The portrayal of art of the smallsword has as of yet to be surpassed.

Not Evangelist, not Gaugler, not Faulkner. Despite their mastery of the weapon, none of these men have come close to explaining the art of fencing in such great detail as Angelo.

If you have ever had an interest in fencing, be it active or passive, you owe it to yourself to dig up a copy of this out-of-print masterpiece... and you'de better do it before I do.

-- JGP

This valuable little guide explains what spiritual healing is, how healing relates to human energy systems, what it means to be a healer and how to use self-healing techniques in the comfort of your own home. All relevant issues are discussed, such as the role of the mind and emotions, distant healing, the power of thought, dealing with stress, children and healing, plus animal healing. The section on the human energy field is particularly illuminating in its discussion of bio-energy, the etheric body, the aura and the charkas. Other interesting sections include training as a healer , the healing energy of plants, color and healing, the soul's journey and a spiritual view of death. A helpful list of spiritual healing organizations in the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA is provided with their contact details. It concludes with a bibliography, a glossary and an index. The text is enhanced by black and white illustrations throughout that demonstrate healing practices and concepts like the healing triangle and the chakra system. This is a practical, easy-to-understand book and I highly recommend it.

Thirsting for God is full of the down-to-earth, all-loving wisdom of Mother Teresa. An excerpt from her writings, teachings, and speeches is presented for each day of the year with appropriate subject matter for the liturgical season--Advent, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, etc. Through these readings, Mother Teresa shares her orientation towards serving Jesus in the poorest of the poor and doing every little thing with great love. Our whole family from parents to our youngest, a three year-old, has enjoyed beginning the day with these simple stories and thoughts; we find ourselves meditating upon the great wisdom behind them throughout the day. This is a great book for anyone who wants to feel closer to Our Lord in their everyday life! As Mother Teresa says, "If you even stoop to pick up a pin on the floor with love, you do it for Jesus."

The author worked with Mother Teresa for 21 years. Most of the reflections are never before seen quotes from Mother Teresa. The book's readings are well placed and fit the Church seasons. WHAT A GREAT WAY TO START EACH DAY. BTW Fr. Angelo is the head of Mother's Third Order(lay)so he's the real deal not just some guy who did a book on the soon to be saint.

While this book is basically just a collection of previously released works, Anything Mother Teresa has to say is worth an additonal read. It gives some insight into a remarkable human being.

A remarkable view of a repressed society viewed through several refractions. Five stories which surround you into a depiction of the military regime of 1970's Brazil. Innovative story telling, with each story performing its own gimmick and each story pulling it off. The surface may be often derivational, but the core of each tale is as accurate and moving as anything Brazil has produced.

This is a very excellent review of urology for the general public. It is very comprehensive,yet easy to read and understand. The illustrations are also extremely helpful. This book should be a standard to every man and woman since it deals with the common health problems that many men and their spouses encounter. The information is very up to date and is presented in a extremely interesting and informative fashion. I would very highly recommend this to all.

This book is not for the average soccer-coaching-book buyer. This book gives an in-depth look at zone play in both the attack and the defense plus training to do so. This book would best be used no less than at the U-14/16 with experienced coaches. Angelo Pereni and Michele DiCesare had their book translated from Italian to English better that most translated books I've come across. However, beware that you will be reading a book written by aficionados to provoke thought as well tactics. For those who love chess as well as soccer, this is a great book. The book was first published as "Calico: II manuale tecnico e tattico dell'allentore". It was a pleasure reading a book coming from a culture where soccer is as big as the NFL, MBA and MLB combined. I will certainly be using the information from this book and look forward to a sequel as the game continues to evolve.

