History Books

Roy has an erudite style and a level of detail that makes this book both a joy to read and a reference to use frequently. His references and bibliography alone are very extensive - the kind I would expect in a PhD - even though he claims they are not exhaustive. Clearly, Roy was setting a standard for his students, colleagues and followers. His illustrations show his debt to the Wellcome foundation.

This wonderful book by Roy Porter is simply the best available history of medicine. It is long and detailed, as befits a huge topic. It is Eurocentric, as is most of modern medicine. It stresses the scientific origins of the development of modern medicine.
While doing all of these things, it remains a very readable book. Porter's writing style is lucid and at times entertaining -- quite welcome attributes in a tome on the history of medicine.
Having waded through other histories of medicine, I believe this is the best. And the paperback version is a wonderful bargain!

Although very tedious, this book was chock full of information. Mind you, I would never have purchased this book for leisure reading. (This was a required text for a college class) I did, however, find this book both interesting, intellectually stimulating, and detailed.

This is a magnificent overview of the history of disease and medicine from antiquity to the modern age. Porter writes with humour and insight, selecting carefully from the abundance of evidence the significant moments and figures. Both fascinating and informative this book is also extremely good value with its 718 pages, plus bibliography and index. This is my best buy for the year.

Imagine trying to squeeze the entire history of medicine, from the birth of the craft with Hippocrates all the way to the modern age of AIDS and Dr. Kevorkian and all points in between into 800 pages. It's a goal that Roy Porter attempts to make, and he succeeds to some extent.

His primary theme is the development of Western Medicine in Europe and America, and as a historical work it is very well done. He only briefly mentions Eastern medicine and rarely covers "irregular" medical practioners except to say that many members of the public subscribe to their folk remedies.

What he does well is in his coverage of the breadth of the topic. There is hardly an historical point he fails to mention, a significant doctor left out, or a disease left undiscussed. His ability to breathe life into history is exceptional. In what seems like just the span of a few pages, he has covered a huge swath of history seamlessly.

However, the book suffers depth-wise. There isn't hardly enough space to give deep coverage to every topic and Porter skims past many historical items and persons without a second word. The book also has the problem of grouping photos and illustrations together far from the textual contexts that they arise from.

What is most saddening about the history of medicine is that while we have progressed very far in the understanding of disease, we haven't come very far at all in understanding how to Cure disease. Porter pushes this point home as the book draws to a close. What progress has been made has been made primarily in the 20th century with the greater level of technologic progress and antiseptic techniques. However, despite that, acute diseases that vexed humanity for ages still haunt us and chronic diseases that lay dormant in our genes are coming to the fore. The future may hold cures for the diseases we suffer from, but if history is any guide, then management of those diseases is a more likely outcome.

This book works well as a survey of the history of Western Medicine. It provides jumping off points to further research on any number of topics that the reader may not have been previously familiar with. His bibliography and Further Reading sections are chock full of additional texts that will serve anyone wanting more depth. I highly recommend this book.

For those without a Kindle this review will have little to offer except to say that this edition comes with a preface by Thomas Merton which for me was a welcome surprise. I usually don't bother with introductions.

Kindle users, I looked at every Kindle edition of this work and this is without question the best formatted version. The only drawback is the lack of titles for each "book" in the table of contents. Instead they are just numbered; I, II, III, IV, and so on. There are also hyperlinked "footnotes," which I did not notice in other editions.

I apologize to Kindle non-owners, but Amazon has not yet presented away to comment specifically on electronic editions, and many public domain books--classics--are not yet properly formatted for the Kindle (which despite a few hitches is a five star device).

This is not the most attractive edition of St. Augustine's monumental City of God but it is worth getting anyway for the introduction by Etienne Gilson. The translation is quite good and, though it is somewhat abridged, this doesn't pose too great a problem as Bourke has inserted into the text a brief description of the material that he cut out so you can go to an unabridged edition if you choose.

