E Books

Im not gonna write a summary b/c u can read the others! i just wanted to say taht this book is soooo freakin awsome. Its soo good, and im SOOOOOO GALD About Rae and Anthnoy getting 2ghter!! like oMG, ive been waiting for that to happen! and one thing how could u guys have not known who eles was after Rae!!! lIKE OMG IT WAS SOOOO OBVIOUS, OR MYB IM JUST RLY GOOD AT SOLIVING STUFF LIKE THAT!! WELL ANYWAYS IT WAS RLY GOOD< GO AND READ IT A>S>P

This is one of the best series I have ever read. It has a twist of suspense/mystery as well as romance. Rae's ability to hear thoughts through a single fingerprint helps her find out the true secret of her mother. It will also help find who is out to kill her. I couldn't put these books down, I read book 1 - 7 in less than 2 weeks, and i guarntee you will too!

Steve Mercer, the scientist who enhanced the psi abilities of people like her mother, and herself, was finally dead. Rae was definitely ready to put all of this behind her and to move forward. The first step towards being normal again was to get back together with Marcus. He doesn't make Rae feel anywhere near the same as Anthony, but Yana and Anthony totally betrayed her trust and so she is ready to go with someone safe, someone normal. She feels like she has succeeded when she and Marcus are voted Moonbeam King & Queen, but Anthony destroys the evening by telling her that someone still wants her dead.

Anthony wishes that he could relax now that Mercer is dead, but he knows that the danger to Rae is not over. For one thing, someone painted Unclean all over her locker in red and then passed out flyers about Rae's mother all over school. Anthony is trying to protect Rae, but she can hardly stand to be around him.

When Yana shows up, begging Rae for help, Rae really wants to turn her down flat. But when she finds out that Yana's dad wants to send her to Fair Haven, a mental institution, so that she will be out of his way, Rae knows that she has to do something. She could hardly stand to be in that place and can't bear to see someone else locked up there. What Rae doesn't know is that she is in the middle of another deadly game - and this time, Rae's life is the prize...

Book #6 in the Fingerprints series was another great book. The tension is really building and everything is starting to come together and make sense. A lot of my questions were answered here and it is now time for Rae to start making some plans instead of just reacting. Too bad that she seems too stupid to connect the dots! That was my only complaint about this book, that Rae didn't seem able to put the clues together so she was totally clueless near the end of the book. I know that she is smarter than that! Anyway, hopefully you have read the first 5 books in the series so you know what is going on, and, if not, I would highly recommend reading them first. For the first time, there is actually some closure at the end of this book, but we know that Rae's story is far from over. Keep #7 ready to find out what happens to Rae & Anthony next!

This book is grat it has so many turns and twists rea is finally back with marcus but then her secret about her mom is reavealed and marcus is embaresed of her on top of that yana's dad wants to get rid of her but douse he the end changes everything and let me give you a hint the 6th book ends almost like the fourth think about it!
I loved it and I hope you will to its the person you least expect

I love all the Fingerprints books, but the last few have been a bit disappointing. But REVELATIONS is a breath of fresh air for the series, it never had me bored.

Rae Voight is mad at her two best - and pretty much only - friends Anthony and Yana. They went out behind her back, and it tore her apart...they "betrayed" her. But on the birght side, she's back with her old boyfriend Marcus, and doesn't want anything to do with Anthony or Yana. Anyway, one day Anthony spots something that he feels Rae needs to know about - a message was written on her locker in red paint, and he thinks it's a warning. When he goes to tell her, she brushes him off, definately letting him know that she isn't interested in what he has to say.

After a while, Rae forgives Yana (she's still mad at Anthony, though) and they start to hang out. That's when Yana tells Rae something really important: Yana's dad is trying to get her put into the same institution that Rae was in after her "episode." Even though Rae isn't very happy with Yana, she decides to help her. But when Rae and Yana run off to escape the doctors, they find themselves in a very dangerous situation.

REVELATIONS is definately my favorite book from the Fingerprints series. The best part? We finally find out who wants Rae dead. A must read.

