Gilbert Books

I had the idea it would blissful to ride to work with Toby Stephens reading stories to me. I was right. These are charming and sometimes hair-raising tales told with all the variety he can bring to his voice to mesmerize and enthrall. I have heard other books on tape where the reader falters at the woman's lines or sounds too much the same to distinguish between characters. Toby can go from growl to light-as-air with the greatest of ease. These stories have far too much violence for the smallest of children but, otherwise, offer a delicious trip to fantasy land courtesy of a master storyteller.

The product came quickly. It was exactly as advetised and met expectations. Thank You.

This book is awesome! I read it 3 years ago and I borrowed it again from my aunt and I'm reading it now. If anyone knows where I can get a copy of the Reader's Digest version please post. Thanks!

I bought this for my two sons, ages 7 & 9. We put it in at the beginning of a 2.5 hour trip and it kept our entire family very entertained. The trip flew by.

This is not a bad compilation of the classic 'Arabian Nights' tales, but be aware that it has been greatly abridged for children's eyes. This has been accomplished several ways: Some of the most raunchy stories have been left out entirely, others have been heavily edited. Somewhat irritating and baffling, however, is that several of the stories haven't been edited so much as left with huge gaps and sometimes without any kind of ending. When I read these stories as I child, I was fascinated but deeply confused at the lack of resolution in several of the stories. Having read the "adult" Arabian Nights tales since then, that confusion has been cleared up.

This is not a bad adaptation for children, but I would have preferred a more carefully edited version, rather than one with somewhat sloppy cuts that left me, even as a child, aware that something was missing.

Thank God for Rachel St. John-Gilbert! This devotional couldn't be more down to earth. It's like a favorite pair of shoes. I'm so glad that there is at least one Christian writer who isn't totally pious and trying to guilt trip me. My favorite is Chapter 13... Living Large. Every woman needs a bit of Rachel in her life!

I HAD to write this review because I'm still laughing from reading this GREAT book! Rachael has not only "hit the proverbial nail on the head", but she has slammed out one hilarious story after another. I couldn't put this book down and recommend it to anyone, especially if you're a mother and need a good belly laugh. KUDOS to you Rachael and keep up the great writing. Looking forward to your next book!

This is a very funny book for the Christian woman. The only trouble was that I read is straight through, rather than reading just one devotion a day.

Reading Rachel St. John-Gilbert's book, Wake Up Laughing, is like chatting with a good friend. You hear all about her husband and her children. You get to know what she was like as a child. You meet her parents, sister, friends, and neighbors. You're even treated to stories about Barney and Michael Caine.

Sixty lighthearted devotionals make up this work subtitled "Off-beat Devotions for the Unconventional Woman." St. John-Gilbert brings scripture to life as she shares her ordinary everydayness with the reader. She uses her struggles as a wife and mother in situations women can identify with and it brings out the "every woman" quality in her observations.

Whether you read the book straight through or use self control and limit yourself to reading one a day to start your morning, you'll enjoy humor, poignancy, and thought-provoking insight, often within a single short chapter. There is something for every one.

For the animal lover, St. John-Gilbert tells about meeting a penguin at a dinner party and the impression he made on her and the other dinner guests. Another chapter talks about a swayback mule that was in the Kentucky Derby--not to win, just to make himself feel better. For the animal non-lover, she tells about sweeping armies of baby spiders out of her van and trying to keep her enterprising baby daughter from eating bugs.

For those who have moved to a new area and had to start over, she tells about not fitting in at a new women's Bible study she began attending. She kept going and found some kindred spirits she could fit in with at another one of the meetings. One chapter tells how she went about getting to know her new neighbors, expecting they would be similar to her former neighbors, but discovered how different they were from her expectations and from herself, but how terrific they were in their own rights.

Wives can identify with her chapters on her husband, going from thinking how glad she was she married him, to waking up one day certain she was stuck with the wrong man. Mothers will commiserate on how hard it is to put a sleeping baby down without waking her and laugh about her over-zealous two-year-old crafting all over the paper, the toddler table, the kitchen table, and her hands.

Dieters will savor her chapters on how unsatisfying low-fat foods can be, and how disappointing it is that low-carb foods include very few desserts. Shoppers will recall the last time they got the shopping cart with the wayward wheel, and, like St. John-Gilbert, may also find their wallets full of Preferred Customer cards.

