This book does a great service to those of us who have been struggling with the elusive Nagarjuna. It reveals the depth of his roots in early Buddhist tradition (building on and correcting the work of A.K. Warder and David Kalupahana) and allows his works to be read as a vibrant repristination of basic Buddhist insight. Particularly interesting is the account of the early Buddhist antecedents of Nagarjuna's formulation of the two truths theory (conventional and ultimate truth). Harris also shows how close were the Yogacara (mind-only) and Madhyamaka (emptiness) traditions and how inapposite is the later labeling of them as rival "schools." He blames many of the distortions in our view of Nagarjuna on his most famous commentator Candrakirti, whom he accuses of radicalizing the contrast of the two truths at the expense of conventional truth (pp. 116-17). Candrakirti accuses Yogacara of absolutizing a conventional doctrine (which he has no quarrel with as such), but Harris claims that the Yogacarins "actually agree with him that all dogmas must be, by definition, non-ultimate" (p. 164). Candrakirti's sparring-partner Bhavaviveka attacks Yogacara from the opposite angle, accusing it of devaluing conventional reality; this again misses the substantial overlap of the Madhyamaka and Yogacara traditions. Harris is a master of the sources, which he quotes and translates illuminatingly throughout. He evokes the realm of nirvana and emptiness, the quiescence of fabrications, in lucid pages that have "the savor of liberation." He asserts that emptiness is a state of mind, not an ontological reality, and perhaps goes too far in this direction. He talks of ultimate reality as "an ontologically indeterminate existence realm" (p. 131), which is rather opaque and unhelpful diction. What he means is that it lies beyond the grasp of dualistic categories of being and non-being. (Alas, there are an appalling number of misprints, despite the high price of the book.)

Admittedly, the title is a bit strange. But the high price gives it away: this is a truly scholarly work. The publisher doubtless recognizes that the audience is very specialized. But readers from that special group of historians and other scholars of culture are likely to be knocked over as if by the powerful whiff of...well, something of fragrance so exotic you can't resist.

Who knew that camphor could become the focus of an entire book, replete with world history, maps, and references it would take a sabbatical year to check out in full? Previously, you might only have thought about camphor, if at all, in connection with a certain brand of lip chap and perhaps a chunk of whitish waxy substance in a museum cabinet. But Donkin doesn't just make this seemingly obscure substance the main character of a fascinating (his)tory. He writes a prolegomenon (fancy word for introduction) to humanity's fascination with aromatic substances of all kinds.

I discovered the book because I needed a research topic on plants in the Middle Ages. My work (I'm a professor of Humanities) is on a 14th century Alexander narrative. The year qualifies as Middle Ages, so where were the plants? Well, one short section had Alexander visiting "Indian" (really Sumatran) islands where camphor was grown. My best guess was that camphor came from a plant--could this be my topic?

A keyword search at the university library brought up Donkin's book. Bingo! I found out that not only does camphor come from a tree; it comes from three different types of tree, and several other non-woody plants as well. (Actually people just had different ideas about which plant's resin produced the substance to be called "camphor.") Moreover, I found out all about the Arab geographers my author, who was Turkish, would have read.

Would my research purposes have been satisfied by something less than Donkin's book? Yes. It is hard to imagine who would ever need this much information about camphor. But the book is about a lot more than that.

The epigraph indicates that the author worked on this book over the course of fifty years. The notes he compiled cover the history of the camphor trade in Europe, the Arab world, India, Southeast Asia, and China. They tell about physicians, alchemists, adventurers, storytellers, merchants, all in some way connected with camphor. There are fascinating maps and pictures, too. My favorite illustration is a stylized painting of a leopard prowling in front of camphor trees.