Overall rating - A+

My friend & I traded water books. I am finishing The Holy Order of Water now and she is finishing Fresh Water: Women Writing on the Great Lakes by Alison Swan (Editor). The Holy Order of Water is a great, great book although it's a bit science heavy in parts for me. At one point I thought, "Hmmm, I haven't read so much Latin since high school!" Anyway Marks is a delightful person. I researched him a little on line. There are more books in him. I hope he does not keep it all inside too long. I look forward to hearing more from him. He has so much respect for nature.

The book tries so hard to be relevant and interesting. Vortex energy, spiritual nature of water. I'm just not buying it. Don't get me wrong. I love water; I think it's important. And, sure it's mysterious. But it's not that mysterious. Some people may like the author's ideas, but I find them to be science-lite, a bit disappointing for a book on water.

I am an artist and read The Holy Order of Water about three years ago when I was painting a body of work about water. This interesting mix of personal anecdotes, mythology, and science, supports the realization that I've had after living on a lake for 14 years that water is alive. It gave me lots to ponder while working and I've since decided to focus all of my work on water. Thank you, William E. Marks, for your efforts to raise awareness and preserve water resources.

Hello H2O Lovers,

As a layperson on the path of being a true leader in the H2O movement, I am very glad to have been offered this book to open my eyes about the elixir of life.

This book is astounding in its clarity and authenticity. Its fun to read and brings home my actual deepest feelings about water.

It brings you a masterful tapestry from the authors life story, the science, the philosophy and even the spirituality of water.

Read it. I promise it will trasform your life and it will transform your relationship with water.

You will never relate to a cup of water in quite the same way again.

Truly,
Leslie Gabriel aka WaterMan
Host Of "And So It Flows"
WBCR 97.7 FM Great Barrington, MA

This book is as important to the Earth as Water itself. Many of us are increasingly concerned about what we are doing to the environment. Our concerns about the plight of water and its importance to the survival of life on this planet are addressed magnificently in this book that describes powers of water of which even I was unaware!

Water is a mystical, magical substance, and oh how we take it for granted; filling it with carmel coated sugar substances for profit; tossing our waste products into it as if it had no value of its own, wasting it on "the perfect lawn" which servies absolutely no purpose or function, or even washing our cars, which cry the death knoll of Earth daily.

Care enough about Water to read this book. Pass it on to your friends. Give it as a gift for Arbor Day, Earth Day, Valentine's day. It's the most important book you will read this year.

This has been my favorite book ever since I read it in 1994. Its perfection is other-worldly. If you are a Dillard novice, better to start with "An American Childhood," to get a sense of the author and her style. It is about growing up, experiencing wonder, becoming fully alive. "Holy the Firm" borders on a spiritual meditation; some of my friends have found it too abstract. Whatever you do, steer clear of "The Maytrees," Dillard's most recent book--it doesn't measure up.

Annie Dillard is a creator of writing that frequently works like poetry trapped in prose's body. This little offering, in three jewel-like parts, is rather like her more extended "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek": a gorgeous and unflinching experience of the natural world, an angry wrestling with the problem of suffering and a theological discussion in light of these two other preoccupations. The theology in "Holy the Firm" is thus grounded in trauma and reality but expressed in heady, spinning, sometimes impenetrable language that highlights the mysteries within her subject but at the same time obscured for me what attitudes of the heart or mind she had come to at the end of her struggles. I finished the book still feeling rather angry myself and, perhaps unsurprisingly, unsatisfied.

Recommended (especially the hilarious description of Sunday in a small Episcopalian Church).

This is a gift from Annie Dillard. She share her struggle with the question of "What kind of God would let --- happen?" Whose responsibility is it? Do we matter one whit to God? Dillard shares her pain, her longing for truth, her disappointment, her faith with grace and soaring language. It is a short book but is definitely not an easy read.

Ponder the definition of Holy the Firm, as believed by esoteric Christianity. "It is a created substance, lower than metals and minerals on a 'spiritual scale,' and lower than salts and earths, occurring beneath salts and earths in the waxy deepness of planets, but never on the surface of planets where men could discern it; and it is in touch with the Absolute, at base."