Every chapter ends with a Bible verse that ties spiritual truth to everyday life. In all of her mundane and not-so-mundane adventures, St. John-Gilbert makes scripture come alive as she applies it to each situation. Purse-sized, this is a little book with a big impact, designed to be carried around in case you need a quick pick-me-up.

This is a daily devotional but the kind of book that you have to have great self-control to read only one devotion per day. They are so funny and so practical that you just want more and more. I am amazed at the author's ability to, first of all, find humor in the daily grind of life and then to further that by applying it to God's purpose in our lives. This woman is a genious! Please hurry up and send out the sequel!

I never really connected with the characters. It seemed to me this was a hastily written book, and unlike other Morris books I've read, I found several obvious mistakes. Plus Morris repeated lines several times, as if each time he was writing it for the first time. I thought the ending was trite and quick, and what promised to be exciting, the whole revenge thing, was pretty much summed up in a few chapters. Sometimes books are subtly witnessing, but this one turned into a sermon! Not his best.

I enjoyed Morris' 3-mystery "Cat" series and decided to try another book by him.
I quickly became involved with Ollie, the main character and his troubles as a fat man in a world that values thinness. The pivotal event in his life was poignant and horrifying. The clear parallels with "The Count of Monte Christo" made the story even more intruguing and it was fun to watch the transformation of Ollie from a sweet introvert into a vengeful charmer. An exciting and satisfying conclusion ended this enjoyable book.
Apparently, Gilbert Morris is a prolific author in many, many genres. I'd like to read more of this kind from him.

Story is about a very obese young man faced with societies rejections, lack of love, his struggle to confront his situation, and the pitfalls along the way. His few "friends" add to his difficulties until fate and a kindly "loner" set him on a corrective course. Book grabs you from the very beginning and is hard to put down. Highly recommended for adults young and old, of both sexes.

If you ever felt betrayed this book will captivate you. And revenge? Yes it's in here...but you won't believe how it unravels. Gilbert Morris is dynamite when he puts his mind to the pen and paper. What a classic, unique twist from all the other fiction books I have read out there. It was a page turner let me tell you, another book you won't be able to put down.

Ollie Benson is an extremely overweight man who spends his days fixing computers in the back of a repair shop. He has no luck with women, and one blind date he goes on ends in an embarrassing manner. Ollie has no self esteem and no proper social skills. Ollie is also very smart and hits it big with a computer program that overnight makes him a millionaire. Dane Fetterman contacts Ollie with hopes of representing him in the fast paced software industry. While Ollie is rich he is still lonely. Then he meets Marlene, a beautiful woman who loves him for who he is. Soon tragedy strikes and Ollie is destroyed. Will Ollie choose the worldy way and seek vengeance on those who wronged him, or will God intervene with Ollie's soul and allow him to forgive those who wronged him?

Charade is the fast paced new novel from Gilbert Morris. It is told in a quick, first-person point of view. The plot moves fast and never bogs down. It seems Morris knew the scenario he wanted to set up for the ending of his novel, so some of the plot devices he uses as part of Ollie's downfall seem a little farfetched, but it doesn't really detract from the story. Morris creates a world of people who have tons of money but lack in what really matters, God and morals. These people have everything but are always searching for more. I enjoyed his realist portrayal of sexuality in a Christian novel. Its nice to see an author acknowledge that sexual attract can exist in moral people.

Morris' religious message is simple and isn't forced and the conclusion is quite predictable. I enjoyed this novel from beginning to end, in spite of Morris's implication the the Sierra Club is a worthwhile charity for Christians. In my opinion, while the Sierra Club might have lofty goals, they are in reality a left wing political organization that does more harm than good. Morris should leave politics out of future novels.

I re-read this play recently after being asked to submit a few choices to direct at a local theater, and fell in love with the humor of Aristophanes all over again.

His comedies are virtually unparalelled in the surviving classical works. The humor of the plays, particularly the Frogs, is just as fresh and vibrant today as it was thousands of years ago.

Dionysus, Greek God of theater, has grown despondant that upon the death of Euripides there are no great poets left on Earth. He resolves to travel to Hades and beg Pluto to allow him to resurrect Euripedes so that he might continue his work.

