King Books

Quite some time ago one my my accidental mentors, John Koessler (God Our Father) told a classroom full of future pastors to read at least one preaching book every year.
Having found this one, I took it's format as a sort of modified devotional and powered through it in just a few weeks. I could have read it in one afternoon but I found it pithy enough to cause some genuine reflection on my own preaching.
True to it's name, the layout of the book is not a well developed or convoluted argument. Rather it is a collection of 42 brief (1 paragraph to one page) preaching aphorisms. Here are a few very brief sentences culled out for my own benefit.
* The pulpit is no place for borrowed blessings.
* "You can never make a sermon what it ought to be," said Phillips Brooks, "if you consider it alone. The service that accompanies it, the prayer and praise, must have their influence upon it"
* When the pilot does not know what port he is heading for, no wind is the right wind; and when the preacher does not know what he is trying to accomplish in his message, no service is a good service.
* Are you preaching because you have to say something, or because you have something to say?

Some books which read this quickly are like soup broth - they might taste good but they won't fill you up at all. This one rates as a wonderfully balanced stew. It's a quick read and yet it's definitely got a fair bit of meat in it. This one will end up on my reading list more than once.

If you are a preacher, buy this book!! I plan on reading it once a year. It helps you look at your preaching more objectively, and will be helpful whether you've been preaching 1 year or 71 years!

THis is an excellent book to give to a new pastor to read. It is also an excellent book for veteran pastors to review over and over. Wiersbe keeps the focus of the pastor on the essentials of good, solid Biblical preaching. Easy to read and full of good reminders and advice.

This book is a must for anyone interested in preaching and having people listen. The author has packed all the do's and don'ts in without wasting words. The book can be read and understood in a few hours so that you can begin to use the information immediately and it is information that you will want to use. I highly recommend this book to anyone from the soapbox preacher to the mega-church pastor.

This is one of a very small number of esoteric rune books that contain credible researched information about the runes and their history. King is a Heathen and writes with great respect for the Northern traditions. Unlike the majority of New-Age authors, he has gone to the academic sources.

The first half of the book covers the historical information in quite a bit of depth. The second half covers practical techniques of divination and other uses. Although the very last chapters are necessarily speculative, he makes no unfounded claims about historical rune use.

I would recommend this as one of the few books I would give as an introduction to someone interested in learning about the esoteric side of the runes.

Sweyn
The Rune Primer

This book is a really great guide for a person just begining to learn about rune magic and some of the history of the runes. It futher explains the runes and their meaning and how to cast them .

This is one of the better modern books on runes. It's historically accurate and also covers the esoteric uses of runes quite well. I recommend it for beginners, and for those who have already gained a good knowledge of runes.

This is one of the first books about the runes I ever read. I am really pleased to see that it has been re-released, as it was out of print when I first read it. King has a wonderful sense of humour, and provides a strong basis for building upon, in addition to sparking interest in the faith of Asatru and the myths of the North. This is a definate must have for anyone starting on the runic journey.

I cannot write a review as I have not received my order yet. the order was shipped on january 30, with estimate arrival date March 08. My tracking number is GM01088134011894499. I tried your link WHERES MY STUFF but got nowhere.My credit card has alçready been charged with this item.Please advise if another arrival estimate. Thnk you

have actually not been able to start reading but know by title, will be great. thanks.

Wonderful telling of the life of the last true Habsburg emperor. Although the author allows you to be sympathetic to Francis Joseph, he makes no excuses for his shortcomings as emperor as well. I bought this book as a guide for an upcoming trip to Austria and eastern Europe. It not only made me look forward to my trip but with the historical events that I got from this book in mind, I had a deeper perspective of the many sights that I visited on my trip. An fascinating read.

I found this novel to be an accurate novel of the last 100 years of the Hapsburg Dynasty and their trials, family sorrows and the effects of their autocratic power upon the people they governed throughout the late 19th and early 20th century. While i believe at times the Emperor felt he was ruling in the best interests of his loyal subjects that remains to be seen in the last part of the 19th century and of course leading up to that fateful day in June at Sarajavo when Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were murdered by an Anachists Bomb and set the tone for the debacle of World War I which of course destroyed the last remaining vestiges of European Autocracy and Dynastic inheritance. While i do favor people having a say in how they are governed it seems that when the monachy is overthrown as in Imperial Russia; the individuals that take over the rule are far worse than their "Annointed Predecessors" . After all the gulags of Josef Stalin were far worse than any "fortress" of the Tsars.

