Wainwright Books

While written about twenty-two people, the stories told here could have been written about any one of us. The authors' concept of a "moment of truth" is a familiar one,one of which we all need to be aware. A small crisis or a devastating event that finally changes our life for the better,but only if we let it. The book chronicles the hardships these "moments" can bring and how each person (some celebrated, some not) turned tragedy into triumph. It invites you to be awake to your life. It reminds you of the commonality of the human spirit. It compels
you to reach out to others: you may be part of their "moment of truth". A small treasure - not to be missed!

A must read! Well written, inspiring and heartfelt, it reads like a diary you happen to find ... except it's a celebrity diary! After reading this book, I felt that even though I had not experienced the notoriety of these people, they were just like me - flawed, scared, and struggling to find their way sometimes. I never thought I'd have something in common with Celine Dion! What a wonderful way to show how much the human spirit can endure and succeed. Can't wait for the next one.

Authors Celizic and Wainwright offer stories of courage. They believe that everyone has a moment of truth, that is, a major crisis which results in a life changing experience. The stories are inspirational and are about people from all walks of life, not just celebrities. The universal thread in the book is the discovery of inner strength within each person and the qualities they developed; each confides that they became a "better person". A motivational collection of pain, hardships, courage and finding the blessings inherent in change. In its tone and scope, this book is reminiscient of Mary Carroll Moore's, "How To Master Change in Your Life. Both are practical, insightful, well researched, informative and timely.

I used this book to help supplement a class I was teaching on interview techniques. This was a great supplement, and it was easy to use. I've made the book a "featured selection" for my class, and encourage anyone wanting to learn the basics of body langauge to check this one out.

Body language definitely matters, & this book is dead on. Unfortunately, I was looking for something more related to dating & thus was more satisfired w/ the traditional How to Succeed w/ Women & Make Every Girl Want You: How to Have Sex with Hot Girls without even dating them.

I found Wainwright clearly an authority. His book is quite well organized. He goes into quite some detail for a book well under two hundred pages. How refreshing after suffering through all the fluff other authors proffer. It is not an easy read, but as long as you don't attempt to consume it all in one sitting, I suspect you will find it well worth the price of the book.

On the downside, Wainwright does not seem particularly comfortable with the Exercises he asks his readers to perform. I would not be surprised if this "exercise" requirement was foisted upon him as a editorial imperative of the "teach yourself" series (his publisher).

The book is well written and discusses the basics of body language. The beginning chapters are broken down into different areas: Head movement, eye contact, body positioning, tone of voice, ect....ect....ect....

You get the drift. It's slow at first, but worth reading. Its good to have a true basics under your belt before trying to uderstand the advanced psychology of people. The last 2-3 chapters put it all together. He even has tests you can perform to see for yourself why people do what they do.

I would recommend this book as a good first read on the subject. It doesn't get too detailed that it looses you.

This book should have never been published. It is the most elementary and basic book about body language that includes no original insight or revelation about non-verbal communication. The third party research the writer performed was so perfunctory and basic that it provided little-to-no value. Two thumbs way, way down.

A gift for my grand daughter, it seems to be a good book. I haven't heard her comments yet (it was a Xmas gift and she's still working through the rest of the gift pile)

I understand that for people who only see the Disney's movie this book can seem dangerous, but this is the REAL STORY of Pinocchio.
For me (I live in Italy) the story is familiar and I remember to have read it when I was 6 or 7, without any danger of my "child psicology".
Unfortunately, English speaking people haven't seen the wonderful Italian film of Pinocchio of the 70s (directed for the Italian TV by Comencini with Nino Manfredi, Gina Lollobrigida, Franco Franchi, Ciccio Ingrassia and others), that could help people who haven'e read the original book to have another perspective of the story...

My children and I have just completed this book, with beautiful illustrations by Innocenti, as a read-aloud. I have never been acquainted with any Pinocchio other than the anemic, sanitized Disney versions reflected also in the Little Golden Books. The cautions by others to be careful with young children are worthy of consideration, for this book has terrors aplenty, both in words and illustrations, but I find both words and illustrations to be marvelous.