"Does something that touched something that touched Holy the Firm in touch with the Absolute at base seep into ground water, into grain; are islands rooted in it, and trees? Of course."

Then there is Dillard's description of the risk of losing someone you love.
"And you can get caught holding one end of a love, when your father drops, and your mother; when a land is lost, or a time, and your friend blotted out, gone, your brother's body spoiled, and cold, your infant dead, and you dying: you reel out love's long line alone, stripped like a live wire loosing its sparks to a cloud, like a live wire loosed in space to longing and grief everlasting."

In Holy the Firm, Annie Dillard certainly can not be accused for excess verbiage. Her little book, consisting of less than eighty pages, is a thoughtful and sometimes intense investigation into the soul. One can almost imagine her staring deeply at a flowing river or a particular kind of tree and genuinely seeing Divinity in and around it, authentically feeling it and being transportated to the nether reaches of the unexplained. Yet, it is a good place or moment where nothing can touch you or hurt you. It is the zone where you have that elongated, never ending epihany. However, in Holy the Firm, she has that exact moment or moments, citing a couple of specific occasions and or happenings: a moth engulfed in a candle flame, a child severely burned in an airplane mishap and lastly, a baptism on a chilly day on a beach. Her stabbing gaze and visual processing is an inherent endowment for us all but very seldom used, sad to say. Each example that she bethinks, on the surface, looks violent and harsh and horrible. But behind that mask of the unpleasant, there is profound cheer at the transformation of the perception, of soul development, and yes, of course, of the logical, humanistic and psychological plain of thought processing, filtering and transforming. The essay, in no uncertain terms, conveys a kind of WOW factor that says, I don't really know how this whole thing operates, but isn't it amazing nonetheless? The deity of God has to be here, right in front of our very eyes, every moment, every instance, every half second. Holiness is under a rock, in people, in nature, in moments (good and bad), one giant gelatinous glob with so many tags and definitions attached to it. But only the Holy makes it cohesive and function. This work is not so little in its implications and gratitude. There is a majesty here, an august celebration. And we're all in it together, a gem of a book!

While attending Western Washington University I had the great good fortune to take a poetry class from Annie Dillard. My own poetry was abysmal and she gave me this advice, "writing is like prayer; you sit and listen for the still small voice." She had won the Pulitzer prize for Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and was in the process of writing Holy the Firm while at Fairhaven College at Western. She read us the bits about the moth and the flame. This is her slenderest book, but the one in which she most takes her own advice. It's prose that reads like poetry.

This is a book that makes me think that everything else I've ever read was only approximate use of language to convey some idea. In this book it seems like every word is carefully chosen, as if it comes from some place of meditation, of listening to a still small voice. It's a very human book, for all the sparks of the divine. By another accident I heard her read from it at the University of Washington. The final passage seemed to rise to a climax and hang in the air. No one spoke, no one left. It was one of those magical moments. Holy the Firm is all one piece and can be read through in one sitting as one experience. It's very much a writer's book, and I see most of the reviews are by writers finding some echo in a fellow writer. Some reviewers have put much better than I what it's about. I merely suggest that Dillardians (and other readers) may enjoy this oft-overlooked book.

While the story chapters in the book are individually interesting, they somehow don't make a whole. The book feels choppy, as if it needed additional narrative to make if flow more smoothly. I expected, based on other reviews, to become immersed in the life of a narcotics officer. Just a average read.

I truly enjoyed this book. Paul Doyle's experiences were something that needed to be put on paper and published for the world to see. Although the names and the places may change, the core root of the drug world remains the same. In reading this book I found that other than the bell bottom pants and silk shirts, the happenings of the underground drug world are in so many ways similar today. The difference being the technology used and the way the intelligence is gained. I bought this book at a fair where the author was present and signed my copy. I spoke to him for a few moments and told him that I worked for a police department in a neighboring town and that my husband was also a police officer. He suggested that I read it and have my husband do the same. This book was a real page turner and I wasn't able to put it down until I was finished. I was truly impressed with his compassion for people which can easily be lost in the investigative and enforcement field. He points out that he actually had to become 'one of them' in order to take some of these criminals down. It was a different day and age. God Bless Paul and the guys that he worked with. It's not a job for the meek and mild.

