History Books


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History Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

History
Peter the Great
Published in Hardcover by Random House Value Publishing (1993-05-03)
Author: Robert K. Massie
List price: $14.99
New price: $54.45
Used price: $2.34
Collectible price: $42.15

Average review score:

A Detailed but Infinitely Readable Biography of a fascinating Man.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-21
In short, I am an amateur historian of Russian history and found this biography to be very detailed, thoroughly researched biograaphy while at the same time reading as a top notch novel. I can't recommend it more. If you are interested in the man, this transitional period in Russian history or are after a great read, you won't be disappointed. Enjoy!

SUPERB BOOK
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-16
i THINK PETER MASSIE's biography on Peter tue Great is a classic book. You read it more as a novel than an historical biography. I highgly recommend it for people interest in history. Peter the Great is an icon of Russian and Universal history, with a stunnig personality, with very dark and very positive sides. It is a most for people who want to understand russian history.

Massie's best book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-14
Massie's biography of Peter, the Czar of Russia is unquestionably author's best book.

For nearly quarter of a century Peter strode upon his nation like a colossus.Though tyrannical and cruel Peter unlike other Russian contemporaries was broad-minded and had progressive outlook toward life.Russian Czar was dynamic had unbridled curiosity and insatiable thirst for knowledge.

Old Muscovy state ,as author rightly puts it, was conservative,xenophobic rigidly adhering to antiquated ways.Interacting with foreigners in Muscovy's German suburb Peter realised how backward his nation really was.A fact which prompted him to undertake 'Great Embassy' to the West.Peter strove to modernise Russia particularly its armed forces incorporating latest in western technology.There was hardly a sphere of human endeavour in that nation which lay untouched by Peter's reforming zeal. Czar can rightly be dubbed the architect of modern Russia.

Czar's love for war,soldiering ,sea,ships,navigation lends colour to this biography.Big events of his life was Great northern War and founding of the city of St. Petersburg along the banks of river neva.In the former case, Peter wanted to make Russia a maritime power .this was not possible as long as Russia had no natural access to sea.In the south ,Tartars blocked Russia's route to sea and in the north Swedes controlled the Baltic coast.Peter's determination to break the stranglehold led to war with King Charles XII of Sweden.

The book is also a brilliant sweep of late 17th and early 18th century history.Author narrates Streltsy revolt which precede peter's accession to power,the reign of King Louis XIV of Bourbon dynasty,splendid court life of French nobility. Religious strife ,dynastic quarrels leading to wars of succession,rise of Holland, growth of Ottoman power and Glorious revolution in England.Hence I deem this book an essential reading for History buffs.

My only grudge is bibliography which looks inadequate considering the scale of research undertaken by the author for its production.Research notes not very impressive .However footnotes adequately compensates for this lacuna.

Book carries good quality maps especially on Battle of Poltava. Reader is easily able to follow the ebb and flow of the battle ; different manoeuvres practised by Swedish and Russian infantry and cavalry units.

On the whole,Massie has done an excellent job.

History comes alive
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-27
Much like Pierre Berton's great Canadian history books, Robert Massie brings history to the "people" with Peter The Great. In this long but highly readable biography, Massie illumimates the distant past of a backward nation which grew into a major European power under the energetic Peter. We read about the palace intrigues in the Kremlin in Peter's early years, his rise to power, and his historic trip "incognito" through Holland, Austria and England. A major part of this book is devoted to the Great Northern War with Sweden, and the fascinating character of Swedish king Charles XII. I knew very little about that attempted invasion of Russia, and Massie paints a vivid picture of the Swedish campaign. The author also brings us inside the Ottoman Empire and the life of the Sultans and Grand Viziers. He puts Peter's life in context with the greater world and shifting alliances of Europe.

The brutish nature of life in Russia in this era is not glossed over. So many labourers died in the construction of Peter's centrepiece city St. Petersburg, and the cruel punishments of the time are depicted. Overall, this is the type of historical biography they don't write anymore. History can be and should be written to appeal to a broader audience, and also to tell things as they were, without resorting to revisionism. Books such as this encourage readers to explore history more.

My favorite history book
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-27
I love to read history and have numerous books about many people and events that happened throughout history. But this book has to be my absolute favorite. Peter the Great was an amazing person and led a life without one dull moment. Once you start reading this book it will be difficult to put it down. Even though he did not live into old age, he lived a life full of adventure and you will never be bored while reading this book. You will find that Peter the Great is one of the best leaders of all times and I often wonder how Russian history would have evolved if Peter had lived to be eighty. It is too bad the man cannot be cloned.