Dionysus, accompanied by his faithful porter Xanthias, travels first to the house of Heracles, dressed as the Greek hero, to ask his advice...as well as directions. Heracles suggests conventional methods (death by ones own hands) before he reveals the path he himself followed.

The two then set out to rescue Euripides. Xanthias, being a slave, is given a foot route to follow, while Dionysus enjoys a boat ride courtesy of Charon, the ferryman of the dead. Upon arrival at Pluto's house, and after a case of mistaken/disguised identity ends up in a draw, Dionysus finally meets up with Euripides.

However, Aeschylus isn't about to give up without a fight...Pluto has arranged for a contest between the two famed poets to determine the better of them...as Aeschylus decries Euripides as merely a 'flavor of the month' among the people of Hades. A dialogue ensues between he and Euripides, with Dionysus left to judge the merits of each.

Full of delightful comic insight into the works of both poets, The Frogs is a completely accessible foray into classical theater that you don't need to be a scholar to understand. While a basis of Euripides and Aeschylus helps to augment enjoyment of the work, it stands apart on its own.

An enchanting, intriguing, and entertaining read.

As a struggling (college) student of Classical Greek, I found K.J. Dover's edition of Frogs to have a wonderful amount of translation help and historical notes, without being overwhelming (or overly expensive). Since the second half of the play is a gentle parody of Aeschylus and Euripides, it helps to have read those authors (preferrably in the original) to get some of the jokes -- if you're new to Greek Comedy, take a look at K.J. Dover's edition of Clouds, which I haven't yet tackled, but intend to. (That one parodies Plato and Socrates...)

N.B. -- this edition doesn't include a translation, which is how I prefer it, but some may not.

My friend and I were doing a project for school on the internet and we stumbled across the whole text of this play (we were reasearching ancient Greece). We decided to bookmark it, and then during lunches we read through it until we finished it. It's very amusisng, I highly recommend it! I love the songs!

On the one hand Aristophanes's comedy "The Frogs" is a farce, but it is of more interest because it presents the earliest known example of dramatic criticism. Presented in 405 B.C., the play tells of how Dionysus, the god of drama, had to go to Hades to fetch back Euripides, who died the previous year, because Athens no longer had any great tragic poets left. The first part of the comedy involves Dionysus, who has disguised himself as Heracles, and his slave Xanthias on their way to Hades and features several interesting songs by the chorus of blessed mystics and the chorus of frogs. However, the high point of the comedy is the contest between Euripides and Aeschylus.

Each of the two great tragic poets denounces the other and quotes lines from their own works to prove their superiority. We discover that Euripides writes about vulgar themes, corrupts manners, debases music and has prosaic diction. In contrast, Aeschylus finds obscure titles and is guilty of turgid prose. In the end Dionysus finds that artistic standards of judgment are useless and turns to a political solution. This makes sense since the problem facing Athens is a political one: what to do about the tyrant Alcibiades. What is most interesting is the implicit belief that the tragic poets had a social responsibility towards the audiences of their dramas.

"Frogs," in addition to being one of the better comedies by Aristophanes, is also of interest because it contains the only fragments from several tragedies by Euripides and Aeschylus that have been long lost to us. As always, I urge that if you are studying Greek plays, whether the comedies of Aristophanes or the tragedies by those other more serious fellows, it is important to understand the particular structure of these plays and the various dramatic conventions of the Greek theater. This involves not only the distinction between episodes and stasimons (scenes and songs), but elements like the "agon" (a formal debate on the crucial issue of the play), and the "parabasis" (in which the Chorus partially abandons its dramatic role and addresses the audience directly).

In "Frogs" (Batrakhoi), the god Dionysus, complaining that the art of poetry has declined, goes down to Hades to bring the playwright Aeschylus back from the dead. Once he gets there, however, Euripides (one of Aristophanes' favorite targets) claims that he is better than Aeschylus, and a contest of wits ensues. This my favorite of Aristophanes' plays and has a tidier ending than most of them. Watch out, though-this book (ed. Kenneth Dover) is the original Greek text. If you don't know Greek, buy the Penguin translation.

The product was send in time and it was like I want it. Hardcover edition and U.S. edition

This book is beautifully written and the examples are well explained. This is very contrary to other structural books I have seen. My father is a structural engineer and even he was impressed by the details and illustrations of this book. This book is very good, but like all subjects you have to spend time practicing each problem to honestly learn.

