The author occupied a military position in real life similar to that of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky of War and Peace. De Segur was an aide to the commander of the armed forces, Napoleon. Bolkonsky was a fictional aide to Kutuzov.

Where Tolstoy's novel War and Peace is a work of fiction, De Segur's book is non-fiction. However, it confirms much of what Tolstoy wrote. There's a good reason for that. De Segur's book came first. Tolstoy read it and used it.

In the few instances where Tolstoy wrote counter to De Segur, I am convinced that De Segur was correct and Tolstoy was wrong. I have to go with the eyewitness over the novelist. The biggest issue in conflict is the question of who burned Moscow. Tolstoy claims that it was just an inevitable accident. De Segur claims that it was no accident - the Russians burned Moscow and nearly killed Napoleon in the fire. De Segur should know. He was there, and he was later related to the Russian who was in charge of the sabotage and burning of Moscow.

In one instance I'll go with Tolstoy over De Segur. Tolstoy argues that Kutuzov was an excellent general. De Segur, obviously prejudiced against Russians, disagrees in the extreme.

De Segur gives us a close view of Napoleon the man, with his strengths and weaknesses. We learn what Napoleon expected from Moscow, and how he was totally disappointed and crushed by Moscow's evacuation. Napoleon wanted to be loved and accepted by the Russian people. He wanted to be helpful to them. We learn why Napoleon waited so long in Moscow. He was waiting for a reply from the czar, which he never received. Most of all, we learn what it was like to be one of the participants in the Grand Army of France.

De Segur isn't perfect. He is consistently antisemitic and he frequently refers to the Russians as cowards. This serves as a reminder that the French weren't nice guys paying a friendly visit.

In the last few years I have read about 20 books on Napoleon and this is one of the best. The Russian Campaign has always intrigued me and I found that most books don't seem to include much detail on the events surrounding the burning of Moscow, etc. This is an extremely readable first-hand account of the events, starting from the entrance of the Grande Armee into Russia and providing enthralling detail on the following campaign. Segur's description of the horrific events he witnessed at the battle of Borodino, and during the burning of Smolensk and Moscow, is captivating. We see Napoleon through Segur's eyes as a great man, suffering for much of the campaign from illness, fearful that his "lucky star" had left him, more conservative in his tactics than in previous battles, stunned into disbelief by the tactics of the Russians. Highly recommended for the student of Napoleon.

This is a raw account of Napoleon's Russian 1812 Russian Campaign from not just an eye witness, but a French officer and aide to Napoleon. Phillipe-Paul de Segur was rarely more than a few feet from Napoleon's side throughout this campaign and doesn't swerve from making observations on Napoleon both positive or negative. But a great deal of the power of this book comes from the stark observations of the horror this heedless march into Russia caused.

There is good reason that this account, first published in 1824, has been republished so many times - It is very good - and was used as a main source for a number of authors including Tolstoy (who cobbled a number of events for War and Peace from it), Victor Hugo and Chateaubriand. Interestingly it was not until 1965 that the first English version was published.

It is such a short period of history, fewer than six months, but the foolish action cost Napoleon his dominance in Europe and marked his turn in power. For it is here that he lost thousands of men, and showed just how vulnerable he could be.

In the Spring of 1812, Napoleon, angry that the Russian Emperor had deifed the Treaty of Tilsit and ignored his Continental system, decided to throw all his forces into invading Russia. The Russian Army met and tried to stop the relentless onslaught of the French at the River Neimen, but defeated they fell back in retreat burning everything as they went.

Napoleon pushed hard on to Moscow - thinking the Russians would sue for peace once he was in that all important city. They didn't - and by October 19th with a huge army, few supplies and the harsh winter approaching her realised he had to retreat through the burnt decimated country back to the safety of the west. But Napoleon knew, as all the army did, it was already too late....yet they had to go.

That is the background to this very moving account.

A completely thorough guide to the the floral and fauna of Big Sur. The author captures much of the majesty and diversity of the Big Sur region. I use it as a constant reference when hiking the region. A minor suggested improvement would be slightly better organization of the topics.

With both sensitivity and scientific acumen, the authors systematically describe every animal and plant within Big Sur, and the geological and metereological environments in which they live. The book also gives a temporal and human history of Big Sur. It is also notable for a wonderful review of the various hikes within the area; any person choosing or planning a hike in the Ventana Wilderness or any of the state parks along the Big Sur coast will find this guide a tremendous help. The book also includes over 200 exquisite black-and-white illustrations. I always love to read natural history guides before visiting an area; I must say that I found this one singularly comprehensive and informative. Highly recommended!

