Georges Roux's outstanding book on ancient Iraq - which opens my eyes - seems amateurish compared to this one - probably the single best introduction to ancient Mesopotamia written in the English language.

Iraq's civilization is interesting for two reasons. From a purely archaeological/anthropological point of view, ancient Mesopotamia is by far the oldest civilization on this planet - even older than Egypt. The reasons why there's much less attention to it than to Egypt are the fact that there are so few monumental structures remaining there and the fact that Egypt is closer to the Graeoco-Roman civilization.

The other reason why Iraq's civilization is interesting is its potential importance IN THE FUTURE. With the war's outcome almost certain (truly it's like an Iron Age army crushing a Stone Age one), Iraq's long term prospects are quite good. Sitting on the second largest proven crude oil reserves in the world, Iraq has the potential to wield much influence, like Saudi Arabia.

Useful (but rather short) bibilography and glossary.

Oppenheim regrets not being able to make this book "twice the size of the present one." (p.334) I only regret that this book ISN'T three times as long. If this book isn't flying off the shelves, it should be. Get it before it's too late.

(Warning: This book does not include the Sumerian civilization, as the author makes explicit. For this subject you must turn to Sam N. Kramer.)

A. Leo Oppenheim's "Ancient Mesopotamia:Portrait of a Dead Civilization" is one lively read. It is not a chronologically arranged history, (you'll have to go to Georges Roux's "Ancient Iraq" for that), but it is an unusually comprehensive series of essays on aspects of ancient Mesopotamian civilization. After introducing Assyriology as a discipline, Oppenheim situates Mesopotamia geographically and culturally within the ancient world, and discusses its relations with and influence on its neighbors. From there he goes on to analyze the root forms of almost everything we know of as civilization: urbanism, political and social organization, religion, writing, literature, and scientific thought. Particularly interesting are the discussions on the care and feeding of the gods, ancient psychology, and the scribal subculture. Throughout the book, Oppenheim refers to historical and literary data of every sort in an even-handed way. A helpful chronology, glossary, notes, and index fill the final 100+ pages of the book. Illustrations and maps could be a little better, but that's small change in a book of this scope. Come visit the impossibly exotic, yet oddly accessible, past

Without any doubt, this book is one of the most comprehensive works on ancient Near Eastern cultures with its distinguished structure and unique style. Mr Oppenheim, a well-known Assyrologist of the sixties, provides us a brief but deep and highly detailed portrait of Ancient Mesopotamia, as the subtitle of the book suggests ("Portrait Of A Dead Civilization".) First, I have to inform the enthusiastic reader that this is not a book for "beginners" - it requires a background on ancient history and an acquaintance with Mesopotamian civilizations. But you don't have to be a specialist or a scholar to enjoy the unique taste of the book.

While Samuel Noah Kramer's works feed us with the Sumerian part of Mesopotamian culture, Oppenheim focuses the main axis on Babylonia and Assyria. The book is not a plain history textbook in a chronological order. Oppenheim presents the "portrait" under well-designed chapters with essential concepts: The first chapter of the book is an overview on Mesopotamia. Then in the second chapter, Oppenheim leads us to the depths of urbanism, social texture and economical facts of the region in ancient times. Chapter 3 deals with the difference of "historical sources" and "literature" in Mesopotamia, and presents two essays on Assyrian and Babylonian history. The next chapter is, about ancient Mesopotamians' relations with their "gods": Oppenheim discusses why a "Mesopotamian Religion" should not be written. (According to my opinion, this is one of the most important parts of the book which underlines the "revolutionary" nature of the work.) The last two chapters deal with "the writing" and "science" in Mesopotamia, respectively. J. A. Brinkman's "Mesopotamian Chronology of the Historical Period" is presented as an appendix at the end of the book.

Leo Oppenheim's "Ancient Mesopotamia" is definitely one of the most important sources for intellectuals interested with the subject. Note that it is not just a "reference work" but a "book with a soul".

Read the four novels that make up The Book of Bebb, and you'll never forget The Rev. Leo Bebb, one of the best-drawn characters in modern American literature. He lives, he breathes, he exposes his private parts, he raises the dead, he stands before the congregation with a Bible in one hand, reminding them that "charity" is the greatest virtue---and he's got his other hand out to receive the bounty of that charity.

