Spencer Books

There are several editions one more recent has been abridged. You can't go wrong with Hickey. Very amusing fellow. Good source material for his era on everyday upper midle class life. Hickey was something of a rake. Expect some good colour about late 18th century life in London and India.

Not an easy book to read but this autobiographical account is so detailed the reader can only wonder how Mr. Hickey retained all this information down to the smallest details after all his logues and diaries were lost in a shipwreck. Indeed, this volume is filled with minute details that fans of the Georgian and Regency era of England will enjoy. While the writing is dry and bogged down with details at times, this book deserves a rcommendation for anyone trying to get the feel for this chapter in history.

More Was Lost, first published in 1946, has the feel of the movie classic Casablanca, but with Katherine Hepburn playing Ilsa instead of Ingrid Bergman. The beautiful author, an only child then 19 years old, is travelling though Europe with her imposing mother, when she meets the handsome Oxford-educated son of a Hungarian baron at a dinner-party in Budapest. Love, obstacles, obstacles overcome - the initial chapters of the book read like the fairy tale the author seems to have been looking for in 1937, when, as she writes, "I had not decided what to do with my life." A feminist by conviction before the stance became commonplace, Mrs Perényi recounts the details of her exotic life as the new châtelaine in a Baroque castle in Ruthenia with candor, understatement and wit. Unlike most fairy tales, however, More Was Lost doesn't have a conventional happy ending - the war closes in on the enchanted couple and, pressured by her mother and her husband, Perényi, now pregnant, makes the fateful (and regretful) decision to leave the castle and her husband and the dreamlike life she has made for herself. The smug assurance of the young bride is transformed into the poignant awareness of the single mother, who, at the end of the memoir, is now living with her child in New York and notes, "For a long time, the memory of the past sustains you, and when it no longer does, you are already a different person." Mrs Perényi is a natural writer, with delightfully crisp diction that readers fond of Waugh, Sybille Bedford or Nancy Mitford will savor. More Was Lost is an elegant, idiosyncratic memoir of a strange time and place, for her and for the world. It is a pleasure to have this book back in print.

Eleanor Perenyi's story is beautifully written and reads like the best historical fiction. The book describes a world that is gone forever, but lives in her descriptions of a castle east of Budapest, feudal customs and the wide-eyed love of a naive, privileged woman. Regrettably there is no sequel to tie up the many loose ends which are left at the end of the story. Who was this remarkable woman? Why didn't she write more books? This book is not to be missed.

A beautiful collection of photographs of rural Mississippi and some of it's population. Square format, black & white, sepia toned, soft focus images seem to be the style de ju and this book fits that bill! Some images delight and surprise, while others made me yawn. Like great music, only the test of time will prove if this collection of images is noteworthy and special, but for now I think they are!

I had never heard of Jack Spencer until I picked up this book of beautiful photos. His images - atmospheric, shadowy, beautifully printed, heavily sepia-tinted shots of mostly people, are nearly all mouth-wateringly luscious. My only reservation is that a few of the photos just feel a little too staged for style over content. But I hope more people get to know about him fast. For me, the most exciting photographic discovery since Sally Mann.

The little golden Guides started out with very basic subjects on bird and mammal identification, reptiles, rocks and minerals, the stars, and a few others back in the late 40s and early 50s. The line expanded greatly in the 60s and eventually included very specialized subjects such as structural geology (the book on Landforms), the book on The Heart, Spiders and Their Relatives, Insect Pests, Pond Life, and even books on hobbies such as Fishing, Cameras and Photography, and Guns.

This was probably the most advanced and specialized topic they ever did a book on, and given that it's only 256 pages in length, it's actually quite good. It covers all the cryptogamic or the spore-producing plant groups, which includes the better known fungi such as the well known club fungi or "toadstools," lesser known fungi such as ascomycetes, ferns, mosses, and liverworts. It's strongest on the club fungi, or basidiomycetes, which is fine.

Be aware that one book like this should not be used as a field identification manual in the case of fungi, since a mistake there could be fatal, if you intend to consume them, due to the many poisonous species in the genus Amanita, and others such as Cortinarius and Galerina, which also contain potentially deadly species. The book's illustrations are also paintings and not photos, and for mushroom identification, photos are best, and the only sure way is to look at the spores under a microscope.

If you're intending to gather and eat mushrooms, real training under a skilled and experienced and knowledgeable expert is essential. You should join the mycology society in your area, such as the North American Mycological Society and learn from their experienced members on collecting trips before ever attempting to do this on your own. A number of deaths have occurred from people without adequate training trying to do this, and on my own collecting expeditions I occasionally saw people carrying poisonous mushrooms who said they were looking for psychedelic species, and fortunately I encountered them and was able to inform them of their mistake before they ate them.

