Daniel Goleman has written two previous books on Emotional Intelligence and why it is more important than IQ over a person's lifetime. This book takes those concepts of Emotional Intelligence (EI) and applies them to successful leadership roles. In doing so it moves leadership from an art form to science.

While it is not difficult to follow this book even if you are not familiar with his prior works, familiarity with the concepts would make the reading flow much smoother. For this text he is joined by EI experts and co-authors Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee as they unravel the use of EI in the workplace.

The bottom line of Primal Leadership is that one of the most important tasks of a leader is to create good feelings in the people they lead. They do this by maintaining those same positive feelings in themselves. In addition they have to create change, sustain change, and build an EI competent organization.

The book introduces the concept of "resonant leadership". This is the tendency of employees to perceive the business environment in the same manner that their leaders do. The moods, opinions, and actions of the leaders resonate to their employees and create the same feelings in them.

The top leaders develop four leadership styles and have the ability to easily change between them as needed. The book not only defines primal leadership but details how to develop and use these leadership qualities to make your business excel when others flounder. A great read with a thought-provoking analysis, this book is required reading for those seeking to excel as leaders in their organization.

Perhaps you have already read one or both of Daniel Goleman's previous books, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ for Character, Health, and Lifelong Achievement (1995) and Working with Emotional Intelligence (1998). If not, I presume to suggest that you do so before reading this volume in which Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee develop in much greater depth and with much wider application many of the same core concepts introduced in those earlier works. In fact, as the authors explain in the Preface, this book goes far beyond two articles which appeared even earlier in the Harvard Business Review ("What Makes a Leader" and "Leadership That Gets Results") "to advance a new concept: primal leadership. The fundamental task, we argue, is to prime good feelings in those they lead. That occurs when a leader creates [italics] resonance -- a reservoir of positivity that frees the best in people. At its root, then, the primal job of leadership is emotional."

Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee carefully organize their material within Three Parts: The Power of Emotional Intelligence, Making Leaders, and Building Emotional Intelligent Organizations. The insights, strategies, and tactics provided are all based on the authors' several decades of real-world experience with all manner of organizations as well as on insights gained through direct and extensive contact with various leaders. In the final chapter, the authors observe: "In sum, the best leadership programs [ones which focus on the process of talent development] are designed for culture, competencies, and even spirit. They adhere to the principles of self-directed change and use a multifaceted approach to the learning and development process itself that focuses on the individual, team, and organization." I am reminded of what the Mahatma Gandhi once asserted: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." What should be the defining values throughout the inevitably difficult change process?

Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee are absolutely certain that the most effective leaders "are more values-driven, more flexible and informal, and more open and frank than leaders of old. They are more connected to people and to networks. More especially, they exude resonance: They have genuine passion for their mission, and that passion is contagious. Their enthusiasm and excitement spread spontaneously, invigorating those they lead. And resonance is the key to primal leadership." Does all this describe the kind of person you wish to follow? If so, then become the same kind of leader for others to follow.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out James O'Toole's The Executive Compass, David Maister's Practice What You Preach, David Whyte's The Heart Aroused, and Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan's Execution: The Discipline of Getting Results.

First off, I really hate the title "Primal Leadership." I picture a gorilla beating the ground with a branch to show he's dominant, which isn't quite what this book is about. The authors use 'primal' to mean primary, as in first and most basic. The basic underpinning of great leadership is emotional intelligence.

"Primal Leadership" is written to help leaders become better leaders by improving their emotional intelligence. The book gives insight into the collective feeling of an organization, or its emotional climate, and how this is influenced by the people at the top of the organization and the leadership methods adopted by the organization.

The authors identify four key aspects of personal competency in emotional intelligence:

* Self-Awareness
* Self-Management
* Social Awareness
* Relationship Management

The stronger a person is in these, the better leader he or she will become. Unless we are aware of our own emotions, we won't know how to control them. For example, if you make a unintentional, snide remark to an employee, because you're frustrated with the employee, the employee will probably not benefit, nor will the work environment. But, to prevent such a remark means you first must accept that you're feeling frustrated and, secondly, control that emotion.