Practice practice practice.

This book is no better or worse than your average textbook. Currently taking a class under one of the proffessors who wrote this,Uang, I find he is better teaching it in class than his book (this book) is at trying to explain it. The book is mostly easy to follow, usually has a good number of examples, but does assume a certain level of pre-exsisting knowledge.

This book goes into detail about the fundementals of structural analysis but the expamples and explanations can be a bit tricky. They do not show the work done but just show the final product. The examples are not outlined and are not thoroughly explained in detail.

I was given this text by the publisher. Ordinarily "every structural analysis text is the same" and there is no reason to change texts. But not this time. I am truly impressed by this text. It is very broad, in the sense that it manages to teach classical structural analysis while always relating it well to real world problems. It even manages to make the current IBC code understandable (which is amazing because that book is utterly unreadable). This is an excellent text

Historical documents, especially those drafted in time of war, often suffer from the ignorance or outright bias of the authors, based on their individual opinions. A ship's log is factual. Two American ships were lost August 8, 1813, when a squall bursts directly over them and they hit bottom within minutes.

During the War of 1812, armies clashed from Canada to Louisiana, navies from the Great Lakes to the high seas. On Lake Ontario, a survivor from the ship 'Scourge' told his story to a young writer who had been aboard a merchant ship with him earlier, James Fenimore Cooper. 'Scourge' was originally a Canadian merchant vessel called 'Lord Nelson' and the figurehead at the mast showed one of history's greatest naval heroes, Admiral Horatio Nelson, a heroic Britisher whose likeness in all its majesty in a pose like Napoleon.

The 'Hamilton' had been an American merchantman named 'Diana' with the figurehead of a beautiful statuesque goddess beneath her bowsprit. When found at the bottom of this lake, the anchor was raised clear of the hull by passing its line through a cathead that protrudes from the ship's bow. "Ah, la, la, magnifique! Charmante! Fantastique, mon ami!"

Ned Myers, the survivor, told his old friend, "The past, I have related as faithfully as I have been able so to do. The future is with God." James Fenimore Cooper's account, the 19th century classic of this shipwreck, thus making the two naval vessels "Ghost Ships," is called NED MYERS; OR A LIFE BEFORE THE MAST.

I checked this book out of my local library and was quite impressed with it. Now that I am aware of it, I am going to purchase it.

If you are thinking of travelling to see 1812 battle sites and other interesting places related to the topic buy this book !

And check out the price, really a bargoon for a book this high in quality !!

Send me an email if you have any questions spevans@sympatico.ca

For various reasons, the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain to lay claim over Canada is sometimes referred to as a forgotten war. There was no well known American president involved such as George Washington, nor was there a popular general involved such as Ulysses S. Grant to capture the imaginations of the American people. Many Canadians feel military accomplishments have never been a focal point in our national conscience, but the War of 1812 was the bloodiest conflict fought on Canadian soil and was an essential event in forming the foundation of the Canadian identity.



The war between Great Britain and France was more vital, especially on a global scale, mainly because Canada was just a small British colony with a few hundred thousand inhabitants. But for those living here, the War of 1812 was a pivotal moment in history. The War of 1812 provided Canadians with a woman who became a national icon, and whose name would become synonymous with chocolate - Laura Secord; the war would also produce Canada's first war hero, General Isaac Brock, whose victories and death inspired a nation.



Amateur historian and Ottawa native Gilbert Collins visited many of the sites of the War of 1812 without the intention of writing a book but, as he says in the preface, there was no adequate guides for those like him with an interest in the War of 1812, so Collins took it upon himself to rectify the situation.



In detailing these attractions, Collins has included more than 380 historic sites and markers, 28 maps and dozens of illustrations. The book also includes a chronology of the war, and is a handy tool for both the traveller and the historian. This guide is a welcome addition to the collections of both the serious scholar of the war and the amateur historian.



The many sites are listed according to region, and to Collins' credit, the book ventures beyond Canada's involvement in the war. More depth is given to sites in Canada, but American sites are also well covered. In order to locate sites in their present locations, a map and symbols are given for each region, which indicate what a visitor might expect to find from a small plaque commemorating a battle, a large statue honouring a person or the remains of a long gone fort. Collins also uses photographs to show the locations as they are today and, for an added touch, even includes sketches by another amateur historian Benson Lossing, who, like Collins, visited the War of 1812 sites back in 1860 without the benefit of a guidebook.