The fact that there isn't one single passage where Donkin sets out, "The uses of camphor are as follows....." makes the book all the more like a novel with intertwining strands. Unexpectedly, one comes across a reference, say, to use of camphor in beverages. How was it made into beverages? Who drank it? What did it taste like? No clues--on to the next topic. Organization within chapters is admittedly rather loose. I would have preferred summaries of all the botanical information, medical information, uses of camphor information, in one place. A few Arabic words were misspelled. The botanical information wasn't too clear, as though extracted from sources without much understanding. But those are minor criticisms. If I had compiled that much information--about anything--my organization would be loose, too.

Once my current quirky piece of research is done, I doubt that I'll have much practical use for information on camphor. Of course obscure information is to be treasured for its own sake. But what will stay with me will be the spell cast by the whole. Starting with one minor feature of the vast world of materials and humans, Donkin weaves a spell-binding web of cultural insight.

*Dragon's Brain Perfume* offers a lot to think about with regard to the tremendous effort humans go to, and the immense prices they pay, to get things that smell good, or at least interesting: spices, perfumes, incense, and, of course, taste sensations. (Recall how dull the palate is with a stuffy nose.) Coca Cola is aroma in a vehicle of sugar and water, with prickly bubbles to enhance sensation. Any sophisticated packaging is aroma. Soaps, candles, shampoos, cleaning products--all have to have fragrance, or be "New! Fragrance Free!" to be marketable.

Modern technology allows thousands of fragrances to be manufactured, but in earlier times, people had to get down to the grit and get plants. Donkin explains that the geographic range of aromatic plants is quite limited--I didn't know this. To be honest, I didn't buy the book. I got it from the library, with some trouble. If you're a member of that limited audience--a scholarly obsessive with an nose for the exotica of everyday life, it will be worth a lot of your trouble, or money, if you have it, to get a hold of this book.

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ISLAM is by far the most exhaustivereligious encyclopeda ever developed. Only about two thirds completedthe work is already generally recognized as one of the greatest collective achievements of History of Religions scholarship. With the CD-ROM edition now available for instutions and scholars the availablity of this masterful reference work will have an even greater diffusion and influence than it already has. Also Brill is dedicated to providing timely updates to all registered owners as they become available. The result of decades of research and work, Brill's THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ISLAM is generally considered as one of the major scholarly enterprises of this century. Its sheer size and scope are enormous. Its millions of words and thousands of articles contain a true mine of information of immense value for any student and researcher of the Islamic world. This renowned reference work is now available on CD-ROM. We tested the individual edition in English and found the work useful. We did have some problems with installation but Brill has provided quite clear online help. As a research tool THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ISLAM CD-ROM has all the advantages of electronic searchability with a number of unique advantages that unlocks its great wealth of detail in this reference work and thereby enhances research. It facilitates easy and efficient searching throughout this huge body of information. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ISLAM CD-ROM (EI CD) contains the volumes 1 to 9 (out of the prospective 13 volumes) and includes a large amount of figures, line drawings, genealogical tables and maps. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ISLAM CD-ROM makes use of cross-referencing hyperlinks in a way that has never before been offered in electronic publishing. Furthermore it contains indexes with hyperlinks to the main text. It allows for extensive, fully searchable bibliographies in English, and also offers advanced searching possibilities in Arabic transcription. By placing bookmarks and making notes the user has the ability to make annotations that can persoanalize research. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ISLAM CD-ROM is an invaluable reference tool that no scholar or researcher in the Islamic world can afford to be without, This CD-Rom edition is a groundbreaking development in Islamic Studies.

This book i cannot tire of. It is my all time favorite. The characters, the magic... Full of warmth and beauty and it really takes you there. Highly Recommended Classic, little known fairy tale.

This series is so informative, appropriate for youth and adults alike ! I knew nothing about the country when I first read this book and now feel I have a good general overview . Well written and entertaining it describes the people , history , geography and social system of this beautiful country . Well worth the money , buy this one !