I've been up and down the PCH several times, but as a midwesterner, most of the flora and lots of the fauna were unfamiliar to me. On my next motorcycle ride through Big Sur, I'll see the place with new eyes thanks to this wonderful guide. Now I know those yellow flowers that splash color over the cliffs in mid-July are lizard tail. What were formerly just "rocks" and "birds" and "trees" now have names and personalities. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to better understand the amazing place that is Big Sur.

Tarazi's unique thesis is thought provoking and intriguing. From a linguistic point of view it is certainly interesting: hermeneutics based on word play, grammatical and syntactic structures, and intra-textual relations. It also suggests a historical reconstruction of the struggle between Paul the apostle and the heads of the Jerusalem church. It furthermore posits a thesis that the Gospel according to Mark is a systematization in narrative form of the whole struggle from a Pauline point of view. This thesis is worked out with those linguistic methods mentioned above. However, unlike what the reader from Warwick, RI stated, Tarazi stresses that most probably NO ONE accepted Paul's authority, and that is precisely why he set his preaching in writing. If everyone accepted his authority he would not have needed epistles or a biased written Gospel. To undermine this point, namely that Paul was utterly ALONE (with the exception of Timothy and a few others), implies that the reader totally misunderstood the work. It also seems that the reader from RI also misunderstood what the struggle was all about: the Jerusalem pillars accepted Christ as Messiah, so the struggle is not "between faith in the crucified Christ as Messiah and the function of the Mosaic Law for the messianic community". It is a struggle for the canonization of the authentic (in Paul's case, his) midrash on Scripture. It is therefore solely about the function of the Law for the GENTILIC messianic community based on the ASSUMPTION of Jesus's messiahship (cf. the "apostolic council" in Jerusalem). That is the "matrix" which the RI reader skilfully misses. The "matrix" of Scripture is: whose word will eventually be authoritative. It is not "assumed" as the RI reader naively states, thus undermining the whole argument! As for the king and priest vs. prophet model, the RI reader has to be careful not to make simplistic statements. The post-exilic situation in Yehud, which is somehow biasely reflected in the priests/prophets struggle in the Hebrew Bible, is far more complex than a simple "prophet vs. priest", which allowed the RI reader to make the quick analogy to Paul vs. the Jerusalem church not to say that that is not implied. Nevertheless, critical caution is necessary. It is precisely the occasional hastiness and quick leaps into assumptive conclusions that mark the small weakness of Tarazi's arguments. Some of the jumps he makes in his laudable analysis of the personal names (cf. reader from Washington DC) in Mark are simply shaky and need further evidence in order to strengthen the argument. Moreover Tarazi sometimes "overuses" the intra-textual relations in order to posit a historical reconstruction and not simply a linguistic/textual hypothesis. Although, in general, his textual/linguistic evidence is sound whenever it refers to related texts or whenever it posits literary dependency. The work is definitely worth reading and if it gets scholarly notice it might reshape Marcan scholarship.

Professor Tarazi's valuble work presents first and foremost a hermeneutical key to the writings of the New Testament. Mark and the Epistles of Paul are explained by the same thesis which runs through the OT and NT. Tarazi's new work builds on his monumental commentary entitled "Galatians: A Commentary" (SVS Press, Crestwood, NY 1994). In that commentary, Professor Tarazi presents Paul's thesis of the function of Scripture. The baptized Galatians, like Israel, reject God, even after they have accepted Paul's preaching. The Galatians accept Paul's Scriptural authority as from God as revealed in Paul's preaching of Christ crucified, in whom the Galatians were baptized. Paul's thesis is that the prophets were rejected by the kings and temple priests (cf. P.N. Tarazi, "Introduction to the Old Testament, 3 vol, SVS Press, Crestwood, NY). Paul's epistles are each a reminder of the condemnation from God for those who heard his word and reject it (the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 and the exile of Israel), and the mercy of God on those who have gone astray and return to him (cf. Intro to OT, vol. 2). In "Paul and Mark" Prof. Tarazi demonstrates how Mark's Gospel is a history of the continuing struggle between the prophet and the king (Paul and the Jerusalem pillars), as much as this struggle is between faith in the crucified Christ as Messiah and the function of the Mosaic Law for the messianic community. Fr. Paul's powerful insight further provides an explanation of the canon based on Scripture itself, without need for appeal to patristic sources, and the function of the Nicean-Constantinopolitan Creed of Faith. This is a book which is the first in a series which returns NT biblical scholarship to the biblical text. Its explanations of the function of Scripture, Paul's thesis, and the Gospel of Mark are illustrated with numerous examples taken from everyday life which most Americans can recognize. Its common sense exposition is the key to making Fr. Paul's thesis accessible to all. His style is direct, even suspenseful, and often witty. This work is a resource for biblical studies which has no equal in print.