Sadly, this work is out of print. But if you can find a copy, it is well worth your time, particularly if you enjoy epic poetry. While it is not equal to Homer, Virgil, or Ovid, Emperor Shaka the Great: A Zulu Epic is easily superior to such works as The Song of Roland or The Nibelungenlied, and it deserves a much wider audience.

The introduction provides an informative summary of Shaka's life, ambitions, military innovations, and political achievements. It also provides a brief discussion of the Zulu oral tradition in transmitting stories. Unfortunately, the introduction lacks a technical discussion of Zulu poetry. For example, we don't know how the original epics were constructed. Where they songs, rhyming couplets, blank metered verse, or what? It would have been nice to learn how the stories were structured in their original language, how Kunene rendered them into Zulu, and what challenges the he had in translating them to English.

The story itself covers Shaka's entire life, including the prophecy of his birth and rise to greatness; his illegitimate birth; his lonely childhood in exile; his rise as a creative and innovative soldier; his eventual kingship; his numerous battles to rid his lands of outlaws, to build an empire, and to stabilize Zululand; his dealings with white settlers; his internal struggles with jealous familial rivals; and his tragic assassination.

Kunene's language is superb. It is artful, colorful, and lively. The imagery is always strong, and the characters are vivid and memorable. Kunene is as his finest when he meditates on the nature of ambition, power, obligation, and doubt. These reflections on human nature are what elevate the poem from a cultural artifact to a story of universal importance. Kunene really knows his craft. Like all good writers, he shows us that people have the same cares and motivations everywhere, regardless of time, place, and culture.

There is one thing I didn't like. This is where my cultural bias comes in. To me, the work suffers considerably from its frequent "praise poems." Hardly a page goes by where someone isn't "singing Shaka's epics" or "reciting poems of Shaka's excellence." They add little to the work, except to emphasize their importance to Zulu culture. Perhaps sensing how they bog down the story, Kunene's introduction mentions that praise poems are an essential part of Zulu culture, and their inclusion was necessary to preserve the flavor of the original Zulu oral epics. He also points out that he edited them liberally to make them more accessible to Western readers. Be that as it may, the praise poems easily add 100 pages of filler without greatly enhancing the story. If you find yourself skimming through them, don't worry. You won't miss much. I read all of them carefully, thinking some of them were important to the story. Only a few were, and they were near the end of the book.

A pronunciation guide of some of the key names and places would have been nice, too. I don't know about you, but my pronunciation of Zulu names is a bit rusty...

Even so, this is a marvelous work. It is worth reading simply for the poetic language and the razor-sharp insights into human nature. The bonus is that Shaka is a character worthy of an epic. He was a titan among men. When you read his story, you get a great sense of what the Zulu civilization was like at its peak, under a brilliant, ambitious, and charismatic leader. Read it, and learn why the Zulus still sing Shaka's praises.

Mazisi Kunene's penchant for history is alive in this collection. As a scholar of Zulu literature, it is no surprise that Kunene is able to present the story/legend of Shaka in poetic language that is both engaging and skillfully constructed. Also, Kunene's brilliant execution of folklore, myths, images and metaphors affords the reader a rare opportunity of experiencing his virtuoso and visionary commitment. Inspiring!!
--Dike Festus Okoro
Milwaukee, WI USA

Mazisi Kunene, the great Zulu Poet, relates the story of Emperor Shaka from various oral sources. This is an excellent read and very enlightening account of the Shakan times.

This book is unique among many others in African history. This is the story of Shaka translated directly from Zulu oral history into English. I felt as if I were in the time of Shaka in a way that I never felt from reading other histories of Africa. This book made me realized that my perception of Africa needed looking into. I always approached books about African history as if I were going to a place and time that is inherently alien. Then I read "Shaka," and because it was the current events, or at least recent history, to the historians of the day, the events and characters are reported as the stories of men and women, and I realized that I was not reading "African" history -- I was reading World history, and there is only one history.