Being socially aware means that you understand the power structure of the organization and it means you have empathy. As an extreme case of lack of empathy, suppose an employee's wife just dumped him and you enter his office and say, "Hey, Jack. Won't ask about the wife. Ha, ha. Just kidding. But, I need that report today, so focus. Don't worry about your personal, little life."

Obviously, that wouldn't go over too well! A great film of unmotivating leadership is "Office Space." The CEO is too funny. He walks around talking in monotone and he doesn't hear what the employees are saying. Again, an extreme case.

A leader must understand the emotional state of his/her employees and take it into consideration. That doesn't, of course, mean you must agree or tolerate unacceptable behavior.

After discussing these core competencies, the authors discuss different leadership styles, including:

* Visionary
* Coaching
* Pacesetting
* Democratic
* Commanding

The authors argue that visionary, coaching, and democratic leadership styles are beneficial to an organization. But, many leaders rely upon the more tenuous pacesetting and commanding methods of leadership, which can backfire or be overdone. For example, a pacesetting, commanding leader often makes people feel irrelevant and stressed out. That makes them less effective and motivated.

And, stress isn't good personally. Quoting the authors: "When stress is high and sustained, the brain reacts with sustained cortisol secretion, which actually hampers learning by killing off brain cells in the hippocampus that are essential for new learning." (Well that [stinks]!)

However, there is hope for stressed-out leaders or followers. Quoting the authors again: "Human brains can create new neural tissue as well as new neural connections and pathways throughout adulthood."

The authors argue that most leadership training fails because it teaches the neocortex brain or the learning brain. But, leadership skills require more limbic learning. The limbic part of the brain is the more emotional part that learns via repetition and personal experience. The authors compare learning leadership to learning to play the slide guitar. You must practice good habits.

To motivate oneself to improve as a leader, the authors suggest forming an image of your ideal self, acquiring a realistic image of your present self, and then practicing behaviors (until they become automatic) that have you act more like your ideal self.

The authors argue that this is the best way to improve, because it's a positive way of seeing yourself in the future and seeing a positive goal. Plus, as you improve your EI skills, not only will your leadership skills be enhanced, but so too will your personal relationships. Don't look at your weaknesses as 'gaps' that need to be improved.

The authors write: "Emphasis on gaps often arouses the right prefrontal cortex--that is, feelings of anxiety and defensiveness. Once defensiveness sets in, it typically demotivates rather than motivates, thereby interrupting, even stopping, self-directed learning and the likelihood of change."

Focusing upon how good you can become versus fixing gaps seems akin to looking at the glass half full versus half empty, but apparently that makes all the difference.

Peter Hupalo, Author of "Thinking Like An Entrepreneur."

While I did not enjoy this book as much as The Forever King, it is a good book - The Forever King dealt much more with King Arthur's Fifth Century Britain and I enjoyed that immensely. The Broken Sword picks up where The Forever King left off in today's time period but it dealt much more with Merlin's story. It just depends on which story you are more interested in. I am very excited about the next book and hope it is published soon.

As a side bar, if the authors are reading this review - I would really like to see the stories of Hal's (Galahad) lives through the centuries as he has been reborn looking for Arthur.

Very good books! Don't miss them!!

I couldn't wait to read this sequel to "The Forever King." It was an excellect re-telling of the traditional Merlin/Arthur story. I wish the book would have centered more around the "new" Arthur and Knights. I'm sure the authors were setting up for another sequel! Hopefully the next novel will have more "modern" villians and settings. Don't get me wrong. Don't miss this sequel. This series is every bit as good as those from Stephen Lawhead and Mary Stewart

I didn't read The Forever King (yet), but I still really enjoyed this book. I thought it was a stand-alone novel until I started looking for other books by the authors.

The book opens by introducing us to characters that lived during the Middle Ages who have been reborn here in the modern world. Arthur is 13 years old, and he's being protected by Hal (Galahad) and Taliesin. They meet up with another young girl, Beatrice, who was once the Innocent. They're helped out by knights like Launcelot and they're being chased by ancient enemies. The story revolves around the Holy Grail which takes the form of a cup with the power to heal.

I thought this was a very creative take on the old King Arthur legend. The good characters are all very likeable and the bad characters are easy to hate. The fact that it was set in modern times made the characters easy to relate to and gave freshness to the book.

