Smith Books

The Miracle of Forgetness is simply amazing. A fitting sequel to Baptists at Our Barbecue. Because of this book I hurt with fits of laughter each time someone shares the story of the bridge in sacrament meeting. Read this book. WARNING: If you have a health condition, consult your doctor before reading. Must be able to handle zany police officers, alien encounters, natural disasters, pepsi addictions, people named after wood, rug sales women, and most importantly, red benches. I highly recommend this book "with every fiber of my being."

This book is a great novel about wacky characters that you know exist in the world, but can never find them. This is a very humorous novel and the writing is great.

How does Smith do it? He obviously has a deep appreciation and love for Mormon culture and doctrine. He manages to make me laugh outloud on a crowded subway. Slapstick, yes, and his characters are totally unbelievable. But I love it.

Robert F. Smith does it again in this zany novel about a return missionary named Gray who's not satisfied with the direction his life is taking. However, things begin to change for Gray when he comes into some money and moves to the small town of Forget.

Smith packs it all into this novel---humor, romance, aliens, and, of course, all the wacky ward members you could ask for (you've undoubtedly met many of these people in your own wards before).

Although this is one of Smith's earlier novels (I believe it's his second), it's definitely worth reading. I highly recommend this book to all LDS novel enthusiasts and, of course, fan's of Robert F. Smith.

This book is an easy reading riot. I found it to be every bit as good at the first book Baptists at our Barbeque. The characters are hilarious and the book moves quickly. I'm anxiously awaiting For Time and All Absurdity.

Disorders of any type can be confusing, misunderstood and labeled as some thing negative therefore discrediting a person or groups of people without recognizing a person's true talents and abilities. This is a brilliant collection of stories, poems, and comments from children with Asperger Syndrome. Defining Asperger Syndrome in a brief textbook definition and then this book takes you on a beautiful journey through the eyes and mind of those who have Asperger Syndrome through their own words, pictures and explanation is a true gift. This allows readers into their world to see the vast spectrum in which they function. Author Lisa Barrett Mann, M.S. Ed., guides the reader through this collection with her unique insight on life with these often times, misunderstood, fascinating children and youth. Dispelling myths and providing an opportunity for others to appreciate and gain better understanding of children with Asperger Syndrome as told through their own words, drawings and comments, is commendable in getting others outside of their box and appreciating the uniqueness that do not quite fit the "general mold" of society. This is a book to read with your children; discuss with your friends and to share with the world. Brilliantly designed and visually artistic this takes a complex disorder and breaks it down for almost anyone could understand.

Tonya Thul-Theis
Reviewer

This book peaks into the workings of an Asperger mind from very early ages to adolescents who have experienced life living with this condition. My daughter was a contributor and it was like a breath of fresh air to read it for the first time. After living a life full of misunderstandings this book allowed my daughter to express her true self without ridicule. She was blown away by how much she related to "that way of thinking" by the other contributors. It would make a nice gift for relatives and friends of an Asperger child because it will give them a personal perspective into the very individual Asperger world.

I wish I'd had this book when my son, now eighteen, started his long and arduous journey through the school system. I kept hearing: "We just don't understand him." Or people would read a bit about Asperger Syndrome and decide that he couldn't be creative, couldn't feel empathy. My son has a poem in this book that is an answer to them. Furthermore, this book is a delight to read, so it will be read! This will go a long way toward shattering the stereotypes. Bravo!

More Than Little Proffessors is an awesome book! I felt like I was reading one of those Chicken Soup for the ____ soul books, where I'm reading short stories that are easy to read, put a smile on my face and leave me feeling good the rest of the day. Plus, with my son having Aspergers, I could relate to most of them and it made me laugh. Love this book!

If you've met one kid with Asperger's... you've met ONE kid with Asperger's. "More Than Little Professors," on the other hand, has quotes, essays, etc, from more than 70 children and teens with this high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. It's fascinating to compare their different experiences and thought processes. And then there are the occasionally startling similarities (e.g., two preschoolers whose favorite number is "googleplex"!) No other book will give you as much insight into how kids with AS think, talk, and act, as this one. Definitely a "must-read" for anyone who lives with or teaches kids on the spectrum.

