Some super-Mormon will read this review and think "She just didn't understand it because it was way over her head." They will be wrong. Lectures on Faith painfully stretches out the obvious and shallow observations until they might seem deep to someone who searches for such depth. It's ridiculously unchallenging. A good comparison: If you've ever taken a regular common word of the English language and stared at it, pronounced it over and over again, until it began to look and sound strange and foreign... that's what this book does to our very existence. I was actually insulted by it.

"Faith."

This small word, I think, is the key to everything, since at some point every religious and irreligious person is backed up to the wall of faith, and there they take their stand. I include irreligious, atheists, and antitheists as being faithful since it has been my experience that unbelief takes as much work as belief. You must close your eves to a lot of truth and say that the sun isn't shining at noon in July, which requires as much work as saying God lives in the face of the 9-11 Attacks, or famine, or dying babies. Indeed, C. S. Lewis observed, "A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful in his reading. There are traps everywhere." (Surprised by Joy, ch.12)

In the Lectures on Faith, Joseph Smith records seven lessons that the early leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were taught in the Temple at Kirtland. These lessons are a peek into Joseph Smith's mind and reveal his rather extensive understanding of faith.

The Lectures are seven and follow this outline:

Lecture 1: The nature of faith is discussed. It is a principle of action and a principle of power in the temporal and in the spiritual realm. In fact, "power" is a perfect synonym for faith. In its most unlimited sense, "faith then, is the first great governing principle which has power, dominion, and authority over all things; by it they exist, by it they are upheld, by it they are changed, or by it they remain, agreeable to the will of God."

Lecture 2: This lecture show the object upon with our faith exists. Our faith is based on God; and our knowledge of God is reducible to Adam's testimony as recorded in the Bible. Joseph Smith does a complex and sometimes tedious proof to show the internal consistency of the Bible, and that we have an unbroken chain of testimony from Adam to Abraham. In addition to the Adamic testimony, we can get our own person experiences with God, like Abraham, Moses or the Brother of Jared in the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

Lecture 3: Discusses the character of God. Now that we know that God exists, we need to know what type of God we are dealing with, and have a correct understanding of God. The seven key characteristics are:
First, that he was God before the world was created, and the same God that he was after it was created.
Second, that he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in goodness, and that he was so from everlasting, and will be to everlasting.
Third, that he changes not, neither is there variableness with him; but that he is the same from everlasting to everlasting, being the same yesterday today and forever; and that his course is one eternal round, without variation.
Fourth, that he is a God of truth and cannot lie.
Fifth, that he is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that fears God and works righteousness is accepted of him.
Sixth, that he is love.

Lecture 4: Discusses the attributes of God. These help clarify the correct nature of God. The seven key attributes are: Knowledge; Faith or Power; Justice; Judgment; Mercy; and Truth.

Lecture 5: Continues the discussion on the correct nature of God, and focuses on the nature of the Godhead, and each person's relationship to the members of the Godhead. This lecture is one of the best lectures on theology out there. The focus is on getting "the mind of Christ," which is another way of saying getting the Holy Ghost in our lives.

Lecture 6: Discusses the nature of sacrifice, and how sacrifice is necessary to know God and to have faith, Abraham being the example. "Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things, never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation."

Lecture 7: This lecture covers the effects that flow from faith, being namely Salvation. When we work by faith [see 1Thess. 1:3; 2 Thess. 1:11], we work by mental exertion, and we work by words, not physical labors. We become more like god, and soon become "assimilated" into the likeness of God. So, then, salvation is the product of faith.

I think I have given away half of the book! But buy the book and get some flesh on this skeleton-outline!

Shakespeare observed that brevity was the soul of wit (Hamlet), and that simplicity was oftentimes miscalled simple (Sonnet 66). These lectures are quite easy to follow, but the older I get, the more profound they become. We see that simple faith really isn't something simple, but that it is the mainspring of all things good. With such powerful teaching, comments about "blind faith," or people needing crutches seem to blur into the background.