I am beginning to "open the door" to the difficult realities of the world for my children, and find beautiful allegorical literature to be just the ticket. The illustrations are beautifully rendered, but some are also quite scarey. Frequently, a following page will have a small cameo of a detail from the full illustration of a preceding page which draws the attention to that moral heart of a complex picture. I prefer this introduction to the reality of wickedness in the world (in words and illustrations) to the soul-numbing introductions to wickedness rampant in television and movies which give no time for concern for reflection.

Some of my favorite themes are emphasized also - the redeeming power of love and forgiveness, the association of both forgiveness AND repentance prior to the resolution of relationship, the surpassing value of wisdom and the often difficult trials that must come before the heart is ready to embrace it.

I am especially struck by Pinocchio's occasional recounting of his adventures as the tale unfolds. In the beginning of the tale, his recounting is filled with blaring examples of falsehood and complete lack of self-examination or evaluation. Everything that happens to him is someone else's fault and there is little association of cause and event. As the tale unfolds, however, Pinocchio's self-examination increases in accuracy, and his self-examination also becomes more accurate.

I think this allegorical tale has much value for young children, as does Hinds' Feet on High Places and The Pilgrim's Progress.

First off, to clear things up, this page contains a few reviews of other editions of Pinocchio, which should be seperated out by their proper ISBN numbers. This review refers to the 2005 hardcover from Creative Editions. This is a revised version, first published in 1998, this edition features a new translation of the full, unabridged text, more lyrical than some older translations, and quite faithful to the original Italian text. Also, this edition has several additional illustrations, and has been handsomely re-designed. Altogether, I find this to be my absolute favorite edition of Pinnocchio, and I even bought it again, to replace my much-loved earlier edition. I prefer the new translation to the older translation used before, and the addition of more illustrations and the re-design make this a superior edition.

I first found this book in a thrift store, and the inscription indicated it was a misguided gift to a young child from his grand-parents... Don't make this mistake, this version of Pinocchio is definitely not intended for young children. Parents may want to look elsewhere if they are expecting a tame children's book. This is a sophisticated and somewhat graphically illustrated edition, and it is not the Disney-fied version of Pinocchio that many people expect. If you are unfamiliar with the differences between the original story, and the popular sanitized versions, you might be shocked at first. The story is actually very dark, brutal, & surreal, and the illustrations of, say, Pinocchio getting hung in a tree, are really too dark for very young children.

That being said, I still whole-heartedly recommend this edition for older readers wanting an artistic and unexpurgated version of this incredible tale. This is one of the best modern translations of the text I've read, so I would recommend it to literature students and people interested in Italian folklore over most of the other versions available.

The artwork is what drew me to this book when I first saw it. You simply must see these illustrations to appreciate them. The detailed, large-scale, and subtlely colored drawings are a moody and perfect accompaniment to this version of the text. I pick this book up often, just to look at the amazing pictures and re-read some of my favorite parts.

Overall, I am thrilled with this revised edition of a book I already considered a classic among illustrated books. I recommend it to scholars of folklore, lovers of sophisticated illustrated books, and curious readers looking for a dark, surreal and wondrous book.

I own several copies of Pinocchio both English and Italian texts, and this is one of my favorite translations as Ms. Lucas takes great care with conveying the original intent of Collodi's story and characters -- (even down to the translated names used for the characters). I'm not sure what the previous reviewer was referencing, (it may be the review from the library school journal--which may have been an abridgement for grade-schoolers, no longer in print)(???). If you find a copy of this book, I'd recommend buying it. It has the full 36 chapters, the original illustrations by Mazzanti, and extensive notes at the end. A lot of care went into this project, better than most other unabridged translations currnently available.

First let me state that I did not read the Bells of Lowell series (nor will I based off of these books!). I read the entire series only because I couldn't return the last 2 books and figured I might as well read them. I didn't keep the reciept since I have read and LOVED nearly all of Peterson's books.