Paul Doyle delivers edge of your seat excitement. Poignantly related, this warrior served as an undercover drug agent in the seamy sixties and seventies, in Boston's most rag-tag blighted neighborhoods.What is most refreshing is the lack of moral ambiguity in this narration.While remaining compassionate to the true victims of drugs- the addicts themselves, Paul Doyle mercilessly hunts down the perps on the top of the food chain, the major dealers and manufacturers- in an effort to staunch the flow of the drug epidemic.
I really enjoyed the book, my hope is that if it does get made into a film that the director has as subtle a touch as the memoirist.

Read this book at the advice of a friend and it is a must read for every caring American. Opened my eyes to the sacrifice some people are doing on our behalf and opened my eyes to a life most of us cant imagine. These folks do it for us and then in the end the Author takes us on a learning experience about where the drug money goes and who is behind it - the terrorist connection. He also lets you know the solution to cracking the incredible drug problem in this country lies in our families and not in Washington. Read it

Excellent. Didn't want to stop reading until I was finished the book.

I have found this book to be so very eye opening to myself and the Sunday school class I facilitate of 60 women. There are so many nuggets of wisdom on how we are wired for God by God to have relationship with Him that we miss because we don't see who He has made us to be. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the Word of God concerning our relationship with ourselves. How to Succeed at Being Yourself: Finding the Confidence to Fulfill Your Destiny

I have read many books by Joyce Meyers. Some are repetitive but some of us need repetition to ever get it.

I am consently reading something. Some I can put down, some I can't and this book was one of the few I could not get enough of.

This book out of thousands I have read, would be in my top 5 of best books ever written.

I do believe this book is Inspired by God. It is for those of us who are figuring out what we will be when we grow up, no matter your age.

Thank you Joyce for blessing and enriching my Walk with Christ with this book.

I was a bit disappointed in this book as it is just a repeat of so many of her other books. I guess if this is the first book by her you read it is ok, but I have still read much better. Borrow it and read someone else's--or just skip it altogether.

I must say that in conjunction with Purpose Driven Life, Joyce's books have turned my life around. Joyce gave me the tools to drop all of the bitterness and self- doubt that had been plaguing me and keeping me from working towards the ministry God called me for.

This book has been a "true gem" as an earlier review stated. Joyce pushes farther into the "just believe in yourself" mantra and illustrates how the key to succeeding in life is to trust in God, and all things will be given unto you.

"Confidence is faith in God." So true- and a wonderful eye opener for me.

In my own life, I've been called to ministry and I've feel ignorant and ill- equipped to serve others due to my lack of knowledge of scripture. Joyce points out that God wants us to come on faith and that He'll perfect us through His work and not our own. Our stepping out "before we feel truly ready" ensures that we'll lean more fully on God and recognize His work in creating who we are.

I can now approach my own ministry with confidence thanks to the words spoken through Joyce's anointed gift.

Once again, I've been moved to tears by one of Joyce's books. And I thank God for her and I am grateful that she plugged on and answered the call.

I was lead to buy this book with no initial intention to buy anything! I was going through a personal crisis but wouldn't have thought of buying a book with this title. Nonetheless I just felt I should, so I did. It became the second best thing to the Bible for me. I can't believe how much I gained.. I normally get bored halfway through any book and end up putting it down. Not this one. I've underlined so much I think I've covered half the book in my pen! It's like I need it just to keep my mind in the right direction, my thoughts where they should be, and to give me what I need to face the day with strength! It honestly gives me the tools for confidence I haven't found in any other book. I treasure this one.

Just when I was ready to wipe the dust off of my Internet Marketing Books to "brush up" from just a year ago, out comes this book.

After reading this book, I realize now that my "other" books seem antiquated. I have no need for them now as "Win Spiders" has introduced me to the next generation of Web Buzz and Marketing.

