H Books

Damn, this book is a thunderball. It's well thought out, well plotted, and the character development is excellent. This guy can write! "Keep your hatches battened Clive,from the first gripping paragraph on, Hanzl's entry into your genre is coming on like a force 10 gale...watch it that your doors aren't blown off".

My advice to Cussler fans (and I'm one of them), and to everyone else, is to pick up a copy of "Out of Hell's Kitchen" by the fastest possible route and then prepare yourself for an all nighter.

I am so impressed with this book. It is super well researched and the author speaks with great authority on many different subjects. Plus his grasp of the English colloquialism's and the terrific accents (especially the Irish ones) is wonderful! It was a fab storyline too - very compelling, fast moving and twisting. Plus very believable. He also has a gift of being very efficient, eloquent and effective with his writing, describing characters, scenes and action in a rich and detailed way that is very flowing and totally compliments the pace of the book fantastically. I am super impressed and it is one of the best novels I have ever read - truly. The fact that I read it cover to cover with all the horrendous time constraints I have had recently is testimony to that.

I found out about this book on its web site [...] which was very interesting, and ended up picking up a copy. I really enjoyed this exciting thriller. It held my interest all the way through to the end and then I just wanted to read more. I can't wait for the sequel. There are some interesting twists in the plot and very good character development. If you like a good adventure novel, you will love this one.

This book was a great read! It is a very fast paced novel with tremendous characters. I had trouble putting it down.

The book was very well researched. I was impressed with Mr. Hanzl's depth of knowledge on multiple topics. He covers some very technical explanations while still keeping it a very easy read.

My only complaint is having to wait to find out how my new friends in the book will make out! I can't wait for the next one!!

-Bob Slowey

This is an action thriller with a little science, mystery, and a hint of romance. This is a well crafted novel that keeps you wanting more. The character development is great. It is hard to tell where the story is going. Read it on my vacation. I couldn't have chosen better.

Beth Moore is wonderful at taking complex concept and making into a simple story that everyone can understand. I used this book in a all girls sunday school class and they loved it!

This is a charming book, I think for a girl or boy (but my boy has an older sister so princesses are his world). The message is phenomenal for young and old; the king pursues us and loves us to pieces regardless of the things we have done in life.

Sometimes telling a story to make a fact more real to us is a wonderful way to reach a persons heart, child or adult. That is what Beth Moore has done with this parable about a king. If you read it out loud to a child, you may end up with tears of thankfulness, and longing, for such a wonderful King in our own lives.

This was well written and I loved the graphics. This is a keeper for all my grandchildren to read with me, and hopefully pass on the them when they have children.

This is a fantastic book. The illustrations are truly amazing and the moral of the story is inspiring for young girls, boys and for adults! I will be purchasing this wonderful children's book for all of my friends who are expecting!

This book has many, good-sized, excellent color reproductions of work with an interesting history of the New Hope artists. There are also succinct biographies of each of the major artists of this regional school plus a list with images of many of the lesser known people.
The last chapter of the book discusses the framemakers in the New Hope region who were part of the arts and crafts movement which is an interesting piece of art history in itself.
Mention is made of the "Pennsylvania 10", a group of the prominent women artists in this area, and a chapter could have been created to feature them, but they are worth a book unto themselves.
For anyone interested in American art, American Impressionism, and that period during the first half of the twentieth century as art moved from representational concepts to abstract and non-objective concepts, this book is worth having.
For artists who are working in this representational manner, they will find a wealth of ideas from these painters in terms of technique, design, and concepts.

Pennsylvania Impressionism opens with an introduction explaining the origins of painting in the area, followed by a somewhat pensive and personal mediation on art both, by Brian H Peterson; followed by two further discussions of art in Pennsylvania by Sylvia Yount and William H Gerdts respectively. Then comes the main colour plates section along with the artists' biographies. This is followed with entries for other associated artists and comprises brief descriptions accompanied by a representative thumb-nail illustration of each artist's work. The book concludes with two bibliographies and other lists.

This is a beautifully illustrated volume, the introductory chapters are illustrated, the colour plates section amounts to nearly two hundred pages, and along with the concluding section the full colour illustrations number three hundred and sixty nine. In the colour plates section they are arranged one and sometime two to a page and the standard is good, often revealing the quality and texture of the paint. However it should be noted that even the full page illustrations in fact rarely occupy more than half of the total page area, leaving the image surrounded by a lot of white space.

