This is a very good book for summarizing dozens of scholarly fields into a coherent 'Introduction' of the canonized gospels. Great starting poing if you don't know much about Q or the M and L material. Sufficient discussion about the characteristics and histories of the four gospels. My only knock against this book is that the author too often makes the statement 'most scholars' in order to back a particular hypothesis - refuting a quote from the book that evidence should be 'weighed, not counted.' Still, I learned a lot from the book and would recommend it to anyone interested in the history of the New Testament texts.

Most biblical studies are quite frankly designed for scholars and seminary students. As a general reader, I can unhesitatingly recommend this small volume that helps you understand the basics of the Gospels.

There are three sections for each of the four Gospels, discussing Characteristics (what makes it different from the other three Gospels), Historical background (where, when and why they were probably written and whether Matthew, Mark, Luke and John actually wrote them) and Major Themes (the messages that each writer wanted to get across). Things that the general reader might not be aware of, like the phantom "Q" Gospel that probably provided Matthew and Luke with material and the controversy over whether John or Lazarus was the "Beloved Disciple", are introduced in easy to understand fashion without overwhelming non-scholars. There is also an appendix summarizing the "Gnostic Gospels" which, although I wouldn't count on finding them in new copies of the New Testament anytime soon, are gaining credibility with scholars (especially the Gospel of Thomas).

I found it interesting and informative.

I have used Powell's book as a text for my undergraduate "Life and Teachings of Jesus" course during this past year. It is extremely well written and organized. Powell has a gift for presenting complex information in accessible form. The charts and tables in the book are particularly helpful and to the point. My students consistently compliment the book for its content and clarity. The only disappointment is that the chapters on each of the four canonical gospels are not structured in a way that mirrors their narrative shape. The struggle to lead students through the worlds created by the gospels and to present relevant critical issues at the same time is most difficult. Powell balances these concerns as well as anyone and much better than most. If only there was space in such a textbook to lead students to a discovery of the themes of the gospels instead of listing and describing them. That is a task still left to the instructor, but Powell's book provides excellent support.

This guide gives you pretty much what you're looking for in a guide... it lists the sites, gives recommendations on what you should see and miss, it also gives detailed information on how to reach where you're going by car, rail, bus, or plane. It's very similar in material and detail to the Lonely Planet Ireland guide... the difference, though, is that this guide has more information on activities such as walking, bicycling, birdwatching, swimming etc. where available. You should know two things, however that may sway your decision about this guide: #1) Absolutely no pictures.. if you need a guide with tons of pictures, get the Eyewitness Guide along with either this one or Lonely Planet to fill the gaps in the Eyewitness. #2) I was hoping for more recommendations for budget lodging. It usually only has a handful per town.. and some are not that reasonable. If this is because there are no cheap accomodations in most of the towns, that's fine. But the book IS called Ireland from $60 A Day, afterall. Maybe it should be called Ireland from $60 A Day, If You're Lucky and Go In the Off Season, But Really Be Prepared to Much Spend More Than That, Especially in Dublin. OK, maybe not. Hope this helps!

I've tried different guides and I found I come back to the Frommer Guide. It contains more information that comprehensive and complete. Except maybe a few omissions. The [dollar amount] a day guide is handy for the thrifty traveler. It will help you find affordable accommodations and restaurants. My suggestion is if you're in Dublin be careful of some high prices. Sometimes it's best to check with the Tourist Board for the local budget fare. Most of the best bargains I found were by exploring the city. Most low prices are in the pubs and near the Temple Bar area. All the other places around Ireland are fairly reasonable. The guide contains lists of maps with two color city and regional maps, plus a large pullout road map. Also has tips for the best places and activities, and planning an affordable trip. All prices may vary though due to the High Season (Summer-higher prices) or the Low Season (Fall-Winter-lower prices). So the prices in the book is not always a reliable source. You may want to inquire. The book is sectioned by each county in the Irish Republic including Northern Ireland. Each attraction and establishment has description, address, contact and road information. There's a handy appendix to get an in-depth look at Ireland's history, folklore, music and food & drink. This is just about everything you need for a memorable and inexpensive trip.

i would recommend this book to anyone planning on traveling to ireland on a budget. the price comparisons from city to city are extremely helpful, as is the recommendations on areas to avoid if you're trying to avoid overly-touristy destinations. recommendations for low-cost travel agencies are accurate and helpful as well. my only gripe was the lack of photographs to give an idea of the places the book is describing, but the information more than makes up for the lack of images.

