Berdyaev a eminent Russian thinker best describs the innermost part of the Russian people, their livelihood, their religion and their political orientation. he offers a clear picture of the mental state of the nineteenth century Russians. Not being too much a slavophile, he nonetheless does not belong to the cycle of westernisers in Russia, enjoys the status as Solov'iev, Merezhkovsky and Shestov as an eminent Russian religious philosopher. Indeed, Solov'iev, Shestov and Merezhkovsky are Great!

I found this a really useful text dealing with British defence policy pre 7/8 December 1941.It is very readable & has a good degree of analysis.
What suprised me was the extent to which the British were prepared to reach an accomodation with the Japanese Empire pre Pearl Harbour,& the role of the Dutch.America was a wild card with no certainty of getting involved in a war with Japan.America was getting out of the Phillipines & the Filpinos were concerned the Japanese would take over.Approaches were made by the Filipinos to the British with a view to being incorporated into the British Empire.
This is a view of the period prior to WW2 in the Pacific which is new.I would recommend this book unhesitatingly.

I am a casual history buff interested in S.E. Asian history. I found the book very informative and enjoyed its thematic approach to S.E. Asian history in contrast to presenting it on a country-by-country basis. The book is intensive reading, especially for those of us who are not history majors. But if one is looking for a text with lots of information that is well researched, then this book fits the bill. Happy reading.

This book by the World Bank indicates how dramatic and lasting the progress against global poverty has been in the past 50 years. It also shows how dramatically the Bank's own understanding has risen, even in the past decade, of how to make its efforts more effective in relieving poverty and achieving other development goals. These two themes form the basis for the World Bank's visionary thesis: that eradicating much of the poverty, ill health, and illiteracy around the world is within reach.

The World Bank is full of optimism. Then again, it shows good reason for this outlook. It outlines the substantial advances that have been made over the past few decades in poverty reduction and advances in health and education in the developing world, identifying the World Bank's role in these advances, as one component of a complex, cooperative effort. For instance, the Bank indicates that:
•Over the past 40 years, life expectancy at birth in developing countries has increased by 20 years - about as much as was achieved in all of human history prior to the middle of the 20th century.
•Over the past 30 years, illiteracy in the developing world has been cut nearly in half, from 47 percent to 25 percent in adults.
•Over the past 20 years, the absolute number of people living on less than $1 a day, after rising steadily for the last 200 years, has for the first time begun to fall, even as the world's population has grown by 1.6 billion people.

The book's main message is that foreign development aid is reaching a level of sophistication that translates into dramatic improvements in the human condition like never before. This aid is lifting people out of poverty, improving their health and education, and contributing to the stability and security of the entire world. As the book says, "Aid is not simply a transfer payment for the consumption of poor people, but an investment in improved policies and institutions. The best aid finances the costs of change, rather than the costs of not changing."

The Bank's vision is grand and inspiring. This is far more than a financial treatise; it is instead a bold blueprint for raising the human condition throughout the globe. With such reach, it touches on much of the agenda for foreign affairs, and makes for compelling reading for anyone concerned with international relations. As the Bank aspires, "we must make globalization stand for common humanity, not for commercial brands or competitive advantage."

I used this book for a term paper and it was quite useful. It is insightful because it delves into why books are banned. I recommend this to anyone interested in the topic, however this books is VERY thorough.....read a few times!

This book attempts to introduce the reader to a very broad spectrum of British ships and smaller craft, ranging from great ocean liners and warships to fishing and recreational boats. Using a very good array of photographs, both black and white as well as colour, this book does provide a good overall historical chronology of the development of British shipping and boating, and includes profiles of several selected ship and craft from the liner SS Southern Cross to Motor Torpedo Boats, the Norfolk Wherry, and "Golden Hind" class sailboats. All in all, a good coffee table book for light reading, but the serious maritime enthusiast or researcher might be a little disappointed.

Great book...lots of details on famous and obscure country houses in Gloucestershire and a bit about the building of the houses and their families...I got Vol II., 1660-1830, would love to get my hands on Vol. I 1500-1660. Mr. Kingsley is very detailed and features several houses that have been destroyed, which is sad, but nice that he included them. Would have liked to seen more pictures and more about the families and properties, however, I feel we see only a tip of Mr. Kingsley's iceberg...but it is a FINE book if you like this sort of thing.

I greatly enjoy and benefit from this old herbal. Culpeper links herbs and astrology in some sections and tries to discuss just herbs in another. Tho the language is old english and sometimes a little difficult for me to understand, the methods for diagnosing and treating illness are somewhat more like the Chinese diagnosis than modern herbals, and to me, more understandable. Although I wouldn't trade some of my more modern herbal books for it, it is an invaluable aid in my natural healing business.

This cookbook covers some of the best recipes out there for dairy products. The art used in the cookbook is mostly old victorian paintings that you will find yourself studying more than you do the recipes. It is a very attractive well laid out cookbook. Definately worth keeping.

It is not an easy book, since it's written for people with a minimum knowledge of US and/or Mexican history. It shows, since the author's point of view, the circumstances surrounding the lost of a great portion of land to Mexico

If you like these subjects, it's a good book