P Books

I first heard of Meatyard in a Lenswork interview with photographer Larry Wiese, and this casual reference aroused my interest. Rhem's well-researched account satisfied my initial interest, but then Rhem acheived something else as well. I gained an appreciation for Meatyard's work that I had initially avoided out of ignorance. Rhem brings to light the numerous influences that molded Meatyard and informed his work: influences as varied as Ezra Pound; Gertrude Stein; Flannery O' Connor; and Zen Buddhism. Rhem interviewed friends and family, combed through archival material and rare unpublished interviews with Meatyard.
The end product is one of the finest art books I've personally ever read.

This is a beautiful book: complicated, exhaustively researched, yet written to be accessible to the lay reader. Meatyard's work is gorgeous, comic, haunting, and virtually unknown except to photographers. James Rhem has done a masterly job of balancing scholarly rigor and critical transparency. In _Family Album_ he fills a void in the scholarship of photography. I look forward to seeing more work by this author.

I have always been amazed at the work of Meatyard. I gained more respect for his work and understanding of the man behind the camera in the work published by James Rhem. To know the feelings of all involved in the creation of Meatyard's work adds a greater understanding of this complex man. James Rhem has gone the step beyond to make all who read the book understand the creation of the Lucy Belle Crater Series!

EXCELLENT!

At last someone has written an extremely intelligent, well researched, and accessible book on Meatyard. Rhem takes on this complex and poignant piece of art, and reveals its mystery to us. As an artist, tired of reading badly written criticism and art-writing, I found this book to be a real gift. I've read most of the available writing on Meatyard and nothing approaches this. A must-buy.

In James Rhem's book Meatyard's well-known Lucybelle Crater photographs are reproduced in the family album setting that the photographer himself planned they should have, but never got during his lifetime. The photographs are printed on black pages, with handwritten captions underneath; the images are arranged in groups, & the groups are themselves sequenced. For those who like Meatyard's photography, or acknowledge his significant position in American photography, this new presentation is reason enough to want this book.
But there's a lot more being offered here. First, in an authoritative introduction, Rhem presents an overview of all of Meatyard's photography. This essay is a prelude to and a setting for Rhem's real (and groundbreaking) work: thoroughly researched, original & penetrating elucidation of Meatyard's Lucybelle Crater photographs.
Personally I have had difficulty in understanding what the Lucybelle Crater pictures were about since first seeing them in an earlier version 25 years ago. From comments by friends & other photographers I realized that I was not alone in having this difficulty. We faced page after page of photos of two people, one wearing a hag's mask, the other a mask of an old man. These figures are posed most often against suburban backgrounds that are familiar and mundane. Some pictures are visually interesting, others dull. As you turn the pages the images accumulate, asking be "read". But how? "What's going on here?" was my nagging question. I knew I was missing something important about these pictures. What was it?
Rhem's essay is valuable in answering that question. And what's striking is how he does this and how well he does it. Not with scholarly jargon (though he has the thorough-going mind of a scholar). Not with flights of imaginative "interpretation" based on his own subjective feelings and opinions. And certainly not by calling attention to himself as a critic, biographer or insider (all of which, by the way, he is).
James Rhem works from a dense gathering of factual information about Meatyard--some unknown until now (thanks to Rhem's wide, and thorough investigations into primary sources.) This factual information provides the basis for a conceptual approach to the Lucybelle pictures that is both lively with anecdotes and rich with insights. Rhem has a sincere desire (you can sense it in his sentences) to tell you what he thinks Ralph Eugene Meatyard's photographs are about. He approaches the photographer not as a subject for a thesis but as a man whose pictures continue to have something important to offer us. Rhem has taken up that offer and made it his job in this book to understand and interpret it, using the considerable (and considerably generous) means that he's accumulated for that very purpose.

27 oct 2002

This ia a great book for a new PE teacher. I got transfered from Jr High to Elementary this year and this book has been a life saver.

As a homeschooling mom of three boys I have searched long and hard for a book that would give me ideas for P.E. class. This P.E. series is the answer to my prayers. It includes hundreds of activities, fully explained and illustrated including a list of required equipment. Although some activities are for big groups, there are lots of activities for one or two children. They include lesson plan suggestions and blank lesson plans for making up your own. Some of the lessons involve using equipment not likely to be found in the home but a great deal of the lessons involve very simple materials like hoola hoops, balls, bean bags, etc. I highly recommend this series for homeschoolers!

