H Books

The parents of the girl I'm dating asked me to read this. Having read some of her other works, I was very willing to. I think it is an excellent book for young men with many truths and practical applications that could help a male be more of the type of man God designed him to be. I thought it had several points that young females could benefit from, either for themselves or to help evaluate potential suitors.

There are probably some subtle doctrinal differences I would have with Mrs. Elliot, but they are minor enough to not negate the good and needed exhortation in this book

After the disappointment of "Let Me be a Woman" and the disgust I felt at Elliot's words that women are meant to be responders and submitters to masculine authority, I could only imagine what this book told men. I admit I felt very impatient and even resentful of the men who say they love this book; I felt like yelling at them, "Of course you love it! She fills your heads with how you're supposed to be leaders and rulers of the world, who wouldn't love that?" To me, men who ate this up, especially from a woman, seemed like kings enjoying hearing their subjects tell them how much they enjoyed their rule. When opportunity finally presented itself, though, I looked into this book for myself (digging my heels in the whole time) and found a lot more worth than I thought I would.

The great thing about Elisabeth Elliot is that she's calm and sensible. That may sound like a very ordinary thing, but what I mean is that she has a way of expressing herself that rarely offends. I've come across books that made me want to slam them after reading the first page because of their sarcasm or patronization, but Elliot's steady way of speaking is very easy to sink into. Obviously, I don't like all of her views and I think her views of womanhood, when summed up in one sentence, can look disgusting, but overall she's one of the most enjoyable complimentarians to read.

I guessed when I saw this book that Elliot would be telling men their place is to initiate, rule, and have authority, whereas women were meant to respond and submit to this. I was right, and Elliot's poor description of Eden and claim that Adam had authority over Eve rankled with my senses. However, in this case she went into more detail as to the background of her beliefs that femininity means response. Initially, I thought this simply meant that she believed women respond and follow, but it's more complicated than that. Elliot first described masculinity to the sun and femininity to the earth: the sun pours out its light and the earth responds by flourishing and providing life. This description suited me a lot better than the one I had in mind (Adam towing Eve along) and, even better, Elliot described the method of initiation and response to be a very circular one. She cites Paul, who said that, while woman came from man, does not man now come from woman? (Meaning childbirth) I found this to be a very suiting and nice description.

Elliot's belief that men should initiate and have authority goes into society, marriage, and relationships in general. She says that men are meant to initiate love and that women nowadays are far too aggressive. While this may be true, I really don't see any problem with a woman subtly initiating a relationship by showing her interest. There's really far too much pressure on men to lead in everything and, while I admit I personally would love to be pursued rather than do all the pursuing, I wouldn't mind gently leading into a relationship with a man who is shyer than me. Just take Ruth in the Bible, for example; she snuck into the house and lay down at the object of her affection's feet, for pity's sake! Not exactly subtle, was she?

Elliot has a wonderful understanding and appreciation of masculinity; I just think she gives it far too much credit. Men are by far not the only leaders, rulers, or initiators; this is a gross insult to women and various women in the Bible prove this kind of thinking wrong. While Elliot by no means encourages men to be dominators, her view is still one-sided and incomplete. I gave this book a good rating because it does instruct men to do what they are meant to do. God calls men to lead and teach in His name. However, He doesn't call men to rule over women as a whole in any shape or form and this belief is incorrect no matter how gently spoken. Elliot got most of it right; she just went a little overboard, giving men too much credit and women not nearly enough when it comes to certain vital roles.

If you are a man, there are many things you could probably learn from this book and I'm not discouraging you from reading it. Brothers in Christ, you ARE meant to be leaders, rulers, and teachers; never let anyone tell you otherwise. However, you are not the only sex who is meant to do these things; please don't buy into the belief that you are, especially if you read this book. If you are open minded enough to at least explore the truth that your sisters in Christ are equal to the tasks God has appointed us, then you'll know to take some of Elliot's words with a grain of salt. If you're a staunch complimentarian, believing it is the destiny of your gender to lead and you're looking for a book to show you how to be a servant leader, then this is probably the best one you could get.

This book was awesome. I cannot say enough good things. Elisabeth Elliot is a woman of wisdom and insight. It was like having my grandmother sit me down and talk to me about the kind of man I need to be. She is a wealth of ideas, principles, and ways of Living. She has walked the walk and knows God. She was married to a great man of God.