My children love to do the stories in this book. And it can be used with children much older than the 3-6 group.

Great book with great ideas for the movement activities with kids!!!! Kids really pay attention when you use movement stories.

I love this book! As a Dance Educator I use this book alot to add a fun element to my dance classes. The children love it and look forward to a day that we include a movement story in our dance class.

This is a must have book for anyone who loves or works with children. Not only are the stories usable within an existing curriculum or creative dance class framework, the book enables all educators to use Ms. Landolf's sequencing to create a movement story of his or her own. I have been using this approach within my own creative movement class (Story in a Box) for two years with great success.

Thank you Helen!

Kim

A great book for introducing children to basic movement concepts using imagination and stories. The stories are well written, humorous, and allow children to become immersed in a world of playful and fun movements. Landalf and Gerke's introduction, about 16 pages, covers just about everything a good creative movement teacher needs to know about understanding how to teach movement concepts to young children.

Written by Margaret Smith Peet, ND & Shoshana Zimmerman, ND, My Doctor Says I'm Fine... So Why Do I Feel So Bad? A Self-Help Guide to Restoring Health is a guide for novices to understanding the basic tenets of Eastern medicine, self-observation, and expressions of life-force that are symptomatic of unhealthy diseases and conditions. A handful of black-and-white diagrams illustrate this methodical listing of both physical and spiritual warning signs to look for. From examining one's tongue for signs of vitamin deficiency or disease, to yoga poses designed to counter life-force imbalances, to recommended food plans for promoting dietary health and life-force balance, My Doctor Says I'm Fine... is not a substitute for a physician's examination but rather an excellent prevention and self-help treatment regimen for learning to live well when simply taking a prescribed pill is insufficient.

Finally, a practical. applicable book about Ayurveda/Chinese medicine that I can actually use! The first half explains and diagrams (with wonderful, clear drawings and examples of actual people) the amazing diagnostic tools that these systems offer so you can catch your body going out of balance before it degenerates into a serious illness. My son and I spent 2 hours examining our tongues, ears, eyes, faces, and hands, and were able to SEE the indicators for heart disease and diabetes that comes down through my family - and to see what comes through his father's. Then we did life-enhancing foot massages - teenagers will benefit enormously from this information!

The rest of the book is stuffed with info delivered in the most accessible manner. It clarifies the process of re-orienting yourself according to YOUR body-type to live optimally, with lists of food, herbs, yoga postures and more to help every area of life. There's also a great chapter on how to protect yourself while traveling.

I've read many books on this subject, including Deepak Chopra's and David Frawley's but have found nothing that helped me to see MY OWN imbalances by checking my own body so clearly and easily. This will be the book that I recommend to all my clients and use as my baseline.

Finally a self-help guide I can easily understand and use.
A well-written book I refer to often.
Thanks Dr. Margaret Peet and Dr. Zimmerman!

Finally a practical, applicable book about Ayurveda/Chinese medicine that I can actually use! The first half explains and diagrams (with wonderful, clear drawings and examples of actual people) the amazing diagnostic tools that these systems offer so you can catch your body going out of balance before it degenerates into a serious illness. My son and I spent 2 hours examining our tongues, ears, eyes, faces, and hands, and were able to SEE the indicators for heart disease and diabetes that comes down through my family - and to see what comes through his father's. Then we did life-enhancing foot massages - teenagers will benefit enormously from this information!

The rest of the book is stuffed with info delivered in the most accessible manner. It clarifies the process of re-orienting yourself according to YOUR body-type to live optimally, with lists of food, herbs, yoga postures and more to help every area of life. There's also a great chapter on how to protect yourself while traveling.

I've read many books on this subject, including Deepak Chopra's and David Frawley's but have found nothing that helped me to see MY OWN imbalances by checking my own body so clearly and easily. This will be the book that I recommend to all my clients and use as my baseline.

I am impressed! The book is a solid work of meticulously organized information, bringing to our modern day medical scene a breath of fresh air. The book states ancient Eastern concepts without the "mystique" which so often conceals. It offers tools that the reader can easily use to understand and improve health. I am reading and re-reading, and am grateful that "irritations" need not be endured. They can be addressed. I know My Doctor Says I'm Fine will be widely accepted and wildly acclaimed.