A brief summary of events and participants is included for each site. Some entries are longer than others but are always informative. The real detail is in the lesser known events and people because Collins assumes his readers will know the major players, and in places, he skims them a bit in favour of the smaller things such as the Hoople's Creek skirmish in Ontario. The current status and modifications to many of the sites are also indicated and show how the places are being preserved when possible but also that many are lost forever with nothing but a small marker to indicate the significance. Another bonus in the updates is the inclusion of modern day finds such as the accidental discovery of the ship General Hunter. The General Hunter was captured by the Americans at the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813 and its wreck ended up buried on a beach in Southampton, Ontario until it was discovered in 2001.



Brock's service in the Battle of Queenston Heights gave Canadians their first true war hero. When Brock was alive, he was a hero to the Canadian people and his soldiers, and when he was killed defending Canada, he became a legend. There are countless streets and parks named after him and he is even the namesake of a city: Brockville, Ontario. There is ample coverage of both Brock and The Battle of Queenston Heights along with information on what a visitor will find at the site today including a walking tour of the battleground with markers containing relevant facts. Also placed high atop Queenston Heights is Brock's grave and monument.



Brock's monument is visible from kilometres away, including the American side of the river. The plume of Brock's hat is 185 feet above the ground, making it taller than any of the columns raised to honour Horatio Nelson or Napoleon.



This book is definitely for the historian out for a road trip or someone looking for some general information on the battles, people and places of the War of 1812. It is not detailed enough to be used as an academic resource but it was never intended to be. If you're a Pierre Burton wannabe and have any interest in a War of 1812 driving tour of Eastern Canada or the United States, this comprehensive book is a must.

While occasionaly uneven in its listings (i.e. some areas covered in great detail a few like the Delmarva region are glossed over and Florida is ignored), the book is the best I've seen on the subject. Collins tries to cover everything and in the end comes close. This is a great help on any battlefield trips.

Sites are listed from the War of 1812 according to region. A map and symbols are given for each region, in order to locate sites and present locations, as well as indicate what a visitor might expect to find. Use of photographs and postage stamps is an added enhancement.A brief summary of events and particpants is included for each site. Current status and modifications are also indicated. The book is written by a Canadian, who fairly even handedly relates events.Most depth is given to sites in Canada, put American sites are well covered. The only major missing location in the USA is Pensacola. Otherwise EVERYPLACE is covered well.

Life with Art takes the reader through a very informative subject in a concise, but detailed, manner. Beautiful illustrations of artwork being discussed don almost every page. The book is separated into twenty-one chapters which allows the reader to follow art through history, study the different types of art medium, and learn enough about art vocabulary to write a critical analysis. A must for all art students!!!

This book of approximately 500 pages covers art through the ages, including full page, color glossies, and brief but informative biographies on the most famous, some infamous, and influential artists. It has chapters on concepts to composition, not overlooking or limited to color, shape and volume, and much more in the way of inspiration. It's bound to bring you back to all the reasons you wanted to be an artist in the first place, and in context that appeals to even the less avid reader. A bit pricey perhaps, but it's definitely a timeless keeper & reference book. I highly recommend it to all visual art enthusiasts and aspirees.

As a textbook, it rambles. Could be shortend, or add more substance, like who influenced who, who created what, what legacy does this piece leave and most of all:
WHO MADE THIS ARTIST FAMOUS?
WHO FOUND OUT THIS ARTIST FOR THE FIRST TIME?
Over all a rambling book. Can anyone kindly introduce me a better book?

The value of this wonderful book is far beyond the nice design and comprehensive coverage. For those who are interested in art but do not major or profession in it, like me, it introduces some fundamental questions, such as "what is art", as well as the basic concepts and facts you need to appreciate more from any form of art. (Question: Why does the 6th edition have a different author?)

The coordination of the art and the text, "designing the layout so that all art appeared on or facing the page on which it was discussed," is superb! However, the basic structural organization of the book is confusing. It's hard to imagine that this book is so often recommended for beginning art students, since it seems to give a somewhat disjointed overview of the subject material, lacking in continuity. The focus is extremely conceptual rather than factual. For those already familiar with the basic principles, though, the examples provided and the layout of the text and images will be satisfying.

