This book describes the life of Francis of Assisi, his humanness and his deep spirituality, told through the eyes of Francis in modern times. You truly come to know Francis, and are inspired by his actions to lead a more simple and spiritual existance and to draw yourself completely into the arms of a loving God. This is one of the best short books that I've read in a long time. I'd read it again in a heartbeat and refer to it whenever I need to be rejeuvenated in my faith.

This book is simply wonderful, written by a man who knew very well and loved the places where Francis lived his life, and knew so much of His spiritualty. This book is a way to discover the life and beliefs of the man of Assisi, to make it nearer to us, to refer his culture to the culture of our days. After having read this Carretto's book you couldn't love Francesco D'Assisi, no matter what your faith or belief is.

I first read this book back in 1995, when I was in basic training. It was my only escape from the monotony of Army indoctrination. It is a very enjoyable read filled with stories of valiant last stands and last minute reprieves won by hard fighting soldiers throughout history. Unfortunately my drill sergeant took my copy away from me and I have never seen another copy of this book in stores since then. This is the book that got me started reading military history books, and I have never found it's equal in terms of sheer entertainment value and ease of reading, I strongly recommend purchasing this book.

This has got to be one of the best reads out there for history books. It is about some of the most gripping and inspirational last stands from Western military history. Military history books are just about all I buy these days and I rarely read one more than once. I read this book three times! Like a dork, I loaned it to a friend and never saw it again. It's out of print now, but if you can get it, don't hesitate.

Buddha Heart, Buddha Mind: Living The Four Noble Truths is a compilation of passages from lectures delivered the His Holiness, The Dalai Lama. As The Dalai Lama addresses such timeless issues as how personal suffering can be ended, how to become truly compassionate, and whether or not the potential for happiness resides within our own power, he speaks as a spiritual friend with a sharp, compassionate, and humorous understanding of the human condition. A core title for contemporary Buddhist philosophical and instructional collections, Buddha Heart, Buddha Mind reveals answers to basic sources of anxiety, personal limitations, the problem of death, the deepest responsibilities of human life, and much more.

This man is truely a prophet. If you want to have a radical understanding about church read his book!

What makes "The Gathering Storm 1787-1829" so compelling is that it is about the period in American history where slavery was not in the forefront of American politics. I was thinking about what I thought I knew about this period, and it was basically that after the Federal Constitution institutionalized slavery several generations went by before the Missouri Compromise and the Nat Turner rebellion made slavery the national issue. Of course, this was a naive reduction of American history on my part, which is corrected by Mary Sisson's informative fifth volume in the Milestones in Black American History series. "The Gathering Storm" covers the period from the framing of the Constitution in 1787 to David Walker's "Appeal" of 1829, which urged slaves to revolt and kill their masters. This division allows the next volume in the series to cover the period from the Nat Turner revolt to the Fugitive Slave Law.

"The Gathering Storm" provides unforgettable details about what slavery was like during these four decades when the number of slaves in the United States tripled. Sisson fills this volume with fascinating details about this period: in 1790 New Jersey and Pennsylvania each had more slaves than Tennessee, while in 1829 Cincinnati, Ohio began enforcing an 1804 statue requiring free blacks to post a $500 bond before settling in the city. There are other examples of laws clearly intended to preserve the institution of slavery, such as those forbidding Quakers from buying slaves that they obviously intended to free. But Sisson is also able to put these facts into context by focusing on two significant developments that had immense ramifications. First, the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney spurred the growth of slave-worked plantations that expanded slavery further west in the South. Second, the successful slave result that resulted in the formation of the independent nation of Haiti. Because of the fear of a slave uprising in the United States, abolitionists were able to get a federal ban on the importation of slaves, which had huge consequences for how slaves were treated and valued in the South.

Sisson also presents a series of compelling historical figures, such as Richard Allen, founder of the Free African Society and of the first independent black church in America; merchant-seaman Paul Cuffe and editor John Russwurm, two of the chief proponents of the colonization movement which sought to resettle free American blacks in West Africa; mathematician Benjamin Banneker who surveyed the land for the District of Columbia and produced a series of almanacs; Gabriel Prosser and Denmark Vesey, who planned slave uprisings that unsettled the South; Vincent Oge and Francois-Dominique Toussaint-Louverture, leaders of the slave revolt that created Haiti; and David Walker, the firebrand who advocated violent revolt or predicated the nation would face a bloody civil war. When the volume ends with the Missouri Compromise and Walker's inflammatory "Appeal," it is clear the Civil War is inevitable.