Catherine Seda really has her finger on the pulse as this book opens your eyes to what is working now and what is not working.

If your not using these techniques this book teaches, your behind the eight ball. I would like to see a full blown "course" from the author as I will be the first in line to own it. Great Job !!

I liked this book. It covers Internet marketing in a pretty thorough manner. There's material about online public relations or reputation and credibility building. And there's coverage of online advertising. The book is split into two parts and ten chapters as follows:

I. Using public relations for longterm success (Chapters 1-5)
II. Making online advertising profitable for your business (Chapters 6-10)

1. Winning the SEO battle
2. Leveraging articles for the Web
3. Blogging for business
4. Networking in social media
5. Broadcasting your message
6. Connecting through email
7. Unleashing an affiliate force
8. Maximizing pay-per-click
9. Reaching out through contextual advertising
10. Targeting shopping communities

The book is well written and outlined pretty well. I'm not sure chapters 6 and 10 belonged in Part II, but who knows? And I'm not sure it is possible to UNLEASH an affiliate force (Chapter 7). But who knows? I would have liked the book better if chapters 1-6 and 10 had been included in the main body of the book. And the advertising and referral fee stuff were included in a short appendix section or saved for another book.

I think chapters 2, 3, and 5 were intimately related. And I would have kept them together instead of breaking them up by inserting Chapter 4 as the author did. And Chapter 5 (podcasting) could have been split into two chapters with one being about streaming audio and the other being about streaming video. 4 stars!

Catherine Seda's presentation of information is enjoyable and most of all understandable. Whether you have been in the website development space for 15 years or 15 months she delivers the information in a manner which enables you to grasp and then implement it. I found that she confirmed what I knew and then gave me some new tactics and strategies that I am employing now for the first time. I highly recommend this book to both web savvy individuals and those just beginning.

The book has very helpful, up to date tips for website optimization and traffic generation for the beginner and intermediate audience. I would recommend it.

I spend a lot of time doing development and figuring out new coding tips and tricks. I don't, however, spend a lot of time thinking about the copy for a site or how to market it. We often get so hung up on the how that we forget about the why. Catherine Seda's book gives us great insight into another perspective of web development.

Search Engine Optimization is something that all web developers need to take into consideration these days but it's more than just making sure you use proper semantic tags. There are other, non-technical, things you can to do to improve your search results.

* Writing your copy to contain proper keywords and phrases
* Making sure your hyperlinks contain proper keywords
* Conducting an outreach campaign to get your site featured on other sites. The more sites that link to you with your keywords, the better your rankings will be
* Learn how to leverage blogs, podcasts, and social networking to increase your traffic.

There are other tactics as well. If you run a website selling office decorations, consider writing an article about how to decorate for a 3rd-party website. You'll establish yourself as an industry expert, and the links back to your site will increase your search engine rankings.

In short, there's more to building a website than just writing code. Increasing your awareness of other aspects of development makes you a more well-rounded member of your team and allows you to better serve your clients. Catherine Seda's book is a great way to start.

[..]

Being the wife of a combat Marine I really learned alot from Doc's book. I read the book all the way through and this is a book that is alive. Our heroes sacrifice so much for us and if it wasn't for them we would not have our freedom. Doc, thank you for helping me understand more about PTSD and what y'all went through. I don't give this book a 5 star rating , I give it a 10 star rating.

I was to young to actually know the impact that this war had on our men and women. This book by Mr McFall gets right to his heart and his feelings. It is so powerful! I believe that this book should be used in many ways to help communicate the effects that war has on an individual. God bless our men and women who have served our great country!
Thank you Mr McFall and may God continue to bless you and your family!

A combat medic lives war at its worst, and remembers every terrified scream of it.

There are the memories of those who were treated and made it home; of those whose wounds were beyond treatment despite heroic efforts.

Those memories are as fresh today as the emotions were at the time of treatment; memories of soldiers and civilians gushing blood; memories of soldiers and civilians having body parts torn and cascading into all the wrong places.