This is a great book full of ideas to help teach k-2. It is very useful in teaching skills and just little games as well. very well developed for not only intro activities but for fitness and skill related activities as well.

I also think this book is great with a great progression of skills and clear directions and photos. Can easily be adapted for a useful preK motor development guide as well.

This book has an abundance of great PE games and activities for teachers who have little experience or familiarity teaching PE right up to different ways of teaching mandatory skills for the experienced teacher. Many of the activities need few or no equipment which is good for many teachers who work in schools with few resources. I highly recommend this book to any early primary teacher.

I am a student of Mr. McGuire's in Briarcliff New York. He is an extrodinary teacher, and his review book makes classes a lot easier than they would be otherwise.

As a teacher of NYS earth science, I feel this is the best resource for a teacher and student preparing for the Earth Science Regents. It takes each chapter and breaks it into little pieces, then follows each "lesson" with practice regents questions. Earth Science should be studied in short sessions frequently. This book accomodates this style of learning/studying, which is necessary for academic achievment in Earth Science. Buy this book before the other regents reviews out there. You wont regret it. I use it as my primary text through the school year.

As a student of Regents Earth Science, I highly reccomend this book for studying. This challenging subject is very well explained in this publication, and not only tells you the facts, but makes you understand them. For students who are taking the Regents, it gives sample questions from previous exams in order to help prepare the reader for the test. I think this is a really good book to study earth science from.

Mr. McGuire's REVIEW BOOK is useful in any Earth Science situation from Middle/Junior High School, through High School and through introductory courses in college. The topics included are well covered and the detail is accurate and useful. I have used this book (or earlier editions)with my students for more than 10 years and it is one they head for first when they need immediate answers or are just beginning to do research.

Reviewing Earth Science: The Physical Setting by Thomas McGuire is an excellent, comprehensive review book that helps students learn and understand the new New York State Earth Science Curriculum. I find it an invaluable resource to my students and myself. The units are well written and include recent scientific ideas. The graphics and illustrations are clear, insightful, and meaningful. The questions are asked in such a way as to reflect many different thinking levels (basic knowledge, application and interpreting). The extensive use of sample test items help students evaluate and show their comprehension. Mr. McGuire's several editions of this book provide excellent insights into New York's challenging and stimulating Regents Earth Science program. In fact, my school and others use this book as an expandable text. I have been using the older version of "Reviewing Earth Science" by Thomas McGuire for the last 10 years and find it an irreplaceable and essential book. This new review book correlates directly with the new New York State Physical Setting : Earth Science Curriculum. I think teachers embarking on this new adventure are advised to use this book as a key resource throughout the year.

This book is definitely a solid way to start in Riemannian geometry. The topics chosen give a glimpse of more advanced topics that the reader can venture to next, and the order covered leaves little confusion. The book is to the point, with little conversation about the concepts except at the very beginning of each chapter.

I only have two complaints, but neither would cause me to lower the rating to 4 stars.

1. There could be more "deep" exercises that allow the reader to explore more of the subtleties of the subject. And for what exercises there are, the author sometimes gives far too much away in "hints."

2. The book does not take a unified approach to the subject that fits nicely with the full generality of the theory. This is probably what makes the book good to start with, but there is still going to be a somewhat difficult transition from this book to a typical differential/riemannian geometry book. Namely, the basic language of vector bundles, pull backs/push forwards, tensors and tensor fields are either covered in a very specific framework or not at all.

I had the pleasure of taking a course in Riemannian Geometry from the author himself, using the Portuguese version of this book. Do Carmo managed to cover the whole thing in one semester without breaking a sweat; I don't know how he managed, or how we did. The fact is that the book is extremely well-written. It provides geometric insight but doesn't avoid computations. Also, the choice of topics is great, and they are ordered in a way that enhances the logical unity of the whole. The English translation seems to be every bit as good as the original. For a first course in Riemannian Geometry, this book might make a geometer out of you.

