Brooks Books

October, 2001

THE CHILD WITHIN US LIVES!
A Synthesis of Science, Religion and Metaphysics
by William Samuel

Perhaps now more than ever. humankind is on a quest for truth to put some meaning or understanding of what is happening to and in our world. The Child Within Us Lives!, by visionary and philosopher William Samuel, pulls together the true nature of things, particularly time, space, matter and awareness (life). The result is a deeply meaningful perception of our original nature, the child within.

Mr. Samuel sets forth his goals when he writes, "As content as we might be in our religious views--or in avoiding spiritual matters altogether as so many do--the end of the quiet time looms for everyone. We are approaching a New View of things. The world is already caught in the swift flow of quantum information leading to new knowledge and strange, startling vistas."

The Child Within Us Lives! teaches that many of us in adulthood arrived with baggage. That baggage can be referred to as arrogance, which pretends humility and ignorance which pretends wisdom. This baggage tends to obscure our true and original nature born to us and still existent in childhood. "Peace is the Child of God, three steps beyond government, two steps beyond religion and one beyond wisdom and metaphysics."

This reviewer found a path back to the "innocence" of childhood. As this child-consciousness grows, we no longer need to recite the words of others and call it wisdom, "...there will be a remarkable synergistic assembly of feeling within humanity beyond the grandest hope of anyone."

The Child Within Us Lives! is a path to peace. William Samuel has paved the path with heartfelt words that enable the reader to recognize and embrace the new way which, in reality, is as old as truth itself!

Richard Fuller
Senior Editor

October, 2001

THE CHILD WITHIN US LIVES!
A Synthesis of Science, Religion and Metaphysics
by William Samuel

Perhaps now more than ever. humankind is on a quest for truth to put some meaning or understanding of what is happening to and in our world. The Child Within Us Lives!, by visionary and philosopher William Samuel, pulls together the true nature of things, particularly time, space, matter and awareness (life). The result is a deeply meaningful perception of our original nature, the child within.

Mr. Samuel sets forth his goals when he writes, "As content as we might be in our religious views--or in avoiding spiritual matters altogether as so many do--the end of the quiet time looms for everyone. We are approaching a New View of things. The world is already caught in the swift flow of quantum information leading to new knowledge and strange, startling vistas."

The Child Within Us Lives! teaches that many of us in adulthood arrived with baggage. That baggage can be referred to as arrogance, which pretends humility and ignorance which pretends wisdom. This baggage tends to obscure our true and original nature born to us and still existent in childhood. "Peace is the Child of God, three steps beyond government, two steps beyond religion and one beyond wisdom and metaphysics."

This reviewer found a path back to the "innocence" of childhood. As this child-consciousness grows, we no longer need to recite the words of others and call it wisdom, "...there will be a remarkable synergistic assembly of feeling within humanity beyond the grandest hope of anyone."

The Child Within Us Lives! is a path to peace. William Samuel has paved the path with heartfelt words that enable the reader to recognize and embrace the new way which, in reality, is as old as truth itself!

Richard Fuller
Senior Editor

Chocolate lovers fight for the concoction they love the most in "The Chocolate Queen", the first and hopefully not last published novel of Lee Brooks. The people of Carmel, who view the delicious delight as sacred and divine, are invaded by the land of Reverent, which is strict with its laws and the dark indulgence has been outlawed for over one hundred fifty years. The people of Carmel are not about to abandon their love so easily though in this enthralling fantasy novel even though the concept seems a bit absurdist at first. Fantasy and chocolate lovers should grab this novel right away and community library fantasy collections should find it a popular lend.

This writer has a very clever imagination using delightful names along with touches of humor between friends. A prophesy kept me interested and curious as to how it would come into play.
The thread may be a bit confusing; however all the characters are connected. There are many in the first couple of chapters and it was helpful that the writer put in a Table of Contents in the back.
There is also a chart in the back of the book to decipher one of the maps, which is written in what the writer calls, "Dreg Symbolism", a secret writing of the Dregs.

The Dregs are citizens from the main city called Revenant who have left their homes and ventured out to start "A new land," where they can grow and enjoy their cocoa fields. The people from Revenant have outlawed and destroyed all the Chocolate, giving way to what the writer calls, "a revolution."

