Surfacing in 1616, the Chemical Wedding was the third and last commentary released by the Rosicrucians. Whereas the first two manifestos-the Fama and Confessio-were seditious declarations which seem to possess more of a fairy-tale quality than anything else, the Wedding stands on its own merit as one of the most profound and impenetrable hermetic allegories ever written. The story centers on a man who is summoned by an Angel to witness and take part in a mysterious process that bears very little resemblance to an actual wedding. Despite the success of he and his compeers (qualified by a selection where the other candidates who are not worthy to participate are killed) the story ends in sagacious irony, leaving the protagonist to stand guard over his reward, forbidding him to ever glimpse it.

Joscelyn Godwin provides the translation, and though my knowledge of medieval Latin is not complete enough to grade her work, her reputation is impeccable and warrants little scrutiny. Adam McLean provides introduction and commentary, and it is for his efforts that this volume is most valuable. He abandons the arrogance shown by J. W. Montgomery who quantified the story as an expression of Orthodox Lutheranism, and doesn't attempt a literal translation of the book's intricate symbolism as any specialized religious banter. Instead, he lists the literary symbols (actual and metaphoric) one by one and shows how they link to key Rosicrucian and Hermetic ideologies, leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions, never attempting to force feed any specific brand of Gospel. Indeed, despite the fact that the commentary's length rivals that of the text itself, my only complaint is that it is not longer, much longer, as I'm sure his valuable insight could literally fill hundreds of pages: it leaves the readers curiosity piqued more than sated.

All of the drawings and diagrams from the original are faithfully reproduced, and summarily analyzed for their symbolic content as well. As a bonus McLean shows links between the Chemical Wedding and other allegories afterwards, paying close attention to Goethe's 'Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily', and includes the Parabola of Hinricus Madathanus Theosophus (an anonymous translation from 'The Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians') as an appendix. If you are looking for further readings on this subject, my best suggestion is 'Foucault's Pendulum' by Umberto Eco. Despite being a work of fiction, it describes a very thorough picture of the Rosicrucian's world, and other medieval secret societies too. Showing them as wildly diabolical, it stills bears the immutable signature of a dedicated and terrifyingly intelligent scholar.

An essential text. Godwin is the premier scholar in America in this area. This text, along with two manifestoes (the Fama and Confessio) made a major cultural and political impact in 17th century Europe and up through the 18th century in Germany. The Chemical Wedding is an allegorical tale of the processes of "alchemy." Written in coded and highly symbolic language, the book is historically important, but also important for the practicioner of spiritual alchemy or ritual magic in the Golden Dawn or Rosicrucian traditions. For the other two manifestoes purchase Frances Yates "The Rosicrucian Enlightenment," a controversial but excellent scholary text on 17th century Europe and the influence of Esoteric Christianity.

This is the first modern and accurate English translation of this work, attributed to a renegade esoteric Lutheran minister.

I loved this book! The author comes from a Christian perspective, but he isn't self-righteous and he doesn't cram his religon down your throat. Mr. Adams thoroughly documents his sources and cites mainstream scientific studies to support his assertions. He looks at the influences of peers, media, education, and parents and most importantly, he discusses solutions for all types of families (stay at home, working, public and private schooled, etc.). Any parent concerned about raising a child in our society will enjoy and benefit from this book. Buy it!

Dan Adams does a great job focusing on the needs of our children and how we as parents can and should meet those needs. It is not the responsibility of the church, YMCA, day-care center, or public school to meet those needs. As parents, we need to take seriously the God given responsibility we have been given and determine to be the main influence in our children's lives. The result of our efforts can either be rewards for a job well done, or grief from a rebellious child that was not properly guided. This book contains many insights on how to spend quantity time, not just quality time, with our children and gives many ideas on how to turn the TV set off and get our children to enjoy reading alone as well as reading together as a family, and build memories as a family that will be the root system that the child will need to withstand the "winds" later in life.

These delightful characters are back with their continued charm and endearing friendship. Clarence brings Smoky to his neighborhood in the big city and he is anxious to show Smoky everything that is important in his life. Through these events, Smoky quietly becomes homesick for the open range but does not want to hurt Clarence's feelings. The solution will make you smile, shed a tear or two but in the end you will feel as "bouncy" as Clarence and Smoky. Author/illustrator, Jean Ekman Adams continues to produce books for children that teach gentle lessons of friendship and caring for one another. She and her characters are a gem.