This is really a very good book to start Riemannian Geometry (RG). Exposition of key concepts of RG (affine connection, riemannian connection,geodesics, parallelism and sectional curvature, ...) are well motivated and concisely explained with numerous motivating and not so difficult execises. The book is self contained convenient for self study. It contains an introductory chapter on mathematical background explaining basic concepts as differentiable manifolds, immersion, embedding and so on, which are necessary to deal with RG. I have essentially one basic remark about this book. Formulation of RG as presented in it, is a little bit dated. Now, with the development of geometric algebra and Geometric calculus most, if not all, mathematical concepts needed to study RG like covariant derivative, curvature, and general tensors can be formulated without ressort to coordinates and in a manner to highlight their essential geometric features. Moreover derivation of certain formulae can be much easier and natural. For example the author defines the formula for |x^y| as sqrt(sqr(|x|).sqr(|y|)-sqr(inner product(x,y))). Then explains that it is the area of two dimensional parallelogram determined by the pair of vectors x and y. The reader might be puzzled as to how this formula is obtained. In the context of geometric algebra this is derived very naturally from basic concepts. Anyway, this remark does not diminish the value of this book.

This is another well-written text by Do Carmo. I browsed through it and found I could not understand several passages because I did not know what the special symbols meant and there was no table of symbols. I plead with the publisher to add such a table to the next edition or printing.

This is the best Riemannian Geometry book after students have finished a semester of differential geometry. It gives geometric intuition, has plenty of exercises and
is excellent preparation for more advanced books like Cheeger-Ebin.

Students should already know differential geometry (Spivak "Calculus on manifolds" and Spivak "Differential Geometry Volume I" might be used there)

Warning: the curvature tensor is defined backwards as compared to Cheeger-Ebin.

I really enjoyed this book. I felt as if I were at a small gallery the first time I looked through it. The quality as well as the content are amazing.

this ended up being a great holiday gift. good condition. I'm very happy with the purchase.

This afternoon I saw an exhibition of 30-40 of Rineke Dijkstra's portraits at the Stedlijk museum in Amsterdam, and I was very affected by it. The photos seem so simple and innocuous at first glance, but it only takes a second to find what Barthes called a "punctum" (a subjectively conspicuous detail that takes you out of the frame into some, mostly likely ineffable and personal, truth of life, and establishes a direct connection between you and the subject in the photograph) in each one. Most often it is found in the subtlest of details in Dijkstra's photos, or between the photos as montage effect surfaces while moving through one of her series. Innocence and gritty reality seem to engage in a dialectic relationship throughout these works.
"Rineke Dijkstra: Portraits" contains an excellent sampling of Dijkstra work. If only it was 2, 3, or 4 times the size! but then, I suppose, it would be much to expensive for a student like me. In actual fact, the photos in this book are certainly large enough to be appreciated.

This book is a must have to reference a comprehensive collection of Rineke Dijkstra's work. The plates are 9"x12" with excellent color reproductions and the write-ups go beyond the regurgitated art critic articles.

Great book, great paper quality, great image quality. A good corpus of Dijkstra's work

For anyone interested in aviation you will be amazed at the detailed way he puts you right in the cockpit. I was an Air Force brat and grew up around pilots from that era. This book gave me a new appreciation for their skills and their service. It also brought back memories I had long forgotten. The little sayings that meant nothing to me as kid were placed in proper perspective. I have read all of the books in this series and enjoyed every one of them.

I had been there. 1962 1964. Had we had Storm Flight then A whole lot of lives would not have been lost. I am sorry I left (1965). I lost a lot of very good friends. Air Force and Army alike.Yet they did get the job done. I am proud of each and everyone of us, that served. God Bless America

I have read most of Mark berent's books and they are without a doubt the very best. I know that thye are based in part for sure of real events that took place. Rolling Thunder makes reference to several people and events that I know for a fact did occur, such as the person from the 354'th who shot back at a ship , the Turkestan in Cam Pha and got hauled into a court martial trial along wioht the C.O. The names and some of the story regarding that were changed. Berent makes you feel like you are there along with those guys that busted their butts to fight a war that they were not allowed to win. He has a way of creating characters and other things that are truly realistic, flight line up cards, Frag order etc. IT is very hard to start one of his novels and put it down. THe only bad thing is that you realize tha tyou are almost done reading before long. His knowledge of airplanes and creating a scen for the reader is unmatched by any writer that I know of. I've read all of the books I own several times.