History
The Pianist
Published in Hardcover by Weidenfeld & Nicolson (2002-07-04)
Author: Wladyslaw Szpilman
List price: $20.70
Used price: $0.19

Average review score:

Incredible story!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-25
This book is an incredible story of survival. I have seen the movie also. I would recommend both!

Incredible journey!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-13
One of those amazing stories that makes you realize just how much the human spirit can take, and still survive. And just how inhumane we humans can be towards each other. Once you start reading, you won't be able to put this down.

Survivor Literature
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-03
Szpilman reveals the tragedy of Jewish life in Warsaw under the German occupation from 1939-1946. Szpilman's autobiographical work was first published in postwar Poland in 1946 but then quickly removed from circulation by Polish authorities. An accomplished pianist before the war, Szpilman played for Polish Radio during the siege of Warsaw and later within the Jewish ghetto to provide food for his parents and siblings. With the systematic liquidation of Jewish life in Warsaw and separation from his family, Szpilman's life took a series of surprising twists. As the reader views life in the ghetto through the eyes of a survivor, his escape from the ghetto before the Jewish up-rising and his ultimate survival consistently depended upon a timely combination of luck and sympathetic acquaintances B including a German army officer.

Included with Szpilman's memoirs are excerpts from Captain Wilm Hosenfeld's diaries and Wolf Biermann's own brief commentary. Hosenfeld's equating of National Socialism with Stalinist Communist and Biermann's emphasis on Szpilman's willingness to break with his past detracts from the overall quality of this work. Nevertheless, this work is well written and will retain the reader's attention to the end.

Gripping account, timeless
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-28
I could not put down this book, and read it in two sittings. Wladyslaw Szpilman, the famed pianist and composer, describes his harrowing account of life under Nazi terror. As a Polish Jew, Szpilman was considered by the Nazis to be entirely subhuman, and it is a miracle he survived the persistent and random acts of violence that surrounded him. He was nearly sent to a death camp along with his five family members, and somehow was pulled off the Birkenau-bound train to a grim prospect of survival. The images in this book are harrowing, such as the depiction of the shattered skulls of little girls, victims of the Nazis' "preferred" method of killing children by picking them up by their legs and swinging them into a brick wall. Imagine the horror....Szpilman's account is so matter-of-fact at times that you wonder how he survived. The fact that he did is a testament of human endurance, but also the ways of fate. There were occasions when he survived simply by the luck of the draw in a Godless universe.

Uplifting!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-04
Why do I consider a first person account detailing the horrors of the Holocaust to be uplifting? The events described by the author are harrowing and nearly unbelieveable to the degree that I was astonished that the man, in the end, survives. Perhaps that is why I am so uplifted by this story. He survived. He defied evil by daring to live. He also dared to pick up the pieces of his shattered life and continue to live. He does this without any fanfare or obvious heroism. I think that is what makes this particular telling of the Holocaust so remarkable. The author writes it in such an unremarkable fashion that it forces you to sit up and take notice. By simply stating that the caramel was his 'family's last meal together' makes you pause to reflect on such an event. Beautifully written. Highly reccommended.

As a side note, Roman Polanski's adaptation of this book is truely brilliant. Adrien Brody's portrayal of Szpilman is awe inspiring and heart wrenching to watch. Both men do the book and Szpilman's memory justice.

History
The Birds in My Life
Published in Hardcover by The Supreme Master Ching Hai Intl Assoc Publishing Co.,Ltd. (2007-06-01)
Author: The Supreme Master Ching Hai
List price: $18.00
New price: $2.97
Used price: $0.03

Average review score:

Pleasant Surprise
Helpful Votes: 17 out of 18 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-23
Not only was the book very pleasing to the eyes, it held my full attention to keep reading non-stop! Fascinating information about the spiritual level of these beautiful birds was also revealed. WOW! Much kudos and thanks to the AUTHOR for enlightening me.

The book for all generations!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-19
I'm thrilled that my neighbors love this book. The kids just love the birds! And my older friends love it when they received in Christmas.

the birds in my life
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-13
It's such a lively and vivid portrayal into the bird "characters" that I feel they are my true great friends.
The author has successfully conveyed her love for these birds to her readers and made them a part of their lives.