Regardless of the number of pages, this wasn't a very long read. I read it in one sitting on an airplane. But it left a feeling of satisfaction. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy the legend of King Arthur but want to see something different. I would also recommend it to fantasy fans who like it when the real world collides with the fantasy world.

The retelling of this popular legend is refreshing and innovative. This first book written in so much detail explains everything and gives fantastic reasons for the events within the actual legend. A Unitarian view combining many religions into a coexistence of characters from the Wiccan god Pan to Thor of the Norse beliefs. This along with the symbolic narration gives it an essence of ancient mysterious magic. I would consider this book an example of how a fantasy writer is artistic with his medium. I highly recommend it for those interested in a contemporary form of the Arthurian legend or simply an eccentric novel with twists and turns leading up to a unique philosophical outlook.

I loved this book. I was first drawn to it by the unusual artwork on the cover. After passing it by on the shelves a few times (I admit I'm not a big fan of Arthurian Legend) I picked it up. I was not disapointed at all.

I love the way tha author blends the different legends and myths into one coherrent plot line. I was disapointed there wasn't more of the Dragon and the Unicorn ( I thought the dragon was one of the most innovative "characters" I've seen in a long while). But the rest of the story was so good i didn't mond too much. Highly recomended, even if it does take a little time to get into.

To be frank, the only reason this novel caught my eye were the words "unicorn" and "dragon". I have forever been a fan of the mystical world, especially that of the Legend of Arthur and am also a fanatic when it comes to Celtic topics. Although the book at first was near impossible to get into, once you did it was like jumping into the icy river rapids, regretting the first few moments, but when it's all done it was obviously well worth the trip! Now, I read it again and again just to understand the little and sometimes more significant symbols in the book.

I had no previous experience in creating webpages but after I read this book, I could make great HTML pages. I reconmend this book if you want to build a web page or web site but have no experience in it. Although, it was missing some information that could have been added such as the code for making frames or forms.

Overall, I liked this book and I could make a nice site. It is easily understood by youger people as well, I was only 13.

This book is very generic and the intended audience for this book is the person who recently just bought their first computer and now they want to create their first web page. This book will help you achieve that goal. When you finish this book, not only will you be able to create web pages but you will be able to include pictures. This is perfect for the home user who wants to put their kids or their grandchildren on a web page for all of their friends to see. The authors have done a good job writing this book. In chapter 2 and 3, the authors explain how web pages work on AOL, other ISPs, and GeoCities. In Chapter 4, they teach you the fundamentals of HTML. The chapters are fairly short and the cartoons really help ease the stress of learning. You cannot go wrong with this book and I highly recommend it.

I love all of the Dummy books I have because all of these books just explain things so clearly, have a little bit of humor, and you learn things while having fun! I just bought this book not too long ago and I have to say it's pretty good. I always wanted to create my own web site but knew that I should start out with small ones then move onto larger ones. This book teaches you the basics of HTML without all that scientific talk and other things like creating cool icons. Then, once you create a basic web site it tells you how to improve it by giving it a little more power. Before you know it you got yourself a pretty cool web site! The humor was alright but was still entertaining to read. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to start to create basic web sites then move onto major ones!

This book is enjoyable for the same reason that Mary Stewart's _Crystal Cave_ was. It presents Merlin as a real person, not a shadowy magician, and explores an estimation of the _real_ environment of King Arthur's world from Merlin's perspective. The first person narrative copies Stewart's approach, and works as well. Impressive historical setting and the rich description of late Roman Britain gives the story a depth not often found in the fantasy genre. The detailed ironmongery and militarist/feudal bent of the era are well captured, though a sense of how an agrarian economy supported all of these horsemen and warriors is missing.

The book's major shortcoming is the pornographic detail of some wenching scenes. It is one thing to explain how carnal appetites were approached with both pre-Christian casualness and great gusto by young Brito-Roman aristocrats-- it is entirely unnecessary to the story to go into genital approach angles and a detailed accounting of who was licking whom. In contrast, a very tender erotic scene was drawn where Merlin and Cassandra first become intimate, and it was done without using pornographic detail. Perhaps by using the extreme contrast Whyte was illustrating with heavy quill the difference between lust and love. And there was a bit of psychobabble thrown in where Merlin goes into a four page digression that amounts to measuring manhood, literally, with Uther. Again, a far too heavy handed, and basically unnecessary tool for showing the differences in temperament between Uther and Merlin.