This is a must read. If you are a man...but it. If you are a woman buy it for the man or boy in your life.

Elizabeth Elliot, who is definitely no shrinking violet, wrote this politically incorrect book as advice to her nephew on the true "Mark of a Man". Just as she took on the Jungles of South America to attend to the medical and spiritual needs of the cannibals who martyred her husband, James Elliot, (the pilot in the movie "Tip of the Spear"), Elizabeth takes on the confusing elements of what truly make up the "Mark of a Man". This book is long on character and Biblical Truth and short on catchy phrases that couldn't stand the test of time. If you are looking for canned answers, don't purchase this book!

I read this book out loud to my boys. The best there is on how to be a real man. Written by a real woman. Maybe somebody can wirte one on being a real woman....by a man?

"The Message" is a paraphrase of the Bible. It is easy to read and understand; however, readers should be cautioned that this is one author's interpretation. "The Message is not THE BIBLE and is marketed as a paraphrase. This is also not a verse by verse paraphrase but rather a chapter by chapter look at how Eugene Peterson interprets the scripture. Therefore, it changes the meaning of scripture that is conveyed in trusted translations of the BIBLE.

The Message is a great translation for listening to the Bible. The 5 MP3 CDs are an economical and convenient way to get the material. As others have noted, the readers are very easy to listen to. The production is very well done.

I hate to be the one to nitpick, but I noticed several dozen numbering errors in the file names and in the MP3 meta data. Perhaps I'm handicapped by a poor media player but I had to correct some of these files by hand for the chapters to sort perfectly. I'm certain that in most cases the errors go completely unnoticed by listeners because the files themselves are in the correct order on the CDs. The files on CD 4 are arranged in a completely different manner than the other discs.

So while I found the MP3 arrangements imperfect, the content itself is superb and deserves 5 stars. Buy it.

like my title this version is amesome. it's cheap enough to buy it. i have listened to it at work and learned so much, i also have been listening to it as i read the bible, so i am hearing and reading it. for if i listen i can drift thoughts, or things of many other things, if i just read it late at night i can fall asleep, or realize the last 2 chapers, i don't know what i was reading. so by doing both i have been getting heaps out of the old testament, which is hard for people to get warmed up to. But i sure have. you'll like it.

It's amazing how easy this Bible is to understand. It definitely was a great purchase.

Having enjoyed the hard copy versions of The Message for years, I decided to invest in the CD version and was very glad that I did. Each chapter of The Message has a brief snazzy musical intro (which I *really* like) with a woman's voice giving a background about the church, the times and the general history. I suppose I glossed over this part in the written form, but I surely do enjoy listening to it on tape. It really helps put the whole thing in context.

I'm always hesitant to invest in these "books on tape" because sometimes, the reading so dry and boring, but the reading on The Message is strong, clear and interesting. The intro to Matthew even features Eugene Peterson himself, explaining a little background about how he wrote "The Message."

I am *not* an audio-based learner but more of a visual learner, yet my thoughts don't drift whilst listening to these CDs. I find it very easy to stay focused and really pay attention and soak up the meanings.

I've listened to these CDs for several years now and they never grow old. I love the layout and organizations of the tracks, the little case (very handy), the narrator's voice, the music and above all, I love listening to The Message.

I'm 23 years old now and thinking about this book just makes me smile. It was my favorite book growing up along with The House That Jack Built. I could read these books OVER AND OVER again every day of my life and be content. It's a great book to not only learn to read, but a good lesson in accepting differences among each other. And that's a great lesson to learn at that age!! If you're looking for great book for your youngster, THIS IS IT!! (along with the whole series!!) :)

This book is absolutely wonderful. I remember loving to just look at the pictures before I could read! I cannot say enough about it. My favorite book of all time.

I use this book every year to introduce ACCELERATED READER to my students. I introduce it as a "read-aloud" and we discuss the text and pictures as I read. Students "act out" the various things that Morris does and students even sit ON their desks when Morris does. There is always a lot of laughing and giggling as Morris learns many things on his first day of school. Morris Goes to School is a great book to show your children how involved they can become when reading.