Wonderful gift
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-01
This is the best book you can get to give as a gift honestly :)
Would appeal to many, many people, regarless the age or even if you believe they don't care much about birds or things like that, you would see that they will love it!

Great Love
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-27
This book surely shows the love animals have inside and the beauty of their inner souls.

History
Moment of Truth in Iraq
Published in Kindle Edition by Richard Vigilante Books (2008-07-09)
Author: Michael Yon
List price: $29.95
New price: $23.96

Average review score:

Forget the mainstream media--this is the straight story on Iraq
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-25
This is probably the most important book written on the Iraq War. Michael Yon does an outstanding job of telling it like it is--no politics, no right or left, no spin, just the facts. He also reports the facts that the mainstream media usually deems unfit to print. Yon is critical about mistakes that were made, but at the same time shows that the Iraq War is in the process of being won. He credits the surge and a successful "community-policing" style of counterinsurgency strategy. The turnaround in events in Iraq is nothing short of spectacular. This book is easy to read, a page turner and will keep you on the edge of your seat. The stories and pictures Yon uses are especially powerful. Highly recommended. For those that support an immediate withdrawal of troops, this book will change your mind.

At a price like this why bother with Kindle?
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-22
The sample is great, and I plan to read this book (I have read quite a few others like it). But at $23.96 for a download!!!!!????? I'll wait for the price to come down, if it ever does, or buy a paper copy used.

Kindle Pricing?
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-22
Why is the Kindle version of this book $4 higher than the current hardback price?

I would spend ten bucks to buy a version that I cannot share with others, but I won't spend more than what I would pay for a hardback.

A must read for understanding effective counter-insurgency
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-21
This book is a very insightful look into the counter-insurgency battle in Iraq. If you want to understand the context of the fight against Al Qaeda in Iraq, this book is an invaluable source. It neither paints a rosy picture, nor a bleak one. His first hand accounts of combat and of the equally critical information war are compelling and informative. Micheal Yon effectively brings to light the competing factors and illustrates the many dimensions of this unconventional war.

Great Insight to Counter the MSM's bias
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-21
This book is a much-needed memoir of our involvement in Iraq. For the duration of America's involvement in Iraq, the citizenry has been deprived of an accurate view of what our brave troops are accomplishing in Iraq. The media simply had little interest in actually sharing the positive aspects of our involvement in Iraq. Yon counteracts that tendency by providing a number of stories that provide a more positive aspect of our troop's actions. Simply stated, Murtha's version of the war is not born out by Yon's. If you read this book, your view of the war will be changed. Maybe not radically, but it will be changed to some degree. It is well written, but not unfair or biased. These traits make it a sure way to open your eyes.

History
Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home
Published in Audio CD by Random House Audio (2006-05-09)
Authors: Nando Parrado and Vince Rause
List price: $29.95
New price: $15.99
Used price: $11.99

Average review score:

NANDO IS AN EXTRAORDINARY PERSON.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-17
When I first read this book it took me back to Alive by Piers Paul Read & I remembered how special Nando was in the story. I was madly in love with Nando for his common sense and bravery. I still have that original book. Finding Miracle in the Andes was a special surprise because it's HIS story of it all. It is such a good book that I know I'll keep this one forever too, and read it over and over. I read Alive several times and I intend to go back and read it all over again too now. It touches your heart. I was so sad about Susie. Nando's mom too of course, but Susie seemed special to me. It's not surprising that Nando has become a huge success. His wife and daughters are beautiful, as he is. His life has shown that he's an extraordinary person.
Barbara,
Ukiah, CA

Phenomenal book
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-26
An amazing story that I couldn't put down! I was awestruck by the sheer impossibility of anyone surviving. The most striking moment was under the avalanche in which Nando surrendered his life and was ready to die.
Their courage and instincts for survival were amazing. The message I took away is that love can inspire a person to do miraculous things and that God is too distant to rely on or understand. While I myself am a strong Christian, I still enjoyed the story. Finally, the book was well written with inner monologues and background and mixed with just enough detail to keep the story moving along. I highly recommend this book to any adventure/survival story lover, or anyone who wants to ponder the human spirit.

Incredible Leadership in the face of Tragedy
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-06
Nando Parrado has wriiten a great book, not only on survival skills, but on the Leadership it took to pull the survivors together to work as a team.