The "Lectures in Faith" were included in the early "Doctrine and Covenants" of the Mormon religion. They were omitted from later versions, and there is no official reason why. The guess is that the Mormons changes their beliefs about God, and these new beliefs did not fit in with the Lectures. Great reading if you want to see how a religion makes up its doctrines as it wishes. But then, there were 3913 changes made to the first version of the "Book of Mormon".

Mr. Bonanno provides an insider's view of organized crime - particularly the variety imported from Sicily - in the United States. It is a subject on which he is a unique authority as the longtime head of one of the country's major crime "families" and a Castellamarese Sicilian immigrant. He also enlightens readers somewhat with regard to what he perceives to be Sicilian traditions and the concept of "honor."

Of course, Mr. Bonanno does not illuminate much of his own involvement in illegal enterprises, which is certainly extensive. The reader is forced to assume that the criminal activities described in great detail are ones Mr. Bonanno oversaw himself. A great many recognizable names are mentioned, but the boss took care not to seriously offend anyone who was still alive and kicking at the time the book was published.

The book reaches back into the author's personal history from about the dawn of the 20th Century (some family history predates that) and the history of organized crime since the bootlegger wars of the Prohibition days. It advances into more modern times, though the recent information becomes sketchy.

As a first-hand account by a "don," this is a must-read for those deeply interested in the history of the American "Mafia." But it may disappoint more casual readers. And some may find objectionable the author's insistence that his criminal activity has been "honorable," his often sexist and racist views and his tendency to flatter himself (a tendency that was apparently passed on to his son, who also wrote a glowing autobiographical account of his work in the "family").

Of course, he doesn't tell about the times he had to order that someone be "whacked." But he does go deeper than any other "Mafia memoirs" such as _The Valachi Papers_ ever did.

Or did he? Towards the end, I began wondering if, in his effort to portray himself merely as a misunderstood Sicilian businessman, his book proved that Mario Puzo had done extensive research for _The Godfather_, of if Bonanno had simply used that saga to explain the Mafia's history.

Either way, it's very readable, and very entertaining.

Mr.Joseph T. Bonanno has written a great book about his world.A once honorable society.He had been a GodFather in.And about how it has now been truned into something other than it's supposed to be.In the last years the so-called men of honor have truned it into something diffrent.

Good book on deal structure, but if you want a valuation number, check out "Unlocking the Value of Your Business".

A must read not only for beginners but also for practicioners. This book provides something different than other M&A / valuation books that I've read. It explains various techniques and structures of M&A transactions in a way that has never been explained in other books. The basic definitions are there to explain the most basic things, but the author gives examples to show the application of a real life situation. Note that although the book provides modeling examples, it doesn't go through them line by line. So for those of you who try to get to know how to create a spreadsheet model, this is not the book, but if you want to know, say, the implication of a structure to a tax basis of the merging entities, this is the one to have.

This book doesn't pretend to be a dictionary, as most text books do. It is highly focused on M$A on the valuation side and the book is well organized and easy to follow. The book does not (and should not) include everything about M&A, but everything included in the book is well describled and supported by examples. Unless some technical text books, this one is actually written by English (maybe it's because the author is not a PhD) and that makes the book very readable.

Trudie and Stingy are hardly "self-sufficient" as the book description suggests. It's a euphemism for "wealthy." I wish *I* had a mansion and a bunch of acres to live in and grow organic food on. Then I could be as "self-sufficient" as these famous couple. This book is just an excuse for Sting's rich, bored housewife (or is it "actress" or "philanthropist" this week?) to display one of her ostentatious homes on a bookcover for the envy of all eyes that gaze upon it. I'd assume that the recipes contained within are as bland as Stings last two albums. (And no, this is not Stewart Copeland writing this review.) At least there isn't a picture of the Sting-peddling Jaguars and Microsoft products scattered about the country side. And by the way, aren't gas-guzzling luxury cars like Jaguars somehow contratictory to the ethos behind growing organic potatoes and Rainforest preservation?

