Ward Books

I am the Barbara in the book and I couldn't be prouder to have such a great brother, he is the best. Ron came into our family and we have never regretted it ever. Just want to say I am proud of you and we all love you. The book or should I say books are great keep up the great work.

Ron, I read your book over the Christmas break and wanted you to know how much I enjoyed reading it. I thought it was extremely well written and very revealing as to the foster care program. I am deeply sorry that you and your brother were the victims of a poorly run system. Looking forward to meeting you and having you up to the Children's Home in March. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be with us.

As a member of the Board of the Illinois Soldiers and Sailor's Children's School Historic Preservation Society, I would like to thank Ron for sharing his story. As a society, we must take a look at the present system of foster care for children. Through stories like Ron's we will be able to understand what these children really encounter and find better ways to help them. My hope is that every teacher, clergy person, psychologist and caregiver of children read this book. It is written in a way that you truly feel you are there experiencing the pain, lonely times, sadness and suffered as you have. It is my hope that they will benefit from your story and be able to release their own stories and although never forget, come to peace with their lives and gain success, self-confidence and the will to move forward with their lives. A Ward of the State could serve as a door for so many to open. Although it must have painful for you to reach inside and share your story, I feel certain many others will survive because of your unselfish bravery in sharing your story. I look forward the sequel and congratulate you Ron on this wonderful work.

Ron tells of his experiences as a young boy with two sets of abusive foster parents in a way that makes the reader feel he was there. The treatment he received becomes real; the sadness he conveys is pervasive. But it's a sad story with a heartwarming ending. Anyone with interest in children should read it. Any child or adult child of the foster home system must read it.

There is not a writing by Caryll Houselander that I have not appreciated. One of the best!

This is a reprinting of an older version that was originally published in the 1950's. This author enjoyed great popularity for her spiritual writings in the 40's and 50's. I came across this one last year but only got around to reading it this year. It has an a meditation between 4 and 8 pages per station. It also has woodcut prints by the author at the beginning of each chapter. Also each chapter ends with a prayer composed to tie the meditation to our own lives. The meditations in this edition go much deeper than some of the others. The reflections lead to deep introspection.

I love this book. It is the traditional stations that Caryll writes with depth of heart and spirit with insight only given and received in the power of our Helper, Holy Spirit. Highly recommended for the faithful follower of Christ.

This extraordinary book makes a superb complement to Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.

Houselander was one of England's most popular spiritual writers in the mid-20th century. She was also one of the best, and this is arguably her finest work.

The book is based on the ancient devotional practice of praying The Stations of the Cross. The Stations are 14 incidents in Christ's Passion; for example, Christ is judged; Christ meets his mother while carrying His cross; Christ is stripped; Christ is nailed to the cross; Christ dies.

For each incident, Houselander provides a few pages of profound reflection and a short prayer. Her poignant writing is utterly devoid of sentimentality or flowery ornament. She plunges straight into each moment, showing us how we can walk the painful Way of the Cross with Jesus, and how He in fact walks with us at every moment of suffering in our lives.

Read this book to experience The Passion, to draw nearer to Him, and to recognize how He is still being spit upon, still being put into agony in every man, woman, and child who suffers.

As a liturgist, involved in my Synodical Worship Commission, I find myself reading a great many liturgical texts and history books. One of the single-most-useful books I have ever obtained has been Griffiths' "We Give You Thanks and Praise" in which the Eucharistic Prefaces of the Ambrosian Missal (a sub-rite of the Latin Rite in the Roman Communion) are collected in a stylistic, though accurate, English translation.

The Ambrosian Rite is unique in the west in the modern era for its literal plethora of prefaces (over 300, compared with about 100 in the modern Missale Romanum, 30 in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, and as few as 5 or 6 in earlier editions of the Lutheran and Anglican rites). These prefaces not only flesh out the themes of the Liturgy in the Ambrosian rite, but provide those of us who do not celebrate that rite with deep wells from which to contemplate about how we phrase our prayers and praises.

I can't thank my friend Cody enough for referring this book to me, and this book has proved to be quite influential in the work I have submitted for consideration to the Liturgical Commission of the Synod of Saint Timothy. I hope that other denominations and jurisdictions will be able to find it equally useful.