This is an attractively laid out and beautifully illustrated book, and the paintings themselves are absolutely superb.

This book provides a thorough survey of the Bucks County "Impressionist" painters. Plenty of good quality visuals, excellent as a resource. Particularly of interest to people in the Bucks Co, PA area.

Excellent history of an important period in American art. Outstanding production - paper, color plates and binding. Efficient processing from Amazon.

I'm an amateur painter and a regular subscriber to American Art Review where I've seen frequent references to Fern Coppedge's paintings. I just fell in love with her colourful work and looked on Google for a single book about her work but alas, there doesn't seem to be such a book. So, I Googled up a booklist and hit on this title, though I love the work of Edgar Payne and Birger Sandzen too. Colour is my own credo and this massive hardback gives plenty. I'd heard of Redfield, Folinsbee and Lathrop but not of Kenneth Nunamaker or Clarence Johnson. The book is bursting with snowscenes like Nunamaker's "Winter Fog" a minimalist view of a sluggish river in slate greys, olive greens and navy blues. Amongst the numerous colour plates, the oils in some of the Redpaths and Coppedges seem to ooze off the page and are visually edible. The potted biographies and wee articles on the many artists are by different experts and I shall be dipping into this beezer of a book time and again. The American impressionists started up slightly after the European school but I think their work is more realistic, darker, and maybe more realistic with reference to mankind in the works I've seen. I'm also a keen viewer of the Canadian Group of Seven, that's me - an old reactionary!

If you like this you'll like: J. Driscoll and A. Skolnick: The Artist and the American Landscape published by First Glance Books, Cobb, Cal. 1998 and

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection published by McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd., Ontario paperback 1989.

I do hope you can put this in your review pages as I so enjoy having this book: I'm in remission from bone cancer and, while I'm able to drive again, am unable to travel abroad and see these paintings at first hand.

Fiona Ross

This is one of those books, that having read it once you can't forget it and it changes the way you see the world. Naessens life and theories are fascinating. Having read "World Without Cancer" I was not surprised by his being punished for curing cancer rather than getting a hero's welcome. It makes you wonder just how many cures are out there, being suppressed because it contradicts the powerful people's views of what can and cannot exist or how things work.

Just for the curious, there is a microscope out there now, the Ergonom 400 that comes close to what Naessen's did and will show the somatids that he saw.

The fact that that this is not available in print says a lot. It is extremely enlightening regarding the intellectual ignorance of our medical profession. The concept of increasing the ability of the immune system to heal the body should be number one on every medical checklist for every patient. Jason Winter's herbal tea contains numerous blood purifiers that purport to work toward the same end; blood purification to increase the ability of the immune system to heal the bodily malfunction. This is a total change in disease paradigm which could possibly put a lot of our medical profession on welfare, in addition to saving individuals from the cut, burn and poison paradigm.

Of all the important investigation that Christopher Bird performed during his career, The Life and Trials of Gaston Naessens is probably his most important work. I first became aware of Bird's book in 1990, and I have bought numerous copies over the years to give them to cancer and AIDS patients. His book is not a monumental piece of scholarship, but it tells one more story about what happens to medical pioneers. I have taken Bird's work much further, and I write at length about Naessens and the professional lineage that he is a marvelous part of. The story of Naessens work is probably the most important one in medicine today.

I have read "The Cancer Cure That Worked" by Barry Lymes which is the story of Dr. Royal R. Rife's work. Barry was assisted by Dr. Rife's partner, John Crane of San Diego. I spent a couple of afternoons with Mr. Crane in 1990, before he pased away. Because Mr. Crane was acting as a co-author the book is very accurate as to the actual truth and history of the events. Dr. Rife did have a technology that worked and was verified by the Medical Staff at University of Southern California, L.A. Dr. Milburn Johnson, the then Chief of the USC Medical Staff and President of the Los Angeles Medical Association rented the Scripps Ranch at La Jolla, California, where they were successful in curing, within 70 days, 18 terminally ill cancer patients - 100% cure rate! All with no side effects! They were then able to build approximately 20 "Rife Ray Beam" machines and Drs. were using them very succesfully, in fact, too successfully, until the persecution of Rife and his associates quashed the project and technology for a while. THIS BOOK IS ONE EVERY HUMAN ON THE PLANET SHOULD READ BECAUSE THE TECNOLOGY CURED NOT ONLY THE CANCER BUT OTHER PROBLEMS THE PATIENTS HAD. ANOTHER BOOK THAT IS A MUST is "The Secret of Life" by Georges Lakovsky, who used the same technology, but a different design of a machine he called "The Multiwave Oscillator" He also experienced very simalar successes as Dr. Rife. Mr. Lakovsky's book contains "before" and "after" photos. He was from Russia and did his work in France. Mr. Lakovsky was merely murdered, when he came to New York, to squash his technology. However, both technologies are available via the underground and I have personally used Rife's and witnessed it to cure cancer, epstien barr, clogging of the heart arteries, to correct eyesight,toothache and other ailments. A similar technology is explained in Hulda Clark's book "Curing All Diseases" I'm sure Mr. Bird's Book about Mr. Naessens should also be on the "must" list. ALL OF THESE BOOKS ARE A MUST FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT CURING SO CALLED "TERMINAL DISEASES."