THEN....... they get to go take a short 5-question AR test on the computer. It's a great book and a great introduction to AR.

My 6-yr-old son loves Morris the Moose and this book was just as funny as the first one. Morris gets confused because he can't read or count, so he goes to school. My son can read it himself and always laughs out loud at Morris' silly antics. Highly recommended!

I picked up this book to read with my son, and I have to say that we didn't find it particularly funny. Certainly not as funny as the other Morris books. We had about two chuckles in 64 pages. Which is not to say that the story is bad. It hangs together well and provides some very good kid-friendly examples which show why it's good to attend school. Morris, for example, is shown fumbling around town, not knowing which store is the candy store because he can't read. And Morris is also stumped when it comes to figuring out how many gumdrops he can buy, because he can't count.

The publisher suggests this book as a practice reader for those in first grade or younger. My experience convinces me that this book is a little too hard for most children in this age range. For one thing, there are 64 pages of text, which is quite a bit for newbies to sit down and read at one time. And the vocabulary is fairly advanced with words like: wrong, sting, meant, interrupt, couldn't, sandwiches, cream-cheese, piece, fruit, hamburgers, arithmetic, antler, count, make-believe, and forest. And in fact, the Accelerated Reading designation for this book is 2.0 -- which means that those experts feel that the book is suited for entering 2nd Graders.

[The AR designation is a general "guide" that rates books on a relative scale of difficulty. Children can certainly read at levels above or below their group range, so that this number should only be used as a aid to help choose books that are appropriate and not frustrating.]

Three Stars. This is an okay book which shows why learning is necessary. In my and my son's opinion it wasn't as funny as the other Morris books. The Publisher suggests this reader for ages Pre5 to Grade 1. The 'official' Accelerated Reading (AR) designation, however, is 2.0.

I needed a book on grammar. There are so many different rules it's hard to keep them straight. I needed the basics and I needed a quick reference guide. I did not need one of those huge books that had 300 plus pages. They were filled with nonsense and radom rules that only English professors need to know! This book is easy to understand. Don't know the difference between bore and bore? Or altar and alter? There is a quick guide in the back to show you what to use. Get confused with lay, and laid? There is also a nice chart that shows you the difference between present, past and past participle. There is so much packed into this little book it will amaze you.

This book is excellent. And it's so easy to understand. It doesn't bog you down with unless information. This is a must have for everyone!

"Nitty-Gritty Grammar" is an outstanding book. I read it prior to having its authors Edith Fine and Judith Josephson on my talk radio show on WRKO Radio in Boston. They were informative and funny and the phone lines were full the entire hour they were on my show. The key to this book is that it is both educational and entertaining. In someone else's hands, this book could be a real snoozer. In Judith and Edith's hands, it is a work of art. If you read this book, you will stop making up "irregardless" and other words which don't exist (see page 85.) You will stop mispronouncing words like "asterisk" (it's not asterick-- see page 72.) And you will never again misplace your apostrophes, dangle your participles or commit other high crimes and misdemeanors against grammar, spelling, punctuation and pronunciation (see pages 1-102--the entire book.) The book includes many cartoons which will teach you while you laugh. The section on "Ways to Tame the Spelling Monster" is indispensable with clever ways to remember the correct spelling of words including "dessert" (it has two s's--think strawbery shortcake). If you only read the "ticker tape" which runs throughout the book at the bottom of each page, you will learn more than you did in twelve years of boring English classes. The amazing part of this book is that it can be used by children, teenagers and adults. I suggest you buy copies for your entire family and all your friends and coworkers. They'll speak properly when they thank you.

Bob Katzen, WRKO Radio, Boston, Massachusett

As a writing teacher and home schooler, I haven't found a more enjoyable grammar reference book. My 11 year old son picked it up one day and read straight through the entire book in one afternoon. The appeal of the cartoons, the easy to understand explanations and the user friendly format make this the grammar reference of choice for all grammar-impaired parents who teach their own kids. I highly recommend it!

Our child brought home grammar for the third grade and we had forgotten half of what we had learned in school. This book really helped us out greatly and I am sure we will get a lot more use out of it in years to come.

Over the years I've fallen into poor grammer habits. This little gem of a book has helped me clean up my act--or should I say mouth! Keep it close by so you can consult it often. The fun layout makes it easy to grab a quick lesson here and there.