I have been to Milan and con-celebrated Mass according to the Ambrosian rite. It was in Italian and mine is not good at all. So it was delightful to find a book that gave the prefaces in English. I am hoping someone will do a translation of the whole Ambrosian Missal someday. It is a beautiful Mass and the prayers provide fruitful subjects for meditation. If you want something a little different then you will enjoy this book.

I've received my copy of this from Amazon, and it is very nice: more than 300 prefaces very well translated (I think...at least stylistically, they're fine). And it's refreshing to see a useful liturgical book being published in a relatively inexpensive edition.

I could easily see them being adapted for use with, say Rite II in the Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer. Just lop off the formulaic first and last paragraphs and use the substantial, proper middle section with the BCP first and last paragraphs. Or not! They'd stand alone just fine with no lopping.

...after appropriate approvals from liturgical and canonical authorities, of course. Or with Rite III!

I've had my copy for a few months now and it's come in quite handy for use in the Daily Office as well. The central core of the prayers can also be used, with some editing, for a general prayer of thanksgiving outside of the Eucharistic context.

Some of the phrasing is occasionally odd and, although I don't have the original Latin in front of me, I suspect a bit too literal to the original. The texts occasionally need a bit of rewriting for use in contemporary liturgy.

Love this calendar's pictures. Wasn't sure when we purchased but would purchase it again.

I love this calendar! I don't think you have to be a cat lover to like it either. The artwork and colors are very soothing.

This calendar is good quality with the dates large enough to easily read at a glance. The monthly full color drawings are whimiscally "cute" and the Zen type messages are benign and won't offend anyone, no matter what their creed, politics, sex or religion. I purchased it for my office because I wanted something tasteful and unoffensive.

A co-worker of my husband's had this in the office and I just had to order one.

This is a great book for cat lovers. Brought many smiles..

This is the only cat book I have seen that combines simplicity, entertainment and common sense. It should be required reading for every cat owner; you can dip into it anywhere and draw up useful information. I have been giving copies of this book to the new cat owners among my relatives and friends for years.

Beware! There is another, larger, very glossy imitation of this book, published in 1999, that also has "101 Questions" in the title. The people who created it, whom I suspect of trying to capitalize on the success of Fogle's simple, modest, and beautiful book, should be left in a cage without food, water, or a clean catbox for an extended period of time.

Great book, mainly for those who didn't have ever had a cat. Serious but simple with lots of good advices and things everyone having a cat should know! I have loved it! Maria Manuel (Portugal)

"Once you begin to look at human society from an anarchist point of view, you discover that the alternatives are already there in the interstices of the dominant power structure. If you want to build a free society, the parts are all at hand." -Colin Ward

This bright little 150 page gem of a book is densely packed with solid examples of anarchism in practice, and sparkles lucidly with the author's intelligence and hope. It presents an excellent introduction to the anarchist vision of the possible, without getting bogged down in theoretical or historical minutia.

Following in the tradition of Peter Kropotkin and Paul Goodman, Ward argues here for a practical, piecemeal, gradual anarchist revolution. He conceives of anarchist society as "always in existence, like a seed beneath the snow, buried under the weight of the state and...capitalism". With this vision in mind, Ward examines in each chapter various realms of life, from the workplace to the school, the state, the family, and the built environment, and presents an inspiring wealth of examples of the ways the bright tendrils of anarchist life are in every realm constantly pushing up through the frost of authoritarian society.

With eloquent simplicity and brevity, Ward provides a formidable reply to those who would scoff at anarchism as an impractical utopian fantasy.

Ward is certainly Paul Goodman's most worthy heir, and those whose appetites are whetted by this book would do well to seek out Goodman's writings such as Drawing the Line, Communitas, and Utopian Essays and Practical Proposals.

This is one of the first books I read about anarchism. I must have re-read it at least 3 or 4 times. It's a to-the-point and highly entertaining introduction to practical anarchy. How do we move from here to there. It's a little out-dated though, being that it was written in the 70's but it still offers a lot of insight on building a free society. Mr. Ward discusses schooling, hospitals, crime, work, and many other urgent every-day concerns. He argues that anarchy already does exist, in the interstices of hierarchy and domination, in the everyday workings of people and their everyday interactions, in their neighborhoods. It's up to us to widen the spheres of liberty. He argues that many organizations are really quite decentralized (borrowing from the insights of systems theory and anthropology). He also borrows some ideas from Kropotkin; notably that many popular institutions today are run entirely through the voluntary cooperation of its members.