Young students will have an excellent understanding of both the practice and politics of slavery after reading "The Gathering Storm, 1787-1829." I have not been working through the 16 volumes of the Milestones in Black American History series in order, but this is one of the best volumes in this excellent series, which covers the black experience from Ancient Egypt to the present. Although slavery would continue in the United States until the end of the Civil War, it underwent some significant changes through this period. Sisson does a superb job of organizing this material and making this case.

I had the pleasure of attending a conference presented by the authors. It was fantastic, and we were given a copy of the book for attending. If you already have an alternative program or you are thinking about starting one, this book would be a great resource. These guys really know their stuff!

Sometimes it takes genius, and heart, to say what everyone already knows but can't quite vocalize. Education that takes the person's needs and social context into account; that helps him through dialog rather than imposing top-down curriculums in order to fit him to the rhythms of the dominant socioeconomic powers; that challenges him to think critically about his place in society and the world ("conscientization"); that encourages him to envision what he can do, where he can go....it took Paulo Freire not just to express these laudable goals, but to show us through his work how he actually helped accomplish them among people written off as inferior peasants with no voice in world affairs.

Famous for his book PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED, kicked out of countries for daring to train farm workers and laborers in literacy and critical appraisal, Paulo Freire takes us behind the scenes and shows us what he was thinking, doing, and feeling throughout his long and radical career.

Reading his other work, one might have guessed, say, that when he was much younger, the good doctor was blasted during a lecture on Piaget by a laborer who stood up and asked him on what side of town Freire lived and whether HIS household crammed several unwashed and hungry children into one room. But such anecdotes are of invaluable worth in showing how Freire learned what he learned--painfully.

That the reader can sense in his wordplay that finally the man who'd done so much for others took this opportunity to wane autobiographical may cause a smile or two. But it shouldn't be mistaken for narcissism or pomposity. An activist and faithholder in people oppressed and in despair has earned the right to his eloquence, and it's nice to feel him enjoying it here and there.

For the student of human nature, Freire's own (alas, briefly mentioned) childhood of poverty and early struggles will be of interest thanks to Freire's own take: that these didn't determine his later life so much as gave him tools with which to empathize with other marginalized people. Reading this, I thought of James Hillman's "acorn" notion: that the soul comes into life knowing what it needs, even if it needs unsparing adversity. To a man like Freire, adversity is not an "opportunity"--a manically cheery thesis--so much as the canvas from which he works.

This slim volume won my heart instantly by using art as the basis for discussing the development of the Angelus and using the sound of the bells ringing the Angelus as a example of a half-remembered ritual that still marks time as sacred. By extensive use of sidebars, Fournee has kept the text simple yet provided a significant depth of knowledge.

The Angelus - a devotion said morning, noon and evening - consists of the Hail Mary and the words of the angel at the Annunciation. The text explores the development of the text using art to illustrate the changing understanding of the Annunciation (Millet, Roger Van der Weynden, illuminated manuscripts ...)

Anyone interested in Marian devotions should read this book - its tracing of the development of the Hail Mary prayer is one of the best - as applicable to rosaries as to the Angelus.

Wide variety of encounters - good storytelling. I wish that the author had provided some simple maps so that battle movements could have been more easily visualized.

This book is excellent in presenting selected episodes in the field of war. The stories are generally accessible to anyone who has an interest in the subject. I found the episodes on 20th Century battles especially engaging. Also useful were the little anecdotes like Leading etc.

However, there are some areas in which the book could have been improved. Firstly, I felt that the contents have been too Euro/American-centred, to the point of leaving out a great portion of humanity's experience.

Research into Asia would have revealed the courage and dedication of frontier generals and their families in their task of defending China against nomadic hordes,especially during the Song dynasty. Inter-clan warfare in Japan during the Shogunate periods would also reveal this aspect.

Secondly, I felt that some of the narratives seemed too implausible for Smith to truly empathise with eg. the first and third stories; for the reason that historical records were not exactly kept with the same objective view we experience today. It was not uncommon for exaggerations to take place in the retelling of a war account.

Thirdly, war is not only about combatants' courage, but also about the heroism displayed by the civilian population in civil disobedience, WWII Resistance, guerilla bands etc, in the face of domination. Stories from such experiences would also have been worth including in this collection.

All said, this book is still worth a good read.

I am no student of war, but I could not put this book down. One cannot read this book without pausing to reflect on all those who have sacrificed themselves for us.