I bought this book years ago when it was published in Canada under the title of THE GALILEO OF THE MICROSCOPE. I have met the late Chris Bird several times. This recreation of the trial of Gaston Naessens for Murder One is absolutely fascinating and a great read. I have a video of what Naessens sees in the live blood under his darkfield microscope. I have lent it a number of times to people with terminal illness who eventually contacted Naessens and now are completely healthy. This is a very important book about a living legend.---Phil Ratte' 61 going on 36

Stephen Grant has written a wonderfully readable account of an exceptional personality. As an Africanist I was especially interested in Peter Strickland's activities on Goree island--he was a merchant there before becoming the first U.S. consul to Senegal, an unpaid position he held from 1883-1905--but other aspects of his life are equally interesting. His concern for common sailors in the merchant marine, for example, led him to publish a book to enlighten the public on their mistreatment.

Strickland kept a diary most of his life, and the author includes many excerpts to give us a flavor of his ideas in the context of his times. Along with a discussion of the primary sources on Strickland's life, he leaves us with the intriguing thought that some volumes of Strickland's diary are missing and could still turn up. If they do, they might add some details to his life, but they won't change the picture Stephen Grant has given us of a unique individual

Stephen H. Grant's Peter Strickland. New England Shipmaster, Boston Merchant, and First Consul to Senegal gives us an engaging read and a fresh historical source for the little explored relations between the United States and West Africa during the last half of the nineteenth century. Born in New London, Connecticut in 1837, Peter Strickland first went to sea in 1857,as a nineteen year old man. Later a sea captain and merchant, Strickland served as U. S. consul to Gorée-Dakar Senegal from 1883-1906. He retired to his home in Dorchester, Massachusetts where until his death in 1921, he continued an active life as head of family, concerned citizen, and staunch advocate of the welfare of seamen and of Unites States commercial relations with West Africa. His career as consul is of interest to historians of Africa in its insights into late nineteenth century commerce along the coast from Senegal to Sierra Leone and the impact upon the United States' role of the onset of French colonialism. Through his consular dispatches, correspondence and a journal spanning twenty-five years, he documents the primary imports and exports of Senegal to the U. S., but also the business and social relations among those serving European and American interests from Gorée and Dakar. His knowledgeable and literate dispatches were widely shared within the U. S. Department of State.

Grant's account is objective yet sympathetic to his subject. He reveals a hard-working man, who managed to survive as an entrepreneur despite receiving no salary as consul, despite competition from the colonial powers taking over West Africa, and despite personal tragedy in a troubled marriage and the death of his oldest son by drowning in 1888 as he served as Vice Consul to his father. Strickland survived his wife and three children and was survived by his daughter Mary who was his closest companion in both Africa and in his retirement. He was typical of his generation in holding dismissive views of women and of Black Africans. He regretted the decline of U. S. commercial interest in Africa and through his correspondence and articles argued ahead of his time for a greater U.S. awareness of and interest in Africa and other regions beyond North America--his was an early voice of internationalism. To the end of his life, his journal gives at times poignant witness to a family man who worried about finances in retirement, who kept up his knowledge of commerce and personnel in West Africa, and who felt deeply the passing of his peers. Although modest, Strickland valued his record and spent two years in 1913 and 1914 recopying his journal for posterity.