I love to feel for my characters. I laugh and cry with them. I couldn't do that in these books. I never felt attatched to ANY of the characters (save Kiara, a mere secondary, and only in this first book). Jasmine was okay, though I only felt a surface level connection with her. I never knew her well enough to feel any of her trials. I felt bad for her the way I would somebody headlining the news on the otherside of the country. "Wow, I really feel bad for her and will pray for her right now and maybe later if I happen to remember. What an awful circumstance." Her family seemed selfish and her husband... well, what a jerk. And he was one of my favorite characters, mainly because he was the only one doing anything exciting.

Another reviewer suggested this book if you like Heirs of Montana. Well, I LOVED Heirs of Montana. They were my first Christian Romance/Inspirational books. They are the reason I have read so much of this genre. I would not liken these two very different collections to one another. NOWAY!!

I have to say this is the second best book by Tracie Peterson. I read next to all of her books. My favorite has to be the series Heirs of Montana. But this is close in second. Very good book I can't wait to read the next one in this series. If you liked this book or the Heirs of Montana I suggest Liz Curtis Higgs series that starts with Thorn in my Heart.

I first bought this series becuase I mis-read the authors name thinking it was a Judith Pella/Tracie Peterson book. (I'm a Judith Pella fan) As I read the book, about 1/3 into my read, I stopped and thought "man this is not something Judith would write" then I saw it was Tracie and Judith MILLER! No wonder I was so suprised with the plot!! I felt as though there was so much sadness and woa in the main character that it left me feeling heavy instead of enlightened. In other words, from a christian book I want to feel inspired but I didn't at all here. Instead I was like "OK, when are these characters going to really lean on God and seek Him." Especially when the author started incoporporating sexual abuse into the book. I mean Tracie Peterson on her own has trials in her books (including sexual assult) but the characters are always right here seeking God in the midst. Praying and searching... here it felt like "not so much." I will not be reading any other of the Lowell series books and only read all three of these because I bought the set of 3 to begin with. Tracie on her own is a WONDERFUL writer, this series was just not her best in my opinion.

Tracie Peterson did it again. She is a really wonderful author and I love her books. This is a great book to read if you love the Civil War like I do. It is a story about a young girl who grows up very fast. She is forced to marry a man that is much older then her and that she doesnt love. I enjoyed this book a lot but you should read the Bell of Lowell series first. Everything is more understandable if you read them in order.

This book started out a little slow with alot of narration. It then picked up pace and I ended up really enjoying it. Jasmine grows up suddenly when she is forced into a marriage for the betterment of her family. She trys to make the best of her married life . Bradley, her husband is moody and unlikable. Kiara, an indentured servant of Jasmine's husband,Bradley becomes a friend an ally. This book is the 1st of a triligy.

I'm only up to page 140 and there are numerous code errors. Some examples:

1) There is a reference to "Appendix A" but there are no appendices in my copy.

2) p 139: he suggests that the expression "\[1, 2, 3]" will return an array reference, but this is actually returning a reference to a reference to an array, using 2 levels rather than 1 level of indirection. This wouldn't be crucial except that this is the section of the chapter/book in which he is specifically explaining references.

Further, while there is a link to submit errata, there is no link for a place to view/download them. Other reviewers have mentioned the frequency of this kind of error.

This book would be a very bad source for someone truly new to perl.

One of my arguments with Perl, which ironically is one of its strengths, is that it is such a powerful language there are perhaps thousands of things that you will never use, or not even know about that the language can do. Once a language relegated to scripting-use only, it has developed over the years into a full-featured language around which applications are being developed from. For example, there are numerous front-end web applications that are built around Perl not to mention in my own line of work we use a number of Perl applications to process and manipulate incoming data. The little kid has finally grown up and matured!