Excellent and inspirational
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-09
This book takes you on a journey that inspires you to live everyday to the fullest and appreciate what you have.
It's a incredible book and hard to put down once you start reading. I am in awe at the pain and suffering they experienced and how they overcame all the obstacles that were in their way including death. I had listened to the audio book first and then bought the book and read it too, love everything about it.
It is worth your time.

One of the best books I have ever read!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-01
I loved this book so much I lent it to family and friends. Now I can't wait to get it back, so I can read it again. A truly empowering book. Written with such compassion that readers could never be "grossed out" by some of the extremes of survival that are revealed in this book.

History
All But My Life
Published in Paperback by Farrar Straus Giroux (1985-04)
Author: Gerda Weissmann Klein
List price: $6.25
New price: $43.94
Used price: $1.75
Collectible price: $10.00

Average review score:

Survial of the Human Spirit~A deeply moving story.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-25
This is one of the first Holocaust survival stories that I read. It is by far one that has stayed with me in the most detail.

What a strong girl Gerda is. she was told to never give up her boots and in the end it is one thing that saved her life after marching in a blizzard half frozen to death. How she survived is nothing short of a miracle.

Reading this when you are in a hard time reminds you that you do have the inner strength to survive. If she can do that then I can face my problems. It is quite graphic and tells the truth of really happened in the holocaust.

I'm not going to give the story away I'm just going to say you will cry and rejoyce in this story. It will touch you to core of your very being.

I must read for EVERYONE!

an incredible book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-25
I have read many of the holocaust books out there but this is the one I pass on to friends to read. Especially moving is the liberation of the prisoners at the end of the book. I wish all schools made this mandatory reading. What a way to learn history! This author is quite an incredible woman.

Page Turner
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-01
This book was gripping and I could not put it down until I finished it. It's so hard to believe the hardships so many endured for being Jewish. A must read. Beautifully written with rich detail.

Powerful
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-25
I read this book a long time ago and just got done listening to the book on tape for the second time. It is the most powerful representation of the Holocaust I have found. Please read this book if you want to learn about the Holocaust from a gifted author and survivor.

Holding on for just one more day...
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-20
Despite the horrors around her, and fellow prisoners dying and becoming mentally unbalanced every day, young Gerda Weissman managed to survive several Nazi camps from the late 1930s through the grisly end of World War II.

Imagine being a teenager, wrenched away from your beloved parents, older brother and home -- and never seeing any of them ever again. It would be enough to make anyone unstable, not to mention bitter. Yet somehow, Gerda emerges from her horrifying ordeal stronger than she began. As her body heals in a hospital run by the Allies during the spring of 1945, Gerda begins a relationship with Kurt Klein -- a young soldier who urges her to tell her story.

Now an elderly woman living in Arizona, Gerda Weissman Klein is able to see just how far she's come from the young Jewish girl living a priviledged life in Poland. Yet at the same time, her writing style allows readers to see clearly just how that same persona has managed to live such a rich, eventful life to the fullest all of these years.

I've read many Holocaust memoirs, though I must say that Gerda's story is beautifully and distinctly told.

History
Fate is the Hunter
Published in Paperback by Simon & Schuster (1986-07-02)
Author: Ernest K. Gann
List price: $15.00
New price: $3.92
Used price: $1.79
Collectible price: $18.88

Average review score:

Bored By Fate
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-30
This book reads about as exiting as the monotone drone of a window box fan on a hot sweaty summer night. Gann's style seems didactic to say the least. Muddling through the first chapter I fell asleep and woke up just in time to learn of a near miss in the plane Gann was flying. However in all fairness, most books are written like this, full of details and tangents before coming to the point. Who can get through Moby Dick or Les Miserables without wondering where the authors are going? One should only read books like these if he has a bad case of insomia.

If one is looking for the plot to the movie: Fate Is The Hunter, forget it. This book has almost nothing in common with the excellent screenplay written by Harold Maud except for the title and some flashbacks. Of course it is always a disappointment when the movies don't follow the books, which are usually better than the movies; this case being one of the exceptions.

The paperback book is not an abridged version of the hardcover. So don't try searching for a used copy as I did. It's just a waste of time and money. Quite frankly, I'm sorry I bought the book.

Fate Above All.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-24
Flight possesses a seductive mystique and "Fate is the Hunter" is one of the few books that has ever really truly captured flight's essence.