What a well written story. My heart goes out to the family of Fran and Janice. It's sad that in today's society that there is still such an injustice. People can be so cruel. I applaud all the hard work put in to writing this story.

This book is a very interesting chronicle and very well written saga of the murders of two women at the hands of their husband at the time, John David Smith. The book, written by one of the victims sister, chronicles the exhaustive search by the victim's family for the answers as to what happened to their beloved sister. It also details how that search ended up helping to resolve a cold case, from the 1970's, and eventually put the murderer into police custody. The book is fascinating since it is written so "un-like" many true crime novels which are often to full of courtroom drama and endless descriptions of the police involvement in the cases at hand. This book tells the day to day feelings and frustrations of the victims family, their quest to find answers, and somewhat ultimate justice for their sister. It is a "page turner" and well worth reading. UPDATE: As of the writing of my review Smith sits in an Ohio prison at the age of 54 while in his 4th year of a 15-life sentence. UPDATE #2: Sandra Anderson, the dog handler who assisted in the search for bodies in this case, pled guilty in 2004 in U.S. District Court in Detroit, MI to five felony charges (including obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal authorities) involving "planted" evidence cases in Oscoda, Bay City and Oakland County, MI in 1999 involving her cadaver dog Eagle. A two year prison term and financial restitution was paid to at least one (Lapeer) MI. county by Ms. Anderson.

Unbelievable! Sherrie Gladden-Davis's story is compelling, evocative, and a testament to the power of family. With the support of her niece, Dedy, Sherrie tracks her sister's suspected killer across the country, working alongside various law enforcement officers, her search for justice unwavering.

The author chronicles her search to uncover the missing puzzle pieces that she hopes will ultimately solve the mystery of her sister's disappearance. Despite limited financial means, no Internet access (the bulk of the story takes place in the 1990s), and the disparate agendas of those around her, Sherrie remains committed to finding justice for her sister.

Operating on hope, coffee, and the power of her faith and family, Ms. Gladden-Davis's story is a compelling one that had me reading at all hours of the night.

Tightly crafted, insightful, outrageous, and poignant ... this is one of the finest, real-life crime capers I've ever read. Highly recommended.

I'm not usually a big fan of true-crime/mystery-type books, but this one pleasantly surprised (and intrigued) me! The book's plot may sound slightly familiar, as it has been featured on various TV news magazine shows -- including 20/20 -- but you'll never get such amazing detail and narrative quality from a one-hour TV show. In the book, you can really get into the tale and feel the emotions of someone searching for a lost family member -- and seeking justice for the person responsible. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery and a story you just can't put down.

This engaging story will send chills up your spine and renew your appreciation for your own loved ones. The author takes you through the search for her missing sister--from the initial shock to navigating the red-tape of the justice system. You'll come to admire her strength and tenacity while gaining a fascinating glimpse into her sister's life and suspicious disappearance.

I don't want to spoil the mystery, but as the story unfolds, you'll discover details that rival any suspense novel. The suspected killer's behavior is like a car wreck unfolding in slow motion--you won't be able to look away. Step into the world of this real-life, unsolved crime, and you'll soon find yourself repeating the unbelievable tale to everyone you know. It's better than any "ripped from the headlines" show on television.

In this work, Eliade looks at patterns in comparative religion regarding cosmology, eschatology, and how archaic man saw time, history, and mythology.

While Eliade was clearly influenced to a small degree by Jung's work on archetypes, he has redefined the term and taken it to a new level. Jung regards archetypes as "primordial images," or at least primordial categories of images (a concept which owes as much to Kant as Plato), while Eliade sees them as exemplary patterns which archaic peoples immitate in their own actions.

Eliade examines these exemplary facets, and builds a picture not only of how archaic peoples viewed both the cosmos and history, but also how our ideas of modern history have developed against the traditional and cyclic ideas of time. This work is thus important for anyone trying to understand older, traditional cultures.

There are a few places where the translation could be improved ("Sanguinary civil wars?" Why does that give me an image of calm, smiling people hacking eachother to death?)

Overall, highly recommended.