In Pro Perl, the author takes you through an in-depth analysis of the Perl language from the beginning topics up to advanced topics (including a relatively new one for Perl, Object Oriented programming). Many Perl books have a habit of either showing you the basics, and leaving you yearning for more; or showing you advanced topics that you are left scratching your head wondering "How did they jump from A to Z with no in-between"? In Pro Perl the author has taken an approach of explaining the concepts and walking you through the introduction and leading you to the more advanced topics without breaking it into distinct pieces of beginning, novice, etc. The book can be considered more of a instructional reference manual more than a code-snippet type book, which many programming books are nowadays.

One of the benefits this book offers is that throughout the book there are multiple reference charts and tip sidebars that either give you information on a syntax or available options, or lead you on to find more information elsewhere. Personally, I find the reference charts valuable as the author does not leave you guessing what all the available options or for a particular command or syntax -- in essence, he is opening the door for you to explore further on your own by showing you other possible roads.

This is a great book for those comfortable with programming and new to Perl, or those who have used Perl in the past but perhaps wanted to see what else it could do for them. The only thing lacking from the book is an indexing system on the side. It would have been great if you could have just flipped the book open to the appropriate section when you are on those fast-fact-finding missions.

This is a very comprehensive book for those who want to learn the Perl language from the ground up. The author does an excellent job of being detailed without being repetitive or writing at too basic a level. Intermediate users of Perl can find a lot here but even a novice will find sufficient explanation to allow them to learn the language from scratch. The book is well organized and starts with an introduction to Perl followed by how to acquire and install Perl. From there it goes right into the meat of the language with variables, operators, data types, interpolation, substitution, subroutines, regular expressions, working with files and directories, etc. Besides the language itself the author deals with some of the common administrative tasks like adding new modules and packages. The book ends with some advanced topics like embedding Perl and dealing with processes, signals and threads, and networking.

At 990 pages this is a massive book that is easy to follow and full of examples to show exactly how each concept should work. Pro Perl is highly recommended to everyone from the complete novice to advanced level Perl programmer and includes a lot of detail that I have spent hours on the Internet looking for before.

Remember when Perl was a nice little scripting language? One that you could master in a few days. The success of it led to the incorporation of many new features. Most important of these being perhaps the ability to write object oriented code. The sum total of these features causes a blurring of a difference from "full" languages like C++ or Java.

While it is still possible to program using much of early Perl, this book's aim is to educate you as to the new material. Yes, Perl's scope is now impressive. What with a comprehensive regexp, bidirectional pipes, Unicode and more. How much of this to take in from the book is up to you. Thankfully, the chapters seem mostly independent of each other. So at this level, you have random access, which means you don't have to read all of the book. Each chapter, however, has a strong narrative sense of progress. You should read a desired chapter end to end.

A little irony here. Remember claims by some early proponents of Perl that you could skip the complexity of C++'s STL, for example? Or, more recently, to avoid the bulking up of the class packages in standard Java. Perl now has the same symptoms of success.

Why? Why do we need another book on Perl that walks through the syntax basics. In it's 1,000 pages this book finishes with Object Oriented Perl. And it spends at least four hundred on the language basics.

Why? Why couldn't this be the 'Pro' book the title describes. This is hardly pro at all. CPAN is given very short shrift. And in general, it's just a rehash of the topics covered in Programming Perl. And Programming Perl is the definitive source.

I'm really not sure why this book was necessary. It does have a different style than Programming Perl. It's a little less jocular and a little more mechanical. Reminiscent of books on Java, C# and Python. It is well written and illustrated.

I'm giving this four stars because I think it will work better for some folks than Programming Perl. Though I think everyone should start with Programming Perl.

I initially didn't have time to read this book, and it made a much better reference than O'Reilly's book because it didn't assume you knew what you were doing. The index is nice, and the table of contents helps find anything you don't know the name for - it's all logically organized.

When I finally got around to reading it, it was actually a nice read too.

So far this has been my experience with all the Wrox books I've gotten. They cover well what they cover, but don't always cover everything.

The book is very detailed and comprehensive, but it is not easy to read and probably not suitable for beginners. Specifically, it does not provide complete examples with inputs, code, and output. There are also plenty of typos and small errors.

