Memorials Books

This book is for those who want to remember and revere the memories of 6 million Jewish civilians murdered for their faith, alone, along with at least 500,000 Roma victims, and countless political and other Nazi prisoners. There is enough evidence in this book alone to convince even the most craven deniers of the Nazi war against the Jewish people.

But more than that, there is also more than enough evidence here to contravene all the false (albeit spreading) claims that the Jewish people have now inflicted a similar fate on Arabs.

The Arab population in Israel and the Palestinian Authority has grown exponentially. Europe's Jewish population was reduced by more than 40 percent in five years.

Compare the statistics, and consider the photos. There is nothing remotely similar between the Nazi war against the Jews, and Israel's self-defense--except in the world's renewed desire to rid itself of the Jewish people.

This book is well worth the price, and everyone should confront the overwhelming the evidence.

The holocaust must be ranked as one of the worst atrocities ever commited and ranks up there with the evils done by Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, Khamer Rouge and Rawanda. The pictures are horrific beyond words and it shows the worst side of humanity. To imagine that people did not learn anytghing from this is astounding since Rawanda, Bosnia and in Cambodia happened many years after. We must never forget the evils that Nazi Germany and her allies did to numerous people that they thought were less then human or did not obey them with blind obidience. It is true that many were jews, but there were countless others as well, Russian Pows, Jehovas Witness, Gypsies and many more. It was a brutal crime against humanity and showe mankinds worst traits. It is very painfull to look at the pictures and imagine the horrors that went on in those camps and one shudders at the pure evil that was shown during this heinous act. This should never be forgotten, but unfortunately many have duplicated in places such as Rawanda, Bosnia and Cambodia.

I have a published review that I would like to send to Amazon. It's longer than 1,000 words but from the Journal of Chickasaw History, Volume 5, No. 1 (1999)by Richard Green, editor. In addition there is a very new CD of the same title, which are stories read from the book. Various Indian People Publishing Co in Richardson, TX, phone number 1-800-776-0842. Retail $19.95.

I love the author's style of writing. The book contains the stories about the Little People, the Steel-lo-booch-go-gee that were told among generations. The author uses the storytelling device to present the stories. I was fascinated by the stories of the Little People and their connection to children and healing. I would highly recommend this book. I couldn't put it down.

Over the past two years I have purchased about ten Lincoln Penny folders. To fill them we save pennys and sometimes at the bank I will buy rolls of pennys for fifty cents each. My grandchildren and I spend hours searching these coins for the correct dates. They learn to identify numbers, mint marks, and I read to them about President Abraham Lincoln, who is featured on the Lincoln penny. These coin books are gifts that are never thrown away. Sometimes I wonder just how much a Wheat Penny book would be worth if my Grandparents had filled one in for me....

I've practically collected coins since I was born. Since pennies don't have much purchasing power anymore (you can't even get a piece of gum for a penny!) and are numerous this is probably the best one to start with.

This one isn't as easy as it looks to complete. You have to find several varities of pennies made in 1982. Also, the "S" mintmark coins from 1968-1974 are a challenge. And the pennies from the early Lincoln Memorial days--the 1959 and early 1960s--aren't as numerous as they used to be. Nevertheless, this will provide one with a nice challenge that will eventually grow to encompass nickels and other denominations.

This is one of the first Philippa Carr novels I read....And I'll never forget it. I've read it three times already. Believe me, you won't miss this for the world!

Against the backdrop of Elizabethan England is spun this engrossing story of the stormy loves and dangerous advertures of beautiful Catharine, called Cat. When fiery-tempered Cat meets arrogant, lusty Captain Jake Pennlyon, she is both attracted and infuriated by him. But Jake is determined to marry her and blackmails her into agreeing to a betrothal. Soon after she is kidnapped by a band of Spanish pirates and delivered into the hands of Don Felipe, Governor of the Canary Islands. Cat is certain she has seen the last of Jake Pennlyon, but she find herself the helpless victim of Don Felipe's revenge against him. Cat is not one to give up. Not ever!!

This is hands down the best book about Memorial Day for younger children. I have a 6 and 5 yo and they got so much out of this book. The wording was so much better than the ones I found at the local library. It discusses the Civil War a lot so you can use it again when that topic is introduced. I homeschool and I found this to be an excellent source of info!

The History of Memorial Day is so often overlooked, untaught, misunderstood. This book does an A+ job of teaching our children the history and the meaning of the day. I wish there were more like this. ... Buy. Read. Pass it on to others. Give as a gift. Let us not forget the true meaning of Memorial Day.