This was my second book by Mircea Eliade, but certainly not the last. It is very similar in content to his more basic introduction book "The Sacred and the Profane", detailing mostly the so-called Archaic religions views on time and space and related issues of religion. Naturally, being a bit longer, it also is more focused and in many ways more interesting for me personally, since a lot of it deals with the Indo-European concept of the ages and the Cosmos. Eliade was a professor of the history of religions at the University of Chicago, among other things, but he was also very well travelled, having studied under the guidance of an Indian yogi back in Mother India. He was born in Rumania, a contemporary of the European idealist freedom fighter Corneliu Codreanu in the 30's, and in fact a member of the Legion of the Archangel Michael, a radical "Right-wing" religious organization opposed to the project of creating a new Israel on Rumanian soil.

Although Eliade throughout his life claimed to be very "apolitical", his views on religion have a natural conservative and reactionary consequence, so hence this is for sure one of "our own boys". The book itself is split into four chapters, the first one being "Archetypes and Repetition". This is highly interesting, and details the many forms of rituals throughout the world (mostly archaic) that have been performed to re-create the cosmogony and the sacred times when the Gods or God-heroes performed the original act that the ritual today resembles. Eliade claims that for sacred rituals there is always a divine model that is more real than the perceived reality around us. He is quite clearly influenced by Platonic philosophy, with his emphasis that it is the divine celestial model that is real, the "idea", if you will, and that reality merely is a cheaper mirror copy of the celestial reality. Here we can mention for example the well-known city in the sky, or the real celestial earth.

The second chapter is "The Regeneration of Time", a chapter dealing with the idea that the world and the cosmos need regeneration, which the human races have a responsibility of helping with. The Gods spent themselves when they created the world, so hence we need to give them a little push. Often, this fell on the first time of the New Year, so hence, the Ragnarok of the cosmos fell on the last day of the year, and then the cosmos was regenerated on the first.

The third chapter is "Misfortune and History", where he does get a little political as well, dryly remarking that those that have claimed all in history is good, probably wouldn't have felt the same way had they been born in the Baltic or in the Balkans, where they for the simple reason of being neighbours with the Red Beast got invaded and killed off in millions. He then goes a little quasi-Hegelian on us, when he details how many races and cultures have though of history as theophany, that is, history as the appearance of God. He also details the various Yugas, or ages if you will, and how we are now decidedly in the Kali Yuga, the last age, known as Ragnarok to my own Germanic ancestors. If you don't believe this, turn on your television, and see how degraded the West and the world has become as of late, always deteriorating further.

The final chapter is "The Terror of History", detailing how these people acted with their knowledge that everything always returns, that unless you find a way out of the circle, your soul will always return to existence, along with the eternal cosmos. Of course, the fact that Creation will occur again and again is not something that many so-called "modern Christians" will find acceptable, but alas, this is what our ancestors believed, as well as the fact that for large parts of European Christianity, the Christological interpretation of history was merged with the Aryan one, to create a kind of "Cosmic Christianity", which was the religion that Eliade himself felt a part of.

This is of course a very shallow review of such a wide and deep book filled with examples and information to the brim, but I've read it twice in a month now, so it is certainly a wonderful book.

Highly recommended!

(I read the first English 1955-edition)

