buy it for him!

My two-year old son asks for this book all the time. He likes the pictures and the story and has now started noticing "rooftop rockets" on buildings. An exceptional, imaginative, intelligent book.

Beautiful, whimsical pictures, a strong, sympathetic hero and a charming, inventive tale about science and imagination make this a wondeful book for children, and a lot of fun for adults! The Man in the Moon playing his pale violin will become an icon for those who read this as children - this has the makings of a classic.

This is the first book that I have ever taken the time to review; that speakes volumns right there. Listen, this book is just a great read. A thoughtfully written piece that is a fun romp, an intriguing page-turner, is thought-provoking and soul tugging all in one. It's not an intellectual read, but then that's the real beauty of it. You won't find yourself searching for a dictionary to figure out what anything means, but you will find yourself going back and re-reading parts just because they were so much fun or so intriguing the first time. Ok - enough's enough. Really, buy it. I'm telling you that you won't regret it.

"Running with Angels" is a story of a young man that experiences many difficult problems in life. However, the influence of God is always there guiding the flow of his life in a positive direction. These events are presented in a way that keeps the reader wondering what will happen next. The main character continues to ignore the presence of God in his life until he encounters a person that makes him wonder about the meaning of life and encourages him to seek answers to questions about the eternal God and his love. The book is not only fascinating to read, but it makes the reader focus on the importance of his/her relationship with the eternal God. After reading the first chapter, laying the book down is not easy. The rewards of reading the book are far beyond the cost and the time spent reading it. I recommend it without reservations.

Ken's book, Running with Angels, flows with the main character and his life story. You can really put yourself in the shoes of the main character. It is easy to read. I am an avid reader and I really liked this book! I couldn't put it down once I started reading it. Yes I was up until 2 am finishing the story!

The best thing I can say about this book is that it gets to the point. And that point is "what is life and why are we here and what good can we do while we are here?" Everything else is trivial when you think about it. This book takes a personal approach.

As for me, I needed that personal approach. I read Ken's book, Running with Angels, within two weeks of my father's passing. During this horrible time of my life, this book has helped soothe my soul. Ken's characters gave me such good feelings about life and why we are here and what we are supposed to do with why we are here.

I rate this book tops and recommend it highly.

Having thoroughly enjoyed Brooks' biography of Donna Gracia Nasi (THE WOMAN WHO DEFIED KINGS), I was looking forward to her new book very much. I was not disappointed - this is a terrific read, full of historical details, romance, suspense, irony, real tragedy, and all carried off by Brooks with intelligence, wit and style.
I cannot recommend this book too highly!!!!

Andree Brooks has created a fascinating book. Her observations about people and human nature are alarmingly astute. She teaches about a little-known, but important, period in history, but she does not lecture the reader who is far too engrossed in the tragic relationship of Marc and Bluett to realize that he/she has learned something along the way. This is a book that you will gobble up in one sitting (not often said about a book drenched with history) -- and will linger with you for days to come.

Author Andree Aelion Brooks renders the story of Bluet Rabinoff and Marc Cheftel so compellingly that one is tempted to read the book in one sitting -- not only to find out what happens next in this story of a great love, but also to appreciate the meticulously researched details of a turbulent era in world history. Whether the setting is the opulent world of the arts that Bluet inhabits in New York City in the late 1920s, or the day-to-day bleak subsistence and terror of Stalinist Moscow in 1931, Brooks creates a sense of immediacy and urgency -- a true "you are there" quality.

In addition to chronicling the joys and perils of a great passion between two unique people, the book also serves as a cautionary tale about the unintended consequences of idealogy and nation-building. Moreover, it makes clear how historical events affect the most personal of issues: love, friendship, parenthood, loyalty. In sum, an excellent book, well worth reading.

I read this to several classes and they all loved it. They were blown away by Sally, a girl who wasn't afraid of living on "the wild side". They also suggested that the book should have a sequel. Hint, hint, George!
The book has been in circularion every week now with other children waiting for their turn.

We loved this book so much that was shared it with my 4-year-old son's preschool class. They also thought it was a hoot. We love Sally's fearlessness!

My 2 1/2-year-old loves this book! We got it from the library but now I am buying it for him. It is so funny when he tries to say, "Blippity bloop?" like the Some-thing. It is a great story about friendship and adapting and happy surprises. When the Some-thing first makes his appearance, it seems like it might be a little scary (I am a wimp about such things myself), but it's not.

