Burton Books

This book is illustrated with LOTS of beautiful photographs of two spotted rabbits named Freckles and Dotty. It begins with their mother building a nest, and soon we see the first picture of the two rabbits as new-borns. As the babies grow, the illustrations follow, and we see them at eight days, thirteen days, three weeks (getting very cute), five and six weeks, and three thru seven months, when the bunnies have grow to adults and Freckles has her first litter of baby rabbits. The text is simple, and gives lots of information on rabbits, while telling the story of these rabbits in particular. This is a very enjoyable book.

Thoroughly readable, yet acknowledging scholarly differences, FROM MESOPOTAMIA TO MODERNITY presents the history and literature of Judaism from Tanakh to the State of Israel in 245 pages. The instructor can base an adult education series, an undergraduate course or a graduate seminar on this book, its references and other sources as s/he chooses.

I don't think authors ought to review their books -- but can I, at least, get you to correct the severe misspelling of my name? It is Raffel, not Baffel! (And while I'm making corrections: How did Zola get into the listing of my BEOWULF translation???)

Burton Klein's GERMANY'S ECONOMIC PREPARTAIONS FOR WAR is a dispassionate refutation of the myth that the Hitler regime prepared for total war. Klein uses both the sources from German archives and the Rand Corporation to undermine the popularly held belief that the Germans planned to conquer the world or Europe.

Klein makes clear that German investment before and during the National Socialist Regime was very low, and this obviously meant that investment in heavy investment to make war materials was limited. One of the reasons for this phenomena was the fact that government expendatures for military goods required higher taxes which Hitler and his advisers wanted to avoid. This not to say that there were no preparations for war. However, these preparations were intended for a possible limited war rather than the one that ensued during World War II.

What may surprise readers is that the Nationalist Socialist government under Hitler did intend to "settle the score" in Eastern Europe. Readers should remember that the Germans did win World War I on the Eastern front against the Russians and extracted a peace treaty from the Bolsheviks in 1918 (The Treaty of Brest Litovsk). The disintegration of the Hapsburh Empire beginning in 1916 and the numerous nationalities that claimed "states" left a power vaccum in Eastern Europe which more astute men realized could result in a future war between the Germans and the Soviets.

An interesting aspect of this book is the treatment of taxes, deficit spending, and international trade arrangements which helped restore the German economy. One must remember that the Germans had hyperinflation as early as 1923 and then faced The Great Depression. In fact, the Germans were almost reduced to using barter trade in some of their international trade espeically in Eastern Europe. The use of tax policy and fiscal policy helped restore the German economic status.

There are interesting comments between Hitler and his one economic adviser Schacht over Hitler's insistence that resources should go into consumer goods. The dispute was allocating metal for women's hair curlers, and a regime that considered "Guns before butter" would hardly indicate that Hitler wanted a full war time economy.

Another surprising aspect of this book is that Hitler and his advisers ordered a reduction of military spending and war production after the initial spectacular success when the Germans invaded the Soviet on June 22, 1941. This may well indicate that the German policy makers did not only plan a total war but never dreamed of one until it was forced upon them in 1944.

To compare Germany's military preparations with some of the Western European, one should read the data that Klein provides. The fact is that the French and British spent much more than the Germans for war materials. One should also note that the Soviets had something of a military geared economy especially in the late 1920s and early 1930s when Stalin ordered the confiscation of the Kulaks' land and wealth which had to confiscated by military force.

To give the reader a better conception of German military spending, attention should be given to chapter VIII which is titled "A Peacelike War Economy." Even after the German catastrophic loss at Stalingrad in 1943, Hitler's increase in military spending was moderate. The Germans did not take the concept of total war until the war was brought home to German. The "allies" extensively bombed German industrial facilities only to discover that military production was increasing. This was due to the low level of production prior to 1944.

Klein's book deserves more attention than it has recieved. GERMAN'S ECONOMIC PREPARTIONS FOR WAR is instructive in revealing that origins of World War II and the course of this war in Europe is much more complex than is popularly allowed in textbooks and political bafflegab.