A half-holy conman who seems sincere down to his questionable core, Bebb is a blend of Jimmy Swaggart, WC Fields, Walt Whitman, PT Barnum--and there may even be a dash of Huck Finn and Fielding's Tom Jones mixed in there somewhere.

If you stop and think about it, isn't it amazing what people can and do believe? People worship everything from stone gods to trees and rocks to Elvis Presley and space aliens, and they've always had "guides" such as priests and ministers to lead the way. The Bebb stories encourage us to question what we believe, who we believe in, and how we can possibly put our faith in anyone or anything these days----when we're faced every day with further evidence that people and their feet of clay generally stink.

These stories were written in the 1970s, and in many ways they look forward to the media-exploded days of the 1980s and 1990s, when tv programs and internet content virtually replaced the "landscape" of daily life in middle-America. Leo Bebb is essentially a charismatic, Bible-thumping evangelist from the 1940s wandering in the wilderness of late 20th-Century America. He reminds me of those ubiquitous radio preachers on AM radio coming out of Lubbock, Texas, or somewhere down south, imploring all within the reach of their syrupy drawls to accept the love of Jesus--and to send down the cold hard cash. Although there was something creepy and unsettling about those messages, there was also some strange comfort in knowing that somebody out there still found a reason to believe.

I first read these four Bebb novels in 1991, and upon re-reading them in 2003 it strikes once again me that Buechner's stories and characters are timeless. More so now than in 1991, I think these are American stories about American characters who are trying to "get ahead" in a big country filled with a roughly mixed cocktail of races, cultures, traditions, and values. They're all busy with the business of life, but they're looking for something to believe in, even in such a crazy place as modern America. Every one of Buechner's characters seems to have one foot planted on the ground and one foot stepping tentatively toward the gates of heaven.

This is a find. Buechner is a fine writer with impeccable ears; but his special quality is a kind of humanity that gives merit to the meritless, rejoicing as he has us shake our head, chuckling at their goings-on. His religion is germane, and if this matter is quite different from G.K.Chesterton's, and his voice and ego less resonant, nevertheless there's an assurance here that reminds one of the latter. Fine work, and it's a heathen here that says so.

I read these books at at the same time I was dealing with reconciling my spiritulaity with my sexuality. Fredrick Buchner crafts such a lovely story with heroes so flawed and utterly lovable that you can't help but identify with every one.
These characters became so important to me, that I had to put the final book down because I was so mad at one of them.
Buchener has such a way with discription and characterization.
I find these and maybe The Storm the easiest of his books to read.
Lion Country (the first book of Bebb) really helped me at a tough time in my life, I really recommend it to anyone... it will make you laugh and cry at the same time.

A Color of His Own is a wonderful beginning book for young children that teaches children colors. This book also stresses the importance of being and individual and does so in a way that young children can understand. In this book, a young chameleon searches high and low for his own color. He decides to stay on a leaf so he will be green forever. Soon, fall comes, the leaves change, and so does he. Sadly, he leaves his leaf and runs into another older and wiser chameleon. He tells the chameleon about his troubles, and the older comforts him and suggests that the two stay together. "We will still change color wherever we go," says the wiser chameleon, "but you and I will always be alike."
The objects and animals in this book are presented very clearly with uncluttered illustrations. Each object or animal is clearly identified by its color on each particular page. Lionni does a great job of using clear, simple language to introduce each color. The artwork is unique and catches the attention of young children.
Overall, A Color of His Own, is a great book to use to teach young children the concept of colors. Lionni's simple language and inventive style of illustrations make this book the success it is. This book serves as a great teaching tool to use with young children.

This book was so very good. I loved it and the pictures are absolutely beautiful. I love the pictures because they're so colorful and full. The story line is very good it tells the tall of a lonely chameleon who looks for a way to have his own color. The chameleon has a good time looking for a color of his own but he is sad because he's the only one who changes. To find out what happened to the chameleon buy the book and read it. It's a grand old story and I truly truly loved it. Its so good.