Jean Ekman Adams' whimsical drawings and humorous writing continue in this wonderful story of the newest adventures of my favorite pig and his charming sidekick, Smoky. You will laugh out loud at this unlikely pair's latest adventures and the newest characters to this wonderful series. As always, the illustrations are filled with hilarious detail that will delight you each time you pick up the book and the story further defines and solidifies the unique and wonderful friendship Clarence and Smoky share. The newest cast of characters, Fern and the duck doctor, fit right into this quirky mix of personalities with Fern's outrageous cooking concoctions of egglant rollups, spinach tasties, and carrot blobs. You'll find yourself touched by the special friendship shared between the characters, laughing at their humor, and smiling at their views of the city. I am eager to see where Clarence and Smokey will land next!

Back in the day, the only CF books available were the WACKs by Ben Forta. They quickly became the 'must have' books for any serious CF developer, largely because Ben is...well, he's Ben...but also because there was very little competition. As CF has grown in popularity, other publishers have released CF books...but none have ever seriously challenged the WACKs...

...until now. The MX Bible will undoubtedly be regarded as the premiere CF reference. Unlike so many others, this is definitely NOT a simple regurgiation of the docs. The authors are all very well known, respected CF developers who are obviously teaching from their own (real world) experiences...not simply expanding on existing documentation. They explain what works and what doesn't...and why.

This is not really a book for beginners (IMO)...but anybody who's been using CF for at least 6 months or so will find this to be an invaluable, ALL INCLUSIVE (cf, homesite/studio, XML, XSLT, SQL, triggers, stored procs, fusebox, etc) resource that should never be far from the keyboard.

You won't find this much (quality) information anywhere else for close to this price. Do yourself a favor, and make a small investment that will yield huge returns.

I am a self-taught application programmer with 20 years of experience - starting with the AS/400 then PC's and finally coding applications in a web browser. I have so many books on programming I could start my own library. This is one of those rare books that moves from the realm of dispensing information into the world of teaching. This book is loaded not only with "how to" examples (learning comes through hands you know) but also with "why to" and "why not to". And the clear examples and guidance are not only given for the easy and obvious but also for the difficult and obscure.

From the simple demonstration of creating a basic application (add, update, display delete) along with provided sample data to use to using web services, components, xml, and regular expressions - these guys cover it all.

But wait - there's more. They teach you in context leading you not only through why and how but show you the whole picture, the application framework, proper documentation, testing, errors, and exception handling. They even include a language reference.

If I could only have one book on ColdFusion - this is the one.

This book is mandatory reading for any political science major. In a media driven age where the truth is intentionally distorted to further political agendas, Adam-Slabbert&Moodley provide the cold-blooded truth about the hypocracy of contemporary South African politics. In so doing, they lift the veil of piousness surrounding the 'heros' of the apartheid struggle and reveal the true motives of these modern day pirates. Extemely thought provoking reading.

"This timely book is comparable to a seminar on contemporary politics in South Africa. The authors are all veteran analysts of South African political changes since the 1960's. In South African terms, they are moderate left. Thus, they avoid the triumphalism of the celebrants of the demise of apartheid and instead comment searchingly on the dilemma of promoting liberal democracy while engaging in massive attempts to reduce inequality... Part serious-popular history, part comparative political analysis, part sociology, part academic journalism, the discussion is not for a beginner but for the reader already initiated into South Africana...The conclusion is rather sober: politics in the future is no longer about race but about the underclass challenging the "liberation aristocracy." Highly recommended for upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and researchers." -H.Glickman, Haverford College Taken from: Choice. June 1999

This gem of a book contains 50 informative accounts, each 2-4 pages, summarizing a particular incident that changed the course of history.

Titles include "The Kamikaze That Saved Japan", "How William Became the Conqueror", "The Scholar Who Tamed the Vikings", "The Only Man Who Ever Beat Hannibal", "Why Sir Walter Raleigh Lost His Head", "The Barbarian Who Created France" and "Why Leif Ericsson Ignored America", among many others.

Perhaps because of their brevity, the focused accounts pack punch. This book is best read a couple pages at a time before bed, then savored, then memorized.

These historical accounts are arranged into a series of short stories (about 2,000 words each). Each is interesting of its own, but serves also to make a moral point applicable to business, or life in general. A nice little book to keep about the house if you'd like to take a break to a short account of history which is educational and fun.

Larry McMurtry once said he based "Lonesome Dove" on a handful of reference books about the Old West. This classic compendium of cowboy terminology first published in 1936 by Ramon Adams is surely one of them. In the chapter on cowboy nicknames, there is told the story of Dishwater Martin, who like Dish Boggett in the novel, got his name by mistaking dishwater for drinking water.