One does not expect much of spin-offs of TV-comic series (in this case 'The_X-men'), but this is actually pretty well written, in all respects. Nice to read, in a bumbling, happy-go-lucky kind of way. Somewhat reminiscent of Xanth, sort off.

I truly enjoy reading Generation X. Because of there unpredictablity as teenagers and what types of situations they can get themselfs into. It hit more towards reality at times than fantasy. Genogoths really makes you think about the future and the past. The way certain groups have successfully round-up people so they can conduct experiments, it kind of reminded me of what had happened to certain nationalities and races during the WWII era. Plus I would put it past anyone in this day in age to try the same thing! This book I highly recommend to all Generation X followers, and if you are trying to follow this band of mutants. Make sure you read the first two books first, it would be worth your time.

I was waiting for this book for so long.I wasn't disappointed with this book.I thought this is a pretty good sequl to "Crossroads".I only had one complaint; there wasn't that much of my favorite Gen-Xers;Artie and Leech. A tip for future novel writers of Generation X,include more of Artie and Leech.

I read this book and "The Secret Path to Contract Programming Riches." Together, they helped me basically skip normal employment and get a computer programming job almost immediately after finishing school. This book helped me see what options I had - I never knew there were so many!

I was very interested in programming/consulting and this book helped direct my focus to achieve my goal. Although it doesn't tell you exaclty how to become a programmer/consultant, expecially right out of school, which is very hard, it helped me search for more knowledge and that's how I came upon "The Secret Path to Contract Programming Riches...," which showed me exactly what to do to become a contract programmer as quickely as I can.

If you are like me, "Great Jobs for Computer Science Majors" will be but one of many great books in your life that helps shape your destiny and career fulfillment.

I'll make it short and sweet. If you buy this book and follow it step by step, not only will you have a great paying job, but you will have fun, too.

I got a great paying job at a large corporation and I have not even graduated yet. That is how good this book is!!!!!!!!!

As a computer scince major I found this book very useful. It go tme think about what I really wanted to do and what my options where. the great books is very well done I have a few of there books, they are a must read for college students

Mark Tufts has written an action packed and explosive tale of one man's thirst for vengeance and purpose. It is a tale of how one's man's perfect life comes crashing down on him due to terrifying and unimaginable events.

Meet Mitch Talon; a hard-working and honest man who wants to live a peaceful life. Once he finds the woman he so deeply loves, everything seems perfect and set. That is, until fate steps in and causes his wife, who is bearing unborn twins at the time, to die in a hit and run. Mitch Talon knows that somebody must pay, and that someone will pay with his life. And that is only the beginning of a quest for vengeance and redemption. That's as far as I will go, because this novel is filled with many twists and surprises for you to uncover.

This was a great page-turner, which did not disappoint me. I was very surprised with this great novel. For those who like gun-slinging, nail-biting action, or a good story, this novel will have you hooked from the start. Mark Tufts is a fine writer, and so far is heading towards the right direction.

Can you believe what they're charging for books these days?! At least this a full size paperback with good paper...it should hold together until all my friends get done reading it.

Anyway, I loved this story. I bought the book for my boyfriend, but I started to read it when it came in the mail. And once I started, I couldn't stop. Needless to say, he still hasn't had the chance to read it, and won't anytime soon because after I told all my girlfriends about it, they want to read it too!

Guess I'll have to buy another copy for my man.

I have to admit, as I read the first few chapters, I really wasn't sure where the story was going...I mean, was this a romance or what? But then it took off! After you get into the story, you realize the first few chapters are just to set up the rest of the book, and hopefully, a whole series. I love the whole premise, that is, a lone gunman type of hero, or even sometimes, antihero. I found myself cheering for the main character, even when he was on a killing spree. In Gunslinger, Tufts has created a main character that Joe Average can identify with. If you grew up reading the likes of Louis L'Amour, you'll love this book! I highly recommend it, and can't wait for the saga to continue.