Letters to Auntie Fori documents Jewish history, faith and tradition in the form of 141 fascinating letters to a woman in India BK Nehru who reveals she is a Jew born in Hungary who would like to know something about her people. Gilbert traces Jewish history and faith from the Creation until the year 2000.
It is packed with some very interesting information written in a very interesting way. The way that Gilbert chose to present this history works very well.
Gilbert tells Aunt Fori that after Cain slew Abel and G-D, who of course knew of Abel's murder asked Cain where Abel was, Cain answered "Am I my brother's keeper?"
According to Jewish tradition the rest of the Bible explains how the answer is yes to teach us that we are all responsible for each other.
We learn that the matriarch Rachel, known to the Jews as Rachel Imenu (Rachel our mother) weeps in prayer for the Jewish people. It was giving birth to Joseph's younger brother that Rachel died. Her tomb between Jerusalem and Bethlehem is a holy site fr the Jewish people and for Christians, and has been desecrated by Palestinian mobs several times (which makes it odd that Gilbert says that is also a Muslim holy site).
In the section of King David, where Gilbert writes of the psalms David composed, we learn that Natan Scharansky, a Soviet dissident, imprisoned for many years by the Communists, found solace in a small book of psalms which he was able to keep with him, despite the hostility of his Soviet captors.
Interesting lesser known facts include the popular legend among Iraqi Jews that King Hoshea of the northern kingdom of Israel was deported by the Assyrians further east all the way to Japan where he became the first Japanese Emperor Oshe, founder of the Japanese imperial house. Dates which coincide bear out that this actually could be the case.
While Part 1 deals with the events of the Biblical era, Part 2 deals with the era of the Greek conquest of the Land of Israel up to the Zionist revival of the late 19th century.

It deals with Christian and Islamic persecution as well as the different periods in the development of Judaism including the birth of the Chassidic movement and the Haskalah ("Enlightenment") of the 18th century.

It is interesting to note how the cry of anti-Semites was once "Jews, go to Palestine" and is now "Jews, out of Palestine".

The book takes us through modern anti-Semitism, the Holocaust (of which Gilbert is one of the most prolific historians) and the rebirth of the State of Israel, and it's struggle for survival over 60 years.

We read o the many pogroms against Jews in Arab lands during and after world War II (encouraged by the Nazis) which is knowledge for those who thought the Holocaust was merely by Europeans against Ashkenazic Jews in Europe.
While reading about the War of Independence of 1948, it struck me how Israel-haters harp on about the so-called Deir Yassin massacre while airbrushing out of history events such as the Hebron massacre of Jews in 1929 and the massacre by Arabs of a convoy of Jewish nurses and doctors, known as the Hadassah convoy.
After the re-establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 Jews could once again determine their own future, for the first time in 2000 years, without having to passively depend on the hope gentile tolerance or suffer and die from persecution helplessly.
After what the Jews have been through do those who call for the end of Israel (the euphemistically called 'One State solution' ala Rwanda really think the proudest Jews in the world- the Israeli Jews- will lay themselves open to the whims of the Arabs who have showed them so much hate and tried to destroy them, and live or die on Arab whims.
The whole point of Israel is so we didn't have to lie at the feet of those who hate us, begging and praying for mercy, after so many years of persecution because we had no land of our own.

The book traces the history until 2000 when Ehud Barak was the Israeli Prime Minister and the world was hopeful for peace.
A few months after the book concludes, Arafat reacted to a generous offer by Barak of almost all of the disputed territories AND land inside pre-1967 Israel with a war of terror against the Israeli people, supplemented by a massive propaganda war to destroy Israel waged around the world.
The last part of the book is an explanation- in brief- of Jewish faith and worship.