The story of how this biography came to be is a 21st- century parallel of American Senegalese interaction. A retired foreign service officer himself, Stephen H. Grant served as a USAID administrator in Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire among other postings in Africa, Asia, and Central America. As a hobby, Grant collected and published books about vintage postcards on Guinea, Indonesia, and El Salvador. A postmarked envelope from 1889 addressed to Capt. Peter Strickland, U. S. consul, Gorée, West Africa" acquired on eBay led him to pursue Strickland's biography. The preface to the work invites the reader to follow an entertaining path of historical investigation through archival and genealogical research and the discovery of his own family's involvement in the residence Strickland used while consul. Reminiscent at times of Patrick O'Brian's seafaring novels, this highly recommended work has the special merit of giving us the voice of a real person from those distant times.

Steve Grant's biography is a little gem. The preface tells of the author's search for his subject and reads with the pace and surprise of a treasure hunt. Grant has a special gift for writing history, perhaps especially biography. His eye for detail also sees his subject in the round and in all the colors of his time and setting. Grant's evocation of the Isle of Goree, by its nature a timeless spot as I (and least one other reviewer) have known it, is classic. Grant's style is exact yet zesty, allowing not a word in excess. The author and his subject share both New England origins and an African destination with a century in between. The result is a keen and affecting portrait of a Yankee shipmaster and merchant, who became the first U.S. consul to French West Africa. The volume is amply illustrated and expertly produced. I strongly recommend it.

The previous reviews and book description cover this fine book quite well. What I can add is: I was interested in this book because I lived for about three years in Dakar, facing the Island of Goree where Peter Strickland's career as first US Consul to Senegal unfolded. Not only did I find the book provided interesting insights into the life and times of the period (late 19th-early 20th century) and the talented, hard-working, somewhat strait-laced sea-captain/diplomat/merchant/writer who was Strickland. But, it was also an entertaining, lively read. I do not remember reading anything that brings to life this period and the reality of living both in West Africa and in New England so well. To think that it all came about because the author (a veteran diplomat) happened to acquire an envelope addressed to Strickland in an on-line auction (E-Bay) is quite an amazing story in itself. After acquiring the envelope addressed to Strickland, one thing led to another until his research, which is so well described as well in a lively, fascinating manner, resulted in this wonderful biography.

Child of New England, sailor on the high seas, merchant, consul to Senegal, author and memoirist - these are just some of the varied and fascinating aspects of Peter Strickland's life, as detailed in Stephen Grant's engaging story about a Victorian-era shipmaster who spent more than twenty years of his life living on Gorée, an African island fraught with the tragic history of the slave trade.

Grant not only tells a good tale, but he has made excellent use of a significant trove of historical materials in doing so, conducting extensive research on two continents, examining volumes of archival records and poring over Strickland's six decades of personal journals. Through this respected writer, the story of a man who started out as a cabin boy and came to represent the United States in an important outpost overseas is made both entertaining and informative. I highly recommend it to anybody interested in the era and in the twists and turns one's life can take.

This book, even in the oldest version, covers all the basics for every player position as well as just about any situation you would confront during a game. No tricks, just solid information. I have purchased about two dozen of these for coaches and players who glanced through the book and simply had to have a copy of their own. I've bought other baseball coaching books, but they stay on the shelf. This book is especially good if you're coaching for the first time or have been away from the game for a few years.

and especially for coaches of younger players. This book reviews lots of fundamentals and is written in a pretty straight-forward, easy to read manner. It is not for the college level player, but anyone below that will find at least 1 pearl here worth remembering.

I HAVE READ A DOZEN INSTRUCTIONAL BOOKS ON THE GAME OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, AND THIS ONE ALONG WITH MR.CLUCK'S OTHER BOOKS, WAS A SURE PERFECT GAME. I AM A PROUD OWNER OF A BOOK HE WROTE ON BASERUNNING. I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO DISCOVER THIS ONE AND SUGGEST THAT IT SHOULD BE DISPLAYED ON YOUR BOOKSHELF NEXT TO YOUR COPY OF HOW TO HIT/HOW TO PITCH.

I saw this book mentioned in my favorite column in the l.a. times sports section. I thought i would check it out and it is awesome. I had heard about the San Diego School of Baseball, but i never had the chance to attend and now i feel i have a second chance. This book is excellent for anyone interested in playing, coaching or even just watching the game.

My nephew was having trouble keeping up with the league he was in. After a few weeks reading and working with this lifesaving book he is amuch better player, most of all his self esteem! Now he is such a HAPPY GUY! Now our whole league is using this as their Bible for the game Thank you

It is what I ordered I guess. The book does have some intersting statements. Buy it if you know this is the book your looking for.