Somewhere on the cover, or in the preface, or even in the introductions to other of his many profound works in the field of comparative religious studies, one will find Eliade's famous counsel: "I consider it the most significant of my books; and when asked in what order they should be read, I always recommend beginning with The Myth of the Eternal Return." One of the enduring monuments of twentieth century academic writing, The Myth of the Eternal Return expounds Eliade's seminal ruminations on the advent of the nuclear, or post-modern era - the naissance of our capacity for apocalyptic self-annihilation - an attempt to demonstrate in analyzable terms the relation between the foundations of the contemporary psyche to the seemingly adventitious madness which actively anticipates (and even militates in favor of) an end-time, an Armageddon, a Judgment Day, if you will. Eliade thus asks the arch-question: "What can protect us from the terror of history?"
The discussion is framed within a comparison between what Eliade deems as the distinctive difference between the ancient and modern, the archaic (or primitive) and contemporary world-view. The modern envisions reality as a series of events which fulminate in a linear, progressive history - a history which had a beginning and will have an end. The ancient experiences reality as an endless, cyclic repetition of primordial acts. "... the life of archaic man (a life reduced to the repetition of archetypal acts, that is, to categories and not to events, to the unceasing rehearsal of the same primordial myths) although it takes place in time, does not bear the burden of time, does not record time's irreversibility; in other words, completely ignores what is especially characteristic and decisive in a consciousness of time. Like the mystic, like the religious man in general, the primitive lives in a continual present. (And it is in this sense that the religious man may be said to be a `primitive'; he repeats the gestures of another and, through this repetition, lives always in an atemporal present.)"
Eliade points to the centrality of the lunar cycle in the mythological fabric woven from this perspective, which, to a degree, envelops our own world-view, however linear and eschatologically determinate. "The phases of the moon - appearance, increase, wane, disappearance, followed by reappearance after three nights of darkness - have played an immense part in the elaboration of cyclical concepts. We find analogous concepts especially in the archaic apocalypses and anthropogonies; deluge or flood puts an end to an exhausted and sinful humanity, and a new regenerated humanity is born, usually from a mythical `ancestor' who escaped the catastrophe, or from a lunar animal." Regeneration of humanity is thus always implied in its destruction. In the natural imaging, like the seasons, we assure ourselves, fall and dissolution are ever succeeded by renewal. "... just as the disappearance of the moon is never final, since it is necessarily followed by a new moon, the disappearance of man is not final either; in particular, even the disappearance of an entire humanity ... is never total ..." As the modern (historical) cultures translate this concept, "this optimism can be reduced to a consciousness of the normality of the cyclical catastrophe, to the certainty that it has a meaning and, above all, that it is never final... In the `lunar perspective', the death of the individual and the periodic death of humanity are necessary, even as the three days of darkness preceding the `rebirth' of the moon are necessary. The death of the individual and the death of humanity are alike necessary for their regeneration ... what predominates in all these cosmico-mythological lunar conceptions is the cyclical occurrence of what has been before, in a word, eternal return."
Due to the fact that the modern, predominantly Western model, of consciousness, primarily informed by Hebraic/Christian-Greek (teleological) influences, perceives time as a matrix for linear progress toward eschatological fulfillment, an end (and Eliade does not hesitate to analyze with his usual acumen - and here one must highlight the amazing passage where he claims that the concept of `ekpyrosis', the destruction of the world by fire, originates in early Iranian mythology - how Islam developed within this eschatological framework), we are forced to confront what he terms "the terror of history", the assertion (often stated by zealots of various stripes as fact) that human history, itself, must end. Recognition of this shift in human consciousness, from the archaic celebration of the repetition of nativity to the modern obsession with the limitation of mortality yields enormous explanatory power. In the face of the nuclear option, we must seriously consider how far such concepts as "resurrection", "rebirth" have tangible reality, not merely a traditionally assigned or contemplatively evoked meaning, but value as real states of affairs.
"Since the `invention' of faith, in the Judeo-Christian sense of the word (= for God all is possible), the man who has left the horizon of archetypes and repetition can no longer defend himself against that terror except through the idea of God . . . Any other situation of modern man leads, in the end, to despair. It is a despair provoked not by his own human existentiality, but by his presence in a historical universe in which almost the whole of mankind lives prey to a continual terror (even if not always conscious of it) . . .
In this respect, Christianity incontestably proves to be the religion of `fallen man': and to the extent to which modern man is irremediably identified with history and progress, and to which history and progress are a fall, both implying the final abandonment of the paradise of archetypes and repetition." These are the words with which the book concludes. If all that we are is the product of all that has been thought, they deserve the closest sort of reading by every thinking being. For the final abandonment, in the fine sense and print, means no less than the final abandonment of planet earth and the evolutionary project of humanity in full.

It is always a joy to read a great man's greatest book- and the author himself considered this to be the most significant of all his works. He would expand the central concepts elsewhere, but it is here that they first seem to burst forth. The way he rattles out references and examples with only a line or footnote you get the feeling that he can't be bothered with detailed analysis because he is too caught up with the central ideas and is being swept along with them. It is an infectious enthusiasm.