This is an enjoyable collection of Mark Jenkins' articles for various outdoor magazines. Jenkins shows an often morbid tilt to his writing and covers his death-defying adventures in many different types of extreme sports. The best articles here include "Hitching" about the lost art of hitch-hiking, "Ego Trip" about how an adventurer can make stupid decisions even if the quest is successful, and "From the Mouths of Babes" concerning the pursuit of extreme outdoor sports with little kids. Also enjoyable are Jenkins' tales of his dozens of severe injuries and his exploits with his equally danger-prone father and brothers. This collection is a little thin but it's quite an enjoyable look into the heart of adventure and why people do it.

This was a very cool and exciting book to read. I have never read any of Jenkins's columns but I was intrigued by the premise of the book when listening to him on a radio interview. Jenkins sounds like the guy I want to be, but without the guts. He attacks life....he attacks nature, but he's turned his sojourns all over the world into a sort of an art form.

The book is a collection of adventures and I like the fact that he threw in other different stories in there including an encounter with a thief and parallel storytelling over a number of years.

I realized that it wasn't actually the adventures I enjoyed, but rather the memories and experiences he had while undertaking these adventures. Just like the cliche: "It's not about the destination, but about the journey."

The pace of the book is good and it does not get repetitive so please check this one out.

If you are expecting a rip roaring adventure tale when you pick up this book, perhaps something like Capstick's "Death in the Long Grass", you are in for a gentle surpise. This not the thrill-a-paragraph replete with death, near death and glory. Rather Jenkins seems to explore the parts of the adventure that the adventure seeker loves. Not the adreniline, but the friends, the travel, the beauty, the joy of the outdoors. By the second half of the book, you get to the adventure and daring, but even then with a lightness of touch that made me relish it even more. As a former skydiver who lost his younger brother to the sport,I almost stopped reading the book on the chapter where he and his brothers go jumping together as a lark, but in the end it was done so deftly that I had to smile. Writing that can overcome that kind of obstacle is rare and to be treasured.

For being a book in a series called "Studies in Nautical Archaeology," this book has very little in it about boats or oceans. It reads like a master's thesis presumably because it was and primarily summarizes others' arguments. It presents nothing in the way of new archaeology and most of the arguments are nicely summed up for the average reader in Midant-Reyenes' "Prehistory of Egypt."

Should you want all of the details as to how the conclusions were arrived at along with some fairly illustrative diagrams and sketches, this book might be of some interest. It also has a good survey of the very un-nautical Narmer Palette.

Contrary to the dustcover (on which, ahem, someone seems to base her reviews in lieu of actually reading the book), only one shipwreck is discussed and even that is mentioned only in the final chapter, the only part of the book that focuses specifically on seafaring.

In From Egypt to Mesopotamia Samuel Mark tries of to analyze the possible cultural and economic runs that between Vth and the IIIrd millennium a.C. tied predinastic Egypt to the mesopotamian cultures. Beginning from the rigorous analysis of the archaeological comparisons in our possession: pottery, raw materials, monkeys and maceheads, boat motifs, cilinder seals, architecture, punctually follows the socio-economic development from a side of the area Siro palestinese and from the other of that Egyptian. The close comparison of the varied cultures (Ubaid, Uruk, Naqada, Badari, Ghassul etc.) furnishes the key of reading to the author to reconstruct the commercial routs through which the relationships were untied between Egypt and Mesopotamia; tracing an exhaustive and fascinating panorama of the Near East. The author also unites to a rigorous archaeological and historical reconstruction, an accessible language to a public not specialized, and the numerous tables and illustrations make the book an irreplaceable tool for whoever wants to deal seriously of the problem.

The author attempts to demonstrate the existence of two trade routes between predynastic and early dynastic Egypt and Mesopotamia, through archaeological evidence. This includes shipwreck sites, artifacts and raw materials. The author claims that two different cultures evolved in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia because of their distance between one another. This is a fascinating survey for interested scholars and students of Egyptology and archaeology.

My review of the book The Good news about panic, anxiety, and phobias by Mark Gold. I found this book easy to read and covers a broad range of anxiety disorders. Right from the start though I was wishing for the "good news". Of course the good news is that anxiety disorders are the number one mental health problem among women and are second only to drug and alcohol abuse among men. I wish it gave the good news earlier in the book as it takes some reading to discover this news. He points out that its not your fault and that your condition can be treated and in many cases cured. Even if you haven't responded to treatment in the past don't despair, In reality, its not the patient that fails the treatment but the treatment that fails the patient.