This is an apologetic text in defence of the Chritian faith. In this book, Augustine persuasively informed his audience (readers) regarding the history of creation from the fall of humanity to their redemption provided they recognized him as God of their lives. This is possible only as they abandon all forms of idolatries lest they experience a catatrosphe similar to what led to the fall of Rome. Augustine's concept of the two cities are in contrast to each other, viz, the city of God versus the city of Satan. The former is governed by God, and the later by the Devil that also governs the minds of many un-regenerated. Thus, Augustine appealed, in his 22 volumes that are now in a single volume, to join him "in rendering thanks to God" through this great work! Pastor Moses Oladele Taiwo, Ph.D. Professor of New Testament and Head of the Department of Urban Christian Ministry, New Life Theological Seminary, Charlotte, NC 28203. Tel: (704) 334 6884 Ext.106.

It took me about five months of off-and-on reading to slog through City of God--it was time well-spent. Here is one of the rare 1000-page books that not only deserved its length, but could have been longer.

What astounded me about reading St. Augustine was how relevant he is, even after 1600 years. The vast majority of what he discusses throughout this monumental book still matters--only the particulars have changed. In his day, pagans blamed Christians for wars and the collapse of civilization. Rationalists and materialists denied the supernatural, insisting that all religions were the same, and mocked those that believed in it. And Christians themselves, under pressure and guilt from what seemed to be the entire known world, expressed doubts about their faith. Sound familiar? Only the particulars of all these situations have changed--in the broadstrokes, Christianity is still fighting many of the same battles in which Augustine saw combat.

This edition from Penguin Classics (I fully realize that Amazon will post this review on the Modern Library edition and other places that it doesn't belong) is very good. Henry Bettenson's translation is smooth, fast-moving, and heavily footnoted. While I found the footnotes very helpful--especially in the hundreds of places in which Augustine quotes from scripture and other authors, like Virgil and Plotinus--some of them struck me as unnecessary, particularly those criticizing Augustine's etymologies and those pointing out which gods or goddesses are or are not found outside Augustine's work. The most helpful notes were those describing puns or other untranslatable portions of the book.

Like I said, City of God is very heavy reading and a great deal of work to get through, but the reward should outweigh the time it takes to read the book.

Highly recommended.

I read this for a book group I was in, and was rather peeved at being forced to blow so much time on what is essentially useful only to the Classical historian or Scholasticism buff. Realistically, Augustine is just a particularly eloquent proponent of a religious argument we all get in Sunday School at age 10: The things of this world are transitory and passing, but the things of the next world are eternal and more valuable. You can almost hear the monotonous cadence. If what you want is to add to your already-considerable knowledge of the particulars of late Roman civilization, then this is the book for you. If you're in seminary and reading Aquinas, and you're thinking, "I'd certainly like to know more about his major intellectual influences," then this is the book for you. But if what you want is an increased familiarity with the major ideas of Western civilization, then do yourself a favor and go pick up a pair of textbooks: one on ancient history, the other on classical philosophy. Augustine of Hippo will get a few pages in each one, and that's honestly all he's worth. Plowing through the entirety of The City of God for simple philosophical or theological curiosity would be like reading the complete works of Louis Agassiz just to see what scientific racism was like. Both efforts would be fruitful, in one sense, but in another sense you'd have spent an awful lot of time learning about antiquated theories.

While I read Herodotus many years ago, this book made me dust it off and reread it again. A great book for travellers, and to get you in the mood for your next adventure.

This modern-day Herodotus is remarkably unpretentious and his writing style is straightforward and accessible (probably one reason why Kapuscinski has been so widely translated and read). The simplicity is deceptive, though. Kapuscinski's own experience of being poor, cold, and hungry in postwar Poland allows him to empathize with people in similar conditions in other parts of the world. He describes how he and his Ethiopian driver were able to communicate almost without words. Yet he also recognizes cultural barriers that prevent a European from understanding what he sees in India and China, and that manifest themselves during a concert by Louis Armstrong in Sudan. Readers already familiar with Herodotus may not be interested in reading the quotations, and the book wanders and drifts a bit between Kapuscinski's reading of Herodotus and his own experiences, but the author's gift for observation and storytelling never fails. Reading this book is an enrichment. We come away from it with greater knowledge of the world.