Be you novice or and old timer when it comes to vegetarian thoughts this is an excellent bool to have. Not only are the photographs stunning, but the book is simply a joy to hold, and use. It has an aura that is a tad zen, a tad British and a tad bit Californian. Well laid out and a book that men and women would appreciate, and would love to recieve as a gift. Yes, she is the wife of STING. But she (Trudie Styler) holds her own and gets my respect and applause for doing such a good job talking food. She seems to understand the ritual nature of growing, as well as preparing food. And if having STING in her life will help sell the book, more power to her. Fact is food is a sacrement that comes from the earth and the book shares this with the reader. Helps the reader see that food should be healthy and whole and need not be bland.

This is truly a----keep it easy to find--book!Trudie and Joe have put together wonderful, easy to do, good for us recipes. The information on the organics was so educational> My desire now is to be able to be a part of that incredible home!! The photography is awesome!!! Thank you, Trudie, Joseph and you too, Sting!!

Mr. Taylor accurately identifies most of the causes of the salmon population crisis facing Washington state, Oregon, Alaska, and British Columbia. And he is dead on in his assessment of the impact of farm fisheries on salmon ecology.
The book grossly understates, however, the impact of logging on salmon habitat. Without canopy to cool streams, temperature-sensitive salmon simply cannot spawn successfully. And let's not overlook the role that clear-cutting plays in causing erosion, sedimentation, and flooding. It's true that salmon ecology can still suffer from genetic contamination by farm fish, point-source and non-point-source pollution, illegal overfishing on the high seas, legal overfishing in fresh water, damming, and overuse of water by irrigators and developers. But let's not downplay the egregious impact of logging.

Making Salmon is the definitive work on the problems facing the salmon fishery of the Pacific Northwest. For as long as man has lived he has exploited the salmon. Joseph Taylor takes the reader on a journey through time as he leads us step by step through the decline of these once great fish. There is plenty of culpability to go around. Foresters, developers, commercial fisherman, native Americans, even sport fishermen all come in for their share of blame. Although focusing on Oregon, Taylor's work is easily transferable anywhere salmon swim, from Alaska to California.

Extremely well documented (fully a third of the book is taken up with notes and other addenda) Making Salmon is occasionally dry but never dull. What is most dramatic about this story is the resiliency of the salmon. Time and time again they manage to survive despite our best efforts to save them!

Regardless of where you stand on the issue of dams, hatcheries, consumption or conservation, you will find merit in this work. Making Salmon is a must read for anyone interested in the rivers and fisheries of the Northwest.

There's your text books on salmon, and there's required reading.
Of the 300-odd salmon titles, Making Salmon is one of those you
must read. Like First Fish, First People, Making Salmon is about
the human side of the fishery, its evolution and confabulation
as a fought-over resource. Absolutely fascinating history, you
realize right away that nobody has an absolute moral high ground
in the salmon debate. Everything is allied against its survival,
and yet magically, miraculously, the salmon continue to return.
Like Mountain in the Clouds, put Making Salmon on your booklist.

This is the 3rd book I've read on the Maltese breed. Unlike the other 2 books, this one was ALL about Maltese instead of adding general information on puppy training ect. The book gave some more advanced information on grooming, and more impressively featured serious discussions on showing and breeding your Maltese. The only peeve I have with this book is the extreamily small print..my eyes are still burning! I'd recommend picking up a magnifying glass if you buy this book :) On the positive side, there is a lot of info packed into an 80 page book! Happy Reading.

This is one of the best Basic Maltese books you can read. It gives clear, consise information that the new Maltese owner can understand. I give one of these books to everyone I sell a puppy to.

A comprehensive, no-nonsense approach to the care and keeping of the Maltese. Anyone who knows the breed at all will delight in the information presented by the author, the lovely photos selected by the publisher, and the exquisite illustrations by Michelle Earl-Bridges. An Excellent review of the Maltese standard, with a realistic approach to breeding and puppy care. The history of the breed is a stunning synopsis of the Maltese background. Affordable and informative. "Well done author and publisher!"