I've been teaching for fifteen years, have read hundreds of books on every aspect of theory and application, and can say unequivocally that this is the single most useful and important book I've yet to read. Ok, ok, I'll equivocate just this once and add it's partner book, Positive Classroom Instruction. If you are going to teach, these books are scripture. Everything else is commentary. Whatever your teaching style, whatever approaches you take to motivate learners, these two books will enhance your effectiveness and make your classroom a better place for children to learn. You will get more teaching done in less time and reach more students with individual attention.

I have been using this program for 6 years with my emotionally handicapped class. Teaching is easy and fun due to Jones' simplistic and cost effective ways to self-eliminate behavior. I went from an average of 15 office referrals a week down to less than 5 all year! Best of all the kids are happy and test scores are on the rise! This is the first easy program that applies in any classroom and on the parental home front too!

I had been teaching 7th and 8th grade science for two years at an inner city school and was doing fine. I had my classes under control, but I was getting worn out keeping them under control. I read the intro to this book and couldn't wait to finish it and implement his methods. I read it over again during the two weeks before school for the next 4 summers to refresh myself. He clearly explains methods to maintain perfect control and cooperation with less work and keep your own stress level way down. I go home much more relaxed now. The kids love it too. He originaly developed these methods at schools for the severely emotionally disabled, so I'm sure they will work anywhere.

I read this book a long time ago.
In a nutshell, I remember two ideas:
Number one: Promise the class a reward for good behavior, and reward the class according to how well they behave.
Number two: If a student misbehaves, approach the student and silently give that student an evil eye.

This book arrived in my mailbox one day before my first substitute teaching job, and I started reading it right away. I was 100% better off having read it. In fact, I don't think I would have survived that first day without the techniques I quickly picked up. I've since read most of the book and re-read parts of it many times. Not only does it work in the classroom, it works at home, too. The techniques **work**, they build a respectful, productive relationship with the students, and they require little physical energy to carry out. Simple and sensible.

My brother and I read this book every morning. It has shown us how to have a more honorable life for God. There is a reason we are here on earth. The Prayer of Jabez for Teens is like our strategy for life. This book offers great opportunities to receive the life God has for you. We sincerely enjoyed it and think you will too.

I didn't enjoy this book because it talked about how to please yourself. The book was suppose to be about bettering yourself but you seek God everything will be added to you.matt.6:33

I Really Like This Book It Is Good For Teens And Adults.
And Very Inspriational.

This book is much like the original but written for younger folks and has different examples. It is the story of a very old prayer that has the same roots as the Lord's Prayer but it is nice to get a new prayer now and then!

THE AMAZING PRAYER

Since hearing about Jabez, I walk around with a different composure, in a different mood. God wants to accomplish great things through us; he's just waiting for us to ask. Jabez's cry was that God would bless him so that he could bless others, change his generation, and change the world. God is trying to make you live like you never have before. God wants to inspire your life, so you can inspire someone else's life so they could live holy and peacefully.

I was just blown away by the simple truth in Jabez's prayer. It's challenging, and it really has touched me. I'm not much of a reader, but I became absorbed with this book and have immediately experienced the power of prayer. His experience has taught me to live expectantly, to be aware that God is at work around me and in me. It's okay to ask god for blessings because through it we're going to be able to reach more people/young people around the world are leading the way in prayer. They're seeing God do miracles.
(Yes this is a good book if you like stories about finding ways to get closer to God)

After going about six years without reading a traditional anatomy and physiology text, I was surprised at the advanced level that this book has reached, as compared to the texts I read during the first few years of this decade. This book offers numerous resources, from special pathological sections to online excercises. In addition, every chapter offers highly detailed diagrams and little tidbit sections to help students better understand the material. Thus, no matter what type of learner you are, this book will offer a way to learn the text that totally fits your style. For those who learn better by seeing and listening, the online material will be helpful and the diagrams in the book are quite comprehensive. For those who learn better by simply reading the text, this book provides the material in regular paragraphs, charts, and advanced diagrams. Finally, for those who are already familiar with the material, and just need a quick review, the end of each chapter has a comprehensive, but terse summary of the material.