This first volume in a proposed set of four provides a hermaneutical key to Mark's gospel by analyzing it as a literary production based not only on the life of Christ but also Paul, many of its events symbolically depicting the vehement conflict between the Pauline mission and the church in Jerusalem. Its analysis of Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic wordplay is invaluable (i.e. Barabbas translated as bar abba, "son of the father", prefixed by "so-called" to symbolize the kind of "false son of God" or "false messiah" who advocates military rebellion), and its view of many of the gospel's characters as literary stand-ins (John the Baptist as Paul himself!) provides a challenging yet coherent view of a gospel that has often been viewed through history as a lesser composition than subsequent synoptic books. All in all, it provides a unique contribution to the field of Markan studies.

Though you may quarrel with Guaguin tactics or motivations, his art stands alone--brilliant, moving, subtle. It is always intriquing to hear the voice of a master painter and "Noa, Noa," affords that opportunity.

Typically considered a journal or memoir, Gauguin's book is in fact an early type of experimental multimedia novel. Thematically, Gauguin burlesques Pierre Loti's "Marriage of Loti", while structurally he interleaves narrative with his own highly-inventive Post-impressionist woodcarvings. It's a fine book: Gauguin could have been a great novelist, if he weren't already busy.

Contemplations visual, intellectual and spiritual. In 1891, French painter Paul Gauguin fled to the island of Tahiti - "a sixty-three days' voyage, sixty-three days of feverish expactancy;" begun as an unofficial visit regarding the imminent death of the island's king Pomare -- and resulting in a profoundly moving sea-change (spirit, observation, happiness). The Tahitian theology, natural history, and especially the progress of his relationships - a gift. This is a good book to read BEFORE embarking on your "desert island" voyage, but beware! Hard to top once you're there on some other island. An exceptional journal, with a graceful translation (it seems) by O. F. Theis from the French. Rated 9 (needs more color plates of paintings! but a lovely, portable paper edition) Other recommended travel/discovery books: Off the Map: Bicycling Across Siberia, by Mark Jenkins. 1993 HarperPerennial pb. Letters from Iceland, by W. H. Auden & Louis MacNeice. 1990 Paragon House pb. Why Come To Slaka? by Malcolm Bradbury. 1991 Penguin Books pb. Travels With Lizbeth (writing/homelessness), by Lars Eighner. The Starship & the Canoe (Freeman Dyson & son George) Bird of Jove (falconry), by David Bruce. 1994 Texas A&M pb. The Earthsea Trilogy, by Ursula K. Le Guin Ishi (anthropology/Native American history), by Theodora Kroeber

I found "North Campus Days" to be an interesting in-depth look at one man's coming of age amid the hustle and bustle of a large university. The author starts at the beginning by expressing his fears of the huge institution as he approaches it alone on the first day and, from there, brings you into his struggle to find where he belongs. He describes the loneliness, acceptance, friendships, loves, wins, losses, challenges and changes that lead him, after four years, to graduation. He tells you how, through his determination, he not only succeeds scholastically, but also personally by accumulating a diverse yet close-knit group of friends. His main objective, however, continues to elude him...

This is a great book for kids getting ready to face four years (or more!) of college. It's filled with emotion, ups and downs, happy times and frustrating times. I recommend it for parents getting ready to send their child off to college as well. Author does a fantastic job of describing characters--I felt like they were people I actually met.

A very sensitive read into the author's personal experiences while attending UCLA. The passage of adolescence to manhood is documented through the author's aspirations and expectations of university life. I enjoyed the focus on the development of friendships as well as the search for meaningful love. Although this takes place in a college setting, the characters and themes are universal. The book was well written and flowed beautifully. I look forward to a sequel!

Opera for Beginners is, as the title says, for people who know nothing about the subject. But the book is really for folks who want to learn one guy's opinion of it (Ron David). Mr. David gives a concise and entertaining history of the form, a review of 20th century opera singers, and synopses of his 30 favorite operas. The book is about half text, half cartoons. Always amusing, Mr. David tries to link opera to gospel, rock and roll, and rhythm and blues. You may not agree with his view that Mozart is an "overrated" composer --I happen to think his operas are among the finest ever written. But, he gives you something to think about. And, a fine place to begin your exploration of opera. Just don't think you're getting an exhaustive tome here--you can read Opera for Beginners in an hour or two.