Those weaknesses aside, the story is very readable, though only suitable for adult readers, due to the adult content of about fifteen pages of material. Better editing and less graphic language woud have made this a four or five star book. Of course, I will contiue enjoying the series, because old Britain fairly jumps off of the page and into my living room when I read it.

Another fast paced thrill ride from a writer that knows how to re-tell history. Jack Whyte pulls everthing together to yet again create a fascinating story. The series has been a page turner from the beginning. Jack Whyte creates a depth of characters that is unparalled by any other author. He excellently portrays the family and the lives that they live. With every page you feel like you are living your life beside Merlyn and his associates. If there was anything more going on in the story it would be too much.

OUTSTANDING!Mr. Whyte makes you feel like you are in the story. It's being there. This is storytelling at its very best. The plot, the characters, the pace, the detail, are all perfect. Can you tell I liked it? I do feel that one should read the series in order to get the full impact of the story. It does, after all, begin with SKYSTONE. This book kept me up late several nights simply because I couldn't leave it alone. The plot is rich with history and details that make you want to read more about the time this occurred. The characters are fully developed and have personalities (seen through the eyes of the storyteller) that are colorful and have a depth that makes them real people: you know them. You care for them and what happens to them. This is a magnificent saga. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys history, historical fiction, or just a real good story.

This book has been around since I was a child. When it was given to me, I found it very easy to read and understand. I don't remember exactly how old I was, probably around 6 or 7... but the text and the pictures helped me to understand the concept of human sexuality as well as made it clear that this is what adults do. During no time while reading this book did I feel compelled to try out anything that was described within. This book is honest, open, and very helpful to a child who wants to know the details without the boring technical terms that go along with sexuality. (Although, this book is technical in its reference to names for body parts) As a parent, I fully intend to buy this for my daughter when she starts asking the famous question, 'Where did I come from?'. I know in reading this with her, she will be getting the honest truth about her origin in words she will understand, in a way that would help any parent discuss this important subject with their child. I HIGHLY recommend this book to any parent struggling with the issue of getting the facts out clearly and comfortably for all those involved.

I don't have children (yet), but when they do, this book will be accessible to them at a very young age. Adults will be tickled by the adorable illustrations (although some may be shockingly more graphic than you may expect)... they are straight-forward and yet non-threatening.

The text is also to-the-point, but more friendly than blunt... just enough information to satisfy young, curious minds without giving information overload. A great book to read before you even have children as it will help to mentally 'pshyche' you up to being able to more freely discuss the topics of sex and reproduction with your children when the subject comes up.

My mother gave me this book when I was about 10 years old. I am now 40 and I still love it. I have 5 children and I am giving them the chance to enjoy this as much as I did. I felt that my questions were answered in a language I could really understand and that I wasn't embarrassed. After I read it as a child, I was able to talk with my mother. She and I had a great talk. After each of my children have read it the same thing has happened. We talk and laugh, but we're not embarrassed. I have 3 boys 16, 12, and 2 and 2 girls 13 and 11. I thoroughly enjoy this book and share it with everyone I know.

The follow-up companion to "The 21 Lessons of Merlyn", this book is a sincere attempt by the author to put down his personal philosophy, spiritual system and magical work. Using questionable sources, the author comes to conclusions that are highly controversial and difficult to substantiate. Much like its prequel, I recommend this book only as a work of fiction or as a way of separating the truth from the nonsense.

Many people have questioned as to the "truth" or "false promises" behind Monroe's novels and to tell the truth, I was more skeptical than most, being a truth seeker and avid explorer of Philip Car-Gomm. Interrelatedly, there are many who question the Pherylt as effiable subject material. Many Car-Gomm followers who have done their READING and not just skimming of his books will find references to the Ferylt, merely another translation of the same material (READ The Book of Druidry, written by Ross Nicols and edited by Car-Gomm).As to some of Monroe's personal feelings regarding authenticity, he comes right out and says that there were female druids (contrary to popular gossip belief), but yes, anyone who has studied historical aspects of the same will tell you as well that it was a seperate and cooperative organization. Enough slander has abounded, and beyond, before you attempt to tear into this book, please read it. There is both truth and lies in everything.