Join this charming chameleon on the road to discovery where he searches for a "color of his own." He learns to adapt to different "colored" environments while feeling left out, and along the way befriends a fellow chameleon and gains lasting companionship and happiness. This delightful board book captures babies attention with simple content and colorful illustrations, while teaching young children about feelings of belonging, friendship, compassion, and the most obvious - colors: green, red, gray, pink, yellow, and purple. This is a terrific tale! One-year and up.

The other reviews of this book already give the potential reader a good insight into what they are buying, and so I will comment on a fascinating conceptual tension within the book. Like all political realists (or so Schmitt would claim), Schmitt begins his theorizing from the empirical fact that "man is a dangerous and dynamic being". Schmitt allows that the nature of man may not be evil, but man's nature is inarguably problematic. Schmitt then inquires as to how man's problematic nature reveals itself conceptually. His answer is the enemy recognition. We know man is evil because he is prone to locating in the stranger, the other (that person or group who holds inimical aesthetic, religious, ethical beliefs), a potential source of violent conflict. A tension (there are many in the book!) then materializes when Schmitt speaks of the necessity of the state to make the proper enemy recognition if peace and security are to be maintained. It is of course a perilous folly if the state fails to make the proper enemy recognition (see Hindenburg's 1933 alliance with Hitler, Neville Chamberlain's appeasement, and Stalin's secret pact with Hitler for three failed enemy recognitions before WWII). But how does the state make the proper enemy recognition, and not simply needlessly multiply conflict in order to root out the enemy? Thus, the Soviet archives tell us that Stalin erroneously viewed the West as a threat (particularly a rebuilt Germany) after WWII, and so seized Eastern Europe as a buffer zone. The tension of the enemy recognition is that it is the source of all of our troubles, but yet it must be made when necessary. Sounds like the stuff of which politics is made...

Politics is just the wooden horse in this book. Schmittian political theory treats killing as the unthinkable monstrosity which it usually is, but allows the state to have a monopoly on declarations of war, which is about the only thing that might be considered important by those who only permit it when they have an enemy. The things in this book apply so well to the Greeks who were camped outside Troy all those years, wondering why they couldn't win when they were so obviously right, that the kind of politics in this book might be considered classic. Schmitt was in a little trouble once, after World War II, when people wondered if he should be treated like a war criminal for openly thinking about the logic of this kind of thing as a German, who published this as Der Begriff des Politischen in 1932. There is a possibility that some of the people who won World War II didn't want politicians to think this way: "The political is the most intense and extreme antagonism, and every concrete antagonism becomes that much more political the closer it approaches the most extreme point, that of the friend-enemy grouping." (p. 29). Honestly, the things people think can get them in a lot of trouble, which is probably why you never see much thinking on television.

"The Concept of the Political", by Carl Schmitt, is a theorhetical tract wherein Schmitt lays the groundwork for a criticism of current 'liberal' political theory (liberal in the technical sense of the term, i.e. as concerned with the preservation of human freedom as the sovreign good of political society, as opposed to the word's conventional use as an adjective describing adherents of the various species of Leftist ideology; note as well that here we mean 'negative freedom', not 'positive freedom', in Isaiah Berlin's scheme). His reflections are somewhat disjointed, but fortunately the notes on this text penned by the great and sadly passed away Leo Strauss are appended at the end of the book. This provides a useful synthesis and critique of Schmitt's work; essentially, Strauss argues that Schmitt is criticizing liberalism from a concealed moral point of view, under the guise of the supposed necessities of politics as a function of human nature; however, what Schmitt never comes out and says is that the 'ethics' and 'morality' of liberalism, that he says he is disregarding in favor of cold-eyed necessity, is in fact just one of a plurality of possible ethical systems, and that there is an alternative ethical vision available that does in fact embrace politics as struggle between friends and enemies as valuable in itself, which is a step further than Schmitt takes the analysis, seeing the political and its allegedly unpalatable characteristics as a matter of pure necessity. Strauss never says so, but the antithesis his analysis sets up is strikingly similar to the godlike Friererich Nietzsche's notions of 'master morality' and 'slave morality'. Read this book, especially Strauss' epitome of it, alongside 'Beyond Good and Evil', 'On the Geneology of Morals', 'The Anti-Christ', and 'Twilight of the Idols', for a look at a positive formulation of what Schmitt merely hints at. Also good for further info on Nietzsche's political philosophy would be 'Nietzsche and the Politics of Aristocratic Radicalism' by Bruce Dettweiler; 'Introduction to Nietzsche as Political Thinker', by Keith Ansell-Pearson; and 'Nietzsche and the Political', by Daniel W. Conway.