Having read a handful of essentially useless beginner's guides on opera, I am relieved to say that OPERA FOR BEGINNERS garners its five stars. Ron David throws caution to the wind when giving his layman's approach to opera. The work is divided into four parts ("Acts"): Opera History, Opera Singers, Listening to Opera, and Listener-Friendly Operas. The crux of this text lies in its humor and antic dotes which keeps the reluctant beginner's attention. David's main points through the text are 1) Italian opera is beginner's opera, 2) Mozart is highly overrated, 3) German Opera should be avoided by the novice in order to keep him or her from turning away out of fear, fright, etc. and 4), in lieu of all previous declarations, Wagner is God. The most helpful parts of the book are the sections focusing on various opera singers (and their importance to the potential operatic audience) and the index of operas and their great vocal representatives throughout history. This is a highly interesting and readable text for the beginner especially and a good way in which to introduce oneself to the various modes, forms, and methods of opera in less that one afternoon.

This is an absolutely delightful little book. Much is covered in a highly readable and enjoyable style. Those who know nothing about opera, but would like to learn, will find this a fun and interesting introduction. Those, like myself, who love opera with a passion will also find Ron David's book to be a fun and interesting read -- not to mention "reference". I find that I turn to it often just to check on something. Mr. David's irreverent style is refreshing since I, too, believe that opera is for everyone. True soul music.

Surprisingly readable translation of a 700-year old history of the earls of the Orkney Islands. Basically the book is an account of how the various claimants to the earldom of the Orkney islands fought one another for control over several generations. A good balance between political manuvering and actual violence. One can become confused by the similarity in names of several of the characters.

Among the half-dozen surviving Scandinavian sagas (most of which are available in Pálsson's English translations), the Orkneyinga is particularly important for the student of early English history and genealogy. The saga traces the lives of the Norse rulers of the Orkney, Faroe, and Shetland islands from the ninth century to the thirteenth. Written down about 1200 A.D. (by an unknown Icelander), it predates the Heimskringla by a generation and was one of Snorri's principal sources.

So why should a peerage genealogist be interested in the Orkneys? Because Turf-Einar, created first earl ("jarl," actually) by Harald Fairhair, was a brother of Hrolf the Ganger, first "duke" of Normandy, both being sons of Rognvald, jarl of More. Various of the Orkney earls also were related by blood or marriage to the rulers of Norway and Denmark and to the Scottish earls of Moray. Because the saga was originally an oral history, it deals in varicolored language and vivid detail and powerful oration -- most of which the translators have managed to preserve in their prose rendition.

If you have any interest at all in the northern lands and in the heroic deeds and blood feuds of an earlier, less gentle time, this volume will hold your attention (but don't forget to take notes).

There are two ways of reading an Icelandic saga: (1) as a rip-roaring adventure in which people do terrible things to each other and (2) as history involving real events with real people. When I visited the Orkneys last year, I saw many of the actual locales discussed in the saga: the Brough of Birsay, where Saint Magnus grew to adulthood; Earl's Bu, the drinking hall of the earls of the Orkneys; and various places where the saga's chief villain, Svein Asleifarson, axed or burned his enemies, among whom were most of those living at the time.

The saga tells of a 200-year stretch of time when the Orkneys -- islands off the northern tip of Scotland -- owed their allegiance to the Kings of Norway. For the Viking marauders who ravaged Europe, the Orkneys were a friendly refueling stop on the inbound and outbound voyages. The earls ruled not only the islands, but large chunks of the Scottish mainland and most of the Hebrides as well. So widespread were their lands that they were frequently forced into power-sharing arrangements with their kinsmen, which then turned into power struggles to the death. The best instance of this is between the co-earls and cousins (Saint) Magnus Erlendsson and Hakon Paulsson.

It was common in those days, if one had a disagreement, to wait until one's enemy was in his cups; then pile dry rushes against the doors and set them alight. Men, women, and children escaping the flames were hacked to death by waiting swordsmen. This happened not once, but several times in the ORKNEYINGA SAGA. And yet, there is also poetry, craft, and a strange beauty in this book which make it more than a Grand Guignol with Vikings. Here, on the bleak northern edges of civilization, the novel was born while our Western European ancestors were quaking in their boots.

At first, reading an Icelandic saga is like reading a Russian novel: There are all those long names that are so similar to one another. The anonymous author of the sagas couldn't help it: These were their real names.

Today, the men and deeds set forth in the saga are very much a part of the everyday life of the Orkneys. It is, therefore, the one book that you must absolutely read before visiting this remote and fascinating part of Scotland.