I have found this book very helpful, it has a ton of useful information on medical conditions, as well as the general A&P information.

This is a great textbook, mind you I have about 5 others just like it so to say that this is the one I prefer to use- it's a BIG deal. It gives you the 360 of everything in a way that you can understand. WELL DONE!

I love this book. It goes an extra mile into helping students understand the concept of human anatomy. I will keep it for future references.

This text really is a fantastic resource for someone beginning studies in medicine or medicine-related fields. Clear, precise illustrations, with the right amount of detail for the first year of a course, enable quick learning of the basic principles of structure and function. It is also written very well, set out sensibly, and provides clinical correlations to remind the student how the principles they are learning relate to clinical situations. Highly recommended.

Most of our knowledge of railroads comes from either seeing them as they pass in their multi-hued glory, or in memories generated from films of steam belching locomotives huffing and chugging their way across the countryside. Unless we care enough to learn more, we really do not understand how they work, why they are organized the way they are, or what all the equipment that we pass by is really for. If we do care to learn more, there is a dearth of information about the railroad. That lack of information is what is addressed by this book. This book could be used as a semester-length entry-level university class textbook - it is that thorough yet high-level. In 22 chapters it addresses all the fundamentals of the railroad especially as railroading is practiced in North America.

Through many examples derived from a fictional railroad that operates in the Northeast U.S., the author leads us through what and how a railroad "ticks". He explains why the rails are ballasted the way they are; what historical accident led to the gauge being determined as 4 ft 8.75 inches; how locomotives are measured and what are the important measurements that the operating departments use; How signals work on the railroad; what kinds of railroad cars are there and what they are used for; the way in which a car goes from point A to point B and how the revenue is shared amongst the many hands that touch that load; and how the railroad itself is organized to bring its benefits to the shipping public.

This is a pretty thorough introduction to the art of railroading and is about as much information as any curious observer may wish to have. Besides people who are interested in railroading (maybe as a career?), I can see this book also being useful to model railroaders who want to model realistic operations; shippers who want to understand what happens when they let go of a cargo, or when they receive it; investors and financiers in railroads; and others.

Being somewhat of a textbook, the reader has to understand that getting through this book will take some work - this is not an easy read at the beach intended to help pass the time! But, attention to the words and the concepts they illuminate will help the reader understand the complex world of railroading.

I used this book to help get up to speed on financing railcars and this book was invaluable in helping me understand the differences in railcar types and the way that railroads work. Would highly recommend it.

John Armstrong is both a railroader and a railroad modeler. He wrote "Railroad: What it Is, What it Does" to help modelers create realistic layouts by understanding how a real railroad operates. But it doesn't matter if you're a modeler: whatever your reason, if you want to know how railroads operate, then this book is for you!

Armstrong covers every aspect of railroading. Starting with history as far back as the Roman Empire, he surveys the evolution of rail transport from mining cars on wooden tracks through the "big steel rail". He covers the pros and cons of flat wheels on flanged track versus flanged wheels on flat track, stone ties versus timber ties, steel rails versus iron rails, and all of the engineering issues that go into building a stable, long-lasting track--and that's just in the first few chapters.

From there he explains the economic issues that go into deciding where to run the track, how to route the trains, and everything that goes into establishing a railroad operation.

Finally he covers all the details: how a consist is put together; the various cars and their construction; the railroad workers and their various jobs.

This is one of the few books that leaves me feeling like I know all about the subject. It's incredible how he packs so much knowledge into these few pages! He obviously knows, and loves, his subject. And he writes with a storyteller's flair, so it's more like a novel than a text--I was sorry when it was finished!

Do yourself a favor. If you have any interest in trains whatsoever, get this book. You'll read it more than once.

A great refernce book, I have the 3rd edition, I will have to get the fourth edition in time.

John H. Armstrong is probably best known for his books about model railroading. This is not one of those books. This is an introduction to the railroad industry.. It covers such diverse topics as to why goods should or could be moved by rail, locomotives, cars, routing, trackage, passenger service, freight service, organization, accounting, profit and loss, operations and a host of others. It is a book about the industry, not models. I don't think models are mentioned anywhere.

That being said, it is a very useful book for model railroaders who are always seeking to make their layouts as much like the real thing as possible. This book explains why certain things take place in the real world giving modelers an insight as to how to do the same in their created world.