For E. Everett McFall, there are the memories of jumbled body parts and attempts to put them together to form the remains of what were once men - individual men with loved ones, hopes, talents, and dreams that dripped into the red soil or into the floor of the jungle.

There are no fancy words here. His words are direct, his pain drips off the pages and into the heart of the reader.

McFall writes from the heart. He writes from a soul splintered and haunted by 365 days that have been lived over and over and over again for the last 40 years.

We measure war in terms of dollar costs; in counts of the dead; in counts of the wounded.
But we have yet to learn to measure war in terms of lives ruined by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We have yet to learn to measure the losses of those who love those who come home with PTSD.

We have yet to learn the true face of war. E. Ernest McFall provides the reader with a vivid and heart tearing word portrait of the hideous face of war; of the plague of PTSD; of the rending of soul by survivor's guilt and questions of why am I still here when so very many others are not.

Pfc Jay E. Keck contributes his poetry to I Can Still Hear Their Cries. May I ask you to direct your attention to the last lines of his Sand Soldiers and pay heed to his admonition, as there are all kinds, as he points out in another poem, all kinds of Bogeymen contributing to PTSD - even those who should have, and in truth did, know better.


I Can Still Hear Their Cries is a story of the long, long road home. It is a tale that will speak to other Veterans who suffer PTSD. It is a tale needed by those who love those with PTSD to help them understand.

McFall tells you, loud and clear, that drugs and alcohol only bury the pain deeper, rather than excavating it and getting help to go through it to healing.

McFall notes that he is still in the process of finding his way home. It is a long road.

But I Can Still Hear Their Cries may open your eyes to the possibility that there is, in fact, a road home for you too - should you choose to come up from the dark to the Light.

Take the first step - there are many, many around to help you - just reach out - someone is there waiting to walk point for you.

Mr. McFall uses a combination of stories and poems to pull the reader into the pain and turmoil of living with PTSD. This book is a MUST READ for veterans and their families and friends who struggle to understand the scars left from battle.

We have been told the Vietnam veterans' story many times before. We've seen it in the movies, in books, on TV, and on the corners of our streets. Yet, in an intimate way, in E. Everett McFall's book, `I Can Still Hear Their Cries, Even in My Sleep,' the inner struggle of the Vietnam Vet comes home yet again. This time the reflections come from within. Having read `Born on the Fourth of July,' and seen 'Platoon,' I feel that McFall properly takes us to a new dimension, focusing on the inner torment that won't shut off.

Consisting of reflections, resources, and nearly thirty poems, he focuses on the pride, bitterness, and fragility of his service as a US Marine Hospital Corpsman in The Vietnam War from 1966-67. Whether in prose or in poetry, he won't ever let us forget their sacrifices. Noting that some have forgotten the Vets of the War, the Vets of the War have taken it home with them and can't ever forget. In detail, sometimes graphic at others subdued, he shares images of the grim reality in battle that haunt him--and probably will haunt him until death.

The title is a bare-bones description of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (or PTSD). In his introduction McFall concisely states that "It's an instant video play-back in my mind, with cranial surround sound." That playback is given a stark treatment in poems such as "Death Angel" and "Flashback". Whether drawing from elements of traditional poetry or relying on rap-like structure, the subject matter changes with the rhythm. In "Patrol on Ambush" and "The Ooorah Warrior" the repetition reflects the routine of a marine waiting for the next development in "combat hell." At other times the rhythm is more irregular to reflect the chaos and death that surround him. To round out his repertoire, "Heavenly Star" and "Brotherhood" add much needed hope to the experience.

But the main focus is on the indelible memories of trauma and death. "Tic Tic Tic" and "Undying Memories" are each aptly titled for their flashback resonance in waking moments that rush into consciousness. Flanking McFall's work are sample poems by fellow veteran Pfc. Jay E. Keck and anonymous poems (which is entirely appropriate given the unknown soldier element of every war). The guide ends with a short, poignant reflection and a resource guide for the veteran suffering from PTSD, including a handy guideline for filling out forms for VA claims.