I've read a number of books on the Vietnam War -- fiction and non-fiction. Rolling Thunder is one of the best. This book is the start of a five book series that covers the Vietnam war pretty much from the big American buildup era of 1965 to our last big air battle -- Linebacker II.
For a novel, Rolling Thunder reads like a memoir, and I guess that's because it partially is one for Berent.
His descriptions of air combat are authentic and edge of your seat type stuff. But it is the interactions of the fighter squadron and the wing and big Air Force politics that makes this book a great read.
Rolling Thunder starts with the death of a pilot that was flying with Court Bannister (the hero of these books). The other pilot is not a particularly good stick (or pilot as fighter jocks call them) and manages to prang his F-100 all over the jungle. For Court that's bad, not because he loses a squadmate, but because the guy's a powerful generals son.
The series follows Bannister around for the next seven years and through the last book -- Storm Flight, which ends the war with the Linebacker attacks on N. Vietnam.
Berent manages to weave all the elements of Vietnam -- Saigon dangers, Air Force fighters, Special Forces ground combat and political intrigue in Washington -- all into one story.
The only complaint I had with the series is the inclusion of the obligatory romance in Thailand or some RR spot in every book. The romance element wasn't as entertaining to me, but they are always brief interludes and then its back to work and war.
If you don't know much about the war in Vietnam or the Air Force read these books. They are a good education and entertaining.

A great read for air combat fans.... Berent knows his stuff and more importantly knows how to weave a plethora of technical info into a gripping storyline. Higly recommended.

I totally loved the book...and it was so well written. I could have never guessed who Mr. Smith was...but then again, I guess that was the point of the book. But everything just moved so fast that by the time I finished the book, my head was spinning. There were no breaks and everything can just zip right through you without you knowing it...you could even get killed without knowing it. That was how great the book was and I totally enjoyed it. And I especially loved Jago. He was such a sweet guy even though he fell with the wrong crowd...he has a good sense of humor...and totally stood up for that Talbot woman. Yup...it was a good book and in the future I will be looking forward to reading more of Jack Higgins books!

This is it! The best work from higgins in years! I simply could not set this thriller a side.

I reserve 5 stars for classics like "The Eagle has landed", but this book comes close. There are plenty of twists and turns and unlike repetitive characters of Higgins, you wonder when a major character in this book will get bumped off the next page.

Sarah Talbot and Sean Egan came from 2 different world, an ex-SAS from London East End who had to quit due to a knee injury, and a Wall Street terror whom Washington bigwigs queue to kiss her hand. But they have one thing in common, people they love had died under strange circumstances and the corpses to smuggle heroin.

Ferguson of Group 4 (in this book, Harry instead of Charles, wonder if they are one and the same), Tony Villiers, another intel officer, knew it was linked to some sensitive issues and made no open inquiry, effectively denying official investigation.

But Sarah Talbot and Sean Egan had no such burdens and vowed to discover the truth and the mastermind behind the tragic deaths of their loved ones.

It was interesting as the bad guys found out early in the game they had crossed powerful people and tried desperately to stay ahead, denying Sarah and Sean information without killing the two bereaved. Sarah carried an aura of protection due to her political connections to the White House, and Sean used his underworld connections to get clues and leads, his uncle being Jack Shelley, an infamous London gangster.

Their adversary was one ex-para named Jago who works for the mysterious Mr Smith. One by one, Jago sought to eliminate the links from the 2 bodies but Sarah and Sean just managed to gain a little clue each time before their links were terminated abruptly.

From London, to Paris, to Sicily, to Ireland, the trail finally leads back to the shadowy streets of London East End where the mysterious Mr Smith is unmasked.

Higgins gave a good description of the trial by fire of Sarah who was determined to step into a different world, of murder and mayhem and lawlessness (illegal ones, not the legal kind in Wall Street). Readers could actually see that it is one thing to be incensed by the murder of a beloved, it is quite another to go out to the streets seeking revenge.

This is definitely one of Higgins' better books, where the reader is kept in suspense and the action was fast and furious but not mindlessly so, with each chapter providing clues and hints and kept essential to the development.

One of Jack Higgins' best. It is a good story with good characters (Sarah, Sean and even Jago). It keeps you interested right until the surprises at the end. All in all it's a good read.

enjoy!

It's one of the bests books I ever read. When you start you can't stop, I recommend for everybody who likes Jack Higgins books.

This is usually the third book you read in a Political Philosophy course after "The Republic" and the "Nichomachean Ethics".