Still, in all fairness, this is a very comprehensive book with lots of topics not covered in other books. Also the paper is of good quality. Probably every advanced user should go through the book to pick up on things other books leave out.

Let be begin by saying I'm a Perl evangelist. This is to say that I do my best to spread the word that the language is powerful and useful, yet still easy enough for the non-programmer to learn. I have begun to describe Perl as the "Layman's C." (I'm sure to receive some grief about this moniker.)

I am, however, not a fan of Wrox. It has become cliche with me to peruse their works and find typos, gramatical errors, and faulty code. Just because Wrox puts out a heavy, red book doesn't mean they are doing the topic a service. Here is no exception.

So, how to learn Perl? To glibly say 'code' would be too little. The O'Reilley books do a better job, and they are written by the core elite of the Perl culture. However, just because they can be called Perl elite doesn't mean they can't write resources that make sense. (However, I confess to finding a few typos and a missing parenthesis or two in their code as well . . . so nobody's perfect.)

As a developer, I lean on Perl to handle things that don't need the strength of a systems language (e.g. C, C++, Java). The O'Reilley books are an excellent resource that have gotten better with age. But, let me let you in on a secret. Little of what you'll find in the "Camel books" isn't already available to you free. Perl's own 'man' pages form the core of the books . . . if you've got the time to print, then you've got a top-rate document on your computer.

I can't give a book a one-star when it relates to Perl, unfortunately.

This is a very good Perl book! For beginners, intermediates or even advanced programmers in Perl. The book takes you from the basics to advanced applied Perl programming concepts.
The book manages what many others fail to do: It might be the only Perl book you ever need. If you worked through this book, additional information is readily available on the Internet. This book is comprehensive enough to cover everything you need to know about the Perl language to write large scale 'mission critical' applications.
Admitted, if you already own the O'Reillys 'Learning Perl', 'Perl' and 'Perl Cookbook' this book will not contain many news. However, it is written very well and it is understandable, something I cannot always say about the 'original' Perl books or documentation.
If you do web programming, a logical addition to this book is 'Professional Perl Development' which offers lots of good information on how to design sophisiticated web applications.

This is an excellent, thorough, fairly advanced book.

Until now, I was an o'reilly zealot, clinging to my camel book and my CD bookshelf as the Only True Word.

Finally, here is the first real competitor to that series of books, with a fresh approach to the language that shows that the authors really know what they are doing.

So far, the book has done a great job covering all my industrial-strength perl questions with _examples that work_ and clear, concise explanations of the methods and the context. I find that the examples are really applicable to my professional needs as a contract perl programmer.

There's a great section on object-oriented perl, as well as a good debugging section.

IMHO, This is the best perl book out in a while.

The Mammals of Costa Rica: A Natural History and Field Guide The best field guide because the information is concise and the size of the book is easy to carry around on field trips.

As the author of a travel guide to Costa Rica (Explore Costa Rica, Fifth Edition), which covers flora and fauna (in detail), I can attest that this is a great book to take with you and makes a superb companion to Explore Costa Rica (which will be a great help with the rest of your trip)Explore Costa Rica, 5th Edition (Explore Costa Rica)

O.K. for general natural history of relatively few species, but there are better field guides. More highly recommended is "A Field Guide to Neotropical Mammals".

I have not had a chance to examine this book in depth, but I've looked through it a few times and it has all the essential info you would expect to find, and good photos too.

It certainly is worth the price and I'm glad we bought it!

This book has excellent and very detailed writeups and illustrations on mammals of Costa Rica. You can learn much about the creatures. I enjoyed the three-toed sloth, in particular. I rated it only 3 stars from a cost/benefit viewpoint -- we didn't see all that many species of mammals in Costa Rica, so in retrospect, I would have gone with the $10 tourist guide laminated foldout of all types of flora and fauna, and read up on what I saw afterwards, rather than carry this book in my pack.