This story stands shoulder-to-shoulder with other great first-hand accounts of history and warfare for military accuracy (not that I've attempted to re-trace the route of Shaka's campaigns for accuracy!): the Pelopennesian War, the Punic Wars, the campaigns of Napoleon.

This history, insofar as it is verbal and just happened to be transcribed, is also a very long poem, and the instances of poetic adornment are many, but bear them! for they are as much a part of the story as what they describe. And don't skip over the reflections on the application of the power of the king and political philosophy. For the non-African, these are essential to beginning to understand African (or at least Zulu) aesthetics and philosophy.

A must-read (not just a must-OWN, by the way) for the casual student or scholar of history, African or otherwise.

I am both a children's librarian and an instructor for a children's program about knights and knighthood. Whenever a young person approaches me about joining the program and becoming a knight, I tell them to first read this book. It is a fine "boy book" as well, especially for those who look to the knights of the past for adventure and inspiration.

You don't have to be Christian to enjoy this book, but if you are, you will especially appreciate the message. The knight sets out to serve his king, and gives everything of himself to help those along his journey. By the time he reaches the castle, he is so old and worn out, he is no more than a "heap of tattered rags". Despite his fellow knights' mockery, the king recognizes him as his noble servant and has him brought to his very own chambers. Although the knight worries that he has failed him,the king responds, "Did you not know that every time you helped one of my people, you were my own true and faithful knight?"
The illustrations are realistic and detailed. They really hold the kids' attention. My son(6), daughters(4,2), and I all love this book!

The first line of this extraordinary book caught my attention and sent my imagination soaring. "Once long ago, when the year was greening with spring, a brave knight was called to serve his King." Soon after that opening line it was the illustrations that reached out, grabbed me, and pulled me on into this charming story of a knight who only wanted to do the bidding of his King.

When he first received the call to serve his King, the knight immediately set out on his journey to the castle riding his fastest horse. He had a pair of golden spurs the King had sent to him and a firm resolve in his heart to be the best knight ever. If he had been able to continue his original pace and firm resolve, the knight would have been at the King?s castle in a very short time - but that was not to be. There were many people who needed help along the way, and the knight had a compassionate nature. At first he tried to ignore their pleas for help, but soon found that his kind temperament would not allow that. So, since he was concerned about being an errant knight (disobedient, undisciplined), he was conflicted between what he thought was his duty to his King and his sympathy for strangers.

The knight?s many acts of kindness took him away from his original task, and it took years for him to reach the castle. Along the way he had endured many hardships and had given away most of his possessions to the poor. Upon his arrival he fell in a tattered heap near the drawbridge, and the guards laughed at him as he showed them the golden spurs in his trembling hands.

***** The Errant Knight has a message of love and compassion and a wonderful ending that will please children everywhere. As the story closed the knight thought he had failed his duty to his King, but he soon found that in choosing to follow his heart he had served his King best. The beautiful illustrations in this book add wonderful intensity and are so vivid that they seem to stand out in relief. Many times I caught myself involuntarily reaching my hand out to touch them. This is highly recommended reading! *****

Reviewed by Ruth Wilson

The Errant Knight is a profound and deftly written fantasy story by Ann Tompert of a knight loyal in his duty to his king. On the knight's journey to the castle, he encounters frightened travelers seeking aid and protection. The reluctant warrior wants to resist becoming an "errant knight" who serves others outside the king's command, yet his compassion is too strong to deny those who need him the most. Superbly illustrated and enhanced with the memorable artwork of Doug Keith, The Errant Knight is commended as being a powerful picture book tale for young readers of what it truly means to serve and protect.