If you care for literature at all, even if your interest in it exceeds no further than reading the morning paper, Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass," is a must read. He is truly one of the greatest poets, revolutionaries, historians, and Americans to ever live. As a poet, Whitman lures his reader in with work exploding with passion and inexhaustable energy. As a revolutionist, he baisically tore up any rule book to writing, stripping away any limitations, and paving the path for further free, independent thinkers. He was unaffraid to rebel against the narrow-mindedness of his time, making himself a leader as one of the very first poets to ever use "free verse," a technique rellious on its own. In doing so, this great leader was criticized and looked on disapprovingly for his work during much of his life time, and like many other artists who dare to be unique, his true genius was never fully recognized until after his death. As a historian and as an American, Whitman has taken these works of his and has combined them into the nations most patriotic yet brutally honest text book.It is in writing of himself and his own personal experiences that Whitman imbeds the history of this country, both dark and nationalistic. Through his time working as a volunteer nurse to the wounded and dying soldiers during the Civil War, Whitman writes often of the terror of war, making it one of his most recognizable themes throughout much of his work. He also brings us back to a time in history in which those who believed in equal rights for all, including persons of every race a gender, was considered rebellious; for in such beliefs, Whitman took religions that placed severe restrictions over such things as sexuality, and attacked them. The reason I am so confident in recommending this book to any reader, is that you are given a selection of editions to choose from; the edition you choose for yourself, fitted to your familiarity with the poet. I cannot promise that will fall absolutely in love with this book, every person has their own tastes, however, I can promise that if nothing else, you will walk away from this book with appreciation and understanding the value in reading it.

Walt Whitman is the father of free verse and his main work, Leaves of Grass, is perhaps one of the greatest works by an American poet ever written.

He was born on Long Island and grew up in Brooklyn. Being a native of Brooklyn myself I feel a deep connection to him. When I read his work I am instantly transported into his universe, a universe which is the domain of every man. For Walt Whitman was possibly the greatest democrat who ever lived.

In his great poem, Song of Myself, his opening lines are: "I celebrate myself, and what I assume you shall assume, for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you." This is not only good old American horse sense, it's good science. For everything comes forth from that great source of life the sun, and none can be better for it, only different.

Walt was a born visionary. And I surmise that he must have had quite a few mystical experiences before he set out to write his great poems. You can really get a sense of his mystical connection when you read poems like When I Heard The Learned Astronomer or even in Song of Myself when he proclaims: "There was never any more inception than there is now, nor any more youth or age than there is now; and will never be any more perfection than there is now, nor any more heaven or hell than there is now." Notice the emphasis on the word now. Mystics through the ages have said that God is beyond time, that God is the eternal presence, and that he exists in a timeless eternity sometimes referred to as the eternal now. I believe that's what Walt Whitman is telling us.

I could go on and on singing the praises of Walt Whitman. His work is inexhaustable and profound and wise beyond measure. But there are innumerable books written about him. However, I believe to catch the essence of the man you have to read his poems. And if you let him in he will lead you to yourself and you will see the world through fresh eyes .... and you will see how the perennial grass covers only the outer layer of this our miraculous universe.

Words cannot describe the complexity of Leaves of Grass. I am constantly amazed at how well Walt Whitman holds it all together, keeping is hand on one object while amorously praising another. Everything works in perfect cohesion...An unabashed love of self, of nature, of all that is divine and not divine. Leaves of Grass is a truly inspired work...its words are boundless and fluent, rising in an intoxicating crescendo of naked emotion. "I am the poet of the Body; and I am the poet of the Soul." Throughout Leaves of Grass there is an overwhelming theme of unity...unity of man and nature, of man and man, of man and God. Excitable sputterings of ageless wisdom become scattered, but somehow stay anchored to the intricate framework of the book. This sounds contradicting, and it is reminiscent of a line from the book --"Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself; (I am large-I contain multitudes.) After reading this book, you will delight in how large Walt Whitman is.