The main characters are Queen Abigail and Lily who are close friends and Lily's son Stone who yearns to join with his childhood sweetheart. The villain Casey is someone a reader will grow to hate; as he does anything he can to try to destroy the Dregs.

There is also another land called, "Kyle" in the mountains, which was another interesting thread in the story that takes the reader along another enlighten journey that puts all the pieces together nicely.

There are unique creatures that are cute and some intense that will keep the young readers very interested.

All serious students of early Church history and Christian origins should be thankful to Regent College for republishing this book that originally appeared in nineteen seventy. While this book was written early in the extended and productive career of Richard Longenecker, it is a challenging work of meticulous scholarship which provides incisive insights and analysis. Fully conversant with all prior scholarship and the source documents including the Dead Sea Scrolls, the author's arguments are well developed and stimulating. Disconcerting to some will be the author's unquestioning acceptance of the resurrection of Jesus and the activities of the Holy Spirit in the early Church. Whether this is a reflection of the author's faith or merely a respect for the intellectual integrity of his sources matters little. It is my contention that to dismiss these supernatural constructs as anti-rational misses the point. The fact is that the acceptance of such phenomenon in the first century CE was widespread. To exclude or explain away the resurrection and the activities of the Holy Spirit in any reconstruction of this history leads to tortured and distorted interpretations. In my opinion, it is a remarkable post Enlightenment scholarly conceit to dismiss the "realities" of the past to create naturalistically correct alternative histories. The acceptance of Jesus' resurrection by His earliest followers is seen by the author as pivotal in the formation of their thoughts regarding Him.

This book is broken up into five chapters the first of which is a introduction detailing the issues to be considered with an explanation of the methods to be used and scope of the inquiry to be pursued. The second chapter deals with some "Distinctive Images and Motifs" that occur in the New Testament that refer to Jesus. Among the topics covered here are angelomorphic Christology, the eschatological Mosaic prophet, the Name of God and more. All these titles and attributes as applied to Jesus are shown to be early and specifically Jewish Christian in origin. And, while some of this material was absorbed into the developing orthodox Church, other aspects of it stayed almost exclusively in Jewish Christian sectarian circles where it persisted for a number of centuries after His death. Skipping to the fourth chapter, Longenecker considers Jesus' "Lordship and Its Attendant Features." Distinctions are drawn here supporting the contention that the Lordship of Jesus Christ was a congenial construct in the Gentile mission based both upon His resurrection and exaltation. In this milieu, the messiahship of Jesus was just not as relevant as among the Judeans. The appellations for Jesus considered here are the Lord, God, savior, and the word. On one hand, in the Pauline epistles to the gentiles, it is noted that Jesus Christ was used as a proper name with the Lord as an appellative. On the other hand, Peter refers to "Jesus, our Lord and Christ" in a Jewish Christian setting where "Lord" and "Christ" are both titles. But, generally in Jewish Christian circles the predominate titles for Jesus referenced messiahship.

The third chapter is titled "Messiahship and Its Implications." The concept of the messiah is first addressed comparatively by considering Essenic thought as reflected in the sectarian documents from Qumran, as developed in the Jewish Christian documents of the New Testament, and in the Simon Bar Kosibah fragments from Wadi Murrabba. Fully explored is the nationalistic, warrior "Messiah" and King who was generally expected to appear in late second temple Judaism. Then the very different messiahship of Jesus is described. A strong case is made that among His early followers in Palestine the consciousness of His messiahship was directly a result of their acceptance of His resurrection and post resurrectional teachings. Next, careful attention is paid to the displacement of the "Son of Man" as a title. While it may have been an exceedingly useful self designation for Jesus in His ministry, its lack of usefulness in the Jewish mission as an appelative led to its early subordination. Other messianic motifs considered are the Son of God, God's Salvation, the suffering servant, Davidic kingship, and Jesus as the perfected high priest. Each of these is well developed and analyzed and deserves further discussion. However, space prohibits. Suffice it to say that this is very informative but complex material that calls for intense study and contemplation. Ultimately, and at the risk of repetition, what stands out in Longenecker's work is the centrality of the resurrection of Jesus as the primary validating factor for the revelation of His messiahship to His earliest Jewish followers.