EXTRAVAGANZA KING: Robert Barnet and the Boston Musical Theatre
by Anne Alison Barnet (2004, Northeastern University Press, Boston, MA ISBN 1-55553-611-5)
In the 1890s and the 1900s, Robert Barnet brought together Boston Brahmins, Bankers, Bohemians and Billy Dalton to create a series of successful extravaganzas featuring young men of fine families cavorting in female drag to the benefit of Boston’s own First Corps of Cadets and their ambitions for an Armory. Designed by one of their own, the architect William Gibbons Preston, they built, show by show and wall by wall, “a rusticated granite fortress with a six story head-house, a two-hundred-foot long drill hall, and fortress like details: triple doors to defend against mob attack, a drawbridge and a light well that looked like a moat.” The fear of the day was not Islamists, communists, anarchists but immigrants—-especially Irish Catholics.
The author, Ms. Alison Barnet, is the great granddaughter of Robert Barnet, the man whose annual extravaganzas raised the money to complete the bastion of Boston’s Back Bay where, in its quirky glory, it still stands at the corner of Columbus Avenue and Arlington Street. Ms. Barnet writes with elegance and subtle humor. Unlike run-of the-mill biographies of family members, she writes neither to exalt nor vilify. She is removed in time, circumstance and relation from her subject and takes us along as she pieces together the story of a man who was bound to Boston but would have succeeded on Broadway. A number of his shows were staged on Broadway: Excelsior, Jr., Jack and the Beanstalk, Three Little Lambs, Miss Pocahontas, My Lady, Up to Date, Miss Simplicity, The Show Girl or the Magic Cap, 1492 and Tabasco, but even the shows that went no further than Boston were covered by the New York drama critics.
Too often the history of show business and the stage is confined to the goings-on in New York City. Boston was home to the Fox-Howard clan, the birthplace of vaudeville and the stage for all manner of presentations from lecture series to dime store curio museums to classic and contemporary drama. Extravaganza King fills in missing pieces about the history of the American stage, and its appeal should extend well beyond city limits.
The cast members for Mr. Barnet’s extravaganzas were cadets, veterans of Harvard College’s Hasty Pudding shows rather than armed conflicts. Occasionally a ‘ringer’ made his way into the cast. One was Billy Dalton, a young man who liked to dress as a girl and entertain the two-fisted patrons of Butte, Montana’s dance halls. His father banished Billy to Boston, which it must be allowed was not much of a punishment. He entered dancing school where he soon shined, and he was hired to perform in several of Barnet’s extravaganzas. Young master Dalton, encouraged by reviews and applause, changed his name to Julian Eltinge in 1903, went to Manhattan to play musical comedy and vaudeville as a female impersonator and eventually had a Broadway theatre named for him.
Ms. Barnet brings various Boston amateurs and professionals back for a final bow, and traces her great grandfather’s arc of success and eventual decline through the 1910s into 20 years of obscurity.
By sketching the plots and production numbers of various Barnet shows and tracing their incubation and production, Ms Barnet She fills a void that statistics cannot. This is a wryly told and useful book for theatre buffs.

Extravaganza King: Robert Barnet And Boston Musical Theater by Anne Alison Barnet (writer, researcher, public speaker, and the great-grandaughter of Robert Barnet) is the biographical story of a remarkable man and which will bring him out of an undeserved obscurity by documenting his singular accomplishments and contributions to the history of American musical theatre. Robert Barnet (1853-1933) was a successful sugar merchant who wrote and directed incredibly popular musical theatricals for the First Corps of Cadets, a volunteer militia of young, upper-class Boston businessmen seeking money for an armory to use in defense against feared immigrant revolts or riots. In a tradition reminiscent of Shakespeare, men played all the roles, and Barnet himself was known to take upon the role of Queen Isabella of Spain in "1492", his most famous work. Black-and-white photographs, a wealth of information from scrapbooks and family memorabilia, extensive research and more follow Barnet's spectacular successes, and eventual enduring failures, when he moved in 1908 to New York City but was unable to adapt his talents to people's changing tastes in musical entertainment. A lively and fascinating true tale.

This is a funny book about an almost forgotten form of entertainment. It's hard to imagine the current governor of Massachusetts attending live entertainment featuring men dressed as women, but that's what happened more than 100 years ago. Nor is it typical to associate the Victorian era with men dressed in drag. In addition to being a readable and amusing account of theatrical events, Barnet's book is a terrific look at the people and places of Boston's past.

This isn't a topic I would normally be interested in but Ms Barnet writes so engagingly that I couldn't put the book down until I'd read the whole thing. The story of her great-grandfather is like a visit to another time and place. A very interesting time and place. And I loved the way the author's own humor kept shining through the narrative.

Lynn Austin is a wonderful writer who has been able to bring the history of the Bible to life while maintaining true to historical fact. It is amazing how you can visualize the trials and events that shaped the lives of these people from so long ago.