Whether approached as a cathartic guide for fellow veterans or a route to vicarious appreciation from uninitiated civilians, 'I Can Still Hear Their Cries,...' is an essential portal to understanding the trauma of selfless veterans of a tragic War. Clearly by McFall's writings, the repercussions are still being fought today. If you were at the front lines of the War or at the front of the picket lines--or even too young to remember--Ernest McFall's little book will have a big impact on how you feel about those who served their country at such a fragile time in our history.

I bought this book a while back ago, and since i've been on and off reading it because of the sheer volume of the book; it took me some time to get through, but hell, it was worth it.

There's alot of information packed densly inside of this brick, which is by far the best book i've ever read on history; it overviews clearly and and objectively the ideas that have been important throught history in terms of consequences, and in terms of shaping the culture of the period in question.

More importantly, however, is how all this is put togheter in a systematic contextual way, so as to leave the reader comprehending the ideas relation to one another, and finally, mr. peter watson presents us a final conclusion, which leads us to understand how all of this should be interpreted with regards to "the big picture".

I read this over a period of about 6 months, a few pages a day. Most of us have been over the material in this book one way or another during our lives. The thing is -- this text puts the facts and data together in a way that makes history make sense. So much of history seems like it was acted out by crazy people. It's so hard to understand why people do what they do. Watson makes the connections between what and why. And he does it in such a way that anyone can read it.

You should know though, Watson has a strong bias against all things religious. A main sub-theme in this book is "How we threw off the yoke of religion and superstition." Machts nichts to me but some find it annoying. I gave it 5 stars even so.

This book is the best single volume of the history of ideas that I have ever encountered. It has rich content, plenty of bibliographic detail for following up specific ideas, and is beautifully written.

To read history as an evolution of ideas and inventions instead of a series of battles/wars or moving from one political machination to the next was most satisfying. Even more refreshing was to read a history that includes eastern as well as western innovation with many interesting asides and anecdotes. I've sent copies to my children and brother-in-law!

One must give Peter Watson credit where credit is due; he is not shy when it comes to examining topics of enormous scope, or at the very least craft titles that imply that this is his aim. Unfortunately, far from examining thought "from fire to Freud" Watson's work is of far more limited dimension, instead examining European cultural evolution from the early Middle Ages forward. His text examines several topics to understand their influence and development on civilization. His examination, however, proves too often limited, failing to look far enough to embrace the full range of his field. Most disappointing is his tendency to bifurcate ideas into two competing camps, and ignore the vast nuance in the middle.

For example, Watson divides thought into two opposing spheres : the physical (scientific or natural) world and the spiritual (religious). While it is true that this dichotomy exists in the West -- interestingly forced on the physical camp by the Church - far from inevitable, the division is a historical artifact created by social context. Those enchanted by Watson, and they are legion, will retort that his is not interested in the possible, but the actual, and even then only what occurred in (western) Europe. Yet even here, Watson ignores alternatives. Judaism, which Watson gives only so much attention as suits his goals, long embraced a notion of the co-existance and even integration of these two concepts. Many rabbis examined the physical world and sacred texts and sought reinterpretation of the former when they conflicted with the latter (two prime examples being Nachmanidies of Spain and Maimonidies of Egypt, two of the most significant sages of Jewish history). Watson might likewise have considered the ancient Greeks like Aristotle who sought to understand the spiritual through they physical.

When it comes to certain concepts Watson plainly tortures his topic to reach desired conclusions. Thus he imagines Freud's examination of the unconscious as on the continuum of the notion of the soul, yet this is at best forced. While it is true that Freud postulated a division between mind and body - not surprising given the technology available to him - but far from a notion of rote ritual, he developed a theory based on observation and imagined it being refined over time by experimentation. Even a cursory comparison of this with religion reveals the extreme limits of the comparison.

This brings us to the place where Watson succeeds, and in my opinion shines. His examination of the notion of the controlled experiment, that instead of being limited to observations as they occur people can create things to observe in order to test hypothesis, is nothing short of brilliant. This concept may be the driving force of the creation of modern science, a concept that allowed humanity to tame the atom and journey to the stars. Despite its other short comings, this makes Watson's book worth reading and presents an idea worthy of further consideration.