Kapuscinski reports on the people and political culture of the third and fourth worlds( the third being countries like Iran and the fourth countries like the Congo).

He is very humble to recognize that it is difficult if not impossible to report on a country if a reporter does not speak the foreign country language such as India and Iran.

He laments the total chaos of countries in Africa, the total anarchy !

He also made us realize through Herodotus Histories that a good reporter is more than the reporter who provides snippets of sound and images clips for immediate daily consumptions.

He forces us to realize that men in their psychological makeups are still the same as in Herodotus times.

Through the Histories of Herodotus underatand today's events.

Kapuscinski writes with wit and charm, or at least his translator makes him sound utterly adorable in English, a gentle observer of life who treads very lightly on places and events. For sheer reading pleasure, I have to give this book a five-star rating as an airplane book. In the end, however, I was disappointed with it; I kept expecting something... something?... that Kapuscinski never delivered, an insight into the nature of the world he traveled through, a bridge between events as such and history. What I got was a colorful traveler's tale, interspersed with excerpts from and reflections on the writings of Herodotus. There were times, it would seem, when the scenes and events described by Herodotus 2500 years ago felt more real and proximate to Kapuscinski than the scenes and events surrounding his journalistic assignments. If so, he certainly conveyed that dissociation with the present convincingly.

What Kapuscinski professes to find in Herodotus, and to admire, is a recognition of the multicultural splendor of human civilization - a tolerance of diversity based on the discovery that "we" are not as exceptional as "we" have supposed, that "we Greeks" and "we Americans" didn't invent ourselves but rather learned most of our cultural 'memes' from peoples who only now appear dissimilar to us. This is a worthwhile and important lesson for Americans especially, and if Kapuscinski's musings about Herodotus can convey it to them, he should have a Nobel... not for Literature but for Peace.

"We are, all of us, pilgrims who struggle along different paths toward the same destination."
- Antoine De Saint-Exupery


Ryszard Kapuscinski was Polish. He was born in Pinsk which is now Belarus ; but became one of the most famous and honored foreign correspondents. He is now deceased. For forty years, he traveled the globe from Iran to China to El Salvador to India. Like the ancient historian Herodotus, whose book The Histories was carried by Kapuscinski in all of his travels, Ryszard traveled the globe learning about the similarities and the many differences between the cultures of this planet.

Kapuscinski takes us on his journeys and through his eyes we capture his views of the new globalized world. He shows the reader how an ancient man (Herodotus, considered the Father of History) taught him with the work he published almost 2500 years ago to seek understanding first; and then to learn from the various cultures he would come across as a foreign correspondent.

Kapuscinski shares his gifted insights and observations as he remembers his past journeys; this memoir captures the essence of a very sensitive wanderer who wants to talk intimately about his travels and his life.

When Kapuscinski "crossed the border" and was allowed to travel outside of Poland, his world and his vantage point exploded into a vast number of possibilities that he had previously only dreamed about. It is my feeling that with this memoir the author wanted all of us to reach across our boundaries and our self imposed borders so we could experience more of what life has to offer. Maybe he is saying that all of us should not only look around us; but seek the unknown and wander beyond our comfort zone.

The author owed a lot to Herodotus as he traveled and this is as much a tribute to the memory of the ancient Herodotus as to the "memory of Kapuscinski".

"All memory is present."
- Novalis

Recommended.

Bentley/2008

Travels with Herodotus (Vintage International)

Prepare to enter the macabre world of the Yokai, strange creatures from the mists of Japanese legend and folktales. Some are ghostly and horrific, some are frightening and fantastic, some are even humorous and ALL of them are fun and interesting. Husband and wife authors Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt have teamed up with illustrator Tatsuya Morino to bring Yokai out of the shadows and let some light shine onto these incredible creatures.