Based upon Michiavelli's first hand experience as an emissary of the Florentine Republic to the courts of Europe The Prince analyzes the often violent means by which political power is seized and retained, and the circumstance in which it is lost. Because The Prince is a political commentary, and not a work of fiction, Michiavelli does not use "characters" in the sense of a novel or a short story. Instead he draws his examples from the current political and social events, as well as from history. His characters are the political leaders of his time. The book is a declaration in plain language the conduct of great men and the principles of princely governments. The book can be divided into four sections.

1. The types of principalities. Michiavelli lists four types of principalities.

* Hereditary principalities, which are inherited by the ruler.

* Mixed principalities, territories that are annexed to the rulers existing territories.

* New principalities which may be acquired by several methods: by own power, by the power of others by criminal acts or extreme cruelty, or by the will of the people

* Ecclesiastical principalities, namely the papal states belonging to the catholic churches.

2. The character and behavior of the prince. Michiavelli recommends the following character and behavior for princes:

* It is better to be miserly than generous.

* It is better to be cruel than merciful.

* It is better to break promises if keeping than would be against ones interest.

* Princes must avoid making them hated and despised; the goodwill of the people is a better defense than any fortress.

* Princes should undertake great projects to enhance their reputation.

* Princes should choose wise advisors to confide and consult with

3. The types of armies A prince must always pay close attention to military affairs if he wants to remain in power. A prince must lay good foundation and those foundations include good laws and good armies. There cannot be good laws without good armies, and where there are good laws there must be good armies. The study of war should be a prince's main goal, for war is a rulers only art.If princes become too refined to study this art they loose their state. The types of armies are:

* Mercenaries or Auxiliaries (loaned to you by another ruler) are both dangerous and unreliable, as they will maintain their interests preceding yours.

* Native troops composed of ones own citizens or subjects are by far the most desirable kind.

4. Italy's political situation Michiavelli outlines and recommends the following

* The rulers of Italy have lost their states by ignoring the political and military principles.

* Fortune controls half of human affairs, but free will controls the rest, leaving the prince free to act. However, the few princes can adopt their actions to times

I just had an interesting discussion with a young man who was convinced that Machiavelli was evil. I found out he'd never even tried to read "The Prince", which is the quintessential guide to Machiavelli's political mind. This young man's preconception is a very common one, alas.

In this book, presented in short chapters, one finds a guidebook to taking power and ruling a small country. Nowhere does it suggest using excessive force, nor does it suggest gratuitous violence. It is straightforward and pragmatic. Machiavelli suggests keeping one's goal, political power, in mind all the time, and is not afraid to discuss unpleasant ways of getting and keeping that power. It is the essence of ruthlessness, but what politician doesn't do this every day? In every competitive, demanding occupation, participants must keep goals in mind constantly and work completely toward those goals. Machiavelli was just one of the first to codify how to do it. And codify he does -- the book is filled with suggestions on how to handle everything from whether to hire mercenary troops to how to make the commoners love you.

Though Machiavelli's writing is somewhat archaic and definitely rich in idea density, it is worth the read. I think everybody, from students to politicos to housekeepers to entrepreneurs, would benefit from the information contained herein. I do suggest getting a decent grounding in Italian history before the attempt.

This small yet informative book is the heart of power politics. It was Machiavelli's resume, written to help save both his country and his reputation. The book is often said to present a plan of leadership that is calculating and heartless. That is precisely the point; Machiavelli is a true historian who sets down the hard realities of what it is to be a leader and ignores lofty political ideals (making it obvious how few world leaders have actually studied it). As well as giving the modern reader a much needed history lesson, Machiavelli has a nearly prophetic knack for summing up the root causes of events from the 1st World War to Vietnam in a few sentences. It never fails to amaze me that leaders today would rather look at world events through hindsight than act on them by foresight.

In addition to Donno's excellent translation, this particular edition includes key points from The Discourses, which are guaranteed to astonish the reader with their obvious truth. After reading this numerous times, I found myself highlighting Machiavelli's major points throughout the book. It is not only political instruction but words of wisdom to live by.