I found this book extremely helpful for the exam except for one thing. In two places I found errors. Following the exact instructions as laid out in the book, Access was unable to perform the task. Also later in the book, the instructions showed the incorrect icons (correct description just incorrect graphic). This book is wonderful for a cram course but be sure to check carefully.

Otherwise it is a brillant study guide and I was very happy with my purchase.

I passed the test with a 978 out of 1000. There was only one question that I didn't remember finding in the book. The topics are short and concise while still covering the information fully. The book comes with highlighted sections that are a real plus in addition to the practice CD.

This book does not teach Access 2000. Do not buy this book as a reference guide for Access.

As another reviewer commented this book can be judged by its cover. I am an experienced Access user (and programmer) and bought this book because I wanted to become MOUS certified. I did not know what to expect on the exam so I took a gamble with this book (I passed with ~980/1000).

As an experienced user, I was able to gloss over most chapters, but it was instrumental in identifying some of the features of Access that I forgot existed or did not know about. Each chapter test was very well written and did test for knowledge. In hindsight, the tests mirrored what was actually in the exam. After going through the entire book, I just reviewed the few areas I needed refreshing on and passed the test with ease.

Stories are well crafted, but the subject matter didn't interest me. Not bad, but I wouldn't buy it again.

A Joseph Mitchell anything is worth my time, but after having read UP IN THE OLD HOTEL, other writings will suffer by comparison. The works in this particular volume are a compilation of Mitchell's newspaper stories from the 1930s. While Mitchell's prose is sharp and illuminating, the subject matter comes off as slight compared to Mitchell's other labors. Mitchell had such a reputation for wanting his magazine stories to be perfect that these newspaper stories have the sense of being rushed to the presses.

Having said that, there are some great moments in the book. The book has a nice profile section of 1930s cartoonists, which is just the kind of subject matter that Mitchell handles well in that it gets past the part that everyone sees to the part Mitchell wants to know about. The section on Voodoo is hysterical and very much like his later New Yorker work. The book ends with a funny profile of playwright George Bernard Shaw.

If you have never read Mitchell, start with UP IN THE OLD HOTEL, but if you are already a fan, there are enough gems in this collection to make it worth your while.

The good news is that all of the Mitchell virtues displayed in "Up In the Old Hotel" are emphatically present in this welcome collection of his earlier work for divers New York newspapers of the Depression era. Whether interviewing boxing promoters, or anyone in else George Bernard Shaw or the purveyors of Harlem "voodoo" products, Mitchell never lost his sense of courtly curiousity or his unerring ability to choose just the right word to express the outre character and often heartbreaking earnestness of his human subjects. Here's a worthy companion to sit on the shelf between A. J. Liebling's "Back Where I Come From" and "Up In The Old Hotel." It it also, by the way, a far better buy than the newly-republished "McSorley's Wonderful Saloon," the lion's share of which was reprinted in "Up In The Old Hotel."

I am in eighth grade and we just read this book. It is very good, and I enjoy how it depicts the Russian Revolution. It is neat how each of the animals represents a real character from history. It is a wonderful way to put the concept of the Russian Revolution into perspective and make it easy to understand, far better than reading a history book could. The person who said "not a great choice" must have not understood the book correctly, or perhaps the concept was beyond her understanding, because only then could I see how one could not enjoy it. Definatly, if you read this book, you should wait until and LEAST eighth grade, preferably tenth, or you probably wont enjoy it. I read it in sixth grade and hated it, and then again in eighth grade and thought that it was exellent!

Animal Farm, In my opinoin is the best book ever written besides Romeo and Juliet. It is a different look on communism and the Russian Revolution. If you are thinking about reading this book, please do!

A great look at the Russian revolution.The book about revolution and the following results are expressed perfectly in this allegory about simple-minded animals on a small farm. It is an excellent look at Communism and one of few books I ever enjoyed reading in school (I read it last year in tenth grade).