HPB is a pioneer in illuminating the spiritual and mystical themes behind the everyday sacred and profane. A stunning accomplishment for it's time and for today!

Publisher's note:

"The Voice of the Silence was the last major work to come from the pen of H.P. Blavatsky before her death in 1891. It is also one of her most important writings, being a guidebook for those dedicated to achieving enlightenment through atruistic service to humanity."

It may well take years to comprehend the profound wisdom contained in this sacred book. The Voice of the Silence was and is intended for daily use in meditation by disciples and students of the spirit, not for intellectual study!

It would be a good idea to be well versed in Buddhism and esoterism before venturing with this book (try reading Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine & Isis Unveiled first, and the works of Rudolf Steiner and Samael Aun Weor etc).
It might also help to be well versed in self-knowledge as well.

It is divided into three sections:
1) The Voice of the Silence
2) The Two Paths
3) The Seven Portals

This hand-sized Centenary Edition contains a three-part glossary, an index and an introduction including excerpts from mysterious letters by Blavatsky and others from the time when The Voice of the Silence was written.

"I believe that this book has strongly influenced many sincere seekers and aspirants to the wisdom and compassion of the Bodhisattva Path."
-His Holiness, The Dalai Lama

After Madam Blavatsky reintroduced the esoteric, perennial, spiritual wisdom back into mainstream western consciousness, she realized that there were two very different types of seekers who would make use of such knowledge. There were those who would seek it for personal power and selfish benefit, and those who would seek it to attempt to educate and liberate all of humanity. The difference between these paths was transcendence of the personal ego to reach the realm of the Higher Self. This book was an attempt to see that her gift of esoteric knowledge would not be passed unquestioned and unchallenged to those who were not fit to receive it.

The first thing that strikes the reader familiar with _Isis Unveiled_ and _The Secret Doctrine_ is the Buddhist emphasis of this volume. While it is based on the same archaic sources as the other works (some of which are pre-Buddhist in origin) it is the true Buddhist path of the heart that clearly shines through again and again. In fact, you have the admonishment: "But even ignorance is better than Head-learning, with no Soul-wisdom to illuminate and guide it." The Soul-wisdom is clearly present here on every page. This depth of understanding of the highest form of Buddhist thought is indeed remarkable for a book written in the 1880's by a westerner. In writing this book the Madam ensured that the spirit of true enlightenment would forever be welded to the Theosophical movement.

This particular edition is a verbatim copy of the original of 1889. As carefully as Madam Blavatsky chose her words, it would be unthinkable to edit them to be more "accessible" to a modern audience. If the reader has difficulty with the technical Sanskrit terms there are detailed glossaries included for all three sections.

This book is an authentic treatise about the many stages upon the ancient, universal initiatic path into the mysteries.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama recommends this arcane book on the back cover of the book itself.
This book can be easily misunderstood or not understood at all. What one needs is the keys of the path, the factors of the revolution of the consciousness. Otherwise, how can we listen to the "VOICE OF THE SILENCE". It is the Voice, the Verb, the LOGOS, the supra-Monad... We need the steps in order to do the "Will of the Father", here, as it is in heaven.
We must read and re-read and meditate on this book. It is profound, exact and terribly magical!
gnosticinstitute.org

Hollander puts the selective moral outrage and selective acceptance of evidence of the Left on parade as he follows these blinkered one's through the various Potemkin Villages of the Totalitarians, from the October revolution forward into most of the 20th century. Smug arrogance knows no political party or religious faith, no gender, race or sexual preference, it seems to be evenly spread among us. In this instance the highly developed capacity for self-deception of the Left is on trial and an amusing trial at that. Their tortured explanations of the intellectually unexplainable are a fictive of mankind's marvelous ability "to transform things to the liking of his desires".

Like all those who are "blowin' in the wind", these intellectual hard heads do not seek truth, but instead to validate their worldview. This book is a study of intellectuals, estrangement and its consequences.

Hollander hits an important nail on its head. Many members of the intellectual left have a horrible track record of either excusing or turning a blind eye to the brutality of socialist dictators. As such, many twentieth century leftists served as apologists for evil socialist dictators. Of course, these same people have no difficulty finding fault with the US and UK. No problem in the West is too small to warrant condemnation in their eyes.