But for educating yourself on a very specialized topic, this little book is a great place to start. Before doing that, however, I would read the Golden Guide, Botany, to get a general background on botany before tackling this area, unless you're already knowledgeable in botany.

This pocket-sized guide proves useful when identifying mushrooms, lichens, mosses and ferns. The full color illustrations and a short written description aid in identification.
There are newer guides out there, but this gets you started. I wouldn't use this to select mushrooms for eating, but it helped me identify a lichen I found this week (Red Crest Lichen). Now I know the difference between lichens and mosses which I'd previously lumped together.
I've started a moss garden, so I found the diagram of a moss' life cycle interesting.

There is no shortage of quality biographies of the Wright brothers (I particularly enjoyed The Bishop's
Boys by Tom Crouch), and with the Centenary of their historic powered flight coming up in 2003
(December 17th), there are likely to be a few more added to the shelf. An author (or authors) would
therefore do well to have something about their book that will distinguish it from the others. In the
exquisite new book, On Great White Wings, Fred Culick and Spencer Dunmore have found just the
thing to separate them from the crowd; not only do they explain the technical details of the Wright
brothers achievement in the most accessible prose you're likely to find, they also provide a plethora of
photos and diagrams that give the reader a brand new appreciation for the brothers' feat and for their
other, less well known, accomplishments.

The illustrations, over 200 in all, include actual photos of Orville, Wilbur, and the various iterations of
their famous Flyer; vintage photos of Kitty Hawk and other locations of importance to the story, and
many modern color photos that serve as helpful reminders that these were real places, real men and a
real machine. Meanwhile, the authors rescue the Wright brothers from the mythology that has grown
up around them--that they were little more than gifted tinkerers--and shows just how knowledgeable
and innovative they truly were.

The book also includes a few pictures and some information about a project that Mr. Culick, a
professor of aeronautics at Cal Tech, is involved in, which will seek to duplicate the Wright brothers'
feat. Well, almost duplicate it, that is. It seems that the original Flyer is so unstable that it is widely
considered too dangerous to try and fly an exact replica.

Any reader looking for just one book about the Wright brothers will find this one to be adequate
where the text is concerned and quite probably unsurpassed when it comes to illustrations. But, if
you've the time and the inclination, I'd recommend that you read Bishop's Boys for its more
comprehensive treatment of the Wrights and then refer back to On Great White Wings when you're
trying to visualize their remarkable flights.

GRADE : A-

I've purchased several of the books on the Wright Brothers released in anticipation of the centennial. This is the best I've read so far. I especially enjoyed the many photographs of the several Flyers and of the brother's home, workshop and test locations in Dayton and NC.

I also appreciated the way the author examined and explained many technical details of how the flyer was rigged and how the controls operated.

This is one of the few books about the Wrights that explains the true importance of what the Wrights discovered, the secret of coordinated control of roll and yaw.

This book is well disserving of space on the coffee table of any aviation enthusiast.

A most helpful volume for Rosicrucian students and members. Several charts and illustrations are collected and presented, along with a glossary, FAQs, and some interesting statistics. Not for the casual reader; a more suitable book for the merely curious would be "Rosicrucian Questions and Answers," by H. Spencer Lewis.

This book is very helpful in understanding the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC. It contains many charts and graphs and a few pictures. The thing I found most interesting was the "Rosicrucian Alphabet" that is detailed in this book. The book's author, H. Spencer Lewis, was the first "Imperator" of the Order and is its founder.

This book will answer many questions the member and non-member will have. What I could never figure out, however, and what this book really doesn't answer is: how can the Order have originated in Ancient Egypt, and yet H. Spencer Lewis be its first Imperator? Perhaps, then, we could consider that "we originate in Ancient Egypt" in this instance means "we have deep admiration for..."

I found the section of pictures in this book to be very interesting. They include pictures of Mr. Lewis and others in "ceremonial" clothes, as well as a few shots of "Rosicrucian Laboratories," and some pictures of dedication ceremonies at the beautiful Rosicrucian Park in San Jose, California; all the buildings at Rosicrucian Park are built with mock-Ancient Egyptian exteriors, making for a striking, and somewhat bizarre, spectacle in what is now in the middle of the city. This book was published before the creation of the famous Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, which is the largest collection of Ancient Egyptian artifacts on the West Coast, and therefore no mention is made of that beautiful attraction that I have loved so much for so long.