Sincerely and Cordially,

Neagadon

I have been studying Druidism for 4 years now and must claim this, as well as the 21 Lessons of Merlyn, to be the most intellectually stimulating book on the subject. Most books will provide you with few facts and practices for you to try out, not only are you presented with all this in the text of the Lost Books, but is as well entertaining to read. And to those to call this book sexist, remember that this grand age of equality hasn't always existed and it is more than likely that men were the main members of the order. And as to those that will argue the validity of the text on which this book is based, even if it is based on a forged text it still provides a valid path. I say the sooner we realize that any druid path may be valid, seeing how druidism died out with the coming of the Christian era leaving us with very little text to remember it by, the sooner the ignorant fighting over validity may end, for surely all of the paths of today provide us with at least a piece of validity if nothing more.

Comedy, in the strictest sense, is concerned with ultimate forgiveness and reconciliation. In Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest," the protagonist, Prospero, must come to terms with his brother Antonio, who conspired to have him driven from his duchy in Milan, and with the world of social interaction in general.

Magic, Power, and Conspiracy are the foundational thematic elements through which Shakespeare effects Prospero's reintegration into human society. Thrown into a boat with his infant daughter Miranda, Prospero comes to live on a nearly deserted island in the Mediterranean Sea. Prospero's concentration on developing his proficiency in Magic caused him to become alienated from his political and social responsibilities in Milan, leading to his expulsion. His brother Antonio conspired with Alonso, king of Naples, and seized the power Prospero forsook for book-learning.

Prospero hears of a sea voyage undertaken by his enemies, and, using his Magic, whips up a storm, a great tempest, which causes his enemies to be shipwrecked on his island. On the island, Prospero exercises total power - over the education of his daughter, his slave, the deformed Caliban, and now over his enemies. He engages Ariel, a sprite, to orchestrate the division of the traveling party, and to put them through various trials to exact vengeance and ultimately, submission from them.

"The Tempest" is a fine effort from Shakespeare, but the power relations in the play are problematic. Prospero's insistent dominance over the action of the play is extremely troubling. Although he is presented as a benevolent character, Prospero's relationships with Miranda, Caliban, and Ferdinand, King Alonso's son, complicate his overall worth as a man and an authority figure. The dynamic between the slave Caliban and the drunks, Trinculo and Stephano, is also very unsettling.

Overall, "The Tempest" remains a whimsical flight of imagination, while exploring intriguing themes of education, political intrigue, and romance. Certainly, it is still a well-constructed and entertaining play after nearly four hundred years.

One of the best works by Shakespeare and also his final full play (most likely), The Tempest draws on many elements that Shakespeare used in his earlier works and adds a comic twist. Shakespeare doesn't spend much time on character development in the Tempest, other than Prospero and possibly Caliban (e.g. Miranda is the ideal chaste woman, Trinculo & Stephano are lowly schemers). However, Prospero is extremely well developed and the simple aspects of the other characters do not detract from the story at all. There are many different levels of meaning at work in the play...some see it as a pro-colonialist diatribe, others see it as Shakespeare's own swan song, where Prospero himself is based on the Bard, and Prospero's surrendering of his magical powers is representative of Shakespeare giving up his craft. I read it as both, and a million other things, and that is one of the great things about the play...it can be read in so many different ways. The structure of the play seems almost chaotic at first, with so many things going on at once. However, if you read the play over again, or read some of the essays contained in the Signet Edition, it becomes much more clear, although still open-ended. The Signet Edition is excellent, and Signets in general are. Buy this over the Folger Library editions...the footnotes here are much easier to work with and make the reading much smoother overall.