The central idea here is that for traditional man (man before our brief and temporary modern epoch) no act or object was real if it did not repeat or imitate an archetype. All meaning, all reality, flowed down from above. The goal was to achieve connection through the divine center with the archetype and therefore become one with the god or hero, indeed to abolish profane time itself and be transported into the mythical moment when the original model took place. This wasn't superstitious imitation; it was becoming one with true reality.

Nothing in a traditional society had any reality if it had no connection to the Divine- from buildings, cities, clothing, utensils- or your own life. The goal of life was to find the center of your being in the manner of the great heroes. Through arduous seeking and wandering through the profane and illusory earthly existence one would finally find the center and breakthrough into a life that was real, enduring, and effective.

The ultimate expression of this mode of life and behavior in the West was Platonic philosophy.

In reading this book I could not but wonder if this principle is not at the deepest core of every human being, and the reason why everything "modern" inevitably seems to be so cheap, meaningless, and illusory. Of course I am no academic specialist but rather "the cultivated man" that the author refers to in his foreward...

If I may add one more brief observation, it seems to me that an understanding of the principles of this book are key to an understanding of what 2012 really means. One of the greatest of the cosmic cycles is coming to a close. Mundane time will give way to sacred time. The actual instant of creation comes again- chaos gives way to cosmos. Regeneration is achieved by abolishing past time and reactualizing the cosmogony.

So far, this is a very good book that has a unique vision of religion. While most religion texts focus on either A) Christianity, B) Eastern Philosophy, or C) Atheist Polemics, this is an excellent study on the actual anthropological and existential functioning of religion as an entity. Along with Ludwig Feuerbach and Daniel Dennett, this stands as a very good, detached, objective study of religion as far as not being a polemic or an apology. I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in general religious studies, especially if you are an Atheist and still have an interest in non-Dawkins literature on religion.

First I read "Ride the High Waves" by this writer, then I found out he's written a couple of crime novels. Neon Streets is really good. Good story, interesting characters, and it is chock full of things to think about. I recently moved, and after laboring to unpack, it was interesting sitting on a milk crate and reading this extraordinary novel.

This is an excellent book. Very good story, written in a gripping style, and hard to put down. The action builds and builds, but what I really like about Neon Streets is it is about something. Strong themes, and it made me think.

comparatively as innovative as the "Grapes of Wrath" of J. Steinbeck fame. an adventure that grabs you from the first crisp page till the last. a true book that is hard to put down without finishing. the characters truely come to life with a flare in this real world senerio dealing with topic's of homlessness in our own country. first you will laugh, then you'll cry, and after pacing the room for a while you will come to the conclusion that you must read it again.

Strongly evocative of my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. Strong actions sequences, and great dialogue. Very good puzzle too, kept me guessing on specifics. One of the best reads of the year for me.

What an incredible book! Where has this guy been all these years? He certainly didn't come out of nowhere, and be able to write such lucid, even lyrical prose. A wonderful exposition on greed versus homelessness, and all of the misery that a very bad system for housing and dealing with the poor seems to produce. I loved the character of Patrice Orosco, and "Red Dog," but Teddy O'Reilly and Oscar No Name really stole my heart! This is a great, great book! It needs to be discovered.

I am a TCM student. I used this book as a supplement text for my Neurology class. The text was unremarkable but succinct. The pictures, especially the live cadaver pictures, were wonderful. I had been struggling with the idea of the Circle of Willis through three other texts, 5 diagrams, and two classes. One actual picture from this book made the structure understandable and real.

This ICT Neuroanatomy text is a must-have for medical students and others learning neuroanatomy. The brevity of the chapters and the great diagrams make studying neuroanatomy straightforward while still being very comprehensive. I strongly recommend this text as a supplement to another neuroscience text (sadly, there are not many good ones out there), and think it complements any study of neurobiology well. The text is in-depth enough to include all of the important details while not being so dense as to be overwhelming and/or boring. This is a great book and should serve its readers well.

This book got me through neuro. It has just enough info to explain what you need to know without going into needless details. The pictures are very clear (and in color) and there are some very good clinical examples given. Out of any of the neuro books I came across, this is the best one hands down for any medical student trying to grasp neuroanatomy.

Although this book is British, so they don't have the exact same certification tests, etc., this book is the most amazing, concise, yet thorough treatment of medical neuro. It includes real photographs, stained sections, a few angiograms, and lots of great clinical syndrome summaries in a clear format. I wish my profs just used this for our course; their notes were terrible!