This engaging, illustrated memoir tells the story of the author's aunt, Katherine deb. Parsons, and the Atlantic salmon camp she and her relatives built from scratch along the banks of the Upsalquitch River in Nova Scotia. This story dispels the myth that women "don't get" the sport and art of fly fishing. The author, a medical doctor, collected several articles he had written for a fishing club newsletter, and these presented together form a fine narrative about camp life, the ecological issues facing the Atlantic salmon, the excitment of fishing on the fly, and the story of one amazingly independent and pioneering lady fisher.

Salmon Camp: The Boland Brook Story is the fascinating true story of a small family fishing camp, never operated as a club or commercial venture. In the 1930s, a young woman named Katharine Parsons acquired a stretch of land with a mile and a quarter of Atlantic salmon river running through it, constructed Boland Brook Camp, an oversaw it for years until her nephew inherited it after her passing in 1993. Her nephew recounts a detailed and flavorful history of the camp, the people who fished there, the experience of angling on the Upsalquitch River, and more, illustrated with black-and-white and color photographs. A wonderful fishing memoir sure to appeal to enthusiasts of the sport.

This is a very special and personal history of a unique Salmon Fishing Camp covering 65 years of kinship with a determined, courageous, and exceptional woman who, against all odds, built a remarkable Canadian summer retreat which she generously shared with family and close friends. This fascinating book reveals much about life at the isolated camp and fishing on the beautifil Upsalquitch River. It paints a vivid picture of comittment and comaraderie between Miss Parsons, her guests. and the devoted staff in a most affectionate and conversational manner. I recommend this book to anyone who responds to the magic
of Salmon Fishing. Joan Gilbert

Seventrees is a wonderful book that tells the saga of three generations of women in the 1800s. Historically it has the facts correct, but the main appeal of this book is its characters. None of these women are saints - they are fully three dimensional and therefore are more interesting. I owned this book until about 8 years ago, when I loaned it to a person who never returned it. So far, I have yet to find another copy. It is a tribute to the lasting impression that this story had on me that I will continue to search until I find it again. This is a great book for young girls to read in that it emphasizes independence in women.

This work ranks very high among my extensive collection of fiction. This author takes us on a colorful journey into America's distant past with vivid imagery, well crafted, memorable characters through the mid 1800s, the Civil War and post war years through the eyes of Maggie and her daughters. It is indeed the story of three generations of American women, the matriarch of which carved a pharmaceutical empire out of very meager beginnings.

I cannot say enough good for this book.

Three different generations of women that overcome many opstacles, from losing family and friends to almost losing themselves along with their homes and businesses. These women aren't your normal idea of the "regular" woman out in Seventrees, Kansas in the 1800's. This book is the best book that I have ever read. At first I didn't think that I would like it, but it became the #1 book on my list. I don't usually read historical books because they are boring. I could barely put this book down. It just goes to tell you you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. It made me have a different perspective of HISTORY. "We can't ever go back, Maggie, my love. Too much has happened. But do you think we can go forward together?"(pg.223) This was the quote that changed the whole story. If it wasn't for this sentence the whole story would have been different. I picked this quote to show that one sentence of the book changes the whole book. It set the feeling for the rest of the story, which I loved. I was surprised to hear this sentence and I am glad that I did. There is nothing more that I can say except that I LOVE this book and would recommend it to anyone.

William Tecumseh Sherman was a brilliant military genius and a true eccentric.
A fascinating and complex man, who found his destiny in war. Sherman revelled in war and owed much to it: he began it as an former officer of modest means and ended it hailed as the Union greatest general next to Grant. At the same time he loathed and despised war and was horrified by it. He was shocked by what the war did to his country, his people, his soldiers and to himself. At times he was appalled by his duties as an officer, but he was always highly resolved to perform these duties.

Everybody who has ever read his memoirs knows that Sherman was not only a great general but also a very talented writer. His memoirs are not a dry succession of events and his part in it, but they convey how he lived through the war and how and why he did what he did in it.
Now professor Brooks D. Simpson has edited a big volume of his Sherman's correspondence from the Civil War years. Again it is the quality of the Sherman's writing which catches the eye and pleases the mind. His letters, as are his memoirs, are a joy to read. This book offers an interesting perspective on Sherman and his part in the war. Reading the memoirs is like having Sherman telling his war experiences to you, long after the facts. This is interesting enough but reading his letters is even more so. It feels like being there with him in his tent, in some Union camp during the war, looking over his shoulder while events are shaping. A truly fascinating experience.
He pours his heart out to his brother John, to his wife Ellen, to his friend Grant and to many others.
So many aspects of his personality appear: his quicksilver intelligence, his warmth and humanity, his wicked and dry sense of humour, his fundamental decency and his military capability.
Read this book and look intro Sherman's mind: it is an interesting place.