Yes, there is once again murder brewing in the play of Shakespeare but only in a comical way. Not able to claim to be a Shakespeare expert, I have only read four of his other plays. However, it is in my opinion that this be the best one, most likely because it is a comedy and is much lighter that his other plays. This classic play tells the story of the former Duke of Milan who was wrongly dethrowned by his brother. Using his magical power that originally expelled him from Milan, he is able to bring the King (Alonso), Alonso's brother (Sebastian),his own brother (Antonio) and other servants to the his mostly vacant island. Ordering about the spirit Ariel, he manipulates his way into an interesting and funny situation. There is much to gain from reading this wonderful play which is one of Shakespeares last. I recommend this book to Shakespeare lovers and even more so, to variety readers such as myself. You won't be dissapointed by the plays light mood which is much better than Shakespeares serious murder stories.

I think this book is well worth a read, just to see how we COULD get into space. Marshall Savage is very driven by his vision of how this could be done and I have to say his ideas are fascinating. Grow floating cities off the coast of Africa, build a laser based launching system in Africa to cheaply get into earth orbit. Create his unique orbiting space stations in earth orbit. Dome over craters on the moon and terraform Mars. Expand into the belt, and beyond. It's a great read.

But I've noticed all books on space exploration dance around the issues of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, genetics, and cybernetics. If we can do something, we will. And we will change our biology, create new lifeforms, and build intelligent machines as we go into space.

Much of what is in this extra-ordinary book won't happen because we, in 200 years, will have evolved ourselves into something unrecognizable.

When I bought this book, I had no idea what I was in for. Savage explains detail to detail about the construction of floating ocean cities, with unlimited power from the oceans. These islands might save Earth in the future. He describes a space launch system that can be much faster and cheaper than current launch systems. He makes the colonization of space very easy, using materials from the Asteroids and the Moon, to support a population of 7.5 quadrillion. This is not science fiction. Everything stated in this book has been tested in the laboratory. Order this NOW!!!!

This is a deeply inspiring book. Marshall Savage describes a series of steps to colonize our Milky Way Galaxy but also, at the same time, to clean up the Earth's ecosystems and feed (and bring energy resources to) the Earth's poor. The first step is "Aquarius" which involves building floating colonies on the tropical oceans -- colonies that use Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) to get enormous supplies of non-polluting, self-renewing electrical energy from the coldness of the ocean depths. In addition, this process raises huge quantities of nutrient-rich deep ocean water to the surface where (after the energy is extracted) it can be used for mariculture (ocean fish farming) to produce a variety of nutritious fish and sea vegetables.

Using the resources (including the finances and crucial technologies) gained in "Aquarius," Savage next describes space launch systems using laser and mass-driver technologies. This step is called "Bifrost." Then he outlines how we can establish colonies in orbit (a step called "Asgard"). Then on to ecospheres on the Moon (called "Avallon"), creating an Earth-like atmosphere (or "terraforming) Mars (called "Elysium"), and so on to the processes that might be used eventually to send giant spaceships to nearby stars ("Galactia").

This exciting book spawned "The First Millennial Foundation" (now called "The Living Universe Foundation"), an organization of people working to make this future pioneering the "high frontier" of space come true for humanity.

It is well worth reading.

The Sword in the Stone is about King Arthur, as a boy called Wart, between the ages 10 to 16. Wart grew up in the castle of Sir Ector, with Sir Ector himself, and his son Kay. Wart is taught by the famous wizard known as Merlyn, how to be a man. Merlyn sends Wart on many magnificent and magical adventures, transforming him from one creature to the next and sending him on spectacular journeys and quests all through the land.

The Sword in the Stone was a book that was easy to pick up and get right into, but also easy to put down and feel like you could almost fall asleep if you read one more page. It would change from interesting to dull consistently throughout the book. There were parts that were very detailed, and exciting, but other parts that were very boring, and hard to understand.

The detail was so incredible that as you read you feel as though you are right there with the characters. The details help you to imagine things like Merlyn's blue and gold-starred robe to the exact movement of the sneaky snake as he approaches Wart. The exciting parts of the book tell fantastic fantasy stories that let your imagination run wild. The "Wizard Duel" between Madame Mim and Merlyn goes on for page after page as the two struggle to defeat one another. They use their enchantedpowers and fight for hours on end, until Merlyn thinks of a despising plan, and takes care of Madame Mim once and for all.