This book claims to be a "true story".
If you are able to swallow "Komorowski's" fairy tale as far as page 180, can you please explain to me how the thirteen bodies we are supposed to believe were carted around by the NKVD and buried at Katyn seem to have been overlooked during both the Nazi and Soviet exhumations?
"Komorowski", if we are to believe this dramatic fantasy, was one of fourteen Poles shot indiscriminately with machine guns during a riot in a convoy enroute to Katyn from Kozielsk. On page 185 they are supposedly thrown into the top layers of a twenty by ten metre mass grave. No shot body was ever exhumed from Katyn by either Nazis or Soviets with other than pistol shots in the head as the cause of death.
I think nobody "escaped from Katyn", except in so far as some 448 were selected out and not shot by the NKVD but were transferred to other camps.
The politest view I can take of the Komorowski matter is that it was a case of self-aggrandisement by a disturbed person.
I think that "Komorowski" committed one of the lowest of crimes, he stole the laurels properly due to a dead man.
My opinion is that the author based this tale on the experiences of Ivan Gregorovich Krivozertsov, who was often referred to as "the main witness to Katyn". His testimony is extensively recorded in "The Katyn wood murders", Joseph Mackiewicz, London 1951, Hollis and Carter. pages 176-195. It makes fascinating reading and is refer to in later writing on Katyn also. For instance in "Death in the Forest", J K Zawodny, Macmillan 1962, [with various later reprints], and in "Time stopped at 6:30", Thaddeus Wittlin, 1965, pages 276 to 284 of which quote Krivosertsov's testimony as recorded in the record of the Hearings before the Select Committee of the US House of Representatives 82nd Congress, part 4.
Krivozertsov made his way out of Russia with the retreating Nazis and then, via Germany, on to England. He was found hanging in a shed on a farm in October 1947. His Russian "best friend" at the time disappeared. Officially it was listed as suicide, but few with knowledge of either Krivozertsov or Katyn accept that version.
It is a pity Krivozertsov is not around to give his opinion on this book.
In these days of DNA testing "Komorowski's" would be an interesting one to see the results of, but my pick is that you would be wasting your money.
I have noted enthusiastic reviews of the book, but they cut no ice with me. There was a lot around about Katyn in the public arena by the time this book was written, long before in fact.

I think that Komorowski could escape from the Katyn grave.In the book "Katyn" by L.Fitzgibbon (New York, 1971, p.135) one can find an English translation of the German documents. In the Final Report of German Police (p.139), dated June 10, 1943,I quote: "With a few exceptions, all the bodies show pistol-shots in the head...". Taking into account that more than 4,000 bodies were exhumated, 13 Komorowski's friends killed during their march from Kozielsk Camp to a railway station, can be the above exceptions.
There are many facts, given by Komorowski, which can be verified:
- Komorowski's life before World War II (Poland, study in
London (Bexley Institute)and Brussels),
- his stay in Scotland, England and in the USA.
No effort was made to verify it.
Komorowski was born in 1901 or 1902. If he is alive, he should be now about 100 years old. If he died, then where is his grave?

Some who have read "Night Never Ending" understandably find the story unbelievable. Fortunately, I got to know the author well (not Col. Komorowski, but Joe Gilmore). Joe was as skeptical of the Colonel's story as any of us, but met with him and grilled him much as the FBI or CIA might have done.

In summary, it is the story of a Polish officer imprisoned by the Russians and shipped with the others to the Katyn Forest where -- even the Russians admit today -- they were dispatched by the NKVD (KGB). But this one man manages to escape.

I did much research on Katyn for my historical (some called it hysterical) novel, FOR THIS ONE HOUR, published before NIGHT NEVER ENDING. My fictional hero, Jan, escapes similarly (but at the time there was no evidence that ANYONE survived). So, when NIGHT came along, I was most interested and it started a rewarding correpsondence with Mr. Gilmore (who also has West Virginia connections). One thing that pretty much proved to me NIGHT's authenticity was the fact that Readers Digest offered big bucks for the story but Komoroski refused (still fearing for his life). Gilmore was, naturally, very disappointed.

It's a most exciting story as the Col. comes tothe USA and escapes repeated further attempts on his life. One wonders if he is still alive (or to what end he came?)