Locke comes to an understanding of "society", "government", and "property", among a number of notions central to our way of life. Doing that, he's also justifying them, as they exist. He states better and more clearly than anyone else what it is we think these things are and why we should view them as good. I don't know if anyone is thought to have done these particular things any better. (I guess I'm saying that Hobbes, Rousseau, etc., did other things.)

Lots of good stuff written here on this. Just think it's worth pointing out that Locke's argument for man's leaving the state of nature and his argument for the establishment of property are notoriously inconsistent.

The "state of nature" is more rhetorical device or thought-experiment than historical description. Nonetheless, it is essential to the argument.

Oh well. Plato's dialogues often end in despair.

I wish more people knew political philosophy. It would raise the general level of discussion. People would spend less time monkeying demagogues, charlatans, and hucksters.

Good edition too.

John Locke (1632-1704) wrote "Second Treatise of Government" in 1690, it was the main political philosophical source that our "Founding Fathers" went to in writing the "Declaration of Independence" and in forming our government. I think you should know something of Locke to understand what influenced his thinking. His father was a small landowner, attorney, Puritan and his political sympathies were with the Cromwell Parliament. Like Hobbes, Locke attended Oxford Univ. and did not think much about the curriculum or his professors. Most of his education came from reading books in the Univ. library. Renee Descartes and Sir Isaac Newton's writings greatly influenced Locke. Like Hobbes, he took a tutoring job teaching the son of the 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, and traveled Europe. His friendship with the Earl was beneficial in obtaining government appointments. During the political unrest in England, (1679-83) he fled to Holland because his liberal notions put him at odds with the government.

Locke writes the "Second Treatise of Government" to justify the Revolt of 1688 and the ascension of William of Orange to the English throne. The book argues against two lines of absolutist ideas. The first is Sir Robert Filmer's "patriarchal theory of divine right of kings; secondly, Hobbes argument for the sovereign's absolute power in his book "Leviathan." Locke argues that government emanates from the people. Locke's treatise rests like other political writings on its interpretation of human nature. He sees our nature opposite the way Hobbes did, decent and not as selfish or competitive. Man is more inclined to join society through reason and not fear. Man prefers stability to change.

His very important contribution to "law of nature" theory was his bias toward individualism. In state of nature, before government, men were free independent, equal enjoying inalienable rights "chief among them being life, liberty, and property." Where have you read that before? Property rights receive much attention in this treatise. Locke argues that government based on consent of man can still preserve freedom independence and equality.

His political writing had immediate influence in the world and influenced our founding fathers in their struggle against tyranny. He is an excellent writer and his theories are easy to understand by the laymen. As a graduate student of political philosophy, I recommend if you have an interest in politics, philosophy, or government then you must read Locke's "Second Treatise of Government"

John Locke's Second Treatise on Government is the Natural Rights philosophy's greatest essay. Locke, an English freethinker, wrote both his Frist and Second Treatise on Government to refute the patriarchial and absolutist writings of Sir Robert Filmer. Locke clearly believes man is imbued with the natural right to life, liberty, and property. He believes men have a right to live free from tyrannical government.

Locke shows how when a government degenerates into tyranny the "people" have a right to revolt and throw off such government. Sound familar? Jefferson wrote these words into the Declaration of Independence. Locke believes that liberty is a man's right by his very nature of being human. He points out how that men come together to form a government, based upon a social contract, and that the rulers or government must abide by that contract or man returns to his natural state. In the natural state men are not bound to the current ruler but may institute new government for their security and protection.

Although he believed that government should not be changed lightly or on a whim, and believed that the ruler must violate the contract and usurp power, he nevertheless pointed out that government is of men, not God or gods. He repudiated the doctrine propagated by Filmer, that rulers are appointed to rule by God, ie: the Divine Right of Kings.

This "wee little book" as Jefferson put it, has had a tremendous influence on the Western world. Locke, a child of the English Enlightenment has caused conservatives and other tyrants, socialists and communists to shudder at the right to throw off tyrannical government. A truly great read.

In his book, Second Treatise of Government, John Locke (1632 - 1704) writes that all humans are born equal with the same ability to reason for themselves, and because of this, government should have limitations to ensure that people are free from the arbitrary will of another person, according to the laws of nature. Government, in Locke's view, is a social contract between the people in control, and the people who submit to it.