It is not only pilots that look skyward at the sound of an aircraft or slow down a little as they drive past an airfield. Similarly, Gann captures what is almost intangible and presents it to the reader with an immaculate style that will engross all who read it.

Gann carefully blends the worlds of the philosophical and aeronautical. In this mix, the reader looks out from the cockpit to at times see better within themselves.

A true classic.

Owen Zupp. Author: "Down to Earth"

www.owenzupp.com
DOWN TO EARTH: A Fighter Pilot's Experiences of Surviving Dunkirk, The Battle of Britain, Dieppe and D-Day



Excellent Read
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-29
This is the memoir of one of the first 300 airline pilots in America. It tells the story of the development of the airline industry and the Air Transport Command during World War II. It is well-written with wit and pathos. I enjoyed the read.

One of the Classics of aviation writing
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-10
One will see why this was and remains one of the best works of fiction in any genre, but especially aviation. A great book that every pilot has in the bookcase. I also highly recommend, Flying North South East and West,
a non-fiction book that I think is destined to become an aviation classic.
Flying North South East and West: Arctic to the Sahara,

Read through in few sittings - -
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-17
This is one of those books that has a sneak ending - best appreciated by reading through at a steady rate (which only makes sense once the climax of the book is revealed). The stories, anecdotes and tales seem almost trite and mundane - but build to the showdown, for me a life lesson. Flying is revealed for the joy it is, for its wonder, the thrill of a good landing when one has fought the good fight aloft in peril of ending badly. Gann wrote the thing with a purpose - and it wasn't to entertain you. He is like a grandfather with good advice, and he hits you with a zinger to make the point. You will be grateful, either gender, any station, rich or poor.

History
Amazing Gracie: A Dog's Tale
Published in Paperback by Workman Publishing Company (2003-03-04)
Authors: Dan Dye and Mark Beckloff
List price: $10.95
New price: $6.75
Used price: $4.95

Average review score:

AMAZING
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-07
The books came in and it was like brand new....in fact if I hadn't known I ordered it used I would never have known. It was a great gift and the seller is another I would use again. The book came sooner than promised and was in even better shape than described.

have some kleenex handy
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-26
Great book that had me actually laughing out loud, tearing up, and also sobbing. You go on Gracie and Dan's journey and live it with them.

A GREAT GREAT BOOK!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-19
It's a great book in so many different aspects. It still brings me to tears when I think of Gracie, and I have been sure to give extra loven to my Zoie, a beautiful and very mischievious Great Dane, everyday. After reading the book, I don't even mind so much now when I end up holding on to the edge of my king size bed for dear life while Zoie is spralled out taking up 90% of the bed snoring away while I haven't gotten a good night sleep in ages. I didn't even yell at her when she ate three pairs of shoes in one week. The book makes you want to be better to your dogs, do more with them and enjoy them every day. I know my life is happy and fulfilled because of my canine family and my skin family. All six of my dogs are rescues, and they are amazing and wonderful dogs just like Gracie!

wow.
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-08
I have been trying to find dog books that were as good as Marley and Me and had no luck. I read this book in a day... which I never do. I am from KC, and had no idea before reading this book that it was written by the co-founder of Three Dog Bakery right here in KC! On the first page it talked about him griving the loss of his childhood dog Blue; my first dog's name was Blue. As I kept reading I kept finding more and more things that "spoke" to me. I think this book is BETTER than Marley and Me... both books are my top faves. I might be bias as I'm from KC and remember taking my Blue there. But hardly believe I am.... notice no rating lower than a 4 on here! This book was wonderfully written. It will make you think about life,your own animals, and how everything happens for a reason. I can't say enough wonderful things about this book. (I checked this book out from the library... but will be buying it so that I may own a copy and have others read it, and proceeds of the book go to the Gracie Foundation... to help neglected and abused animals.) This book is not just about a dog; it's how an animal no one wanted showed him how to live and love, one day at a time.

what a sweetie
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-02
This is such an awesome dog story. It is full of real life fun and mayhem of owning a dog in a multiple dog family. It was witty and entertaining.

History
The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming
Published in Hardcover by Continuum Intl Pub Group (1996-01)
Author: Henri J. M. Nouwen
List price: $29.00
New price: $29.00
Used price: $28.35

Average review score:

The Return of the Prodigal Son, Story of Homecoming
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-12
This book is soul-wrenching. A Must for everyone, regardless of religious affiliation. Brings together both priest and artist: Rembrandt's insights and those of Henri Nouwen. . .