I've been nothing less then impressed with this series since book #1. And after book #4, "Faith of My Fathers," I'm still highly impressed. Taking the story of Manasseh, Lynn Austin seemingly took it, and split it into two parts. And she was quite clever with the delivery. Some might assume that this came to an abrupt ending, leaving the reader clueless. If you know your Bible, there's nothing clueless about it. This is what I'd call the II Kings version of the story. Yet in The Bible, Manasseh's story continues in II Chronicles. And it worked that way with a lot of the kings. In a lot of cases, most of the kings we read about in The Bible concerning The Northern and Southern Kingdoms were split into two different sections, II Kings, and II Chronicles. From Jehoshaphat, to Joash, to Amaziah, to Jotham, to Hezekiah, to Manasseh! ALL THESE KINGS and more were split up into the two sections. Ok, there's the Bible history lesson! What about this story? Read on!

Ahaz, Manasseh's great-grandfather, was one of the most worthless kings in all of the history. And Manasseh wasn't too far behind him. He was the son of one of the greatest kings to ever reign, Hezekiah. If you don't know the whole story and read this, you'll wonder if anything good ever came out of Manasseh. Lynn Austin, being the author, and better yet, the voice of reason, gives Manasseh a reason to be bitter, and to do what he did. But Austin gives Manasseh a childhood friend in Joshua, who's as clumsy as an Ox! His nickname is Ox. But something happens. And from nicknames to nonsense, there is a reason that these two former best friends are now bitter enemies. King Manasseh is nothing but a master of disaster, and he raises hell throughout the land! He has people executed, and he destroys what he father put together. Joshua wants nothing more then to get even.

If you're wondering if some of the things in this are extreme, they are indeed. What's worse, they really happened. But the good news is that certain people didn't forget the faith their fathers held so dear. I think that's where the title comes from. Because when times get so tough, the question is simple. Are we going to run to God, or run away from God? I'd personally suggest not running away from the great Yahweh! But I think when things get tough, you want to be a rebel just as much as Manasseh. But what do you do? Where do you turn? And for the record, by the time THIS story comes to a close, he still has a chip on his shoulder.

But there is one final installment, and it happens to be "Among The Gods." I think it should be pretty good. That's probably going to be Lynn Austin's II Chronicles part of this story. I already know the end, but I can't wait to read her novelization of it! She's a great storyteller. So far, I have yet to be disappointed.

ms austin is the first female author i,ve ever read, but after reading this series on the kings of judah it's completely opened my mind to all writers;the only regret is she didn't continue on with more books in the series.

Faith of my Fathers is the 4th book in Lynn Austin's Chronicles of the Kings series. After King Hezekiah's death, his son Mannasseh becomes king at age 12. Fear grips Mannasseh's heart as he begins to question God as to why his father died when he faithfully served God. Years later, as he goes to visit his mother's grave in the cemetry he comes upon a man who calls himself a "priest" and begins to accuse everything Mannasseh has grown up with and had been taught. The accussations make Mannessah call upon the prophet Isaiah and his palace adminstrator Eliakim--Mannessah's boyhood friend Joshua's father. During their conforntation King Mannessah accuses Eliakim and Isaiah of conspiring aganist him, using Isaiah's own prophecies aganist him. Eventually Eliakim and Isaiah are executed leaving Eliakim's family in great danger. Joshua and Mannasseh, once best friends have become bitter rivals. Joshua must now find a way to flee Mannasseh's terror while keeping his family safe.

I found this book to be the best out of the first four. And since they keep getting better and better I am guessing the fifth and last book to be more amazing! Lynn Austin does a wonderful job depciting the terror of Mannaseh's reign. He is simply insecure and believes everyone is plotting aganist him. Instead of turning to Yahweh he starts turning to the stars, mediums, etc. for answers. He even begins promoting orgies for worship and sets up Asherah poles and places for women to "offer" themselves to the idol goddess. I have never shed a tear in the first 3 books of this series but the beginning of the book when Eliakim and Isaiah were being falsely accussed and then executed drew a tear from me. It's amazing to see how even when confined to the darkness of a prison and facing death the next morning, these two men trusted God to the very end. I also found it exciting to read about Joshua's plans and such for smuggling himself and his family out of the country. Especially near the end he decides to smuggle the ark of the covenant and Mannasseh's brother--Prince Amariah to Eqypt.