N.B. - Schmitt disgraced himself as a man for all eternity by his willing association with the satanic forces of the Third Reich. In no way should this be a reason for you to avoid this book. He repetedly denounces totalitarinism in it as different from his own ideas; likewise, do not allow the old canard that Nietzsche was a proto-Nazi to keep you from reading him - this is an out-and-out lie, as Walter Kaufman proved half a century ago in his "Nietzsche: Philospoher, Psychologist, and Anti-Christ". Friederich Nietzsche would not have deigned to so much as urinate on Adolf Hitler if he found the Furher on fire. In any case, even if the charges against Nietzsche were true, it would still constitute an ad hominem attack, which has no rational vlaue whatsoever (the same goes for Schmitt). Ad hominems, in case you are wondering, consist of attempts to discredit ideas by discrediting their thinkers - e.g. 'elimination of affirmitive action is a mistake because white conservatives are racists and black conservatives are Uncle Toms'. I'm sure you've heard similar fallacies before. Neither man's ideas necessarily leads to Nazism or any other form of totalitarianism - people who oppose them just want you to think so. Read it, and ponder it, if you want a glimpse of a radically different way of thinking about politics.

bajo la mano de un médico QUE CREE EN DIOS..
Una chica con aneurismas múltiples...
Y SU PROPIO HIJO, PARALIZADO Y QUE AHORA CAMINA Y CORRE !

but even if it weren't, IT'S A GREAT BOOK OF MIRACLES,HOPE, LOVE
AND FRIENDSHIP!
Lovely and worthy!
It brought tears to my eyes

This a true, inspiring story written by the MOST FAMOUS NEUROSURGEON OF LATIN AMERICA...
It's a humble recognition of A MAN WHO BELIEVED THAT THE MIRACLES
SPRANG FROM HIS CAPABLE HANDS IN THE BEST HOSPITAL SURGERY ROOM !!

Until HIS OWN 15 YEAR OLD SON WAS LEFT PARAPLEXIC, IMMOVILE FROM THE SHOULDERS TO HIS FEET !
A CERVICAL VERTEBRA BROKEN TO DUST...

That day, THE GREAT DOCTOR SAW ANOTHER DOCTOR: THE GREATEST DOCTOR! OUR LORD !

3 Years later, the "broken " teenager RUNS,PLAYS, GOES TO SCHOOL
AND HIS FATHER does not believe anymore HE'S THE GREATES ON EARTH ! He bows BEFORE OUR LORD...

"Never destroy what you cannot create" was one of Leo Szliard's codes of conduct. Books about unsung heros' of the scientific age are almost like novels. Nevertheless, great men seem to rise above dry biography if they had some esoteric ways. We have all read stacks of magazines and books about Albert Einstein to probe into all the details of what made him tick (in relative time, of course). Leo Szliard was a mental gypsy from the old world who saw the new world before most of the other "famous" thinkers of the 20th Century even opened their eyes. A must read for a knowledge foundation in enjoying the lifestyles of the Wise and Unusual.

Anyone interested in Szilard, early 20th Century World History, the A-Bomb, or all of the above will find this book hard to put down. This biography is comprehensive, well-researched and properly kind to its subject. Dr. Szilard probably will never get enough credit for his genius and all his great ideas and achievements, but this book does him justice. He seems to come alive in this book, always several steps ahead of everyone else.

American culture's emphasis on individualism often ignores the more collaborative contributions such as Dr. Szilard's. An original, he both created and collaborated, and this book tells his story.

At times, I thought the author might have been over-stating some of Dr. Szilard's accompishments, but the story is otherwise well-done, and frankly, Dr. Szilard deserves a little promotion, so I didn't mind.

I seem to recall having written the anonymous critique below ["Life and loves of the man who patented atomic energy "] when Amazon.com did not yet have its current database system in operation (or is it simply deja vu?). Exactly the high points of Szilard's life in GENIUS IN THE SHADOWS mentioned below still stand out in my mind. Be that as it may, the contributions by such diverse authors as William Lanouette, Leo Szilard's electrical engineer brother Bela Silard [sic], and polio vaccine pioneer Jonas Salk make for an eclectically exciting book.

