This book takes a critical look at the effect of censorship on American society. "[Liberty Denied] cites many cases of the sort of local censorship that is difficult to monitor," Larry McMurtry says in the introduction. It seeks out the roots of censorship, which may be fear or cultural prejudice. What comes out of these thorough studies is a panoramic view of American culture regarding freedom of information. The author reveals the links of censorship to political control as well as moral guardianship. Above all, the book is valuable because of its clear statement of responsibility on the part of the reader, that it takes courage and tremendous energy to keep books, or even words, from being suppressed or destroyed. Furthermore, I highly recommend this book to teachers and public librarians who often see themselves as promoters and protecters of intellectual freedom, in order that they may come to know the different forms of censorship of which they are a participant. This book does not throw blame for blame's sake. It is for the sake of accountability and a democracy of ideas.

Schnitzler is known as a representative of the fin-de-siècle generation of Viennese intellectuals, and his name is often mentioned alongside Freud's because of his profound interest in the workings of the human mind. He was, indeed, a trained psychiatrist who seemed to revel in the darker corners of the psyche, all that beneath the shiny surface of "decency."

"Lieutenant Gustl" is presented in the form of the eponymous soldier's stream of consciousness, so there is much skipping among subjects which at the same time reveals a great deal about Gustl's personality, the Austrian society of the time, as well as makes one smile. The narrative begins at a concert where an oratorio is being performed, and Gustl seems to be terribly bored with it, cursing his friend, Kopetzky, for giving him the free ticket. Parallel to that though, he is enjoying the fleeting glances of young women in the audience, and on top of that, he appreciates the fact that he is attending an event that has an ascribed cultural value to it--something respectable, decent and going with his image.

At the same time, he is preparing for a duel with a doctor the next day, the cause for which have been some utterings by the latter insulting to Gustl's sense of patriotism. This is another theme throughout the work: the Austrian militarism as well as its opponents, a dose of anti-Semitism, the belligerence of a "good Austrian."

However, the plot following the concert focuses on an incident in the cloakroom. Gustl becomes restless with a large man blocking his way to retrieving his coat, and that irritates him to the extent of cursing at the large man. He turns out to be the baker who is also a regular at Gustl's coffee-shop, but to our hero's chagrin, he turns out to be stronger than Gustl. The baker grabs Gustl's sabre and whispers into his ear to straighten out or the sword would suffer, with all the disciplinary consequences.

This upsets Gustl so much that he gets launched into lengthy ponderings over whether what he has just experienced was a dream or real. After weighing a number of options to stop any further damage to his reputation (what if the baker tells somebody about the incident?), he resolves to commit suicide at the break of dawn. Until the very end of the story, matters from philosophical of universal scale down to prosaic and technical such as how best to say good-bye to his prostitute-friend preoccupy his mind. I am sure many readers would recognise the pattern in which Gustl's mind keeps jumping from topic to topic--Schnitzler has captured the process of thinking so well.

The ending is very abrupt, just like that which the mainstream consumer of popular culture might have experienced when viewing Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut." I will not give it away, but it is an easy little read that won't take too long for anybody to reach the denouement.

Its a nice piece of work. Each and every detail about the life of Guru Nanak is explained properly.I think its a masterpiece in itself.

Most of the great Utopian socialists were French, i.e. St. Simon, Fourier etc. One exception was Robert Owen who was born in England in 1771. He developed a reformist philosophy which sought to persuade all people to rearrange society so that the means of production were owned in common by all members of the society. He tried to establish these ideas in practice by experimentation in his home town of New Lanarck, England and in the United States.

In 1825 he purchased 30.000 acres in Indiana near the present town of New Harmony, Indiana. He established a self-contained community on that location which lasted just three years. He then returned to England and tried other experiments their and did extensive writing on his ideas.

This book contains a short survey of Robert Owen's life and a sample of his ideas taken for his writings. It is a worthy addition to any history library.

Iain Murray, in typical fashion, has given yet another excellent biography of a great man of God (he is also the author of biographies on Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and John Murray!).

Arthur W. Pink is a familiar name to many Bible students today both among pastors and laymen. But many may not know about the interesting life this man lived. Murray gives a good portrait here.