With a host of new characters and some old ones as well this is definatly worth the read. I'm looking forward to reading "Among the Gods" and hope Lynn Austin decides to write more biblical fiction in the future. :-)

The Mom's Choice Awards® honors excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. An esteemed panel of judges includes education, media and other experts as well as parents, children, librarians, performing artists, producers, medical and business professionals, authors, scientists and others. A sampling of the panel members includes: Dr. Twila C. Liggett, Ten-time Emmy-winner, professor and founder of Reading Rainbow; Julie Aigner-Clark, Creator of Baby Einstein and The Safe Side Project; Jodee Blanco, New York Times Best-Selling Author; LeAnn Thieman, Motivational speaker and coauthor of seven Chicken Soup For The Soul books; Tara Paterson, Certified Parent Coach, and founder of The Just For Mom Foundation(tm) and the Mom's Choice Awards®. Parents and educators look for the Mom's Choice Awards® seal in selecting quality materials and products for children and families. This book has been honored by this distinguished award.

It answers most of our questions, questions which i was not aware existed. It inspires you to pick it up and read every single day. a must have for every christian family.

It's tough to answer kids questions, as a matter of fact, I have my own questions and when one of them comes into to focus I like to share with the kids. This "Study Bible" lends a hand in the Bible knowledge and discovery process.

Several different aids are available including; When the kids ask. These articles cover tough questions that kids and faith explorers may have. There's good coverage of some serious theological topics that make understanding and answering those questions a little easier and, in that, more easily transferred.

This hard back Bible is large and easy to share with another reader. Articles are colorful and well distinguished for easy reference. Over all, this one has a pleasing layout and feel.

To tell you the truth, "Study Bible" could even be the wrong designation for this one. The helps, guides, and resources are so rich that dozens and hundreds of truths are at or just below the surface. That doesn't mean you won't work hard to dig up the truth but the starting place isn't so hard to find in; The Family Foundations Study Bible: Bringing God's Word Home.

Faith and family will certainly be strengthened with this tool on your family's table and hearts. I wish I'd had this one about ten years ago!

Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (2/07)

There are many study Bibles on the market. This one is geared toward the family. Why? The family as a unit has been weakened by our culture, but through God we can once again strengthen the relationship.

This book has a family tree in the front of it. Throughout the Bible, the relationship with our ancestors is stressed. The genealogy of Christ is listed. The history of our "fathers" Abraham, Jacob, etc. is told over and over again. Our children need to know from whence they come.

There is a page dedicated to marriage and one to births. Several pages are dedicated to signposts of our lives.

The translation used in this Bible is the New King James Version.

"'Family Foundations Study Bible' is designed to help Christian parents apply God's Word to every life situation through its engaging features, notes and devotions." "Learn what it means for your family to be faithful followers of Jesus through lies of Peter, John, Paul and other New Testament disciples. Find answers to the tough questions your children will undoubtedly ask about the world, faith and God."

This Bible helps us to discover what to do in life's struggles. "All the notes and features in this Bible are designed to help you evaluate your situation so that you can take an appropriate course of action."

I have several Bibles that I refer to during study. This one will be added to that list. I wish it had been available when my children were younger, but I will be using it to answer my grandchildren's many and varied questions. I particularly enjoyed the "Firm Foundations." Each "Firm Foundation" has one of six different themes - "Character Building, Faith Focus, Family Legacy, God's Guidance, Home Improvements, and Transitions." I highly recommend "Family Foundations Study Bible" to strengthen the family bond.

Fatherhood 101 is probably one of the finest parenting books I've ever read. The fact that Mike King wrote it from a father's point of view with every day examples of the power of bonding with one's child makes it easy to read, fun to share and a powerful tool for new and experienced parents, alike. Don't be fooled - this book is valuable for moms, aunts, uncles and grandparents as well as new dads. It's about life's most powerful relationships and responsiblity. I have a brand new grandson and have sent a copy to the excited new parents, but I kept a copy for myself, as well. This book should be in the home of anyone interested in sharing strong and loving relationships with those in their lives!

Personal, humerous, chock-full of easily accessed skills,and everyday opportunities, Mike King's book is a pleasure to read and is at the top of my list for ministry with young parents.