The book itself is a big b*gger, but once you've started, you'll be grateful that is is so big: you'll hate to finish it. It looks great, which I like in books and it's very nicely turned out, with good quality binding , high grade paper, a pretty typesetting and a nice dust jacket design. Listings and indexes are clear and elaborate, which is useful in a book like this. So here's a big thumbs up to the publisher's (Chapel Hill North Carolina State University Press): very well done, a fine piece of work!!!

I can't recommend this too highly. A must for all those who are interested in history, in the American Civil War and/or in Sherman. Read and enjoy the letters uncle Billy wrote in those four years of war and enjoy the sight and the feel of this beautifully made book.

It's difficult to rate a collection of primary documents such as this one for several reasons. The quality of the documents themselves might be very good but the arrangement or editing of them might be very poor, in which case it becomes a question of whether you should rate the volume well for the documents themselves or poorly for the editing job. Fortunately this collection does not have that issue, as both the primary documents themselves and the editing of them are excellent.

This massive volume contains much of Sherman's correspondence during the war. Surprisingly, these letters are enjoyable to read, and the editors have done a great job of compiling and editing them. Reading these letters, orders, etc of General Sherman can give someone a very unique perspective of the Civil War as Sherman himself saw it, without the bias of authors who have written about it since and without the inevitable coloring of events that happens later when war heroes write about their experiences (and which certainly affected his memoirs, though I do believe they were very honest and straightforward). General Sherman is one of my heroes from the Civil War, and this collection of glimpses into his brilliant mind certainly fed my understanding and fascination of the man.

William T. Sherman was an irascible, unpredictably brilliant man and his letters bring out these myriad traits. He was a fascinating man and his own words illuminate his fiery personality. Sherman's own 1875 memoirs are a mixed bag, marred by an over-abundance of wartime correspondence and ancillary material. This collection of his letters actually makes for more engrossing, instructive reading. We hear his opinions on the major players of the Civil War: Grant, Halleck and Lincoln. We gain an understanding of his tortured relationship with his wife, Ellen, to whom many of the letters are addressed. His visceral hatred of the press and reporters is well represented.

The collection is expertly edited by Brooks Simpson, someone who thoroughly understands both Sherman and the civil war era. The notes are instructive and unobtrusive and the introduction lays the groundwork for appreciating Sherman and his correspondence. This is an outstanding book for anyone who wishes to get to know the erratic and intellectual General who was second only to Ulysses S. Grant in ability and results.

If you like unprocessed, uninterpreted real history, you can't do better than reading original journals of people who experienced it. This treasure of a journal, discovered in an attic just a few decades ago, tells the day-by-day adventures of Jedediah Strong Smith, one of the greatest American western explorers. His travels are second only to Lewis and Clark's in significance for the opening the West. This book is the journal of Smith's first trek to California from the Rockies and back. It is filled with both the excitement of discovery, and the perils of horse-and-foot travel among potential enemies in inhospitable lands. You will read first-hand accounts of near starvation and thirst, of Indian attacks, of mountain blizzards and waterless deserts, of near drownings in rivers, of weary travels over wastelands and mountains, and other accompaniments of exploration in a day without roads, maps, telephones, electricity and fast food.

What makes this account so valuable is Jedediah himself. Serious and unpretentious, devoutly Christian and a man of high integrity, Smith was not the stereotypical Mountain Man. In just eight years since joining William Ashley's band of trappers (1824), killed by Indians at age 32, he had traveled most of the Western United States, surviving herculean odds along the way. One unforgettable scene in this journal has Smith meditating to himself atop a peak in the Sierras, after having suffered severe hardships with his men against snow and Indians. He reminisces about the comforts and joys of his childhood home back East, but then in the spirit of true courage, faces the desperate reality of his situation and the fact his men are counting on his leadership. From there he faces several life-and-death struggles getting over the Sierra Nevada (first white man to make the crossing) and across the desolate Great Basin wastelands and back to the Rendezvous near Salt Lake. When he arrives, his friends, who thought him long dead, celebrate by firing a cannon they had carted over the Rockies from St. Louis. [Historical note: within days, Smith was off to California again, this time to suffer even more hardships all the way to Oregon, including two Indian massacres.]