On one page he supplies a checklist of anxiety symptoms, he states that most panic and anxiety have physical causes. Then goes on a soapbox on the shortcomings of psychiatrist in the diagnosing of anxiety. When we get to page 35 we begin a definition of the terms used in the book:

PA - Panic Attack Phobias GAD - Generalized Anxiety Disorders OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder AD - Adjustment Disorder

When we get to chapter 6 we finally start getting into possible physical causes that can present symptoms similar to those of anxiety.

The book has a listing of state-by-state experts and sources and bibliography although again most of the works seem to be from the 80's so more recent data should be available. If you need to come up to speed its not a bad book but if you need a more in depth discussion this is probably not the book for you. That along with it being 10 years old make it a ok book if you find it discounted, but you could probably find more recent data for the same buck.

This inexpensive book answered my questions on panic disorder that hundreds of dollars of psychotherapy time could not. It is a pleasure to read and helped me so much back in '94. His emphasis on behavioral therapy is very helpful. I wish this were still in print. I donated my copy to the library as I only suffer panic when I don't live right.

Mark S. Gold, an authority on biological psychiatry, has produced a readable, scientifically well supported book that should be of great help to people with anxiety disorders. Unlike the great majority of books on this topic, everything in it makes good common sense and good scientific sense. It also gives desperately needed information on effective medications and dosages, which allows sufferers to take charge of their own illness and its treatment.

The book is a very precice book. there are many chapters covering many of the major subjects of art. My skill have improved a great deal from reviewing this book. The book is a very long piece but its worth the time if you need too, or want to improve your artistic skill in every which way.

It's very clear and the best is that the examples are based on large recognized artist's draws not on author's draws.

I have two older versions of this book which was a required college text for a course a friend of mine taught. This is a thorough and up-to-date volume on the elements of drawing: line, shape, texture, value, gesture, shape, form, etc. What I like best about it is that it is illustrated with a wide array excellent contemporary and historical master drawings that make great examples when teaching a particular concept. I only wish it came with a companion volume of large prints or slides for teaching.
I have many books on drawing but this has the best visuals. Much better than many other drawing books are illustrated with only the author's drawings or perhaps a few Renaissance sketches and focus on only one small expect of good art: rendering representationally. This book brings gets to the heart of what makes good drawing is designed for professionals teaching at the college level but would probably make a good home study course for those without access to college courses.

I also liked the sequential exercises given and have used or adapted some for my own students. Covers a wide array of media from charcoal to pencil to pen and ink and colored pencil.

Each chapter in the book contains qoutes from the band on the subject of the chapter. There's subject's such as Early Daze, The Music, Axl, Slash, Izzy, Drummers etc. The book miss a chapter about Duff. The book's filled with pictures of the bandmembers. If you read this book it's important to remember that the quotes is taken from interviews etc. and therefore they can originally have meant something else. The fact is that the author of this book got very unpopular w. the GN'R members after he wrote it. All in all it's a nice little book you can read for fun and to get a different view on the band but don't take the qoutes to serious. Remember it's not the band who put it together.

Any pompous faux intellectual can put together books of truely profound quotes from history's greatest figures and most insightful minds...the one missing factor which the reader never realizes is that we ALL live similar experiences. Since anyone can make a rather heart rending statement, but only the famous are taken seriously, it is a refreshment to see poignant as well as meandering confusion in the quotes of the luxurious yet dubious of America's famous. Gun's and Roses was rock's premier talent from 1988 to 1994. Although just a raggedy batch of Hollywood scoundrels who combined precariously to booming success, they inspired a generation and became the envy of their contemporaries. Today they are still mentioned admiringly as well as spitefully proving their power is still existant, and their unforgettable music is played rather abundantly for being a decade old.

One of the world's greatest triumphs is related through the words of it's five players. The statements ranging from filthy to brilliant display Gun's and Roses rather nakedly to any outsiders wanting to taste the bitter sting of success in music. A friend gave this to me as a present one year, and the joy these unabashed quotes bring never leaves me. This is a great book for anyone...

This is the best book I have ever read!! It tells very much of their lifes, and thats what I like!