An incredibly beautiful book if you can find it. Really shows what a special place Death Valley is.

Defiant Peacemaker is a fantastic biography that covers the entire life of Nicholas Trist. Any one who enjoys a good biography will love this one. I find the subtitle 'Trist In The Mexican War' to be misleading. It is a true indepth bio of the life of a man who lost his father at a young age, married Thomas Jefferson's grand daughter, worked at various political appointed job which made him well known around Washington DC, also was Ambassador to Cuba. Trist is the only man in American history who single handedly ended a war. He negotiated the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo to end the Mexican War. He never held a political appointment after. A great biography details the changes of fortunes of a life, good times and bad times. Mr. Ohrt addresses these details so well, you leave this book feeling that you really know Trist and feel for his misfortunes, especially considering the contribution he made to his country, and to know his country never recognized his efforts.

Nicholas Furlong has compiled the most accurate account of the life of Dermot MacMurrough that I have come by yet. I have always been confused and angered that in all other accounts of MacMurrough's life, the essential explanation of Brehon Law is missing. Furlong does this perfectly and the only complaint about the book that I have is that it was too short.

This was one of the first books which I purchased after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. This book has been read and appreciated many times by me. One is taken through Diana's childhood, through her teenage years, through her coursthip with Prince Charles, through her marriage, through her charities, through her untimely and tragic death, and through her funeral services. As far as I'm concerned, Dodi could have been omitted.

In the Foreward, Trevor McDonal, OBE, writes: "The sudden and tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales affected the people of Britain and the world as perhaps no other event in modern times.

"...Her death seemed to touch the chord that unites us all as people, as members of the vast and disparate human race, as partners in the great of nations. I have come to believe that there are several reasons why this is so. Diana had become, by the time of her death, an international superstar like no other before her. Although she was no longer married to the Prince of Wales, the heir to the throne, her superstar status was underpinned by her royal connections. To all intent and purposes she was regarded by her millions of admirers as fully royal, touched by thr indescribable regal magic. Another reason is that she was stunningly beautiful, In an age when technology enables pictures to flatter their subject unashamedly, Diana's good looks outdid the photographer's art. As Shakespeare's Cleopatra was described, Diana's entrance into a room 'beggared all description.'...

"Many of us in the media knew the Princess well. She had a great sense of humor, laughed easily and was unfailingly charming. But she could also be wilful and manipulative and was always ambivalent about how much of her royal status she wanted to use and when. Diana was no saint. She made silly mistakes and even grosser misjudgements. She was not infallible. But then niether are we. Part of her charm was her vulnerability. She was very human and it is now obvious from her many tributes to her, that she was capable of showing great humanity. When it was clear that she would never be Queen of England, Diana said, with what seems like wonderful prescience, that she wanted to be Queen of People's Hearts, The People's Princess. The response by the pepople to her death suggests that she achieved, in overwhelming measure, everything that she wanted to be.

"The undoubted value of this book lies in the simple fact that the images it contains will never die...the pictures of the glamous Princess; the pictures of her with her boys, the young Princes, who she loved so much. And then there are those forever haunting images of her coffin arriving back from Paris and the panorama of scenes of her funeral on the day an entire nation stopped to pay its respects. These will be pointed at and talked about long into the twenty-first century.

"They show that in her short life, marked by pinnacles of joy and depths of despair, Diana, Princess of Wales, became an icon who captured the world's imagination as no other public figure of our time."

The above quote sums up this book. It is beautifully written and contains pictures both in color and in black and white. Anyone who collects books on Diana, Princess of Wales, will certainly want this book