The editor of this edition, C. B. Macpherson, gives a little background and overview in his introduction to this book. He writes that the book "was directed against the principles of Sir Robert Filmer, whose books, asserting the divine authority of kings and denying any right of resistance, were thought by Locke and his fellow Whigs to be too influential among the gentry to be left unchallenged by those who held that resistance to an arbitrary monarch might be justified." (p. viii)
Locke's book served as a philosophical justification for revolting against tyrannical monarchies in the Glorious Revolution and the American Revolution. His book was practically quoted in the Declaration of Independence.

Locke lays out his basis for government on the foundation that people are able to reason. Because of this, people have inherent freedoms or natural rights. Though he believed in reason, Locke was an empiricist, meaning he believed that all knowledge of the world comes from what our senses tell us. The mind starts as a "tabula rasa", latin for an empty slate. As soon as we are born, we immediately begin learning ideas. Thus, all the material for our knowledge of the world comes to us through sensations. Nevertheless, Locke had an unshakable faith in human reason. He believed that people do learn what is right and wrong, regardless of what they choose to do. Locke believed that faith in God, certain moral norms and understanding consequences were inherent in human reason. So, even though people acquire everything they know about the world through the senses, they are able to think for themselves and reason at a higher level about what they learn.

Locke presumed that there are universally recognized principles and that the consequences are practically scientific. He was greatly influenced by Isaac Newton (1647-1727) who wrote The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. Locke took the ideas that there were "natural laws" in science and tried to extend that to society.

Natural laws, or rights, in Locke's view, are obvious and learned through human reasoning, and apply to everyone. They are also called "self-evident," which appears in The Declaration of Independence. All humans are created equal, and Locke bases this idea on the golden rule, that people are to do to others as they would have others do to them. Natural equality is the basis of the first and most important "natural law" which is to care for one another. (p. 9) Locke believes that with or without government, there were universal natural rights.

Without government, people are unprotected from harm by other people. Where there is no government, people are free to do as they please, even to harm others. In this state, natural laws still apply, such as the right of people to protect themselves and seek reparation for injuries done to them. However, people are naturally inconsistent in executing punishments, because they have a propensity to act out of hate or revenge. Therefore, laws are necessary in a civil society to fairly arbitrate justice. The purpose of creating a civil society is to avoid major conflicts and keep peace.
Thus, civil government is a "contract" between people to regulate their affairs fairly. According to Locke's theories, people enter into a social contract by forming governments that will preserve order.

Locke describes a civil government as being democratic with some checks to ensure that it does not overstep its boundaries, and having both legislative and executive powers. A civil government is democratic or representative, meaning laws are created by the consent of the people through the voice of a majority vote. The legislature should represent the people equally based on population. (Salus populi suprema lex) All people are subject to the law, including the rulers-no one is above the law. Even the legislature needs "standing rules" to keep it from over-stepping its boundaries. Locke advocated the principle of division of powers. Because the legislature only meets at appointed times to create or revise laws, there needs to be an executive power that is constantly enforcing the laws. So Locke describes a division of the legislative and executive powers.

In contrast to what was being claimed by the rulers of the time, Locke taught that the purpose of government is to serve and benefit the people and that it should be controlled by the people for which the government was made. His claim that people have the right to rebel against government was controversial. Second Treatise of Government served as a foundation for future political philosophies.

John Locke (1632-1704) wrote "Second Treatise of Government" in 1690, it was the main political philosophical source that our "Founding Fathers" went to in writing the "Declaration of Independence" and in forming our government. I think you should know something of Locke to understand what influenced his thinking. His father was a small landowner, attorney, Puritan and his political sympathies were with the Cromwell Parliament. Like Hobbes, Locke attended Oxford Univ. and did not think much about the curriculum or his professors. Most of his education came from reading books in the Univ. library. Renee Descartes and Sir Isaac Newton's writings greatly influenced Locke. Like Hobbes, he took a tutoring job teaching the son of the 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, and traveled Europe. His friendship with the Earl was beneficial in obtaining government appointments. During the political unrest in England, (1679-83) he fled to Holland because his liberal notions put him at odds with the government.