Models aside, this is a great text for anyone who wishes to learn more about this part of the transportation industry.

Having read a lot of WWI books and books on sniping this one takes the cake. It's written in the autobiographical tradition of Teddy Roosevelt and will impress the old and young alike with its vivid imagery and colorful prose. Great read.

Mr. McBride has written a book that nearly perfectly talks about what can be expected from a modern infantry man. He talks about sniping, putting in a properly sighted machine gun, raids, and patrols. Honestly, this book is so good that most Army ROTC and Marine Infantry instruction may want to have their future officers and NCO candidates read this book.

I will give you a story that really stuck me as being ahead of its time. Now, this book was written in the mid-1930s. However, Mr. McBride knows the problems of lugging ammunition. A soldier with .303 British (about equal to modern NATO 7.62 ammo) could only carry about 200 to 300 rounds. So, Mr. McBride thinks the armies should carry ammunition of about .27 caliber. That is almost exactly 6.8 mm. This is exactly the same solution the US Army discovered after 5 years in Iraq.

I liked this book. Mr. McBride thinks both the British and Canadian Armies did much better with their training time than the US military. Indeed, he thinks the US Army and military is overly tied up with paperwork. And that observation was made in 1918.

This is a five star book by a soldier who knows his field craft. Pay attention to his anti-sniper traps. They are still useful today. Also, the book is great for telling about how the Germans would leave abandoned grenades after an attack. Some were rigged to go off if picked up.

As written before, this book is five star. Mr. McBride writes a book about the birth of the modern infantry man. Indeed, their is little difference between a Tommy of WWI with a Lewis gun and a Grunt in Vietnam carrying an M-60 machinegun. In 50 years little had changed.

The modern professional soldier can learn a lot from this book. Some university military history departments may want this book for an individual study of a hard infantry man.

A thoughroughly enjoyable, mesmerizing, collection of a soldier's WWI remembrances. Somehow manages to be more than the sum of its plainly told, shy, politically incorrect, wars is hell but you get used to it parts. It ends up assembling and describing bit by bit the remarkable character of the author.

Also notable to me for how it reaches across 70 years to contrast how we've changed as a people. For example, I don't think this book would be published as written today. The editor would have probably added more polish, removed some of the namecalling and stereotyping and would have thus diminished the book.

As a rifle shooter with a historical interest i bought this book. If your looking for an overly dramatic or gruesome account of life in the first world war trenches dont by this book. From what i can tell it is a written collection of memories by the author. These memories are written in a matter of fact, straight talking way which does not hide the authors zealous approach to his task of being a soldier.

Although at times slightly rambling i found this an interesting read and at times amuzing. A good reference if you are interested in rifle shooting or battle history.

It might not be written in perfect English, and it's not always politically correct, but it's definitely always enjoyable.

You get the whole WWI experience from the author's point of view, including enough "war stories" to satisfy any reader.

McBride includes technical details, anecdotes, and just good old story telling, in this tale of a machine gunner / rifleman in the Great War.

I can't count how many times I have read this book. I have three versions and the e-book. I have one copy in the washroom I read a little of it everyday. A must have Epic.