He was converted from Theosophy while in his twenties, and immediately felt called to preach. Though he never even completed Bible College, he became a popular conference speaker in his early ministry. After several pastorates in the United States, he moved to Australia where he did conference work and pastored a "Strict" Baptist church. But Pink's allegiance to the "whole counsel of God" cost him the acceptance of men. He taught too much for both the more common Arminians of his day and the "high" Calvinists, who had drifted into hypercalvinism.

After years of struggle to find his place, he reconciled himself to a ministry of writing instead of preaching. From Stornoway, Scotland he faithfully penned his "Studies in the Scriptures" magazine, which was sent to about 1000 (and sometimes less) people across the world.

The books that have now become so popular (The Life of Elijah, Exposition of Hebrews, Spiritual Growth, Eternal Security, etc.) originated in this magazine.

Murray gives the details of these different experiences of Pink and his wife, and also provides some interesting insights into the cause of Pink's eventual isolation. He writes charitably, yet with objectivity.

The ten chapter book concludes with a lengthy section of extracts from Pink's writings on numerous subjects of importance and a helpful bibliography of Pink's writings.

The man's voice is deep and slow.So easy for listenning.I think this tape is the best tape for learn with English.

The Loki Wolf is an exciting thriller. Based apon old Norse myths, the author seems to make ancient Iceland legends come alive in a modern setting. The author Arthur Slade was able to make the setting and characters seem real. His depiction of the Loki wolf was cleverly done, and the story behind it was well thought out and interesting. A cliff-hanger, this story has several exciting parts before it hits the climax. It kept me guessing throughout, as it contains some components of a mystery as well. The Loki Wolf was well worth reading and I suggest it to anyone who enjoys a good thriller or mystery.

Arthur Lefkowitz has produced a fascinating, well researched and accessible narrative of the events relating to the retreat of George Washington from New York and across central New Jersey, to the relative safety of the western (Pennsylvania) shore of the Delaware River. These events of the fall of 1776 represented a critical period in the American Revolution, with the continental army demoralized and in disarray; had the British aggressively pressed their advantage, they could have destroyed the army, possibly providing a decisive end to the Revolution. Their failure to overtake and destroy Washington is, from our perspective, a remarkable (and fortunate) occurrence. Mr. Lefkowitz provides not only a continuous narrative of the action and the decisions of the major players, but clearly defines a number of issues for which historians have sought understanding. As a skilled narrator, Lefkowitz weaves various strands so that one can appreciate his evaluation of such issues as the character and education under fire of George Washington during this period, and Washington's ultimate ability to cross the Delaware back into New Jersey on Christmas Eve and to attack the British forces in Trenton and then Princeton. In addition, he provides sketches of major characters and, to the extent possible, minor characters whose letters or journal entries helped provide the primary documents for our understanding. As a resident of central New Jersey, I was struck by the brief and vivid description of various locales, the state of the rural and town economies and people, and his excellent ability to succinctly create a context, both in time and place. Lefkowitz is careful to maintain the narrative flow, placing considerable information - usually quite interesting in its own right - in easily accessed (bottom of each page) footnotes. If I have a quibble, it is that additional maps would have been useful, particularly to those not intimately familiar with New Jersey geography. While, as (merely) an educated layperson, I cannot critically judge the details of Mr. Lefkowitz' scholarship, I found the book fascinating and enlightening - all in just over 150 pages.

Richard Leviton must have been studying arcane systems and beliefs all his life to have written this. It mixes everything from the Arthurian myth traditions to Bhuddism with a lot of the Qabbala thrown in. It was not what I would call an easy read in some places, but the story line and the rollicking antics of Leviton's multi-angelic mentor Blaise made it worth it. Then too, there's that twist to the ending that kept me awake all night.

And what the heck is geomancy anyway? I would be extremely interested in hearing from other readers how they felt about this book, if they wish...

Ahh -- the creator of the great Sherlock Holmes tackles dinosaurs! In the first novel in this collection, Doyle's lesser-known protagonist, George Edward Challenger, leads an expedition to a South American plateau where prehistoric life still exists. While there's a bit too much Doyle-style propaganda here about evolution and cavemen (remember Doyle sought "the missing link"), it's a fine piece of storytelling from the man who must be acknowledged as the first "dinosaur novelist" -- and whose title Crichton ripped off, without so much as a thanks-a-lot! There are four other tales here as well involving Challenger -- a worthy collection indeed!