Excellent book filled with info about various southern tribes surnames; especially within the Cherokee. If you are researching family connections within your tree, I highly recommend. An interesting and easy read.

This book traces the origin of the modern day "blood quantum" for tribal membership to european origins, not native american origins. Very well researched and presented in an intelligent readable manner.

This is a wonderful book that offers trenchant insight into the French experience during the Great War. I found this book profoundly moving at times and my understanding of what that war meant to the identity of France was greatly enriched. Well worth the price to the serious student of the era.

This beautifully done book presents a unique perspective of the war memorials that pervade France. The meaning of these monuments is often ignored or forgotten by the casual traveler, but anyone who reads this book will most certainly feel that they are seeing these reminders of sacrifice for the first time. With insight and distinctive understanding, Ms. Henry examines what these markers say to us today and in the process brings the past to life. Scholarly, moving, and superbly written, the reader will never look at a memorial to the fallen without consideration again. An important contribution to understanding the French experience of war and how that nation's past sacrifice is remembered and perceived by its people. Ernest Pessler, O.F.M.

This history of the AIDS Quilt is a poignant and moving look at how America reacted to the HIV epidemic and how the gay community mustered its own resources to educate and deal with loss when others, especially Christian America, turned its back. I shared this book with my 12-year-old son, for its message is one of compassion and understanding. I recommend it to all middle-school (and older) children.

Brimner focuses on the AIDS Quilt from its very earliest beginnings. In clear, candid language, he discusses the prejudice AIDS sufferers faced and the inaction of a government that simply didn't care when it came to a much-ignored minority within our population. The book is both touching in its depth of emotion and incredible when it comes to the reaction of mainstream Americans to the eipidemic. This title should be required reading in every elementary school across America. Unfortunately, I doubt it will be given the attention it deserves because of its "sensitive" subject matter...and that is the saddest indictment of all against our American culture.

A few years ago I ran upon a book titled: "Gettysburg: A Meditation on War and Values" by Kent Gramm. Being a history teacher and Civil War enthusiast, I bought the book and devoured it. I use it as a guide on my annual trip to Gettysburg. I was always wondering when Mr. Gramm would publish a new book. Well, the wait is over. "November" picks up where "Gettysburg" left off. This book is excellent for students of the Civil War and general history enthusiasts alike. Mr. Gramm uses Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and the month of November as a starting point for his interpretations of several key events in history, both in America and in the world. Included in his analysis are JFK's assasination, the death of C.S. Lewis, the Holocaust, RFK's impact on America, and the Vietnam War. Mr. Gramm also traces his family history and writes eloquetly about how his ancestry fits into the larger canvas of American history. Using Lincoln's famous words, Mr. Gramm paints a portrait of the deeper meanings of our identity as Americans, our history, and our place in the world. This is not a work of history in the tradition of batte narratives or campaign overviews. Rather, it is a moving, deep and touching look at the heartbeat and soul of the America that Lincoln spoke about in November 1863 and how it applies to us in the 21st century. As you read this excellent book, you will be reminded of Lincoln's gift of eloquence. The month of November has witnessed numerous key events in the history of America and the world. Thanks to Mr. Gramm and his magnificent book, these events have taken on a deeper, more spirtiual meaning to me. I recommend this book without hesitation or reservation.

Kent Gramm's latest book, November, Lincoln's Elegy at Gettysburg, is a remarkable achievement. This work contains a profound series of meditations on history, loss, values, idealism, and patriotism, inspired by Gramm's sojourn, throughout the month of one November, in and around Gettysburg. Although his search for the exact spot where Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg address is the ostensible reason for his visit there, this quest - and his determination to reflect each day on what Lincoln had been doing on each day of November 1963 (leading up to and following the delivery of the address) - actually provide a touchstone for reflections both wide and deep on our country's history, and the standards to which we must hold ourselves. World War I, Vietnam, World War II, the Civil War, the assassination of JFK, the life of Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther and Martin Luther King, modernism and postmodernism, and the loss of beloved parents, all provide topics for thoughtful rumination. This book is profound, absorbing, inspiring, poetic, and deeply moving. It is a book you will want to revisit, and from which you will find yourself reading aloud to friends.

Aidan Kavanaugh's modern classic On Liturgical Theology is the book version of his 1981 Hale Lectures at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, an Episcopal/Anglican seminary in Illinois. This lecture series is rather prestigious and has historically had a number of great scholars participate, eventually turning their lectures into equally great books. The Hale Lectures are not focused just on Episcopal/Anglican issues, however; from their earliest days they had an ecumenical edge, and this is continued with the present volume.