This book is an wonderful read. Graham Mackintosh somehow manages to convey the beauty, loneliness, danger, and culture of Baja in a way that is absolutely captivating. I have spent a fair amount of time in Baja myself working with the fishermen, and I thought his portrayals of these interesting folk was spot on and entertaining. I normally don't write reviews, but I could not put this book down, and good books are few and far between in my opinion! Besides being a great adventure story, this book has another side, which in a sense describes the author's spiritual awakening. He's not there, as are so many foreigners, to amuse himself in Baja as if it were a giant playground; rather he immerses himself in the land and the culture in a way that even most of the locals have failed to do!

Baja is a magical place that you simply can't appreciate from the comfort of your hotel room, RV, or (God forbid) your off-road vehicle. This book will hopefully inspire many people to seek out solitude in one of the last places in the world you can still find it.

This book was the perfect gift for my husband. He keeps talking about his dream of going in the desert, walking, exploring, being away from civilization for a while,... but he's never done it. This book author DID IT!

I have traveled many times down to Baja, his descriptions reflect my impression of the people and places.

Baja is an adventure, even if by air in your own airplane. Hopscotching from place to place on a peninsula that stretches almost a thousand miles south of California, is quick and efficient but, as always in a single engine aircraft, the prospect of an off field emergency landing is on the pilot's mind.

In Baja, where an arid, desolate landscape, and rugged mountains stretch endlessly below the wings and dry riverbeds host cactus and rattlesnakes, nature ups the ante. These inhospitable thoughts are a memory of my flying adventure to "The Baja" in October 1993, but they are nothing in comparison to Graham Mackintosh's incredible journey on foot following the coastline.

As luck would have it Graham was in Mulege (about midway down the eastern coast of Baja on the Sea of Cortez) and attended the well known Hotel Serenidad's pig roast fiesta with us on Saturday evening. In response to our questions, Graham (this was before I read the book) told us how ill-suited and inadequately prepared he was for his adventure. But his appearance belied an iron will, unyielding perseverance, and an indomitable spirit. It took two years to achieve his goal, then another two more to write the book. My fellow travellers and I sat in awe as he recounted his tale.

The inscription he wrote for me in my copy of the book shows his humility. He very generously referred to me as "A Fellow Baja Adventurer," but I know there is no comparison in our experiences. Thanks Graham, I wish you well. Is there a movie in the works?

I originally read this book several years back and now find myself periodically rereading it as its a spiritual journey packaged in a travel adventure. I dream of doing something like it however will probably not. If you like "cultural experiences" with the locals where you travel to you will love this book.

The Frommers are terrific interviewees and their book is a history and an entertainment resource about the Catskills - what else would we expect from oral historians of their rank.

GREAT INSIGHT INTO WHAT THE CATSKILLS WERE ALL ABOUT

WONDERFUL COLLECTION OF REMINISCENCES

wonderful oral history - - -covers a lot of territory

While working at the Nevele Country Club, one of the many legendary Catskill resorts covered in this magnificent document, I briefly met Myrna and Harvey Frommer while doing their research. They probably don't remember me, I was too young at the time to offer the kind of history they were looking for, but the pair's enthusiasm and obvious love for the area's resorts and their unique (now long gone) familial atmosphere was readily apparent. When I finally got to read this book, it provided me with a sense of pride for being a part of its history. There's even an ancient picture of my father playing sax in the old Art Kahn Orchestra! But aside from personal connections, this book stands as a definitive oral history of an era. The people interviewed are true insiders, some of them legends in their own right among Catskill lore. And while the book provides some deep sociological perspective concerning its ethnic background, the authors know how to balance this with charming, amazing and often sidesplitting anecdotes. If you ever spent a weekend at Grossinger's, The Concord, The Nevele or one of the dozens of small bungalow colonies, this book will wash you in warm memories. And if you didn't have the chance, it will make you wish you did.