Yokai are creatures of myth and fairy tale. Their backstories almost always have an allegorical or moral spin to them. In a a sense, they are almost like the creatures that inhabit many a tale told around the Western campfire. One can think of them as ghosts or monsters to a point, but those translations of the word "yokai" don't really catch all of the nuance. As the authors say in their introduction, "yokai are yokai".

This field guide to the yakai covers 42 different beasties in detail, with a full-page illustration of what they look like along with several pages of text outlining a wealth of information on each entry. You get a glossary of yokai-related terminology, plus there's an index in the back for easy lookup. It's easy and fun to read.

My 12-year old Japanophile daughter loved this book, and I did as well. It's a great introduction to the yokai for Westerners who have any sort of interest in Japanese mythology or folk culture. I'd heartily recommend this book to anyone with an interest in J-horror or manga especially, as you'll find a wealth of great information here.

HIGHLY recommended.

This book is a must read for anyone interested in monsters of legend, regardless of their origin. Most of the monsters here, grouped together in various categories for easier reference, are probably new to most people. The detailed explanation of their history, their powers and weaknesses, where they can be found, and other details gives the reader all they ever would need to know.

The artwork is also a plus. There are images of old sketches and paintings, in addition to more current envisionings of the monsters. The humorous blurbs within the descriptions are also a nice touch.

If you're a fan of monsters, ghosts, or the monster under your bed, this book is a must read.

Here in America we have the Bogeyman (Boogie Man?); the Hispanic culture has El Cucui; but in Japan, they have specialized creatures that lurk in the dark that do creepy things and help parents to make their kids behave.

Even though I am of Japanese ancestry, I was unaware of how many of these different creatures there are and how specialized were their functions. If you watch anime or read mangas, or other items from the Japanese culture, reading this book may bring about an "ah ha" as you run across a particular monster from the other media that is described in more detail by the author. Even if you have never watched anime or read mangas, this book is an interesting read.

Each monster has its own chapter, featuring a drawing, physical description, description of its purpose and mode of operation, ways to be protected from it, and other delightful tidbits. I found myself reading this and thinking how different the Japanese culture is from American culture, in which we use the Bogeyman as a generic, catch-all lurker in the dark having all sorts of evil things ascribed to it, whereas the Japanese have different ones with different purposes.

When I was little, my mom used to threaten me with the Bogeyman and I believed it; a formless, faceless spectre of evil that was waiting to harm me if I got out of line. I can imagine how that is multiplied in Japan because different behaviors call for different Yokai!

I recommend this book. I thought it was fascinating. Another plus is that you can skip around from monster to monster; each is given a few pages but it packed with a lot of information.

Manga and anime fans will love this compendium of Japanese spirits, demons and monsters and other night dwellers.

J horror is firmly embedded in our pop culture. This volume illustrates what nearly 50 of these creatures might look like. Like a field guide, it includes habitat, weapons, weaknesses, size, locomation, distribution, food, etc. Also very helpful is a pronunciation guide. For instance, Funa-yurei is pronounced FOO-nah YOO-ray. See, that wasn't so hard, was it.

If you have been seduced by J culture, you will enjoy this handy paperback that is a fun, quick reference in the event you are attacked by these creatures. At the very least, you can pronounce their names before they do their nasty business. Who knows, maybe all they want is respect.

Twenty-five years ago, the Japanese were supermen. They were the masters of the universe, whose products were taking over American markets and buying American businesses. The Japanese were so amazing that you wanted to understand them and their culture. You wanted to understand the demons that drove them. In a lot of ways, "Yokai Attack!" can be a fun place to start.