I think that all Westerners should be exposed to this classic of the East. Without a doubt, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is one of the very best works of literary art that the human mind had ever produced.
A short synopsis is in order. The novel centers around a rather short, turbulent time in ancient China, following the collapse of the Han Dynasty and predating the rise of the Jin dynasty, the period known as the "Three Kingdoms". In order to rise up against the now-corrupt Han dynasty, the mystic Zhang Jiao began what is known as the "Yellow Turban rebellion". In response to this menace, heroes of China gathered in order to put down this threat. Among these heroes are the virtuous Liu Bei, the loyal and familial Sun Jian, and the cruel and wily (but talented) Cao Cao. After the Yellow Turban rebellion is put down, it is realized that the Han dynasty has grown horribly weak and corrupt, and the heroes leave for home with their own ambitions of ruling China. Liu Bei wishes for the old days (he is a distant relative of the Han line), Cao Cao wishes for personal glory and honor, and Sun Jian wishes to rule China in order to leave it to his sons. Many other players enter the drama (hundreds in fact!), but the story really revolves around these three and their spheres of influence.
The author, Luo Guan Zhong, wrote a book that is at once of strategy, history, psychology, warfare. Although battles are always present, even those readers not interested in warfare can find a great deal in this book. Inevitably, the reader will find himself siding with one of the great Kingdoms of Wei, Wu or Shu, and yet will still feel compelled to feel compassion, elation and sorrow for the others, as their fortunes rise and fall with the changing fates. Each time I read the book (six and counting!), I pull for Liu Bei, who brings himself from commoner status to the highest positions in the land despite his tragic flaw of being TOO virtuous! And yet, I cannot deny enjoying reading about Cao Cao, as he gains support and popularity until the battle of Chi Bi, at which point he falls and must rise again. Also, the ending is fabulous, and unexpected.
However, I must warn the first time reader of the complete deluge of names with which he will be accosted. To further complicate matters, different publishers of the book spell the names in different ways (e.g. Cao Cao=T'sao T'sao, Chuko Lee-ong=Zhuge Liang). I was aided in this struggle by the fact that I had played a game with these characters, so that I was familiar with some of them. The author revels in his knowledge of history, and expects the same of his readers, but the reader may feel completely overwhelmed. Just keep in mind the three main characters, and try to remember who follows whom, and you should do fine (however, it is frustrating when the character Xun Yu introduces the character Xun You, etc.).
"Empires wax and wane, states cleave asunder and coalesce". The first statement in the book is as true today as it was 2000 years ago. If you are a reader who prides himself on his knowledge of the classics, I can honestly say that your mental library is incomplete until you read this book. So, what are you waiting for?

humanity is everything in this book and only thing we have.

I can't finish all my compliment for this book in this short review. You are not gonna believe it is such a splendid book until you read it yourself. This book is a saga with so much wisdom and humanity. It is as good as ancient Greek epic (with all repect to Greek) if not better. The wisdom in it is uncommonly plentiful. Trojan horse looks children's game after you finished the book. Romance of three kingdoms is a part of Chinese lives and now becoming popular in the world. Many Japanese companies make this book as a must-read for management staff. Read this book and I garantee that your time will be delightfully spent.

Romance of Three Kingdoms is not just the novelized version of the history record "Three Kingdoms". It overtook the heart of both Chinese and Japanese. In Japan even younger generation who rarely read literature enjoy the story in the form of either comic books or in popular PC games. In China many of the Chinese Opera comes from the part of this story.

The story is based on the history of ancient China around late 2nd century to late 3rd century when the Chinese continent was divided by three strong kingdoms,Shu(Gui in Japanese),Wu(GO in Japanese) and Wei(SHOKU in Japanese).

I am familiar with the version of Eiji Yoshikawa, the author of Musashi, focusing more on the story of Liu Pei(Wei emperor),Kuan Yu, Chang Fei, and Chuko Kunming. Liu Pei, an heir of Han Dynasty ruling clan, is a humane leader supported by Kuan Yu, deft both in brain and might maybe eastern version of Knight, Chang Fei,short tempered but really strong warrior, and Chuko Kunming the master of strategy.

Rivaling Lie Pei is another giant Tsao Tsao outstanding ruler who nearly took hold of the whole Chinese continent but blocked by the allied forces of Wu and Wei in 208. Tsao Tsao is a bit demonized in this story but he is in fact one of the greatest rulers China ever had comparable to Napoleon. While Lie Pei who has little power gradually gains by charming a lot of talented people by his couteousness yet with propaganda tactics to demonize Tsao Tsao, Tsao Tsao took advantage of courting the Emperor and with the finest staff collected from the whole continent. Tsao Tsao's Shu finally unites the whole China after his death in 265, with the surrender of Wei but Lie Pei, Kuan Yu and Kunming are still loved and idealized by Chinese public. Wu survives by taking either rivaling sides and with excellent domestic and foreign affairs strategy.

On first reading you will be enjoying the way the characters outsmart the other camps. On second reading you will be struck by the humanity upon which the story is based. It is much more than a legend. It will surely get you closer to the mind of either Chinese and Japanese. But be careful. The way character name is pronounced differ between Chinese and Japanese. Such as Tsao Tsao is pronounced in Japanese as SOSO.