Originally published in 1973 Colin Ward brings forth a masterwork of easy to understand political philosophy. Together with Daniel Guerin's _Anarchism_ these books are the perfect introductions to understanding contemporary anarchist/ autonomist philosophy. This work focuses on the practical (rather than exceeding revolutionary and idealistic) applications of anarchist activism.

I am a former Russian journalist and a documentary filmmaker who has also worked at NASA in the US.

"The Anatomy of Russian Defense Conversion" touches on many more subjects then just Russian Defense Industry. This is a very thorough, informative and important work that analyses the history of US and Russian Defense Industries, weapons exports and conversion, and possibilities of transformation from a militarized to a civilian economy in the new millenium.

The book also reflects on the current state of defense industries in the US and Russia, and "brain drain", or loss of intellectual capital in Russia and other countries after the Cold War.

I found reflections in Arkady Yarovsky's chapter "From the Culture of War to the Culture of Peace" very contemporary, especially in the light of recent events in the Middle East:

"Our time is unfortunately still characterized as "the culture of war." The culture of war is evident first and foremost in the hostilities between people and states, between nations and faiths, and in the inability to solve conflicts by peaceful means... Humanity has made it into the third millenium because the lust for power has been restrained by fear of nuclear war, but this restraint is not to be counted on permanently... The danger hidden in the separateness of people of different countries, unfortunately, remains a legacy for the next century... If humanity renounces the legacy of the culture of war, it can start down the road of cooperation, peaceful creation, and enlightenment. This is the only road leading to the culture of peace."

I am a former Russian journalist and a documentary filmmaker who has also worked at NASA in the US.

"The Anatomy of Russian Defense Conversion" touches on many more subjects then just Russian Defense Industry. This is a very thorough, informative and important work that analyses the history of US and Russian Defense Industries, weapons exports and conversion, and possibilities of transformation from a militarized to a civilian economy in the new millenium.

The book also reflects on the current state of defense industries in the US and Russia, and "brain drain", or loss of intellectual capital in Russia and other countries after the Cold War.

I found reflections in Arkady Yarovsky's chapter "From the Culture of War to the Culture of Peace" very contemporary, especially in the light of recent events in the Middle East:

"Our time is unfortunately still characterized as "the culture of war." The culture of war is evident first and foremost in the hostilities between people and states, between nations and faiths, and in the inability to solve conflicts by peaceful means... Humanity has made it into the third millenium because the lust for power has been restrained by fear of nuclear war, but this restraint is not to be counted on permanently... The danger hidden in the separateness of people of different countries, unfortunately, remains a legacy for the next century... If humanity renounces the legacy of the culture of war, it can start down the road of cooperation, peaceful creation, and enlightenment. This is the only road leading to the culture of peace."

One can imagine that I, as a small child living in San Antonio, Texas, next to three Air Force bases and an Army base, living through the Cuban missile crisis, thought about the threat of the Russian military. I also met my parents' wonderful emigre' friends, and to this day have had warm relations with Russian people.

This book tells of the enormous cost to the Russian people of building and maintaining their war industry for so many years, a militarized economy where people got second best. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, defense industry just about shut down, but civilian industry has not grown great enough to support the population. There are horrendous unemployment, and terrible health and social problems. There is some danger that the path of least resistance for Russia, if we neglect the situation, could be to re-start weapons production, for export at first.

In my opinion, the United States also, to a lesser degree, has neglected the manufacture of quality consumer goods, importing them instead, and has let its physical economy deteriorate, despite much activity in the financial sector. We, too, have been insufficiently careful of the environment. This book provides some idea of what these trends could lead to, if carried to extremes.

Perhaps the involvement of United States companies in Russia, could lead to more of a recognition here, of the importance of the physical economy. Hopefully, both countries could also work to put industry on a healthy environmental footing as well.