"Yokai Attack: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide!" is like a lighter, broader version of Max Brook's "The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead." Unlike Brook's book: Yokai attack touches on many, many monsters, demons, ghosts and forces in Japanese folklore and gives you the crucial information you will need to know to survive should you ever encounter them. Considering the range it covers, this can be anything from, "die badly as the O-Dokoro's skeletal parts detach to consume you" to "Go home to your wife and children and quietly accept that fox-spirits who fall in love can be excellent wives."

In a lot of ways, the book is both entertaining and enlightening. It is an illustrated guide, but the authors cover impressive ground for their research, including illustrations from high and low culture: from books, toys, movies, centuries-old artwork and even Ukiyo-e prints. Lovers of Japanese culture who have had no exposure to it but other illustrated works and movies will find a lot of `Aha!' in it as they recognize styles of ghosts and monsters that are seen but not explained in their original sources like the Tengu (martial arts proficient bird spirits who sometimes take samurai into the mountains to give them heroic proficiency in the use of weapons).

Other readers will be amazed and amused. Historically, Japan is one of the most insular cultures on the planet and yet many of the creatures in the book have cousins in many cultures with which the Japanese had had no direct contact and yet while reading the book, the reader will recognize parallels to, the Djinn from the Arabian Nights and the helpful house spirits of Russian and German folklore.

All in all, "Yokai Attack!" is a good book, and I'm happy to have read it, but I think it could have been a little better. Kodansha produces high-quality paperbacks, slim volumes with actual dust jackets, but the compactness of the book makes you wish that they could have thrown more into it or that they had made it "volume one".

Also, the book uses a single illustrator (a published Manga artist) for the main illustrations and some of what he draws works wonderfully, while other things remind you that there are a lot of frighteningly talented artists in Japan and that providing a range of them might have been a better approach. Also, my review copy seemed a little rough in terms of editing (with at least one reference line sending you to the wrong page!). Still, I'm happy that I read it and I would have been happy to have bought it; if for no other reason than to be able to say that I now have a favorite Japanese monster.

My pet `thing that goes bump in the night' is the Ashiarai Yashiki: the monster that punches a gigantic, gory, lower leg through your ceiling and demands that you, "wash my foot!!"


The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead

Of course I enjoyed the book, but I will admit, it's a book "study" in a sense. It's not an easy read, and if you're looking for pure entertainment, you'll be sadly disappointed. If you're looking for a glimpse into history and an understanding of what the black woman had to endure in the early 20th century (one that was college-educated), this is the book for you. Also, women aspiring to be a part of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority may find this book intriguing and helpful.

I appreciate the promptness of arrival. The book was in better condition that its description

I am not a Delta, but both of my sisters are, so I picked up this book. It is an easy read and very informative. I would recommend it to every Black woman from a historical standpoint, Greek or not.

I loved this book. I went to the web site for Delta Sigma Theta Inc and learned that you should read this book if you are interested in the organization. I read this book and I did not put it down until it was completed. My sister who is a member of this organization was impressed to know that I was doing my homework and truly was interested in joining her organization. I can say that I have looked at all the other organizations out there and I have met members of them all but I know with out doubt that Delta Sigma Theta is the one for me. This book was well written easy to follow and had great photos detailing the history of the organization through out the 1900's. I also learned so much about how Delta Sigma Theta applied to become incorporated before AKA and was actually created by members of AKA and so many other details. This book is the best source of information for a person that is an outsider to this organization and though I have a sister who is a member she will not tell me anything , as she wants me to learn it for myself.

I am a memeber of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. I read this book the Summer before my Sophmore year at Texas A&M University-Commerce for enrichment. I was interested in Delta and wanted to know the background, history, and legacy. As a Delta I feel this book spreads more knowledge than you anticipate. It's informative, interesting, and beautifully written. I reccommend this book to everyone who is a Delta and anyone aspiring to become one, because this will broaden your horizons and give you and extended perspective and appreciation.