Chapter five is a short conclusion drawing together all the materials previously explicated. It shows how in the broad context of the early Church these "strands and thoughts" coalesced so as to affirm the messiahship and exaltation of Jesus which led to His recognition as Lord, Savior and yes, Divine. Also, of interest is Longenecker's analysis of prior scholarship. His extremely cogent presentation traces the development of German scholarly thought on Christology from the nineteenth century right up to the publication of this work. The author readily acknowledges the dominance of this construct in academic discourse on the subject. This earlier paradigm still underlies much of even the most recent scholarship on the historical Jesus. Both the contemporary "Jesus Seminar" and "Jewish Jesus" schools owe deep intellectual debts to post enlightenment German thought. And, that debt is rarely even acknowledged. Nor is scholarship such as presented in this book often engaged by those offering differing views. Interpretations such as developed in this work are largely dismissed cavalierly as "evangelical apologetics." Once again, the shameful balkanization of the study of Christian origins into competing ideological camps comes into stark relief. Whether one disagrees with Longenecker or not, this is valuable scholarship that deserves to be confronted. Merely, accepting the thoughts of Johannes Weiss and Albert Schweitzer as refined by Rudolph Bultmann and his followers as "the received truth" is counterproductive to disciplinary progress. And, I think it is also highly polemic and susceptible to the charge of being agenda driven.

I thoroughly agree with the previous reviewer. The author extrapolates information from the earliest Christian sources we already have to give us a clear picture of how Jesus' earliest Jewish followers interpreted his identity and his mission with the conclusion that this was passed on to them by Jesus himself.

The author takes those portions of the New Testament which could only have been written and understood by first century Jews and for first century Jews. These writings have an affinity for the kind of Jewish sectarian ideas that are found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. These writings include Matthew, John, Hebrews, James, I and II Peter, the Johannine episles, Jude, and Revelation. The Gospel of Mark and Luke and the bulk of the Pauline Epistles were clearly written for a gentile audience. However, there are primitive declarations embedded in Paul's writings which he could not have made up.

Other products of primitive Jewish Christianity include the Didache, the Greek version of The Testimony of the Twelve Patriarchs, and The Similitudes of Enoch. The Nag Hammadi gospels of Thomas and Philip and the Pseudo-Clementine writings were products of later forms of heterodox Jewish Christianity.

A variety of messianic titles and figures identified with Jesus that would only make sense to messianic Jews of the first century include: an archangel (a heavenly mediator); an eschatological Mosaic prophet; The Name of the Lord (by which Jesus worked miracles); the Righteous One (used in James); the Shepherd and Lamb (denoting God's relationship to Israel); the rejected stone; the firstborn Son of God; and the Heavenly High Priest (Melchizedek).

Jesus was reticent to declare himself as a messiah and his Davidic kingship was somewhat muted to avoid political controversies which would have destroyed the movement right from the start. However, the author demonstrates that Jesus' followers could hardly have believed that his actions fulfilled prophecies unless Jesus believed himself to be the Messiah.

The title Lord was given to Jesus very early as evidenced by the most ancient eucharistic prayer invoking his presence which was retained in Aramaic, "Maranatha" (our Lord come). The extensive use of Psalm 110:1 in the New Testament also reinforces this title. The phrase our God and Lord Jesus referred to two separate entities, God and Jesus, and were not a threat to Jewish monotheism. The term "Word" used in John's prologue was a theme used in Jewish Wisdom literature and was a product of the more Hellenized Judaism found in Asia Minor where the Johannine writings originated.

The author demonstrates that Jesus most commonly referred to himself as Son of Man in reference to Daniel 7. This is a vague term that would be unintelligible to gentiles but combines the elements of suffering and vindication. Jesus undoubtedly saw himself as the suffering servant of Isaiah. Jesus' suffering and death echoes the theme of Isaac submitting to his own proposed sacrifice. This was a common motif employed in first century Judaism.

The resurrection was the inspiration which fueled his followers' convictions that he was the Messiah. This could only have been supported by what Jesus had taught them previously in regard to himself as a fulfillment of prophecies. This belief ultimately came from Jesus himself.

The author does a masterful job of tearing down previous theories of celebrated liberal scholars such as Bultmann who claimed all of these messianic claims about Jesus were legendary and projected back into the Gospels at a later date. The New Testament is an accurate reflection of what Jesus believed about himself.