I recall as a teenager in New York City viewing an historic television debate between Dr. Szilard and his erstwhile student, humble assistant, and that day self-appointed "father" of the hydrogen bomb: Edward Teller. Both my parents had arrived in the United States during the late 1920s from Hungary; they were Szilard's vintage and had crossed paths with him in Budapest. The two powerful Hungarian atomic physicists, Szilard and Teller debated the nuclear arms race on TV (Szilard was fiercely against it). My family was glued to the TV screen. The Soviet Union was menacing us in New York City with THEIR nuclear weapons. Dying of leukemia, Leo Szilard had dragged himself out of his sickbed at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research to debate Teller on this vital subject.

At one point, the condescendingly charming Teller prefaced his offensive remarks with, "But my DEAR Szilard, ..." Leo cut him off in mid sentence with, "I am NOT your 'dear Szilard' anymore ..." It was wonderful! Szilard at his worst was far, far superior to Teller at his best. Alas, Leo Szilard would soon die, and Teller would go on to dazzle his California actor-governor-president friend Ronald Reagan with Star War fantasies for furthering his beloved arms race. By contrast, as GENIUS IN THE SHADOWS reveals, Szilard not only possessed incredible insight and creativity in science and geopolitics, but he also expressed a great moral sense and love of humanity.

GENIUS IN THE SHADOWS treats one of the 20th century's most significant thinkers and humanitarians with down to earth candor not often found in biographies. Those wishing to be entertained by sharing the exciting adventures in the life of Leo Szilard, read this book.

I turn to some of these stories repeatedly. Tolstoy gives searching portraits of obsessed souls in stories such as "The Devil" (an unforgettable account of lust), "Father Sergius," and "The Kreutzer Sonata." Here is a more "Dostoevskian" Tolstoy than we see in War and Peace. Providing balance in the collection are masterpieces such as "Hadji Murad." Don't overlook this book; it is a convenient compilation of some of the finest literary works of Russia's 19th century. I bought a second copy because my first one wore out.

This paperback gathers many of Lev Tolstoy's most masterfully crafted short works. The Death of Ivan Ilych, Hadji Murad, The Cossacks, The Kreutzer Sonata ... they are all here. While it is impossible to give an adequate review of each of the stories in this collection, I will say that Tolstoy's short stories are a joy to read. His style is vivid, clear, and engaging, and his themes are interesting and profound. Tolstoy tackles the issues of death, war, religion, sex, and others. While I do not agree with many of his views, the beauty and subtlety with which he expresses them is tremendous.

On a more technical note, the translation is more than adequate. While reading Tolstoy in Russian is best, this translation is seamless and does not interfere with the reading. I would enthusiastically recommend this collection to anyone who is intrigued by this influential and quirky author.

Leo Toadstool was a brilliant writer, and, although I didn't find his short pieces as brilliant as his novels, they are nonetheless brilliant. He is the Beatles of prose fiction.

This book touches beyond the basics of letters forming words, and those words making sentences. More importantly, it shows us that all things must work together to obtain harmony. This book is an excellent example of teamwork, and without it, these letters and words could not have done or accomplished anything on their own. What an example to teach our youth of America. I highly recommend this book for everyone.

The Alphabet Tree is a wonderful spring board book to help emergent readers understand the importance of putting letters together to create words. I have used this book as an addition to other ABC books at the beginning of the school year for 1st grade children. They were excited and immediatly suggested ways that they could make words. Our classroom now has our own "Alphabet Tree" that the children put together. This is an excellent teaching tool.

I first discovered this book 29 years ago as a student teacher. I was thrilled to discover that it is back in print. Leo Lionni demonstrates for the young learner that letters make words and words make sentences. This book is especially useful in a classroom where phonemic spelling is encouraged. I recommend The Alphabet Tree to every Kindergarten teacher.