This is a must read for understanding American medicine. It actually has a straightforward point of view in its focus on the autonomy and status of the medical profession and the distinguishing feature in the evolution of health care institutions. The role of the medical profession in health care is unique in our society and this books historically follows how the profession has used its position to counter capital enterprise and public programs to meet pressing social needs. He makes clear that the development of valid scientific theories and their applicating into effective treatments was critical to affirming the control of physicians. Otherwise the political disputes over licensing and accreditation could not have succeeded. Obviously the emergence of HMO's and other health insurers represent the latest source of conflict. Again this work presents the issues clearly and objectively.

This book traces the evolution of America's disjointed healthcare system, from the horror of the early hospitals to the formation of the medical profession. It also explains how, as the early profession was fighting for the right to exist, it took virtual possession of the rest of the healthcare system. Every Democratic president since FDR has attempted some type of major healthcare reform, only to be opposed by the American Medical Association (AMA) because organized doctorhood thought it had too much to lose.

This book is an effortless read for students of sociology or those that have a great interest in the history of medicine. Published in 1983, it easily predicts some of the current problems in American healthcare, because the powerful interests that determine the delivery of healthcare are still the same. It also predicts some of the circumstances that will finally bring America around to some sort of rational, universal, healthcare coverage.

The evolution of American medicine is a fascinating story and it is told very well. The analysis is excellent and this really provides a great perspective about how the US got to the corporate system we are now on. I wish there would be an update that would take us from 1980-2000. The debate over how socialized medicine did not take root is very interesting and well done in the book. If you are getting started or an expert this book has something for everyone. Highly recommend for those who are trying to understand how doctors and hospitals developed in America.

For anyone interested in the healthcare as a profession or area of study, I can't recommend this book highly enough. Despite the 20 years since its publication, Paul Starr's Pulitzer prize winner is still relevant today and in retrospect his projections made of the future of healthcare in America are surpisingly prescient.

The first book describes the development of the medical profession in early America providing a fascinating look at the social evolution of American society. The second book delineates the rise of doctors, hospitals and medical schools in latter half of the 19th to the early 20th century with the rise of science and a professional authority. The third book shifts the focus from the doctors and to the industry that medicine became as well as the various attempts at healthcare reform in response to rising healthcare costs.

My only criticism is that Starr should have devoted more pages to the root causes behind the rising healthcare costs that drove the reforms of the 1960-70s described in the third book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone in the health care industry or anyone interested in the history of American medicine.
Starr basically explores why/how physicians so powerful politically, socially, and economically. GREAT BOOK!

Even though I am a diehard Red Sox fan, I absoulety loved this book. It was funny, out-rageous, informative, honest, everything you could possibly want from a sports book.

And yes, I almost tore the book into when Pearlman gave a detailed account of Game 6.

I was only 2 years old when the Mets won it all in 1986, but reading this book made me feel like I lived through it all. Pearlman does a fantastic job bringing the highlights (and lowlights for that matter) of the 1986 season to life in full detail. A must read for any Mets fan or any fan of baseball.

Stylistically, this is pretty conventional sports-writing, with lots of overwrought melodrama and awkward analogies ("The Boston right-hander had as much right pitching in Game 4 of the World Series as Spuds McKenzie [sic] did distributing political advice"). But Pearlman is a decent story-teller, and as a long-time Mets fan, with fond memories of 1986, I found the story compelling. While hardly comprehensive, the book offers interesting behind the scenes perspectives, albeit with a strong emphasis on the most negative aspects. Even more general baseball fans, with no emotional ties to the year or team, should find much of interest here. And, of course, it's endlessly fascinating (and fruitless) to look at the young Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, and the amazing chemistry of this team, and wonder what might have been.

I'm the type of guy who likes to read only the sports section, but I must admit,that this was one of the most interesting books that I have ever read. It goes into great details and discusses the off field antics that made the 86' Mets so notorious. If you are looking for a great read, pick it up!