The sad truth is that the vision of an egalitarian society has been romanticized and popularized. Even today there are some who defend and even promote the USSR. Hollander counters this nonsense with evidence. Unfortunately, there are still some ideologues to whom evidence means nothing. We need more scholars like Hollander.

Political Pilgrims is the amazing story of how Western intellectuals embraced Marxist tyrants at the very moment their colleagues were rotting in prison cells, and the common people everyone claimed to be concerned for, were starving. The book relates how cultural and religious leaders from the West, including familiar names, visited the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, and other communist countries, and told the most appalling lies to flatter their hosts and express their contempt for Western society. It is quite an education, as another reviewer put it. Marx's revolutionary myth dominated history for the better part of the 20th Century, and if we are serious about not repeating the errors of that period, this book should be a part of our education. The short story Buddha's Smile in Solzhenitsyn's masterpiece, The First Circle, brilliantly tells the same story, from the point of view of Soviet prisoners. Lewis Feuer's Marx and the Intellectuals compares Marx and Engels themselves with the kind of people Hollander is describing. I also recommend the writings of the Rumanian philosopher, pastor, and former prisoner, Richard Wurmbrand.

Hollander retells George Keenan's story of a Norwegian radical who, when asked what country he most admired, said, "Albania." Keenan noted that the student obviously knew nothing of Albania, but chose that country "simply because it seems to be a club with a particularly sharp nail at the end of it with which to beat one's own society."

The same reactionary psychology has, it seems to me, been transferred in our day to an uncritical and naive attraction towards what is (simplistically) called "eastern religion." One could write an even longer book about how Westerners project their fantasies on monist ideologies: people like Joseph Campbell and Karen Armstrong "explaining" human sacrifice, the Theosophical Society standing up for caste, Arthur C. Clarke (Did he know much more of Asian history than the Albanian radical knew of Albania?) describing Buddhism as "the only faith that never became stained with blood." Even Hollander allowed that, "While the suspension of disbelief has its place in human life, it belongs more to the religious (or asthetic) than the political realm." But his book should be read, in my opinion, as a warning against all forms of ideological naivite. A love of truth, and a determination to tell it no matter how out of fashion it may seem, is essential to integrity in all walks of life. Political Pilgrims vividly illustrates, in the political realm, the evil that can be done when honesty plays second fiddle to fashion.....

This is an awesome book which helps the reader understand why intellectuals always seem to be on the wrong side of history. They loved Communism even when it was obvious that Lenin & Stalin were exterminating hoards of people! They are defective in their thinking and they stick to it. The author has a quote at the beginning of the book. "A GREAT DEAL OF INTELLEGENCE CAN BE INVESTED IN IGNORANCE WHEN THE NEED FOR ILLUSION IS DEEP." (Saul Bellows) . This book walks you through the 'needs' that these intellectuals seem to have which continually seems to cause them to deny the stark realities around them & cling to their 'ideologies'. I am so glad I read this book as I just laugh now when I hear so much of what is on the news. I GET IT!

25 years ago, "Political Pilgrims" documented beyond any doubt the willing self-deception of intellectuals in love with the totalitarian regimes in Cuba, China, the Soviet Union and East Germany. The debate no longer rages over whether these countries were "freer" than their counterparts in the West. They aren't. What hasn't changed, however, is the continued willingness of intellectuals to find paradise anywhere but in the US.

Paul Hollander brings his trademark meticulousness to the study of Intellectuals who travel to what used to be referred to as Worker's Paradises. Using mountains of evidence, one cannot help but be persuaded that Western Intellectuals experience such a depth of alienation from their cultural birthplace, that they become morally blind to the abuses of its antagonists.

What's truly remarkable, is that none of this has changed. One merely needs to point to Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 and it's grotesque representation of Hussein's Iraq as an innocently peaceful place of playful children and mothers. At no point in that execrable movie does he mention the mass graves or torture chambers.

Michael, post your wish list on Amazon and I'll send you this book. Promise.

This course gave me what others failed to. I felt that the author was always with me, informing, guiding, anticipating my problems and providing answers. Dr Cook must be a very good teacher!
You can go as far as you want, use the first units just to get by or go through the whole book. You can stop where you want and still have learned something. Pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary are very clearly explained. I strongly recommend this course to anyone who wants to learn Portuguese, for Brazil, Portugal, and some countries in Africa or anywhere else where the language is spoken.