This book is intended to be a sequel to Albert Nolan's "Jesus Before Christianity," an effort which Nolan has gracefully endorsed. It is a look at how the first discipleship communities known as "churches" (from the Greek, ekklesiai, meaning "the called out") saw their commitment not as simply a Sunday morning battery charge for service to Empire, but as the formation of a Spirit-driven alternative society. It links these churches to their roots in biblical Israel's covenant with God to live differently from the "gentiles" (nations) surrounding them. The book draws on a diversity of New Testament texts in focusing on these themes:
1. prayer and worship
2. kinship
3. economics
4. healing, exorcism and public witness

Each of the six chapters contains reflection questions for personal or small group use. It concludes with a "thought experiment" on how these lessons might be lived out as church in our time.

I wrote this book to give Christians and folks considering Christianity an idea of what "church" was intended to mean in the early days: a complete society alternative to empire, with God reigning in the midst of the community. It is a "sequel" to Albert Nolan's "Jesus Before Christianity." What Nolan did for the Jesus of Palestine, I tried to do for the first disciples amidst the cities of the Greco-Roman world.

Each of the six chapters has reflection questions suitable for individual or small group use.

I just finished "Cinnamon Wharf" and I think that the publishers are really missing out by not reprinting these wonderful hard to find classics by Janice Young Brooks. I devoured this book in one day - something I haven't been doing a lot of lately with more popular authors. Now, I would say that "Cinnamon Wharf" doesn't quite live up to "Guests of the Emporer" or "Seventrees" in my heart. However, it is still a novel of a caliber that is hard to find. I can still taste the salty air of the waves crashing against the cliffs at Castlemere and smell the Rosemary. The characters come alive, they are so three dimensional that I got lost in the book. They felt more like friends than fictional characters. I know it sounds cliche but I laughed out loud, I cried with them... I felt like a fly on the wall of a wonderful life. If you can find this novel it is well worth it!

Cinnamon Wharf is one of my favorite books. I've read it numerous times and each and every time that I read it I enjoy it even more. Janice Young Brooks creates a very believable portrait of Victorian gentry, and the travel chapters in the novel are simply fascinating, and very well researched I might add. The Beecham's are a family you will want to get in touch with again and again. Don't shy away from the listing of "romance novel" it's worthy of a much more distinguished categorical identity.

~Rosemary for Remembrance~

Another excellent story by Walter R. Brooks, written with the wit, originality and humor that makes every one of the Freddy the Pig series so much fun to read. Children of all ages and even parents will be glad to share in the adventures of this excellent classic series.

I love Freddy. What more can I say? Great story, great character development, wholesome messages and morals. We read it at home over and over. For kids and grown-ups!

It's that time of year when us college students are looking for textbooks for the school year. I bought my book from cheap text books. I was so happy with the quality and condition of the book I bought.

First - the book was cheaper then any of the other ones that I searched for.

Second - the book was shipped out immediately and I received it in less then a week.

Third - the book was in the same condition they had promised it would be - very good.

If you want great books for an even better price then buy your book from "cheap text books," I guarantee you'll get an excellent product!

I had been out of school for 10 years when I enrolled into a College Algebra course that used this book. If it would have not been for this textbook, I would have never made it through the course with an A. It is written in a way that builds up in a very easy to understand way and has great sample problems. The review part helped me to catch up within only a week. Very recommended!

Comanche Passion was the very first book I ever read by Ms. Brooks than after I enjoy reading all of her books. Go back to the book, I deals with a young girl who had learn that she has a bother in the hands of the Comanches Tribe. She had no idea were to start looking for him. But the only a half-breed Comanche Indian himself. But you have to read it for yourself to find out the breathtaking, romance and exciement of the story. I sure do recommand this book for you to read.

Wow! This book is terrific. My first Betty Brooks novel. To be sure I will be reading more! It was everything you could ask for in a book, Adventure, Captivating, Romantic, Emotional, Exciting. Each and every page something was going on. I was totally involved in the characters and loved both of them. The story is about Serena, who as a child was left stranded when both her parents were killed and her brother kidnapped by the Comanche. Of coarse she was rescued by a white man who loved her and raised her as his own. When she grew up she learned of her brother's existence and made it her obsession to find him. She was told to seek a man 'Pecos' who was most likely to help her accomplish her goal. The only disappointing part to me was it never reconciled brother and sister to my satisfaction, but hopefully that will be another novel. Still it was a wonderful exciting book and I would recommend it to anyone.