And if you've read "Lonesome Dove" much of the early material in this book will be a little familiar. Adams discusses at length the duties of cowboys on the job in open rangeland, on cattle drives, and on ranches. Their manners, habits, attitudes, and codes of behavior are discussed, especially the close bond between cowboys and their horses. And interwoven through all of this are the words, terms, and phrases borrowed and invented by cowboys, observed and noted by Adams over many years as an amateur lexicographer.

I found the reading got more interesting as Adams explored topics that spilled over into storytelling and something I guess we'd call socio-linguistics today. The chapter on cooks, cooking, food, meal-time etiquette, the chuckwagon itself, and the sharp wit of cooks is especially enjoyable. Adams also makes good reading out of his chapters on cattle rustling, guns, the afore-mentioned nicknames, and (much too briefly) cowboy dances, also known as 'hoe-digs,' 'shin-digs,' 'hoe-downs,' and 'stomps.' I learned square dancing as a boy but never heard calls as arcanely mystifying as the ones Adams records here.

While Adams observes that cowboys were also notoriously profane and wildly inventive in their profanity, the mores of 1936 prevent him from giving any examples. Sad to say, that's the only chapter I have to report as missing from this otherwise entertaining and informative book.

"Cowboy Lingo" is one of those rare reference books you can read for pleasure. It opens a wide and richly detailed window into a uniquely Western world.

Ramon F. Adam's book of Cowboy lingo is a great addition to the growing library of reference books dealing with cowboy culture and the cowboy way of life. This book is great for writers and cowboy enthusiasts alike.

Here's why:

The Author Adam's divides his 'dictionary' into chapters, with specific themes ranging terms for cattle, to nicknames for people. Chapters include the commentary of modern cowboys and the author's own observations. (This is NOT a dictionary in the traditional sense, so don't expect a sterile list of terms with definitions or you might be disappointed). =-) Words and phrases are scattered throughout each chapter in no particular order.

Find out for yourself what the words "Buckaroo," "Fence-Stretcher" and "Talk Turkey" mean.

Saddle up, and prepare yourself for an exciting adventure into the ways and words of a Cowboy life!

This book pre-dates web conferencing (sharing data over a browser with a teleconference) but their principles and insights are first rate, terse and straight to the point. The lesson of planning different strategies for different types of meetings is very helpful and practical. They give tips and strategies for specific types of virtual encounters from brainstorming sessions, to working team meetings, remote presentations and formal board meetings. They also offer a key insight that the use of video conferencing is not a technical solution that reduces travel cost but strategic managment issue that goes to core of communications within an organization.

As web conferencing and Video over IP become realities, this book establishes the principles for holding any type of virtual meeting. )

This book is a must read for anyone looking to use cybermeetings to improve access to justice and to resolve eCommerce disputes amicably. Anyone in the burgeoning field of web conferencing should learn the constructive lessons of video conferencing from this book.

Jim Keane - JKeane.Com - ABA-LPM eLawyering Task Force

Helps you look at your meetings and real time collaboration processes, and see how/if technology can support them. For once it doesn't look at it from a technology standpoint. The authors lets you consider what you want with your meetings. Then they take a look at how tech can support this.

Adam Przeworski is one of the top five political scientists of the world. "Democracy and the Market" is amazing and should be read by everybody that wants to know why democracies last (or don't). Przeworski is probably one of the few writers that compare the situation in East Europe with the situation in Latin America. And he does it perfectly. A bit technical at times but a very contemporary work of Political Science. A must buy.

Przeworski's writing is always penetrating. This is the best work that I've ever read in the literature of political economy and comparative politics. Although his approach is too much immersed in rational-choice, he knows the history of political philosophy. Although he is basically a Marx-oriented scholar, he correctly understand what neo-classical theories are lacking. Adam Przeworki is a rare intellectual who combine science with philosophy. is worth buying and worth reading although somehow technical.

Idioms are always difficult. For people learning English as second language this is even harder. This book offers a detail list of idioms that people often use, with their meanings and examples. Using this book along with the "NTC's Dictionary of American Slang" helps to develop your skills in understand the way American speaks that not always is taught in school. The book is clear, perfect. I'm happy to have it in my bookcase.

I thought I knew English pretty well. But when I came to Canada and had a chance to talk to people whose first language was English, I realized that sometimes I just can't get what they mean. When someone says "I'm off the hook" what does he really mean, was he "hanging" from a hook!! After realizing that I went to a bookstore and started searching for something which would help me in this regard. Then I came across this book and after a glance, I decided to buy it. It's been more than two years and I'm still happy that I bought this dictionary. Even though I know a lot many idioms now, I still refer to this book almost daily. And it has never disappointed me!!