I strongly recommend this text. It is detailed enough as a PRIMARY source for test or exam review; yet every topic well-explained to make neuroanatomy much more "manageable". Plus they get great pictures too!

Mary Elizabeth Sheppard wanted the deacon that worked for her father, Thomas Sheppard. His daughter, Josephine has left for London. Mary feels guilty that she has shut off the mind communication with her twin sister, Jo. She feels that she has driven her sister away.

The deacon, Victor Gabriel has the grace and looks of an angel and has worked for Thomas for the last several months and had finally asked for Jo's hand in marriage. Now he is engaged to Mary since Jo took off. Strange.

Mary arrived at Jo's London house only to find that she has disappeared. Mary is still troubled by the waking dream she had of Jo begging Mary's help. Here she runs into Adam Brentwell, Duke of St. Chaldon or rather he plops onto her. What a shock he is in for as he runs his hand up her limb. The contratemps between these two is very enticing.

Mary soon finds a friend in the wounded soldier, Obediah that oversees Jo's home.
Adam comes up with the plan to have Mary play the part of Jo to lure the suppossed shooter out into the open - among Jo's suitors was the Earl of Peterbourne - a rackity, vile old man.

No matter what Adam wants, Mary seems to go her own way. Of course he wants her in his bed. She turns into a feather-brained idiot and wants him to teach her of the carnal pleasures.

The tale just keeps getting better - the characters are very good, with Adam's sister hanging out with Lord Harry Dashwood - and Mary helping to bring Cyril out of his coma. Poor old Adam wasn't allowed to hang the wench on Cyril's say so.

I enjoyed the intrigue of the family relations.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED --M This should be a keeper!

I don't know why Barbara Dawson Smith is not more popular, because her novels are topnotch, and Never a Lady is one of her very best. The Duke of St. Chaldon and preacher's daughter Mary Sheppard come together via their families; his brother appears to have been wounded by her sister Josephine (his mistress), whom Mary has come to aid after having a vision of her twin's distress. What makes this story intriguing and unusual is the lovers' characters: he not your typical aristocratic rake (though that's precisely what she assumes he is), but rather a man of pride, dignity, and responsibility, which makes their coming together all the more interesting, as she in turn represents everything his upbringing disdains: low birth and a disdain for the aristocracy and its values. She is refreshing first of all, in her plain name, which reflects her ugly duckling evolution in the face of the duke's haughty expectations. Secondly, she is an innocent without being prissy or overawed at her social superiors (as many heroines tend to be). These clashing perspectives are undermined by their chemistry and grudging admiration for values each holds at odds with their respective upbringings. I like the angle of the brother and sister and the added complications of the lovers becoming potential relatives whether she decides to become his mistress or wife. I also enjoyed the proposal scenes and the erotic scenes, particularly the last one in the carriage ride. The dialogue was captivating and lively, showing their wits and mutual attraction, and sweeping the reader along swiftly through to the end. I was loath to put this one down. I also highly recommend My Secret Affair, which again has some unusual lovers, especially the virginal lord, whose inexperience and reluctant passion is a fascinating read.

This is the first Barbara Dawson Smith book that I have read and I will definitly read more. The tranformation of Adam from arrogant noble to compassionate human being is wonderful. Mary is also transform to a passionate young lady. I highly recommend this book

This author has a unique ability to bring her characters and setting to life. This is a glorious romance to savor

Never A Lady is a different story. I loved the mind communication between the twins. The mystery and suspense kept me up half the night even though I was sure I knew the guilty party. I tried not to lose patience with the very stuborn duke and what he put Mary through. This is the first book I have read by Barbara Dawson Smith and I can recommend it highly. I found and bought 7 of her books at a local used book shop and won't stop until I have all she has written.

I'm in the process of reading 1776 by David McCullough and I was reminded of A New Age Now Begins because both authors are really able to bring to life the revolutionary period.

For a long time I thought American history was dull and boring until I read A New Age Now Begins. The sweep and detail of this work in truly amazing. What I enjoyed most was the number of resources that Mr. Smith sites. There are diary entries from the very famous to the common soldier. It gives you a full perspective of what was going on and what people were thinking and doing during this very difficult time in our history.