The warm and friendly poet from Mantua, Publius Virgilius Maro, in his didactic poem entitled the "Georgics," covers topics relating to farming: in book one he deals with crops, in book two trees and shrubs, in book three livestock, and in book four bees. While several scholars have regarded this work as one of the best Latin poems ever, it must be taken into account that it is, nevertheless, far less entertaining than his famous "Aenied," and much more difficult to read. At times, in the "Georgics," Virgil echoes with that same brilliance many people have come to love in the "Aenied." But for the most part, this poem may be rigorous for anyone not serious about Roman poetry, so it is not recommended for everyone. In context of Virgil's time, this poem easily gets five stars, but the many archaisms found in it tend to alienate modern readers, and so, with much hesitation, the poem receives only three.

this book was really informative

Virgil, a Roman poet who lived over 2000 years ago, writes with the same passion and vigor as Shakespeare. However, Virgil's language is Latin and his subject is country life. Peter Fallon presents this new translation of Virgil's Georgics. He calls the work, "a hymn to peace and people."
The Georgics contains four small books. This entire edition - complete with introduction, translator's notes and line notes to help modern readers through the many references to Greek and Roman mythology - runs a mere hundred pages. Book I covers farming topics that range from crop rotation and when to fallow fields, to seed saving and developing a weather eye. Virgil suggests that "if the goddess of the dawn rises wanly from her consort's saffron couch, beware ..." This ancient advice sounds similar to weather guidance I learned as a teen on the New England Coast. "Red sun at dawning, sailors take warning." Book I ends with an eternal description of war and its effects on agriculture "For right and wrong are mixed up here, there's so much warring everywhere, evil has so many faces, and there is no regard for the labors of the plough....scythes and sickles have been hammered into weapons of war."
Virgil devotes Book II to the cultivation of grapes and olives while Book III discusses the breeding and care of domesticated animals. Virgil devotes Book IV to the keeping of bees. He encourages his reader to consider bees "a small society comprising systems worthy of our high esteem." He then describes the perfect site for a hive. It must be protected from winds, close to a tree-lined stream that provides shade and water. Near the hive "let all around be gay with ... spreads of fragrant thyme and masses of aromatic savory. Let there be gardens to amuse them with the scent of brightly colored flowers." Closely observing the habits of the hive, the author states that bees "mindful that winter follows ... set to work in summer and store what they acquire for the common good. Come night, the youngsters haul themselves back home, exhausted, leg-baskets loaded down with thyme."
Some would say that Virgil's verses, dense with out-of-date politics and mythology, is irrelevant to our modern lives. But I take a gardener's point of view here. In the garden, the presence of weeds does not mean the absence of flowers.
Georgics is a book to savor after a hard day's work in garden or field. When the air becomes still and the hammock beckons, open to find how your life matches that of an ancient peer. And heed his sage advice. "The farmer's chores come round in seasons and cycles, as the earth each year retraces its own tracks.... So cast no hungry eye on a big estate if you're inclined, but tend a small one."

I thought this book was wonderful. Leslie is a talented author that has a rare and insightful literary offering in this book. Life as a Girl is a beautiful revelation.

After a terrible back seat encounter with a high school senior, Leslie is sent to boarding school. Her parents are under the mistaken impression that Leslie's life will run smoothly at an all girls' facility. However, Leslie's experience in boarding school is anything but smooth. Her sexual identity develops in enormous proportions as she tries to come to terms with certain areas of her life. The aforementioned changes aren't easy to overcome in the nineteen-fifties, and Leslie's struggles with her sexual identity have just begun.

As mentioned earlier, Life as a Girl is a wonderful and insightful tour de force. Even though I don't share some of the author's thoughts on female sexuality, her takes on the aforementioned subject are thought provoking and - in a disarming manner - logical. I look forward to reading the second part of this five book series.

Leslie rocks. I grew up in the fifties, but never found a woman like her. Les uses sex as a metaphor, however unaccustomed, for the time and place. She recreates the comic horror of growing up and becoming sexually aware at a boarding school.