Maybe every woman secretly loves the bad boys, but maybe it's because they're fun! 1986 was the most fun I've ever had in my life. That wild ride with that baseball team was the most profoundly satisfying baseball season I've ever experienced, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

Frankly, after years of suffering with the Mets of Grant's Tomb, the Mets and their long-suffering fans were ready to cut loose, to dance and sing and win, win, win. Where others saw obnoxiousness and arrogance, we saw exuberance and cameraderie. We saw teamwork, butt-busting effort, and hard-earned celebrations. The Sox fans often maintain that the 86 Series was lost on an error as if the Mets should NOT have capitalized on their jittery Schiraldi and Stanley, and the tough-but-fragile Bill Buckner (BTW, off Buckner, everybody-- he was a hell of a ball player and a very classy guy, and you guys sure are doing a lot better in the post-season than we are recently!)

It was pure, unadulterated joy, the kind of joy only amazing baseball can afford, and for that, I can never think of those guys as bad. The Mets are a good, contending team now, but when I see the DVDs of the '86 Series, I remember really transcendent baseball played by really vivid personalities. I just loved them.

It is an amazing look at the cohesiveness of the Old Testament and the New Testament. Well-written, and scholarly, yet easy to read.

This book was recommended by Beth Moore in several of her Women's Bible
studies. It gives detailed information about Jewish celebrations which
lend a rich perspective to one's understanding of the Bible.

This book is one of my favorites, as far as learning more about customs of the people in the Old Testament. When you are done reading this book you will have more understanding of the people and of scripture. If you are a pastor or sunday school teacher or a homechurch, get this book.This is one book you will go back to a hundred times.

This book is foundational to the Christian faith and really should be soomething every pastor should be teaching on. It gives clear and Biblical descriptions of the feasts of the Lord, which is God's calendar, and why he set up the calendar and chose these particular feasts to be celebrated. It also explains awesome little details of Jewish customs at the time of Christ that make things like the Passover so interesting. You get to see how all the pieces of the puzzle come together. The best part is how it describes Jesus as the fulfillment of thress of the feasts and that those feasts that are yet unfulfilled will be completed in the future......very cool!

This book is one of my absolute favorites! Not only is the information within EXTREMELY well written, there are many photographs and the artwork is among the best I've ever seen.

There are overviews of the Spring Feasts and the Fall Feasts and an explanation of Jewish Time, broken down into the Jewish Day,Week and Month. There are chapters on The Feasts Of Leviticus 23 (the 7 feasts) as well as Additional Observances.

Each of the Feasts are covered in DETAIL, with wonderful illustrations, charts and artwork.

Even if you never read a word of this book (which would be a shame, because it is so very informative) you will be blown away by the artwork and the photography. There is a two page spread on The Passover Table which shows each item with an explanation, which is worth the price of the book alone!

Each Feast is covered with THE BIBLICAL OBSERVANCE and also the MODERN OBSERVANCE, and each ceremony is explained in interesting, never boring detail. The illustrations and photographs draw you in and you really start to "get it."

I am so thankful I purchased this book. It is one of my favorites and one which I refer to often. It is well worth the price and you won't regret your purchase.

This is a very intense novel. A little difficult to read due to the
italain and also the introduction of a large cast of characters at the beginning. She does however give a chart of who the characters are.
A piece of history that has been easily forgotten the subject/ plot was
superb. This makes this an enjoyable and memorable book.
True to Mary Doria Russell the ending is dynamic and shocking; that is her modus operandus. I definitely recommend thi.

Very interesting novel based on extensive research of the northwest region of Italy after Italy capitulated during WWII and the Germans then occupied Italy. The story describes the tremendous risks the Italian people took to hide both Italian Jews as well as Jews who had escaped from other Nazi-occupied countries.