I took this book with me when I visited Yorktown with my parents and read out loud the passages dealing with the final days and hours of the siege. Standing in the fields where the action took place and reading Mr. Smith's narrative made me feel like I was actually at the battle.

This series brought to life to me the history of America. It is too bad that this book and the others in the series are out of print. People are really missing out on a great experience.

This is a time in which American ideals are challenged by the reality of a modern, hostile world and internal struggle, so it seems like a good idea to examine our history. The best place I know to do so is Mr. Smith's excellent history of America. Massive yet very approachable, it brings to mind Simon Shaara's novels. Smith, one of our great historians, never succumbs to the academic's temptation to footnote and reference every fact. He writes beautifully, in a manner that brings history alive. By all means look for and treasure a copy of all 8 volumes of this ambitious project. It is sad that it is long out of print, as I know of no better history of our republic. If an editor reads this review, I emplore you to republish the entire set.

The first 2 volumes are a narrative history of the revolution, followed by books on the early republic, then the Civil War, the rise of industrial America, it's emergence into the world, and finishing with the Depression and the New Deal. Mr. Smith is a true scholar, so there are plenty of facts, but they are never dry or uninteresting, and they are presented as a story to be told, rather than a point to be made. Take a year off from other reading projects and take this 7 kilopage project on. You might consider reading Manchester's The Glory and the Dream to finish off with the history of America since 1932, and put it all in perspective. I strongly recommend you read this entire series and get a new appreciation for our country and a truly fine author.

Funny to think that this awesome and tireless historian, Page Smith, author of a magisterial eight-volume series on American History sidelines as a children's book illustrator!

Check out the terrific little tome, "Florence the Goose: A True Story for Children of All Ages." The Japanese-inspired block-print drawings of "Florence" are wistful, delicate and emotional.

Now that's a renaissance man!

Page Smith's account of The American Revolution is both definitive and highly entertaining. I first read this two volume work in the summer of 1981, and became immediately enthralled with both the subject matter and Smith's elegant but approachable writing style.

"A New Age Now Begins" will reignite the reader's appreciation for the struggles our Founding Fathers confronted to birth a new nation. Today, at the close of The American Century, it is easy to assume that we have always been pre-eminent in the world. But this book confirms what a near miss it really was, and how--without the selfless leadership of George Washington, the wise and witty guiding hand of Benjamin Franklin, the scholarly and erudite arguments for America's legitimacy from James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, the elegant pen and clear voice of Thomas Jefferson, and the fearless voice of agitation from Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry--the America we all take for granted today might well still be subject to the Crown of England.

At nearly 2,000 pages, the book is an undertaking. But it will be one of the most rewarding and entertaining reading experiences you will ever undertake!

I have already reviewed other volumes of this series. Here is an obituary of the author that describes his work and the influence he had on a generation of readers.

Page Smith, an iconoclastic historian and prolific author of books on subjects ranging from the lives of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson to the history of the chicken, died August 28, 1995 at his daughter's home in Santa Cruz, California. He was 77. Dr. Smith taught American colonial history at UCLA until 1964, when he became the first provost of Cowell College at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

An author of wide appeal, Dr. Smith wrote books that were both praised by scholars and read by a wide public. His unusual ability as a writer was first recognized in 1962 with the publication of his two-volume biography of John Adams.

Smith's study of Adams which earned him the Bancroft Prize for historical writing. In 1976, Samuel Elliot Morison described Smith's bicentennial book, A New Age Now Begins: A People's History of the American Revolution as "a great and magnificent work." Both books were main selections of the ook-of-the-Month Club, as was his wide-ranging, The Shaping of America.

His most controversial work was The Historian and History(1964), a witty indictment of American historians. Championing a story-telling approach to historical writing he argued that "great history has always been narrative history, history with a story to tell that illuminates the truth of the human situation, that lifts spirits and prospects to new potentialities."

Although Smith enjoyed tweaking academic historians, he had impeccable credentials himself. He completed his undergraduate work at Dartmouth College in 1940 and after serving as a company commander in World War II, he earned a doctorate at Harvard University. He taught history at U.C. Santa Cruz until his retirement in 1973.