Kavanagh's major point in this book is that liturgy is "first theology" - that is, orthodoxy is defined be liturgical worship, not by what is written in tomes of academic theology that often have little to do with the corporate life of the Church Catholic. This book comes rather late in the mid-20th century's "ecumenical movement" which was also joined to the "liturgical movement" of the same century (indeed, these two overlapped quite heavily). Thus, by the time that Kavanagh delivered this particular thesis in these particular lectures, he wasn't saying anything new as such. Rather, it is best to think of this little book as summarizing in a succinct fashion the major trends and movements in the liturgical and ecumenical movements of the mid-20th century. To many, these conclusions are so obvious as to not even need to be argued any more, but merely a few decades ago, this was not the case - and we do well to keep this in mind. The new historiography of Christian liturgy set forth by the liturgical movement of the 20th century was nothing short of absolutely revolutionary.

Some readers might be rather surprised to find that Kavanagh spends quite a lot of time discussing philosophy and the social sciences, particularly in the first part of the book, which is entitled "Liturgy and World." The second part of the book, "Liturgy and Theology," is actually where he begins to write about liturgical theology. I think that what Kavanagh is implying here, however, is that first comes nature - world - and that this is then completed by grace - theology, conceived of first and foremost as worship (rather than as abstracted propositions, etc.). What unites nature/world with grace/theology is liturgy. Thus, no matter how one wishes it to be, within Kavanagh's framework we are all liturgical beings at our very core, whether in the world or in the Church as well (73). The real upshot of this, however, is for those who are in the Church, for they must recognize that they are in the world first. Being in the world thus necessitates considering academic insights and understandings, even when this is less than fully comfortable.

All of the academic rigor that is found in these early chapters comes to an open apex when Kavanagh delves deeply not into just what it is that the liturgy has historically involved, but what it is that liturgy actually does. In fact, this latter question pertaining to what liturgy does is what seems to interest Kavanagh most. This is not some sort of appeal, however, to a "merely practical" (and thus metaphysically insipid) approach to liturgical being. Rather, it is a bold statement: "In the liturgy, God welds himself into our media of discourse without becoming subordinate either to those media or to us who must use them" (120). Thus, human speaking is given a new turn - a turn "upwards" to the God who, in the incarnation, has "descended" into our very midst. As St. John writes in his gospel, the Word now dwells among us. The very human practice of coming together is thus given an overflowing fullness that it would not otherwise have: it is joined to the infinite God. Kavanagh turns his historical eye to the late medieval, pre-Reformation Western church and notes that the degeneration of liturgy - corporate worship - ultimately led to a denigration of the Scriptures (and, one may presume he would agree, the Sacraments) that took them out of the Church and made them the mere tool of academics, rather than the book of the Church, read aloud to the people, and fulfilled in Christ. His usage of historical events to ground his perspectives is nothing short of fascinating, and it is also highly compelling.

This is a fantastic work. Although it comes rather late in the history of the liturgical movement, perhaps it might be said that Kavanagh actually brings a lot of things around full circle in this book. The Anglican Benedictine monk, Gregory Dix, wrote a massive work on the history of Christian liturgies in the early-mid 20th century which proved to be the single most important work ever written on the subject; Kavanagh, a Roman Catholic Benedictine monk, wrote a short little book packed with both wit and insight and delivered the book originally as a series of lectures at an Episcopal/Anglican seminary. At the very least, it ought to be seen that Kavanagh's book reflects a wider truth that we, on the 21st-century side of the 20th century, ought to cherish: our histories, even at their most particular, are intimately bound up in a lot of ways with the histories of others, especially in the history of Christian worship. It is only with this in mind that we might find a way forward and grow into the organic unity that we are called to have maintained this whole time by speaking the common language that liturgy quite simply is.

I couldn't recommend this book more highly! For my money, nobody has explained how God meets World in and through the Church at worship better than Fr. Kavanagh. Many think that any theology is (and is about) words--a logocentric enterprise. For Kavanagh, on the other hand, the Logos (Christ) is the true dynamo of theological enquiry ... and that only finds its true genesis in the liturgy:

"The liturgy is nothing more nor less than the Body corporate of Christ Jesus, suffused with his Spirit and assembled in time and place, doing its best by doing the world as the world issues constantly from God's creating and redeeming hand....[L]iturgy's tombs and crosses, blood and altars, keep us anchored in the brutal reality of who we are."

An almost transcendent delight overflows his writing because he summons us to the mystery only to be encountered in the midst of a people worshipping their God. Here, the world is made new; here, we meet our God and receive Presence by grace.