Locke writes the "Second Treatise of Government" to justify the Revolt of 1688 and the ascension of William of Orange to the English throne. The book argues against two lines of absolutist ideas. The first is Sir Robert Filmer's "patriarchal theory of divine right of kings; secondly, Hobbes argument for the sovereign's absolute power in his book "Leviathan." Locke argues that government emanates from the people. Locke's treatise rests like other political writings on its interpretation of human nature. He sees our nature opposite the way Hobbes did, decent and not as selfish or competitive. Man is more inclined to join society through reason and not fear. Man prefers stability to change.

His very important contribution to "law of nature" theory was his bias toward individualism. In state of nature, before government, men were free independent, equal enjoying inalienable rights "chief among them being life, liberty, and property." Where have you read that before? Property rights receive much attention in this treatise. Locke argues that government based on consent of man can still preserve freedom independence and equality.

His political writing had immediate influence in the world and influenced our founding fathers in their struggle against tyranny. He is an excellent writer and his theories are easy to understand by the laymen. As a graduate student of political philosophy, I recommend if you have an interest in politics, philosophy, or government then you must read Locke's "Second Treatise of Government"

Mi piace questo libro, è una storia intrigante e interessante, parla dei problemi di un poliziotto Michael Carr che ha avuto problemi dopo un azione, accusato di razzismo per aver sparato ad un afro americano, la storia è in realtà più complicata, complotto politico, problemi familiari del protagonista, altro non dico, lascio ai lettori il gusto di leggere questo splendido libro.
Bravo Michael!
This is a great book!

Great book. Very realistic and exciting portrayal of police work and the problems between husbands and wives.

Characters were good. Saladin was like the good Don in the mob movies and Mike Carr was the guy going against the odds.

Can't wait for the sequel.

We baby boomers have seen entertainment and literature get markedly better. From Hill Street Blues to The Sopranos, some writers have come through with stories that are pithy, complex and startlingly realistic. Tremoglie satisfies those of us who enjoy serious realism; a realism in which the lives of the characters have real and often troubling demands on their loves and loyalties.

Prolific political writer Michael P. Tremoglie's first foray into fiction is unique in that he develops his characters with their clothes on, which is refreshing. Instead of appealing to prurient interest, he focuses on the emotional dynamics of his very real characters' relationships. Though there's sex and violence, except for one scene, it's mostly implied and to my taste, most effective that way.

His story takes you inside life on the beat, life on the street and life among the elite.
Especially appealing is his detailed account of a cop, from reluctant trainee to rookie. A recommended read for anyone considering law enforcement as a career.

Also very real is his characterization of the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia. Though it could be any big city, his depiction of real places should particularly appeal to anyone familiar with the Philly area.

And for those who love the "Rocky" movies, it's got the same wholesome grit that made the "Rocky" story so appealing. Regular guy with a sense of duty turns out to be not so regular after all.

Tremoglie also manages to incorporate dialogue representing both sides of the political divide, exposing the hypocrisy of an overly politically correct culture with his Carr character's everyman commonsense.

He ties it all up nicely with a satisfying ending, which is more of a promising beginning for his next novel. "Sense of Duty" would make a great motion picture and I personally hope it someday soon will be.

This book was exciting to read, but what I appreciated the most was the first hand view of how the newspapers get everything so wrong. Mike shows us how the media gets input from groups with an ax to grind that color their stories and mislead their readers.
I recommend this book especially to those with a liberal slant. It might open your eyes.

Cosmo Barone

I purchased the book for one sermon A DIVINE AND SUPERNATURAL LIGHT

I was amazed about how many of the sermons were right one with where I am at in my life.

Gods word is time less and this is a clear translation of what God has to say to his people.

Edwards is excellent in presenting the gospel. His sermons are quite substantive and always pointing the reader (or hearer in his days) towards God. Should you desire a great book of some of Edward's greatest works, this is the book for you.

John Calvin and Jonathan Edwards are, without question, two of the greatest theologians in the history of the church. Who is Mike DeSario?

Do not get this book if you're pursuing modern or postmodern theology. Do not get this book if you're looking for gimmicks.

If you want to get down to basics ... salvation and sin, heaven and hell ... read this collection.

The original 'fire & brimestone' sermon ... "Sinners in the hands of angry God" is worth the price of the book if you're unfamiliar with Edwards.

You can see the evangelical power of this mighty pastor grow in this chronological collection.

Edwards is a gift to us, well worth rediscovering.

Jonathan Edwards sermons are inspiring, leading to Christ. 18 century religious american genius. Easy to read. Worth to buy. Highly recommend.