Overall, Gilbert's comprehensive history is dense, yet readable, with the biggest rewards for me coming in the small details. He clearly proves that Jewish history takes place on a much larger stage and with a much grander scale than some might realize. His synopses of Biblical stories are masterfully interwoven with connections to Jewish traditions and practices, contemporary history and people, and even archeology, so that it is never a dry, �facts only� history. Indeed, one of the most fascinating elements of this book is Gilbert�s references to lesser-known Jewish communities, including Chinese Jews, Indian Jews, and my own personal favorite�the Alaskan Jews of Congregation Beth Shalom in Anchorage, who call themselves the Frozen Chosen. Also fascinating are references to Jewish individuals such as many Olympic medallists, other historical figures such as Mahatma Gandi�s secretary in South Africa, and his personal reflections on Jewish holidays and worship. These sorts of details are inspirational, fascinating, and compelling.

While comprehensive, this book does have a weakness in that it is not always forthright about the differences between Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and other branches of Judaism regarding faith and practice. Gilbert only occasionally points out those differences, and therein lies the biggest question that this book would raise for a reader who is unfamiliar with the various movements and their traditions. Sometimes, Gilbert simply says �observant Jews,� but never quite explains what he really means by that, or what the different movements�Orthodox vs. Reform, for example�would mean by that. Other questions may arise because of Gilbert�s writing style�syntax is often awkward (perhaps due to this British historian writing in the Queen�s English rather than in the English we Americans are used to) to the point of some paragraphs seeming to contain what are surely unintended errors. Finally, one wishes Gilbert had included Auntie Fori's reaction to this history; that omission makes her quest to learn more of her people's history seem to be only half fulfilled.

Martin Gilbert's series of letters to Auntie Fori the Indian friend who at the age of ninety revealed to him her Jewishness is a masterful introduction to Jewish history and to the Jewish religion.

This is a great book, a kind of Cliff Notes of Jewish history from bibical times through to the modern world. No tpoic takes over a few pages and as written by Gilbert it is a pleasure to read.

This book provides the missing link to the full 5000 years of history--- A kind of "Cliff notes" but wonderful in terms of the ground covered.
I recommend it highly to anyone wanting to get a good overview of 5000 years of Jewish history and traditions.

There are some readers, the editors of this volume for instance, who would like to reduce this astonishing book to an expression of Stendhal's love for an untouchable woman. Anyone willing to look a little beyond armchair psychology will find a work that is possibly the first 'Pale Fire'. On the surface the work is a philosophical and scientific discourse on the nature of love, and as such it has so much truth and insight that I urge you to give it to your loved one so that he/she might understand you a little better. But this treatise is a translation from the inchoate notes left by an Italian suicide, Lisio Visconti. It is full of anecdotes, stories, digressions, contradictions, repetitions, ellipses, declamations. The writer's objectivity, Kinbote-like, is continually undermined by his obvious madness, his reminiscences of a failed love affair, and that of a friend, Salviati, who may also be Visconti. This textual instability is a constant, playful joy, and perfectly mirrors the difficulties of the book's subject.

Love by Stendhal is a classic, but the marvel about this book is that you get to experience the thoughts of this Nineteenth Century genius, whose love and obsession for a woman - Metilde - drives him to write this detailed and extremely insightful explanation about the passions and obsessions involved in romantic love. Without the assistance of Modern Psychology, Stendhal is able to explain with surprising precision and insight the feelings we experience when we are in love and the causes for such feelings. Anyone interested in understanding romantic love should read this masterpiece. Stendhal is honest, objective, and realistic ... despite being horribly brokenhearted.

This is Stendhal's analysis of Love. It was allegedly written because of his unrequited love for a woman named Methilde Dembowski. He analyzes in the work the kinds of Love , and the stages of Love. The work contains many aphorisms of great insight and beauty. For Stendhal one kind of Love the love he is afflicted with is a romantic love which is a kind of Madness. In the first part of the book he analyzes this kind of Love.
In the second part of the book he analyzses different national types in relation to Love, finding the French lacking and the Italians more successful.
This is a ' classic work' but in my reading of it it lacks the depth I sense is required to give a more convincing and comprehensive explanation of that Passion which makes us most human.