The Reverend Saunda E. Thomas

I am about to be a Grandma for the first time. After reviewing the book, I thought it would be an excellent source of information for my son-in-law, as well as my daughter. Having read the book, I am delighted to have the insight for Grandpa and myself as well!

I plan on purchasing copies of this enjoyable, fun to read book for baby showers on an ongoing basis. What better gift for new parents than an easy to read book full of parenting tips that will give a child a wonderful start to a life full of love.

I initially bought this book as a gift for a new father. The title "Fatherhood 101" caught my attention and the concept of nurturing tips for dads intrigued me. I found the book to be a 'quick read,' an "easy read," and an "enjoyable read." It was designed for people whose lives are busy, who need plain facts without an avalanche of technical jargon.
Fatherhood 101 is brimming with pictures, illustrations, highlighted tips, and delightful ancedotes. The book's objective is to lead every father into a loving legacy with his children. In this very honest depiction, it is apparent that the author's personal experiences inspired him to build warm, nurturing relationships with his children. This is a MUST READ for all fathers - and it would also benefit the female side of the equation as well.

This is NOT an adventure story, like "Lord of the Rings" or "the Hobbit"; nor even a compendium of stories and myths, like "the Silmarillion." It is from Tolkien's main work of linguistic study in the Dark Ages, gleaning a bit of insight from a few scraps of language and a lot of guesswork. It is really only for those working in Old English, or the Anglo-Saxon culture, or closely related fields. It is probably very good in that context; I haven't the background to say; but it is nothing like Tolkien's popular works, and anyone looking for something of that sort should seek elsewhere.

Alan Bliss's Introduction to Old English Metre first appeared in justified 12-pitch Courier back in '76 and remains the standard study on the subject. In Finn and Hengest, Bliss is somewhat more than an editor and Tolkien somewhat less than an author. According to Bliss's preface, his having given a paper on the implications of historical comparison between Beowulf and the Finnsburg fragment, he was advised that Tolkien had anticipated his conclusions decades before, and he then proceeded to get permission to edit Tolkien's lecture notes on the topic, which were in various states of development.

What results, though bound to be tough sledding for all but the very most scholarly of readers, is a window on a past that is far more remote from our contemporary situation than imperial Rome or 5th-century Athens, even though less distant in time: namely, the period immediately preceding the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain. This was a time of blood feuds between pagan proto-Viking tribes in the wake of the Roman's empire's all-but-forgotten withdrawal from northern Europe, a time when noble ideals could result in bestial atrocities, from which in turn could result tragedies that Aeschylus might have telescoped for the dramatic stage.

Which is not to say that what emerges from a close reading is presented in this way. These are classroom lecture notes, which assume a working knowledge of Old English and a general knowledge of its surviving written records, literary and prosaic (not that this is a hard-and-fast distinction in the surviving Old English documents from our present-day perspective). Nevertheless, what emerges is none the less affecting for the lack of melodramatic treatment, which would only distort and misrepresent the actual lives that were lived and remembered more than a millennium and a half ago, in the northwest corner of the European mainland which now comprises Denmark, Holland, Belgium and parts of Germany and France; nor do the scholarly technicalities detract from realization of the fragility of our links with people whose struggle for gentility in the midst of savagery differed from our own not in kind but only as a matter of degree.

And yet, if we can find our way to a sense of familial kinship with these stiff-necked, fur-clad barbarians, how should we despair of understanding each other?

For all of you Middle Earth fans, the appendices in "The Lord of the Rings" were just games. This is the real thing.

Tolkien was a heavyweight scholar before he published a word of fiction. In his admittedly narrow academic circle, he was a famous man before ever there was a Hobbit. This book is based on lectures delivered by Tolkien over a period of years. Tolkien being Tolkien, he never got around to publishing them and he never stayed his hand from making changes. They have been deciphered, collated and edited into coherent form by a younger man, Alan Bliss, no mean feat of scholarship in itself.

The Dark Age was not entirely dark, nor were the Germanic barbarians wholly devoid of culture. Beyond a shadow of doubt, they possessed full-scale epics and many shorter heroic songs and lays. Many were gathered together by Alcuin, the great Anglo-Saxon scholar imported into the court of Charlemagne. When the mighty emperor died, he was succeeded by his son, then known as Louis the Debonaire, but more accurately called Louis the Pious by later generations. When Louis came in, out went his father's mistresses and his secular books. "What has Ingeld [an epic hero mentioned in Beowulf] to do with Christ?" asked Alcuin, now an enthusiastic book burner.