Although I have read numerous Holocaust-related stories, I was unaware of these historical events. Mary Doria Russell is to be commended for taking a complex subject area and creating a tapestry of people to bring this story to life.
-- Phyllis Zimbler Miller, Author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL

As I have indicated in my many reviews of books from this period, I am a fan of tales of the human courage that was displayed throughout Europe in WW2 by ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the face of incredible danger. In as expert a fashion as Alan Furst in The Polish Officer: A Novel and Douglas W Jacobson in Night of Flames: A Novel of World War II, Mary Doria Russell brings us up close and personal with compelling characters we care about. Expertly crafted are Doktor Schramm, the Nazi deserter trying to reconcile the sins he committed in the name of the Fatherland, Don Tomitz, the Italian catholic priest putting his life on the line to save Jews, and a host of others whose lives become intertwined in the earthy reality of war time in Porto Sant' Andrea. Bravo for a highly readable tale of human courage. You'll stay up at night to finish it.

I like books with happy endings. A Thread of Grace, by Mary Doria Russell, is not a book of happy endings - not at all. Yet, I will read it again next year.

I don't just like her book, I love it. In the midst of a story that covers the worst atrocity in human history, and littered with characters of questionable morality and worse deeds, Mary Doria Russell manages to find a thread of grace, and to convince me that it is genuine and enduring.

Russell visited the places she describes in her novel, and interviewed survivors of the war. Her original research lends an authentic, present quality to her prose - an immediacy that caught me up into the lives her characters.

There is no question that Russell not only makes history live again, she proves beyond any doubt that it's relevant to our times and our lives.

My only complaint about this book was that I frequently got some of the characters confused. This may have been more from my not reading the book on a daily basis, than the author's fault.

It is a fascinating look into a side of WWII that I had not considered and a group of people I had not thought of. The author really does a great job putting you into that time and place and with those people. The culture came alive for me.

The story was easy to read. I could easily follow the plot, and was surprised by where she took some of the characters (despite my having them confused). If you are interested in WWII history, I greatly recommend this book.

Was the "Grapes of Wrath" a nonfiction work disguised as a novel? Apparently, the County Board of Supervisors in Kern County California thought just that. The book, and Steinbeck, irritated them to the point that they decided to ban the work and prohibit its sale from bookstores (not that there were many in Bakersfield then) and distribution of the work from the library system.

Why, however, did the book cause such irritation amongst the county supervisors and why were they in such an immense hurry to get it away from the public? The answers to those questions are the backbone of this wonderful work on a shameful chapter in American history.

The author examines, in totality, the world of the San Joaquin Valley in the late 1930s and how a single novel could turn much of the State of California into a battleground for workers and farmers alike. From the Okies pouring into the Valley by the car load and trying to survive by any means possible to the farmers fighting to keep prices high and labor costs low, the complex story of this war in the Valley is told in a wonderful manner that makes the book extremely readable while documenting history in detail.

I could write about the debates that raged in the Valley (and the state) about communism, socialism, fascism and other "isms", but that would be a spoiler to this wonderful book. In many ways the message in this work of history is as applicable today as it was 80 years ago.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough and think it may be one of the best non fiction works published in 2008. Buy it, explore it and enjoy it. I know the teachers at my local high school are already in a frenzy to read this and they won't be disappointed.

Obscene in the Extreme was a natural for me. Steinbeck is my very favorite writer. I remember being shocked the first time I saw that image of farmers burning a copy of The Grapes of Wrath.

Obscene in the Extreme details Kern County's ban on The Grapes of Wrath. A book that was a lightning rod on its' publication. Praised as a masterpiece and banned in some rural locations for the coarse language it contained. Kern County used this same reasoning when banning the book, though it was obvious to all that it was the politics of the book that were the real problem.

The problem I had with the book is that it is either too short or casts too wide a net. Rick Wartzman uses the banning of The Grapes of Wrath to examine state and national politics of the time and it was a valid approach but too many names were thrown at me too quickly in the 280 or so pages the book ran.

The book is worth reading and there is a lot of fascinating details in it. But if you don't already know a bit about the political scene of the late thirties/early forties you may find yourself flailing a bit.