I liked the honesty and edge of the book and look forward to visiting Les in college in some later work. /s/ Jose

Wow, Les, were you ahead of your time or what?! As a member of your generation, I never would have dared to embark on your sexual journey of self discovery -- but sure would have liked to. Your lack of inhibitions and thorough descriptions of each and every encounter are liberating, if only to my prurient imagination. Thank you for allowing me to live out my fantasy life through you and your friends.

Les doesn't let an opportunity pass her by. She grabs on to the moment and goes with it. The only thing I missed out on is what was she feeling? I look forward to knowing Les better in Book Two.

this was a worthwhile book to have, it hits on most major points in the lives of the subjects and does a decent job but i thought that it was a bit dry and sometimes hard to read through. there were also some selections that i thought were unnecessary while i found myself wishing that others had been included. but overall it is a good book to have on the shelf and nothing is poorly done so it gets three stars from me. but i would recommend 'invitation to christian spirituallity' by john r tyson. i'm probably biased because he was one of my professors but i still just feel that it is better written.

"God is spirit,and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth," John 4:24

Spirituality:
Why read a Study of spirituality? For many obvious reasons, out of religious curiosity, or even 'esoteric speculation'. Spirituality is a word that means many things to many people, with whom we all share the need for the Divine touch that gives the mystical meaning for our lives, though 'Mystical' is more problematic to define!
Spirituality: These are some cyberspace responses; 'How connecting with Spirit improves lives and the world'; 'Advanced or just starting, there is something here for you to learn'; 'Supports your spiritual growth no matter what your path is.', and 'Make the deepest possible spiritual connection through Infinite Being.'
Herein after is what you really need to read, venture, enjoy, and share with an informed, enlightened, and diversified roaster of contributors, yet united in their Christian belief.


Book & Study Review:
A comprehensive concise study guide of Christian spirituality, in space and time, its theology, Biblical and philosophical roots and history, from the early fathers to our world of modern times. This outstanding study is an enormous editorial effort, to coordinate the privileged spiritual knowledge of some sixty experts from various traditions. The orderly and logical progress in three parts includes a fairly concise treatment of pastoral spirituality, with an epilogue by Geoffrey Wainwright culminating a radical orthodoxy of Christ contra Mondum, in Athanasian terminology and spiritual theology. The smoothly flowing compilation of essays by participating authors relates their scholarly as well as personal convictions with reference to milestones of spirituality: Origen, the Desert Fathers, Pseudo-Dionysius, and his Syriac contemporaries and European disciples, a good bibliography follows for each chapter. The writings are in clear plain English, yet quietly stimulating. Starting with a variety of devotional aspects of theology of spirituality reviews liturgical, mystical, and personal practices, amended with social milieu and media impacts.
This excellent treatise although invaluable reference for scholars, is creatively inspiring for the lay as well as students and seminarians. Relatively elaborating and concise on most major issues, it touches the lives of the readers through those who imitated their only master , the Christ. One Amazon.com reviewer has felt and wrote; "I thought that it was a bit dry and sometimes hard to read through. There were also some selections that I thought were unnecessary while I found myself wishing that others had been included"

Contributing Writers & Editors:
The great success in spite of the resultant editorial burden, follows the thoughtful selection of the study surveyed topics, lies with the selection of some of the most qualified 'peritos' of which I need to mention a few; Sebastian Brock, Andrew Louth, Alexander Schmemann, Benedicta Ward, Kalistos Ware, and the contributing editors themselves.
The editors who took over the hard task are well known to those who encountered them in their first project; "The Study of Liturgy." When I first read Wainwright's "Doxology," I was amazed how Catholically Orthodox are the expressions of devotion of this Methodist Pastor and teacher, likewise Jones and Yarnolds will amaze you again.

If you need a comprehensive overview of spirituality throughout the world, especially with an in-depth treatise of the practice of spirituality in the Judaeo-Christian tradition, this book is a must! It is a compilation of essays by many authors with a detailed bibilography for each chapter. The writing is clear and deeply stimulating. It is, of course, theological in nature, but excellent for the lay person as well as clergy.