In our time, just one full-scale Germanic epic survives, Beowulf--and that clung to life in only a single copy. A pitifully few fragments of another large-scale poem, Waldhere, the epic of Walter of Aquitaine's conflict with his best friend and direst enemy, Hagen the Niblung, were found in the binding of an old book. Tolkien's book deals with a third epic story, the tale of Hengest, a hero who is caught in a particularly nasty moral dilemma. He had not only survived the death in battle of Hnaef, his prince, a dicey enough thing by the standards of his heroic age, but he had reached a truce with the foreign king who had killed Hnaef. The epic question was "What does a noble warrior do next?" The question was so interesting to the warrior society of Germanic barbarism, that two versions of the tale survive. One is a longish poem-within-a-poem quoted in Beowulf and the other is a tiny fragment of the whole epic, the episode that leads up to death of Prince Hnaef.

The tale was obviously so well known that neither the Beowulf poet nor the unknown skald of the Fragment felt it necessary to explain anything. Tolkien's literary goal was to extract as much sense out of his intractable materials as he could and to attempt reconstruction of the original story.

In addition to that, there is a historic question. Heroic epics are not necessarily tall tales of pure fiction. Hygelac, Beowulf's king, is a quite historical character. A contemporary monkish chronicler in Latin fully agrees with the Anglo-Saxon epic poet that Hygelac died in a disastrous raid on the Frisian Islands fairly close to 520 A.D. Beowulf, Hygelac's henchman and successor, heard of Hengest's dilemma as an old story, something from at least two or three generation earlier. Now, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us that one Hengest, who led the wave of Anglo-Saxon invaders and died as King of Kent, landed on British soil in 449 A.D. Were the two Hengests the same man? The times seem to coincide, and there is no other Hengest on surviving record. Could a warrior named Hengest, likely an Angle, so thoroughly have blotted his copybook by outliving his prince that there was no place left for him in German lands? Was he forced to carve out his own new kingdom in Britain?

Read this book and then return to Middle Earth. Compare Tolkien's warrior princes with the originals on whom they were based. Revisit those appendices to "The Lord of the Rings" and compare the caricature of scholarship with the real thing.

For those who can brave the trip, five stars.

Alan Bliss's Introduction to Old English Metre first appeared in justified 12-pitch Courier back in '76 and remains the standard study on the subject. In Finn and Hengest, Bliss is somewhat more than an editor and Tolkien somewhat less than an author. According to Bliss's preface, his having given a paper on the implications of historical comparison between Beowulf and the Finnsburg fragment, he was advised that Tolkien had anticipated his conclusions decades before, and he then proceeded to get permission to edit Tolkien's lecture notes on the topic, which were in various states of development.

What results, though bound to be tough sledding for all but the very most scholarly of readers, is a window on a past that is far more remote from our contemporary situation than imperial Rome or 5th-century Athens, even though less distant in time: namely, the period immediately preceding the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain. This was a time of blood feuds between pagan proto-Viking tribes in the wake of the Roman's empire's all-but-forgotten withdrawal from northern Europe, a time when noble ideals could result in bestial atrocities, from which in turn could result tragedies that Aeschylus might have telescoped for the dramatic stage.

Which is not to say that what emerges from a close reading is presented in this way. These are classroom lecture notes, which assume a working knowledge of Old English and a general knowledge of its surviving written records, literary and prosaic (not that this is a hard-and-fast distinction in the surviving Old English documents from our present-day perspective). Nevertheless, what emerges is none the less affecting for the lack of melodramatic treatment, which would only distort and misrepresent the actual lives that were lived and remembered more than a millennium and a half ago, in the northwest corner of the European mainland which now comprises Denmark, Holland, Belgium and parts of Germany and France; nor do the scholarly technicalities detract from realization of the fragility of our links with people whose struggle for gentility in the midst of savagery differed from our own not in kind but only as a matter of degree.

And yet, if we can find our way to a sense of familial kinship with these stiff-necked, fur-clad barbarians, how should we despair of understanding each other?