There are several reasons why I really like about this course: the method (you build up your knowledge of the language step by step); the authentic dialogues; the grammar notes and verb conjugation tables; the cultural points; and the letter writing. The course is lively, fun, and very efficient. The audio is good, at the right speed for the learner. The book also has lots of exercises with a key, another very good feature. I bought this course after having bought Portuguese Living Language (ISBN 1400020239) and I am using both. I think they make good partners.

My fiancé and I visited Portugal this year for a semester. Since neither of us spoke the language we decided to purchase a teach yourself course. Having reviewed all the available material, we found the above book and audio package to be the best value. Best because it also covers Portuguese as spoken in Brazil; our next target.

What appealed to us about the book was the modern day approach which the author adopted. Its flexibility by allowing us to go as far into a topic as we wished. That the same book would serve us equally as well when we visited Brazil. Also and the number of different topics covered.

Quite naturally, when you are a beginner, grammar can be the biggest obstacle. No problem here. The grammar is presented in small amounts, each piece being targeted to your progress.

Dialogues used in the book to demonstrate model sentences use expressions which can be found in everyday situations. In fact, they too have been pitched to cater for your confidence in using the grammar.

Equally the vocabulary used is very realistic and typical of everyday use. We particularly liked the vocabulary lists at the back of the book for quick reference of Portuguese to English and vice versa.

The range of topics to was invaluable. In the early stages of our visit we pointed to the phrase or sentence in the book to get what we wanted but as we read and immersed ourselves in the environment we spoke more.

You would have thought that because of the environment we were in, the audio assistance would not have been used so much. Not true, we found it very useful, particularly when we refer to our next target of Brazil. Having the ability to relate the daily Portuguese we heard to the audio aid and then relating it to Portuguese as spoken in Brazil made us feel comfortable over a next venture. There is little doubt, however, that we shall take our `Flexible friend' with us.

Fun, easy and very efficient. Excellent audio, slow enough for a beginner, excellent dialogues with the kind of words and structures you need in a foreign country. The language is explained in a way that makes it easy to understand. There are absolutely lots of exercises to practice what you are learning. This is a course I strongly recommend.

If more than five stars were available, I would give them to this course. Some courses specifically for Brazilian or European Portuguese teach you local expressions and colloquialisms that make learning harder for people like me who want to use the language on both sides of the Atlantic. After struggling with a couple of such courses, I was fortunate to find this one. In this course the starting point is the common ground between Brazilian and European Portuguese. The differences are then explained and you can pick what you need depending where you want to use the language.

I bought this course last year and have gone through most of it. So far, I have used what I am learning in Brazil, Portugal and Angola. When I spoke Portuguese in these countries, it was a fantastic feeling to see that I was actually understood. The accompanying audio gives you different voices, which also helps with the various accents even within Brazil (they sound quite different in the north and in the south).

Another feature I particularly like in this course is that it is very communicative. Everything you learn can be used straight away, in authentic situations: formalities on arrival, finding the way, hiring a car, hotel and other accommodation, food, shopping, health, meeting people socially or for business, and a lot more. This course is a superb buy.

Ernest H. Christman was an eye doctor whose son had reading problems. Dr. Christman knew that his son did not have eye problems so he searched for a solution to his son's reading problem. He developed his comprehensive phonics method in order to help his own son. The book is full of hard-to-find linguistic information. The teaching of reading is divided into easy to teach steps. The charming stories written for each step are perhaps the best docodable text available anywhere. I highly recommend this excellent textbook to anyone. It can be used as a stand-alone reading program - or because of its advanced phonics information - as a followup to other programs. I use it often with my tutoring students. Donald Potter, Odessa, TX.

Using this method, I have successfully taught my 5 year old twins reading on level one in a homeschool setting. WOW! A great reading program in one book! Thanks, Dr. Christman!

I've been a volunteer phonics tutor for 10 years. This is my favorite book to use. I've also developed my own phonics lessons and games, but I reach for this book often to review areas my students are stuggling with. It's well laid out and teaches all the phonics rules and principles you need to know in an orderly fashion.

This is an excellent book from a primary teacher's perspective. I read it during my first year of teaching and refer to it often. It gives all the rules for phonics that we learned as a child, but may have forgotten. I made flash cards with the word lists and use them with my students. It is a very common sense, no frills approach to reading. This is my 9th year of teaching and I know that it has equipped me to be a much better reading teacher.

Simple, to the point. This is a very well organized,easy to use book for parents who want to help their children learn to read using the phonics method.