This was a book used in a Criminal Justice Theory class. The professor of my class is a grad of Indiana University, which is where one of the authors (Pepinsky) teaches. The book really takes a hard look at some misconceptions that the general public may have about crime. I noticed that the other reviewer used it in a class as well, but this is not a textbook. It's thoroughly readable and enjoyable. It's also something that you can go back to and read again, as I have done just recently and see how the book stacks up to the news about crime you hear today. It may surprise you!

This was required reading for my Advanced Criminology class for my undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice. I found this book to be quite thought provoking. I graduated a year ago and have often thought about this book and referred to it in conversations with both liberal and conservative friends. I thought the approach was right on. It did not attack one ideology over another. It gave a good synopsis of what is wrong with the way we think about crime. It provided statistics and feedback about what works (which is little) and what does not work (which is too much).

I am buying this book (again) and will read it (again). I really think it is a great book that is clear, concise regarding what is wrong with policies that attempt to control/eliminate crime.

Pepinsky and Jesilow have done something that has often been attempted before.
But in "MYTHS THAT CAUSE CRIME," but they have taken it to a higher level; they have managed to expose the weaknesses in our arguments for harsh sentencing of certain members of our citizenry and of our current ideas in identifying the actual causes of crime as we have come to think of it.

We truly need to understand this subject at a deeper level if we intend to participate in further implementation of policies regarding our approach to crime and its solutions.
Extensive research and consequent, vital knowledge has been presented for us in this work.

In a recent study, it is determined that between 80% and 85% of Americans retain old and/or outdated, misplaced concepts about the subject of crime. And these concepts - which affects all Americans at some level - are clarified with the thorough studies and conclusions given to us by these investigators.

If you are invested in the "Criminal Justice System" as it applies to, say...revenge, job security or personal profit you... will not gain any ammunition from this work.
But if you are interested in truths and intense, objective input regarding the subject, you need to read and consider this work.

As a fan of books, plays and movies I often see the words, "Must See" or "Must Read." As a rule, I'm seldom dissappointed.
But in this case, if you seek real understanding of the subject of crime you MUST READ this book....

I already own the whole set of (excellent) books, nevertheless I bought the CD basically to get the added benefit of direct access searching. Alas, I lost the money. I use an iMAC to do my research works. Well it turned out that the search engine included in the CD doesn't work directly, but uses a tricky TCP/IP connection against a 'search server' written in Java. In my iMAC (that I keep completely updated) it just doesn't work. First, you need a connection of some sort (even simulated) to resolve the localhost/127.0.0.1 pair (as MAC TCP doesn't use a Host table). If (and when) the server starts, it sends erroneous results to the browser (spaces are interpreted as delimiters so that 'System Folder is passed as 'System' thus causing the browser to be unable of find the right location). The server fails under MRJ 2.1 and MRJ 2.1.1 (it even fails to correctly install the preferences). A short letter to ORA just obtained the well known 'not our fault but of the server (external) implementors'...and 'very hard efforts to implement it on Macintosh'!?. Otherwise the port to HTML is excellent.

I had always been an O'reily fan and this network CD set, not only is great but a lot more convenient. I can have a terminal window and a browser open at the same time. Very convenient and it is all you need to start networking.

Creo que es un excelente recurso para quien tiene que administrar redes. El hecho de tener en un solo CD Sendmail, DNS,TCP/IP, Firewall y Security es invaluable a la hora de consultar y solucionar problemas. Si bien prefiero a la hora de leer con tranquilidad el libro en papel, en el momento de buscar soluciones en el trabajo, el CD ha probado ser una gran ayuda.

Whether you are a believer or not, this is certainly a page-turner written with style. Careful plotting and mostly credible characters kept my interest throughout.

It is a deeply Catholic novel, which did't put me off but, as an atheist, didn't convert me either. The major implausiblility in the book, for me, was the conversion of a militant athiest by what I imagine Catholics would call "the divine spirit" or similar. Sorry, I found this bit laughable. The only other blemish in the book is a faint whiff of anti-semitism. But still well worth a read.

This book would make an excellent film ,except that it would disturb far too many catholics. It's a fascinating novel that test the depths of one's faith in christianity. I highly recommend this book for the faithfull and faithless alike.

Whilst excavating a tunnel under the Mosque in Jerusalem a sensational discovery is made. The remains of a crucified man are found. The group of Israeli archaeologist decides it is time to call in the Vatican. The Vatican is not certain it wants part in it, but decides it will be best to have two of their own attest to the discovery. A book that will be difficult to put down. Faith and religious believes are tested all the way through the book. The author's knowledge of Christian and particularly Catholic Theology is vastly demonstrated. Present day events intertwine through the book. Whether a religious person or an atheist, this book is certainly a most for all