Deeply insightful and life changing
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-08
Henri Nouwen had a truly God-given gift - the gift of explaining timeless spiritual truths in very clear, ordinary language in a conversational and deeply captivating way. His words and his explanations imprint themselves into the memory and stay in the heart, and truly help to change lives. Much of his wisdom surely comes from his own struggles, which he admits to in the book - he personally struggled with depression, pride, desire for success and fame, envy, etc. - common human ailments. He also struggled with feeling unworthy of God, and with feeling distant from God. Yet, he learned to overcome his struggles (though he admits that he is still on a journey), and he describes how.

This is the third book I have read by Neuwen. After reading Life of the Beloved I really didn't think that anything could compare, but this book, if not better, is at least just as good. It is an instantly timeless spiritual classic. The whole book is a reflection on Rembrandt's painting, The Return of the Prodigal Son. First Nouwen reflects on the younger son who came back from a foreign land. Then he reflects on the older son who witnesses his younger brother's return. Finally, Nouwen reflects on the father figure. His insights are deep and beautiful. He leads the reader to a natural and yet incredible insight: that after identifying ourselves with both the younger and older brother, we must realize that rather than being either of these two brothers, we are called to become the father!

To be loved by generous God
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-11
"Return of the Prodigal Son" is a wonderful opportunity to hear the gentleness and genius that was Henri Nouwen. The book was originally a talk given at retreat when Nouwen was 57, about 8 years before his death, in the time following his famous service at Toronto's L'Arche Daybreak facility for severely handicapped adults. Nouwen's humility is on display, as are his deep spiritual and psychological insights.

The impetus for Nouwen's reflections was Rembrandt's "Return of the Prodigal Son," painted when the artist was elderly, and following multiple tragedies in his own life. Nouwen's inspiration is less the painting, though, than the parable. His lecture is split into three parts, focusing on the younger son, the older son and the father. Nouwen's take on the parable is Jesus's radical break with interpretations of God that held sway in his own day as they still do in ours. The God that Jesus defines is not angry, vindictive or retaliatory, but completely open in love and forgiveness. While many will agree with this description of the Father, fewer will agree with Nouwen that this image of the Father exists the rest of Holy Scripture (both OT and NT) as well. While many of us are willing to accept Scripture's seemingly schizoid vision of God, Nouwen does not. He is completely committed to the loving father portrayed in this parable. For those committed to the God of condemnation, hell and judgment, Nouwen will be a disappointment (or a challenge). Human beings separate themselves from a God who is always anxious to take them back, teaches Nouwen.

In Nouwen's take on the story, the younger son teaches the journey from dissolution to containment. Dissolution includes dissipation of the kind associated with the younger son in the parable -- insults to parents, arrogance, squandering of resources, immorality. But dissolution extends to other activities and attitudes that spread our energies beyond our capacities. We spread ourselves too thin, spiritually, usually out of a desire to impress those in our lives whom we want to impress or influence. But by recognizing our sonship with God, we realize that we do need to impress of fathers (whether heavenly or worldly) into loving us, allowing us to bring our spiritual energies into containment and focus. The elder son often lives in our hearts alongside the younger son. The elder son's error is in resentment and separation. He cannot rejoice that "this son of yours" has returned from death, whining about his own ceaseless and unrewarded labors. But his error also speaks to a misunderstanding of the Father's love. He feels he will be loved *because* of his obedience (evidently given grudgingly) and has missed that his gift is to have been in the presence of the Father all along.

Nouwen's deep insight into the parable, whose subtlety and profundity become apparent the more listen, is astounding. The parable has the power to heal as well. For any who have felt conflict or hurt in family situations, as has Nouwen himself, the parable points the way toward a recognition of our true place in the world, and in God's eyes. This is not a dewy "I'm OK, You're OK" insight, but can lead to a profound shifting of our existential relationship with ourselves, our parents and our God. What false fronts and defenses we might shed if we truly believed in a God who loved us as beloved children -- no matter how far astray we had gone?

Nouwen's style and delivery belie the intensity of his own struggle and the wisdom of his teaching. Yet the insights continue rolling in, like waves following the passage of a ship, long after the book is over. A fascinating and potentially life-changing book.