AMORC, as envisioned by H. Spencer Lewis, is an institution that teaches the value of peace, understanding, compassion, tolerance, and its lessons contain no dogma (i.e., they don't demand you believe anything they say). Whatever its true origins, AMORC has been of great help to many people. And these positive attributes are very much reflected in this book.

This book, as in all Dr. Lewis'books, has practical information that we can use in every aspect of our lives. This book is a reminder that we are what we are no matter where we are. We are spirit in essence and that never changes. What we do at work, what we teach our children, how we handle traffic jams--it all matters.

Exactly as the title says, this book gives the Rosicrucian (via the AMORC organisation) viewpoint on business, goal-seeking and general conduct. While not delving into the private Rosicrucian teachings, author Lewis shares his knowledge of what works and what doesn't, offering many practical tips and examples to members and nonmembers alike. The discussions of affirmations and asking-in-prayer are eye-openers.

This is an author I've never heard of, but I recently read a book about the flu epidemic and decided give this a shot. A pleasant surprise. It's refreshingly fast paced for a historical novel. Dr. Burton Reinhardt narrates his own story about volunteering as a medic at a WWI Army camp. Soldiers are dying from a strange disease, which we now know was the influenza. The doctor leaves the camp delirious from disease and returns home to find his teenage daughter missing. A lawman then shows up at his door with an arrest warrant. Reinhardt is AWOL and could face a firing squad, that being the seriousness of things during the First World War. But he escapes the lawman and begins an odyssey to find his lost child. The book brims with research into the epidemic, the war, and the spirit of the times. Also, the philosophies of Emerson and Thoreau without bogging down the whirlwind plot. Use of actual historical persons are a bit quirky but minor to the overall tale. Two-thirds of the way in, the story becomes repetitive and stretches credulity, i.e. the hero escapes in the nick of time over and over. But by that point its so engaging that the rush to the finish line is worth the investment.

The 'Rule of Existence' is the fourth Dan Spencer book I've read, and it's the best one yet. Set against the backdrop of World War l and the flu epidemic of 1918, it combines history and mystery, with characters that make for a highly compelling read.Based on Spencer's previous books, I was so sure that I'd enjoy this one that I went ahead and bought the hardback version. I highly recommend this book.

I bought the book and the coin and booklet from the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC (of which I am a member) bookstore. I didn't understand the wheel of life so much as I do know from reading it and utilizing the tools within the system. I understand a lot more how to use the yearly cycles from using this system so that I flow with the various tides now rather than feeling like I must swim against the flow, so to speak. A must have for Rosicrucians and truly beneficial to anyone who wants to make life itself run more efficiently.

H.Spencer Lewis' book practically unravels ancient knowledge concerning Cycles of favorable and unfavourable tendencies inherent in each minute of each day of the week,month and year. The cycles are specific and their occurence can be pre-determined for every individual or corporate entity/organization whose date of origin can be ascertained.
A diligent study and Constructive use of "Self Mastery & Fate with the Cycles of Life" is a must for any would-be- achiever.This is the kind of edge you'd wish you had in a tight spot someday.
No .I am not currently a member of the Rosicrucian Order.

I teach Earth Science to 6th graders. This book has been very useful for when I had to teach about Earthquakes and Volcanoes. The illustrations in the book are simple, yet excellent for showing some of Earth's processes. The drawings show how hot spot volcanoes are formed, how subduction works, and how geysers erupt. It compares the convection currents in a pot of boiling water to the way molten lava moves under the Earth's crust. I enlarge many of the illustrations and make them into transparencies to use as visual aids for my students. These help me to explain complicated concepts in simpler terms. The book has fun facts that can be copied onto transparencies too. Some that I liked were "Bizarre Things Animals Do before an Earthquake"( Cute illustrations of animals going bonkers), "Early Explanations About Earthquakes" (Shows a jaguar brushing up against the pillars of the world), "The Discovery of Pompeii (Nice illustration of the method for creating sculptures of the bodies found in Pompeii). There are lists of the world's deadliest volcanic eruptions and the most destructive earthquakes in the world. The book has several hands-on experiments that can be done in class or would be fun to do at home with your children. I just purchased the other books in Spencer Christian's World of Wonders series because I loved this one so much.

I liked this book for its straightforward language and friendly graphics. It is jam-packed with fun facts and easy activities that illustrate major concepts in earth science. I don't agree with the age range stated... The back of the book says ages 8 to 12, and I think this is more appropriate. I intend to use this book as a more interesting text for a sixth-grade lesson that I will be teaching on plate tectonics and vulcanology.