This study is an excellent examination of Japanese colonialism in Taiwan and its consequences for the contemporary formation of national identity. Through examining not only the particular circumstances of Japan in Taiwan but also the nature of colonialism in general, Ching shows how colonialism is a social transformation which produces people of mixed identities. He draws upon "The Orphan of Asia" by Wu Zhuo-Liu as an example of this understanding. Ching also sets forth an interesting critique of postmodernism's hesitancy to draw judgments across cultural boundaries. The "miracle" of postwar Japan, essentially an almost immediate turn from complete external orientation to complete internal orientation and subjectivity, was made possible by the United States' appropriation of Japan's colonies and Japan's immediate alliance with the U.S. in the Cold War. Because of these factors, Japan never had to go through the harsh but important process of decolonization, and Ching shows how this failure affects the identity crisis of Taiwan today. Ultimately the book is oriented around "the politics of identity formation" in which Taiwan must come to hold a national identity which embraces the diversity of elements (Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Hakka, aboriginal, etc.) that have formed the ontology of Taiwan through history.

This is a detailed account of the Taiwanese response to colonization under the Japanese. Liu adroitly illustrates the monumental changes afoot in Taiwan of the early 20th Century and builds a strong case to support the idea of a Taiwanese identity seperate from China. Liu follows the steps colonialization drive that can later be seen in the Chinese colonization under the KMT. At times the language bogs down in anthropological terms of art, but is no less a valueable addition to the pool of information available on Taiwan.

This is a good book to point out why China had no claim on Taiwan. Taiwan is a country that had been invaded by so many other countires in its past. Han Chinese are just minority in Taiwan while Taiwanese are the majority. This is why Taiwanese people will decide their future for their own political, economical, and military interests!!

This abridged version of Maimonedes thoughts covers about one quarter of the complete book with the same title. The selection by Guttmann concentrates on Maimonedes' attempt to bring rational Aristotelian philosophy in accord with classical Jewish literature. Thus, allegorical reading of the anthropomorphic features of the biblical God is urged for a better understanding of the hidden meaning and to bring it in conformity with reason. Other main aspects covered deal with Prophecy, Providence and the way to a godly life. It is the latter which struck me as most interesting because the dedication of every moment of one's life to God (except when engaged in mundane duties which ought to be kept to a minimum) is precisely what one finds in the Bhagavad Gita except that the name of the Deity is Krishna rather than Yahweh. Apart from the name there is absolutely no other difference. If we are serious in believing that there is only one God in control of the universe this should not be disturbing because all nations are entitled to use their name for the Deity which encompasses all. Yet Maimonedes insists that only through contemplation of the Jewish law can perfection be achieved and one finds some rather derogatory remarks about those who think otherwise. Although Maimonedes emphasizes that the way to God is through humility, tolerance of the views of others will not be found. Furthermore, while intellect and reason are extolled Maimonedes has no difficulty accepting oral traditions of biblical stories, especially in regard to Abraham, Jacob and Moses, which have not only no corrollary in the Pentateuch but are at times at variance with it. Thus, the imaginative faculty and the rational faculty, as Maimonedes called them, and which distinguish the human being from animals, did not seem to find complete harmony in his view of the world and may leave some of us still perplexed.
The introductions to the book by Frank and by Guttmann are very helpful in setting Maimonedes' work in its appropriate context. For the student of comparative religion this is a useful introduction to medieval Jewish philosophy as it originated in a Muslim milieu and which is still held in high esteem by some modern theologians.

Rambam knocks me over. This is an amazing work. This is one of the most important books in any language. This translation by Pines is excellent, clear, simple, unobtrusive, and has just the right small amount of clarifying notes.

The Guide clearly should be studied with others. I would like to discuss each chapter with other people as we read (and maybe re-read) them. My email address is my firstnamelastname at yahoo dot com.

This is volume one of a two volume set, so be sure to get both volumes. Volume one contains two interpretive essays, one by Leo Strauss and one by the translator, the former alone making this translation worthy of purchase, according to the Times Literary Supplement. Maimonides' work itself is an intentionally tangled web of reason, not to be undertaken by the casual reader; such a reader will leave disappointed with its obscure style. Maimonides assumes a great deal of Scriptural knowledge and a familiarity with the most important commentators of his time. Nevertheless, for those willing to put in the effort both in learning the fundamentals of religion and in exploring an almost endless maze of logic, Maimonides will provide a sumptuary feast and sketch the outlines of his view of philosophy and faith.