There is awareness of the problem of Russian defense conversion, at high levels of our government. I hope this book helps educate people and sustain that interest.

Based on the French Christmas carol, this book features sumptuous artwork which pays homage to the 12th century origin of the lyrics. Ink and watercolor paintings depict the animals and their gifts to the Christ child with the final spread revealing the radiance of the baby and the animals in adoration. This is a great addition to any Christmas book collection and will be treasured for years to come.

This book is a sweet take off on our family's much favorite Christmas Carol, "The Friendly Beasts". In the well known carol, the gifts to the Christ child, as given by the cow, the donkey, the sheep, and the camel, are described. But in this book, verses are added describing the gifts of many other animals which may have been present at Jesus' birth - even the humble woodworm is included, who contributed by not chewing on the wood of the manger. The story portrays the stillness, described in the Bible, of the night of the birth of our Saviour and how all the animals, under the command of God, heralded the birth through peaceful cooperation. The illustrations are beautiful. It is a story that my children love to read over and over again. And it always helps us to remember that God chose to enter the world not only in a humble stable, but surrounded by animals as the first witnesses. The first earthly gifts to God, as man, were given by animals, not wisemen and kings. This book is a true treasure. And for variety, the words may be sung instead of just read!

Helen Ward's lavish Christmas title, The Animals' Christmas Carol, is based on the medieval French carol and provides an animals' viewpoint of the birth of Christ in the manger. The animals provide a gentle lullaby and large-size inviting, warm color photos accompany their well wishes.

My son loves this book and has for the last two years! It helped him learn the alphabet and now he has started to read it on his own. Why on earth would such a good series of books go out of print? I loved them when I was little and would like to be able to buy more for my four year old son.

I grew up with the Ant and Bee series (here in the US). I would love to see this series back in print. Is there anyway for Amazon to forward all the customers requests to the original published to bring them back. I now have children that I would like to share these books with. Christine Blumberg

These are the greatest little books. Perhaps enough great reviews will persuade Heinemann to reprint?

Two years ago, we purchased this book for our son for his 16th birthday for several reasons. The major two were that his own ballet teacher -- Larry Long -- was one of the teachers written about in the book. Also, he had taken classes with the author one summer, loved her as a teacher, and continually referred to her previous book -- Classical Ballet Technique. After we purchased the book, he discovered that several teachers with whom he had either taken classes or about whom he had heard were also covered in the book. He enjoyed the book because of the biographies of each of the teachers and because of the descriptions of their techniques and classes. He assumes that if he ever teaches he will enjoy rereading the book to see the information from a different perspective. We, his parents, have enjoyed it because we have little knowledge of the world of ballet and it gave us more insight into it. Of course, our favorite chapter was the one about his teacher as we learned more of his background, many of the people we knew were mentioned, it gave us greater insight into his teaching style, and the pictures were great. However, the other chapters were very informative and helpful to parents of a serious ballet student. (Since we had no background in ballet, it helped us understand the field a little more.)

This is a wonderful addition to the literature on ballet. The auther makes her apologies in the beginning for not being able to include some noteworthiy teachers, but the ones she was able to cover are great. The information provided gives us valuable insight into the aesthetic principles of these great dancers and teachers. This should be useful to all dancers, whether they teach or not. Some very esoteric facts can be found here as well, such as why Balanchine likes the fingers and hands held the way he does and why many don't like it that way. I had taken some classes with a Mr. Schabel and discovered his claim to fame in these pages. The Great Jean Babilee is even discused. You might also get some good ideas for further reading in this book as I did.

Every ballet teacher must own this book. You will gain enormous insight into how 10 master teachers pass on the art of ballet to their students. You may not be drawn to the teaching styles of each teacher but you will learn something from everybody. Each chapter begins with a short essay in which Ms. Warren weaves what she learned from interviewing the master teachers about how they developed their method of teaching with specific accounts of what she observed in their classes. Each chapter concludes with "Classroom Quotes," the order of exercises in a technique class, and the pedagogical lineage of the master teacher. At the end of the book, Ms. Warren includes several exercises constructed by each of the master teachers. For non-teachers, this book will give you renewed appreciation for the work that goes into making a dancer.