This book is sooo cute! It has the most adorable pictures! I wonder where the guinea pigs are living? It sounds like a paradise for little critters!

The Opera Journeys Mini Guide Series is just wonderful; it's like a "Cliff Note" of the opera, and extremely informative and educational. I particularly like the size; these guides are not cumbersome and fit right into my shirt pocket. The ladies will find sufficient room in their pocketbooks.

The story narrative with the music examples is excellent. I prefer it to a libretto; indeed, it's a much easier way to follow the essence of the story. The essay is magnificent; very well written, not pedantic, and extremely insightful and comprehensible. I congratulate Burton Fisher for a job very well done and Amazon for making these handy, information-laden booklets available. The Opera Journeys Mini Guide Series is a wonderful contribution to opera education and opera appreciation.

My tip: acquire the entire collection because you will be in easy reach of superbly presented opera guides consisting of story analysis, principal characters in the opera, story narrative with music highlights, background, analysis, and commentary.

Heinz Dinter, Ph.D.

The tenth anniversary of the launching of the first satellite, the social unrest of the 60's, and the return to life of microorganisms after millions of years of dormancy are among the many events that stirred the imagination of Daisaku Ikeda as he wrote these essays. A fresh approach and keen insights pervade this volume, first published in English in 1979, which reveals what a deeply committed man of religion, and as he calls himself, "a member of the common people," is thinking about the modern world.

The approach to life presented here is not vague theorizing. The author became an adult amid the wreckage of war. Too poor to enter a hospital for the treatment of a chronic illness or to continue on to higher education, he eventually recovered his health and went on to gain a keen appreciation for the essence and significance of the various academic disciplines by studying under a particularly gifted teacher.

In a straightforward style, Mr. Ikeda offers no quick fixes for major problems such as the huge disparity between humankind's technological advancement and lack of ethical progress, but he does encourage the reader to strive for and value sound education, good government, the uniqueness of the individual, human relationships--both on a community and global level--devoid of sham and hypocrisy, and ultimately, mutual understanding.

In "My Definition of Happiness," Ikeda states:

"People do not live in isolation. Dwelling in the nexus of family, society, and the world of nature, they lend support to one another. Happiness likewise does not exist as an isolated quality, nor does it conform to a single fixed pattern. Human happiness is something that breathes and has its being in the relationships between one person and another."

These essays speak to the issues that confront us all in a voice direct and powerful, inspiring and appealing.

The author, Daisaku Ikeda, is president of the world's largest Buddhist organization, Soka Gakkai International, which has over 12 million members in 128 nations.

I love this book! It was the first modern book on creative lampworking. Includes lots of funky little weird-looking glassworks; but the techniques (including making your own colors) are all here.

No matter if you are a "social" golfer or a full blown addict, this is a must read book! I must admit that initally I was a little apprehensive about reading a book written by a doctor, a neurologist no less, but this book was easy to read, made perfect sense and best of all, I have already started seeing a difference in my game. And I've only had the book a week!
So do yourself and your golf game a favor and read this book.

Write On Dr. Bob!!!

My mother, a woman trying to learn to read and understand written English, is quite taken with this series of stories. We bought her the first selections, and she has continued to 'graduate' with each book she buys. These books offer short, fun stories and then ask a series of questions which test on the vocubalary that might have been learnt, and on the reader's understanding of the plot of the story.

Though the questions were sometimes tough for my mother, she was always able to either get the answer correct on her first try after she had read the story a few times, or after I had noted that she had made a mistake for one or two questions. These stories and questions helped her to understand the ideas of theme, characters, events, and settings. The vocabulary word tests were good because she would be able to look up the word in the story and determine how it had been used.

All in all, I've been very pleased with my mother's appeciation of the books. I honestly believe that my mother has gained at least two or three grade levels in reading with the help of this series of books and some minor weekly tutoring.