Great Book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-26
This book opened up so many different ideas on the well known story of the Prodigal Son. I loved reading this book. It was my first Nouwen read, and it definitely will get me reading more of his books. If you are not familiar with Nouwen, this is a good first read.

A pricelss book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-26
This is an excellent life changing book. Presents the core truth of the Christian Gospel in a way that touches everyday attitudes and struggles. A book so personal and touching you may find that Nouwen is addressing your own unique circumstances. I certainly did. You may find yourself thinking about a new way to live. This book changed my life.

History
The Star Trek Encyclopedia
Published in Paperback by Star Trek (1999-10-01)
Authors: Michael Okuda, Denise Okuda, and Debbie Mirek
List price: $35.00
New price: $18.44
Used price: $12.79
Collectible price: $49.95

Average review score:

Good Source of Reference
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-17
Before I lost this, I was constantly using this as a point of reference for the time line of things and to make sure I wasn't mispelling certain things.. getting other things right, what was where, what all kinds of Star ship classes there wear, etc... this was all for a fan fiction novel that I was, am.. writing. Good thing I put some of those things I was always looking at.. on paper.. so I didn't have to lug the book around everywhere I went.

Granted it's lacking the last few seasons of Voyager and the whole of Enterprise, but I thank Okura for even making "an" edition of these, though it would be nice for a new one.

Excellent reference book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-11
This is a great book, with one rather glaring error. Under the SETI entry, there is a picture of Pioneer's plaque. On the plaque, the Pioneer appears to be launched from the second planet from the sun. As we all know, the probe was launched from the third planet, Earth.

An increadible Guide to the Star Trek Universe,but outdated...
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-07
If you consider yourself a Trekkie or just someone who is truely intersted in Star Trek this Encyclopedia is a must buy period.It has insight to every facet of the Series.From the Original to Voyager you'll know details to everything.You'll won't be able to just glance through it once.I consider myself a huge Trekkie and like to think I know alot about the Shows,but I'll find myself amazed when I discover details about a certain charecter of Episodes I've forgotten or never knew exsisted.Especially interesting is the Timeline parts of the book,The breakdowns of Ship commisions and Designs,information about Actors,Cuisine,backstories of Charecters.You name it and they have everything about it...well almost everything.

You have to realize this fact before buying this Encyclopedia is that it was made in 1999.It's been 9 Years.Alot of History has happened in Star Trek since then and if you don't realize this now,you'll be disapointed to discover that to information about Deep Space Nine's last Season,the last 2 Seasons of Voyager,The whole of Enterprise and Star Trek Nemesis.All of this information is non-exsistant.And just imagine the frustration of people who actually owned this book through the years and reread it wishing it had all this wealth of new information.I honestly can't comprehend why Pocket Books would not release the Book with all of this missing information availible.Or make a CD-Rom of it.

This might sound like I'm ragging on the Book,but that would be impossible to do.Wiether or not this info is in this paticular Book doesn't really matter,because it extensively covers in scrutinizing detail of all the Series up to Deep Space Nine Last Season,Voyager's last 2 Seasons,the whole of Enterprise and Star Trek Nemesis.And believe me you'll be more than satisfied with that alone.

So,most definately buy this now and enjoy it and you will.But just realize it's outdated and once you do that then you can truely enjoy this Encyclopedia the way the Publisher intended you enjoy it:with wonderment and fun.

Outstanding, but an update is overdue!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-17
I bought this book in 2003, and it covered most of the bases then, but only the movies through 1998 ("Insurrection" IIRC; "Nemesis" is not covered.), and the 5th season of Voyager. It just covered the last season of DS9. And of course it has none of the "Enterprise" series.

There have also been events such as the Paramount auction of all the series and movie paraphernalia since then, and that could be a chapter all by itself.

I came on Amazon today expecting to see a new and updated version for sale, and was disappointed that the old edition is still all that's available.

Michael and Denise Okuda know everything there is to know about ST, and are the perfect people to update this. If I were shopping today for the first time I would say wait for the new edition, but buy a used paperback 1999 just to see what it's all about.

Keeping my fingers crossed that someone sees the demand for an updated version!

OK if you ignore obsolecence
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-18
Nothing on the end of Voyager's Delta Quadrant wanderings? Nothing on Enterprise's backstory additions and newly-created anachronisms? Both this book and the related Star Trek Chronology need serious revamping. I appreciate the Okuda's insider Trekker style, but this reeks of willful blindness!


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