Stephen Brook released the first part of this book, which was devoted to Médoc and Graves, in 2006, and it won the André Simon Award. This volume includes that material and also includes material on Sauternes and the Right Bank. Currently, this is the most comprehensive and most up to date reference book covering the wines of Bordeaux.

There are over 700 pages of densely printed type, with about a thousand detailed profiles of estates. Brook has visited many of the estates, and he conveys love and enthusiasm for the wines, the people, the vineyards and the geography of the region.

The book begins with a very good chapter on `The Land' (including terroir, grape varieties and vititulture), a helpful chapter on `Winemaking and Style' and an excellent chapter on the Bordeaux wine market.

In the main section, Brook describes the important appellations with a general introduction, followed by a description and assessment of each of the estates covered in the book, including statistics, contact details and websites. Here Brook cautions the reader: "[T]he statistics - even when obtained directly from the estates - can be wildly unreliable...."

Brook does not provide formal tasting notes: "other writers - notably Robert Parker, Clive Coates MW, Michael Broadbent, Michel Bettane - have already done so. ... I have, in the case of important properties, given a more detailed account of the vintages I have tasted, so that the reader can gain some notion of what the wines are like to drink."

In a recent interview he described his general approach: "Existing books on Bordeaux, such as Robert Parker's or Clive Coates's, were focused on tasting notes of individual wines, and paid little attention to lesser known areas of Bordeaux which offer good value to consumers. My book was intended to rectify that by including all regions of Bordeaux, as its title suggests. Many winelovers who might have bought Bordeaux routinely in the past may have become disillusioned by the soaring prices of the top growths, and it was part of my intention to discuss the vast number of excellent wines that remain eminently affordable." The entire interview appears on intowine.com and provides a very interesting expansion of Brook's views on the wines of Bordeaux.

(Brook is referring to Bordeaux: A Consumer's Guide to the World's Finest Wines by Robert Parker and The Wines of Bordeaux: Vintages and Tasting Notes 1952-2003 by Clive Coates.)

Brook's text is very well written, but the color illustrations add little of value. The maps for Médoc and Graves are quite good, but those for the Right Bank are tiny and hard to read, especially with the topographical shading.

"Decanter Magazine" also pointed out that "The two Graves maps are misplaced (and one is mistitled) within the text, and there are a fair number of inaccurate locations: Léoville-Las-Cases, Gruaud-Larose, St Pierre. ... There are also some needless errors: Mouton Rothschild was not a first growth until 1973, Yquem is a premier cru supérieur, not a premier grand cru. Details maybe, but in an authoritative reference book they matter."

The criticisms are minor; this is currently the leading reference work on Bordeaux and its wines.


Robert C. Ross 2007 2008

The Complete Bordeaux: The Wines*The Chateaux*The People (Mitchell Beazley Wine Library)

Whilst Stephen Brook is not the best known author in the world of fine wine, his recent book is certainly likely to put him irrevocably on the best seller list in this field. Whether read by the novice or professional, the reader cannot help but be informed as never before on the fascination of wine as it is in Bordeaux. Massive, previously unknown detail contains a veritable mine of invaluable information on properties, production methods, vintages and personalities. The seven hundred pages are crammed with interest from beginning to end. The only downside is that the type size is too small for those inclined to short-sightedness. Buy, buy, buy!!

This 1000-page book is a tour-de-force of computer architecture design principles. I learned from and then taught several graduate computer science classes using the manuscript several years ago, and have always considered it to be the definitive work in the field. It certainly guided my work in co-architecting the Alpha computer systems.

While at first brush many of the examples seem dated (the book only discusses the first computer in a series, such as the 8086 rather than the Pentium), upon further reflection one realizes that the design principles are instead timeless.

This book is longer than "War and Peace" and is not a light read, but many buyers will keep and use it for a lifetime.

I took Fred Brooks' Advanced Computer Architecture course years ago in graduate school. My father said, quite correctly, that it was like taking a theology course from Jesus. This book, in its then-preprint form, was the text, and I eventually wore my photocopied version out completely. (Thank goodness it finally came out in conventional binding.)

I am now a software architect, doing internet work in Java. I don't think I can work for an hour without referring to some concept that Fred taught in the course, or in this book.

Read it. Study it. The only thing that could be better would be to take the course from Fred.