This was one of Smith's most important journeys; known previously only by some letters and pieces of the journal, we now have the full account! I'm surprised this book doesn't get more attention; I found it captivating. The descriptions of Mission San Gabriel, early Pueblo Los Angeles and the Mexican-controlled early California culture are revealing. Having seen the mission today hemmed in by the city, I now have the eyes of Smith and his aide Harrison Rogers (who died the following year in the Umpqua Massacre in Oregon), to see how it must have appeared in 1827. George R. Brooks' helpful footnotes give background information and locations, so that you can follow the route on a map. I think it would make a terrific family vacation to retrace his journey. From your air-conditioned van, along I-40 in desolate eastern California, or along I-80 in Nevada, look out your window and imagine Smith and his weary men in a desperate search for water, as you cover in a half-hour what took them two days.

In an age where history is processed through Hollywood tall tale tellers, who don't hesitate to rewrite what happened according to their politically correct biases, we need to get the story straight from the source. (Hmmm, this journal would make a great film epic, though.) We also need to appreciate the courage and fortitude of our pioneers, who accomplished great things with much less. Get a map of the Western states, open this book, and discover America with Jedediah Strong Smith!

I don't think I'd be stretching things too much if I said these journals are almost as important as those kept by Lewis and Clark. Smith's expedition to California in 1826-27 had been known about, of course, but no written account ever appeared until the account presented here was discovered in 1967. (Later travel journals by Smith were discovered in the 1930s.) In Smith's eulogy in 1832, the fact that Smith had kept notes of all his travels was mentioned. Interestingly, in 1840 the "Missouri Saturday News" reported that it was about to publish all of Smith's travel accounts in the West for subscribers, as compiled by one Alphonzo Wetmore, but it never happened. The final coming to light of this missing portion of Smith's adventures is a major find in Western exploration.

Smith left the 1826 rendezvous on the Bear River in Idaho, heading to the southwest, to explore new territory and evaluate the country in terms of beaver productivity. He skirted the Great Salt Lake and headed toward Utah Lake. Here he turned to the southeast to the Price River, and then south to the Curtis. Turning west he struck the Sevier River and then crossed the Escalante Desert to the Virgin and the Colorado. He followed the Colorado to the Mohave Villages (near present-day Needles). Apparently his original plan was to return to the Bear Lake region, but believing the season too late to do so, decided to continue to California.

Crossing the Mojave Desert he made his way to San Gabriel, sidetracked to San Diego, got in trouble with the Spanish governor, and hitched a ride on a ship back to near San Gabriel. Heading back toward the Mojave to appease the Spanish, he diverted north up through the center of California to the San Joaquin and then the American River. Backtracking to the Stanislaus River he crossed the Sierra Nevadas via Ebbetts Pass. Passing south of Walker Lake he crossed the desert wastes of Nevada, suffering great hardship (the first white to do so), then northeast across Utah, reaching the Bear Lake rendezvous in July 1827. As soon as the rendezvous ended Smith went back to California taking pretty much the same route, but that journey is not included here.

As with the Lewis and Clark journals every mile traveled and described was new. But Smith wasn't just keeping an explorer's log, as important as that is. We also get his impressions - of the wealthy Spanish at San Gabriel, of the governor of San Diego, his description of a woodpecker south of the San Joaquin. Above all we get a strong sense of Smith's incredible bravery and perseverance, especially in crossing the Sierra Nevadas, when every passage he tried to get through was a dead end, and while crossing the Great Basin where he and his party almost died of thirst. It's a magnificent travel account. Also magnificent is the editing by George R. Brooks, which is very full and detailed. There are a couple of decent maps thrown in as well. This book is a major American document in the development of the country.

Few men parallel the exploratory achievements of Jedediah Smith in the western U.S. This journal, written by Smith, illustrates the many hardships and sacrifices one must overcome in order to accomplish those dreams of exploration. Extremes of desert heat, impenetrable mountain snow depths, thirst, hunger, fatigue, momentary disorientations, spatterings of Indian hostilities, indecisions of Mexican officials in Spanish California, etc. were all obstacles to conquer on the road to uncharted territories. He attempted peace treaties between the Utes and Shoshonies, spent time with the Mohave Indians along the Colorado River (one of the first written accounts of their culture), describes Spanish mission life in southern California, the trek northward encountering Indian animosity, the first crossing of the Sierra Nevadas by a U.S. citizen and finally, the Herculean journey across the Great Basin to the 1827 rendezvous at Bear Lake. We are very fortunate that this journal came to surface as it is of major historical significance. Mr. Brooks' editing is exceptional.

Got the product on time and the book was in exactly the condition represented. A very good transaction....

The book has signs of wear and tear, but other than that the book was great. With a better price than any bookstore can offer who could pass it up?

Without this book, you are pretty much on your own when you are reading the main text. All the problems are solved clearly. Just reading it as a textbook can give you extra tips on somethings that you might have skipped in the book. Sometimes, you might get confused. Well, it is just chemistry. Read carefully.