There are parts in the book that start to get boring and can lose your attention quickly, but as soon as you are about to put the book down,Merlyn has once again performed his magic, and Wart is experiencing yet another splendid adventure. There was a part where Wart and Robin Hood travel with their army to fight against the Anthropophagi (a wild variety of ferocious beasts). They walk throught the woods for days before reaching their destination. This really bores an interested reader. There were many sections of the books that seemed confusing to me. I didn't understand the part where Merlyn transforms Wart into a bird and Wart flys down to the barn to talk with the other birds and hawks. The birds were talking nonsense words that were very hard to catch on to. I must say though that The Sword in the Stone was very appealing to me, despite the parts that I struggled to understand and read through.

Do what we will, we always become who we are meant to be. We hold a lot of power within us, but not enough to fight our fates. Fascinating theories and themes such as these are presented and strongly portrayed in T.H. White's The Sword in the Stone. The inexorable power of destiny is beautifully illustrated in this book, which takes us through many adventures of the boyhood of legendary King Arthur.

Readers gain a respect for young King Arthur (identified in this story as "the Wart") from the very start. Though the Wart is treated somewhat unkindly by his guardians, Sir Ector and Kay, he does what he knows is right in all situations. These situations include the first main incident of the story, in which the Wart bravely stays a whole night alone in a dark forest, simply to retrieve a servant's loose bird. He also keeps his head and his priorities straight despite his older brother Kay's naggings and his envy for Kay's station in society. The Wart is somewhat confused and unsure of his purpose in life, but soon his main guardian Sir Ector hires a wizard named Merlyn to tutor and educate the boy. Thus marks the beginning of the future king's great adventures and learning experiences. Putting to use his magical powers, the wizard educates the Wart by transforming him into several different creatures so that the boy can see life from various points of view. One day, as Arthur is trying to find a sword for Kay to use in a jousting match, he comes across a sword in a stone (which is the title's derivation). He struggles to pull it out for quite some time, then senses that something strange and unusual is in the air around him, something magical, and the sword easily slips out. His family and all the townspeople are shocked and somewhat dismayed when they hear the news, but nevertheless the meek, submissive, experienced Arthur inherits the throne. The ending ties up many loose ends and brings the whole story together in one great, triumphant, fulfilling close.

Strange and contradicting as it may seem, I both dislike and love this detailed book. I dislike it because I feel that many parts are too long and drawn-out, especially descriptions of places and the Wart's out-of-body experiences. I love the story because it is very creative and poses thought-provoking theories and pieces of advice about life. I enjoy the humorous parts of this book, which are sporadically sprinkled within both casual and serious situations. I think that the young king's experiences are relevant and can be beneficial to many who seek different viewpoints of life.

I personally recommend The Sword in the Stone to people who read at about the junior-high or high-school level, roughly age twelve and up, who are interested in Arthurian legend. I especially recommend it to males, as I feel that it is generally a male-directed book. I state this because there are very few female characters involved in the story, and those are very minor (yet not inferior) characters. It is possible that this is due to the fact that the author himself is a male. Nonetheless, The Sword in the Stone contains many important themes which will be beneficial to all types of people who choose to read the book.

Young Arthur, (known to everyone else as "Wart",) learns from his tutor, Merlin, stuff that he could only dream about before, coming to life before his eyes. Like watching Jousts, turning in to fish, birds, and other animals, and going on adventures with Robin Wood,(commonly known as Robin Hood.) but makes mistakes, gets injured, and learns from them. And all of this only helps in his future life, and his quest, which is his destiny. I rated the sword in the stone a 5 because It was a extremely good book, and the only things that might affect my judgment is the fact that sometimes they use old English. It is sometimes hard to understand because some of the wording is a little old, and, and stuff like that. But T.H. White is able to incorporate a story of king Arthur, and a story full of distinct, funny and odd people, (basically, a comedy,) in to one great book. Another reason that I think that it is a good book because T.H.White gets really in depth throughout the whole book, he can describe every detail, in other words, he can really "Paint a perfect picture." So all in all I say that if you are interested in King Arthur at all, you should definitely read this book! It does not matter if you are twelve or twenty-one, thirty or seventy, you will truly enjoy The Sword in The Stone. It is definitely a top ten on my list! If you like The Sword in the stone as much as I do, then I recommend reading The Once and Future King, also by T.H.White.