Divine Discourse is a philosophical and theological treat. It offers a philosophical exploration of the devotional reading of scripture. In so doing, it unveils the conceptual, epistemic and interpretive obstacles that one faces if one believes that God spoke and perhaps continues to speak through sacred texts. Like most of Professor Wolterstorff's books, it is a first word rather than a final word on a thought provoking topic. It begins a conversation and encourages further discussion. In Divine Discourse, Wolterstorff takes up three important philosophical topics, viz., divine revelation, philosophy of language and hermeneutics. The opening argument of the book is that the Bible should be understood under the rubric of divine speech, rather than divine revelation. This argument is followed by an analysis of divine speech in light of the speech-act theory of John Austin and John Searle. Such an analysis attaches significant weight to the role of the speaker or author in fixing the meaning of a speech-act or text. Since this is not an uncontroversial position in contemporary philosophical discussions of interpretation, Wolterstorff devotes a couple of chapters to answering criticisms from two of his more important critics, Paul Ricouer and Jacques Derrida. The remainder of the book takes up a variety of interesting hermeneutic and theological issues that arise from the fact that the Bible is both a divine and a human product. I would recommend this book on the strength of the opening discussion of Augustine's conversion experience alone. For anyone interested in the philosophical and theological issues surrounding the nature and interpretation of the Bible, this book is worth a careful read. For anyone interested in the impact of philosophy of language on hermeneutics, Divine Discourse provides important food for thought. And for anyone who is weary of the traditional disciplinary lines separating theology from philosophy, hermeneutics from the philosophy of language, or Anglo-American from contemporary European philosophy, this book will provide a welcome and refreshing change.

This biography was written by Jefferson's grandaughter to show "the beauties and charms of his domestic character." It is primarily through using his letters, which include over the years, those to his daughters, grandchildren, his sons-in-law, Layfayette, John Adams, Madison, lady friends in France, and others. The circumstances under which these were written are described.

Interesting to me were new insights into why Jefferson continued to serve in politics when he found it repugnant, his observations about the the French Revolution and Napolean, and his great affection and fatherly advice on health, education, and character building found in the letters to his daughters, and some grandchildren. In one instance, he discusses raising chickens. He also describes the pain of losing his wife and child, and a grandchild, to Abigail Adams.

Puts a little more flesh on the events, and on a giant of the 19th century. Good book to read in spirts.

Dorothy Dunnett's profound erudition and unprecedented ability to incorporate information into her novels set her apart from many, if not most, authors of historical fiction. The fact that her novels are so packed with information (as well as plot) is one of the reasons I love her books so much. I read her books, I devour her books, and I always want to learn more about the time periods she evokes so effectively.

That is where this book comes in. The novels provide tantalizing glimpses into a rich and complex world; the Companion allows the interested reader to pursue these glimpses into the labyrinthine world of Renaissance life and politics. The Companion (and what I say here applies to both Volumes I and II) is organized alphabetically and makes it possible for the reader who wants to do so to learn more about the multitude of historical figures who are so beautifully woven into the novels.

The Companion also provides the means for tracking down the quotations and other rhetorical devices that appear in the novels. The Companion carefully provides enough information to educate the reader, but not so much as to give away any of the plots of the novels. This is a delicate task, but is accomplished beautifully.

We all miss Dorothy Dunnett. May her novels long survive in print, and may the number of her fans continue to grow. Books like the Companion will help to make sure that both of these exhortations remain reality.

Down to the Sea by Jay Nicholas captures the imagination of both children and adults. A young salmon calls for help to the man kneeling on the riverbank, "My neighborhood is no longer safe," the little smolt cries, "and no one seems to care." The man tells the smolt that people in Oregon do care and have written a four volume Plan to help. The Plan is too heavy for the little fish to carry back to his friends, so the man reduces its length to one volume, then one page, and finally a single sentence. Now the smolt can carry the good news to the other salmon that the people of Oregon have pledged to make their ecosystem safe.

This fanciful tale with its Picasso-like art is a must for every concerned person's library.

Have you read this book yet then you should. This is the best book I have read in a long time! It is adventurous and exciting! So I recommend this book to everyone!

Buy this book!

It is not written in an overly accessible style. When I say--truthfully--that it will enrich your spiritual life, I do not mean that Lash has written a set of meditations on which it would be easy to focus in worship or prayer. I mean that the ideas he elaborates are profoundly important. Drawing on the thought of Karl Rahner, he offers a powerful critique of dualistic spiritualities--he focuses on William James in particular--that equate "experience of God" with a particular range of conscious feelings. He rejects the view that God can be isolated to a narrow district of experience, suggesting instead that Easter happens in the ordinary. The book is a marvelous trip through recent theology, full of useful insights. (Because it isn't especially reader-friendly, it might be worth spending time with the parallel essay in the author's 1986 collection, Theology on the Way to Emmaus.)

Buy this book!