This is an incomparable work of beauty, inspiration and genius

Although sex, love, and reproduction can be differentially manifest they derive from a common causal nexus. By examining the behavior of love Stendhal indirectly addresses the conscious mode of sex and reproduction. Unlike the pagan attitudes toward love of many before him and as observed in modern times, Stendhal's love is well dressed, well mannered, honest, quixotic, honorable, and implausible,...yet witty, saucy, importunate, irrational, and realistically disastrous; quixotic I think being the rubric term. Indeed, the book reads like a serially condensed version of Cervantes' encounters between the true hearted lads and lasses of 'Don Quixote.' Stendhal even goes so far as to recommend Cervantes in Lisio Visconti's list of literature. In this book you will essentially get the following:

I). Stendhal's psychology of love, in which the stages of hormone poisoning and its concomitant cognitions are delineated. Within this framework he introduces his neologism 'crystalization;' i. e., as in how a plain twig, when left in a salt mine for some time, is pulled up covered with stunning, perfect crystals: these crystals representing the amplifications and embellishments the lover's mind dresses their object in. Stendhal goes on quite a bit regarding feminine pride, showing blatant respect and reverence for his objects of desire, but lamenting such foibles as false modesty, insipid prosaism, and vanity love.

II). This section reads like a cultural travelogue of love for western Europe from the early 19th century. Here love is a ruse used to chronicle what he sees as regional stereotypes of behavior. His self-deprecating dislike of all things French and antipodal regard for all things Italian pervades his cross-cultural mind set. As a Frenchman Stendhal only accepts the 12th century chivalry of Provence. This section of the book also evidences his strong advocacy of women's rights (although he does recommend life imprisonment for adulterous wives), and his excellent psychological juxtapose of Don Juan and Werther.

III). The fragments are probably the weakest part of the book but they add texture and pace. As the introduction by Stewart and Knight suggest, the fragments are an attempt to weave objective credibility into Stendhal's otherwise lugubrious pining over Mathilde Viscontini Dembowski.

IV). The appendixes are an interesting anecdotage containing chaplain Andre's 31 articles of love from the 12th century French court, and further elucidation of crystallization and it's advent in the salt mines of Salzburg. Here the book ends with two engaging tales, the near pedophilic chivalry of Philippe Astezan, and the vanity love of Felicie Feline.

Overall, Stendhal is lugubriously Quixotic, wittily irreligious, and insouciantly saucy. He captures a mixture of Laclos' intrigues, Plato's daemon of the Phaedrus, and Montaigne's candor. A dated but highly original work.

This book is not much different from what I understand Levi's books are: cryptic, much left unsaid, making reference to other unmentioned works (and you don't get to know which or whose exactly). The text itself is fascinating, interesting, but the mystery of what isn't there is as much of that which is. As far as Tarot books go, and I've read many, this is by no means a beginner's book. In fact, it's not primarily meant to be a Tarot interpretation book, much less a book of spreads as it concentrates exclusively on the 22 major arcana. The attributions or revelations it does make are fascinating, quite tigthly related to the qabbalah (the practical kabbalah). As someone who has studied kabbalah (and also the "q" and "c" versions) I must say that the kabbalistic principles espoused here, while solid, are by no means what a newcomer to Tarot would readily understand. In summary, this is a highly mysterious magical working book which makes reference to the 22 major Tarot arcana, references some kabbalistic mysteries, and is not a good introduction to the Tarot itself. But as with many of Levi's works, its strengths may be precisely on the things it leaves unsaid in the hope that the reader will find out on his own (and exercise his/her magical will in wanting to find out).

A wealth of information for anyone who is a serious student of Tarot. Whether you give readings or just read for yourself, this work will mystify you (literally!).

This is a simple and easy to understand book about the Tarot. This would be a great book for beginners just starting to study the Tarot.

This short work is undoubtably one of Eliphas Levi's most profound writings. It outlines the meanings of the twenty-two tarot trumps with information found nowhere else. The information on Rosicrucian symbolism is no less than revelatory. The meanings of occult symbols, from the Chi-Rho to Solomon's hexagram, are given in text and pictures that will enlighten any devoted student of the Hermetic mysteries.

The Magical Ritual Of The Sanctum Regnum by Eliphas Levi (1810-1875) is a classic occult and tarot manual that combines major arcana symbolism along with an extensive description of the ritual of the sanctum regnum, or Kingdom of God. Featuring an introduction by Robert Gilbert that recounts the history of Levi's original manuscript, including its eventual prevalence as a source text for ceremonial magicians, The Magical Ritual of the Sanctum Regnum remains as insightful today for tarot practitioners and lay readers as it did an age ago. A welcome and recommended core staple for tarot magic and occult reference shelves.