Brill's contention is fascinating: Hitchcock was NOT a macabre misfit interested only in the sick and scary. Rather, says Brill, H's films on the whole are hopeful, affirming, generating conventional suspense and working toward a happily-ever-after ending. Works like Psycho and Vertigo, Brill contends, are exceptions to more typical works like North by Northwest and The 39 Steps, which are quite upbeat and happy. According to Brill, Hitch is really an ironist whose occasional subversions of his generally hopeful outlook have received more critical attention; but that doesn't mean his whole ouevre is one of despair or pessimism. Brill argues magnificently in many well-informed essays; though his citation of Trouble with Harry as the quintessential Hitchcock film is a bit hard to swallow. Highly recommended for Hitchcock fans!

Targ and Targ Brill have done a great job in bringing the essence of the country to the pages. Their obviously encyclopedic knowledge of Honduras is conveyed in clear, living pictures that have great appeal regardless of the reader's age. This is a "Don't Miss" book about an obviously "Don't Miss" country.

This book was long time in coming ! Nothing like it exists in the West, nor indeed Japan. The author (Gino Piovesana) an Italian Jesuit spent most of his studies in Japan. The book covers an important period of transitions in Japanese philosophical thought touching upon the influence of Western philosophy (including Marxism) upon the ideas which changed Japanese perceptions of thier modus vivendi.

It encapsulates all the key players and gives a synospis of their philosophies and the authors qualified opinion.... based upon the prevailing currents.

This is an updated rendition to bring the reader into modern thought and recent thinking.

16th.july 2000

Marlene Targ Brill's juvenile biography of President James Buchanan ends the commentary of Northern newspapers after his death in 1868. Springfield newspapers declared "there was nothing interesting about him" and that he would be remembered as the "president who was willing to concede everything, before he would fight, and then he wouldn't." As the president who served on the eve of the Civil War and was replaced in the White House by Abraham Lincoln, Buchanan is a figure of no small historical interest, but little historical study. Brill likes to begin her political biographies in media res, so this book begins with the fact Buchanan was the first President to be investigated by the House of Representatives for possible impeachment. At the end of her first chapter, Brill provides the verdict of the times on Buchanan: "critics from all sides saw him as a weak, outdated old man who was bungling his presidency."

Trill relates how Buchanan came to be the wrong man at the wrong time to occupy the White House. She traces his educational training and his political career, which saw him go from member of Congress to Andrew Jackson's Minister to Russia. From there he served in the U.S. Senate and as James Polk's Secretary of State. Trill does a nice job of showing why Buchanan was elected President in 1856. Although he opposed slavery on personal grounds, Buchanan held the Constitution protected the institution. While John Brown was killing people in the west and Rep. Preston Brooks was beating Sen. Charles Sumner senseless with a cane on the floor of Congress for an antislavery attack, Buchanan was one of the few politicians who had not gotten involved in the public debate. At the time he was considered a wise statesman who would maintain the peace. However, today most historians consider the Civil War to have been inevitable and Buchanan was caught up in forces beyond any man's control.

This is not a slick looking book but it does provide more than adequate coverage of the life of its subject, which is supposed to be its purpose. There are certainly better looking juvenile biographies of Buchanan, but they do not provide the amount of information Brill presents here, which would be the chief reason for picking this book. Illustrated with dozens of black and white illustrations, mostly engravings and illustrations from Buchanan's lifetime, as well as maps, pamphlets and early photographs, "James Buchanan" contains a detailed Chronology of American History that lists virtually ever year from the birth of Washington in 1732 to the crash of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986, when this book was published. In terms of the amount of information provided, the Encyclopedia of Presidents is the best series I have come across to date. For younger students I would recommend the book on Buchanan by Gerry and Janet Souter for the Our Presidents series.

Thankfully the author rearranged his doctoral dissertation in writing this book. It is a chronological narrative rather than the inherently repetitious thematic format typical of theses. Lengthy scholarly debates and asides have been relegated to 14 appendices that take up almost half the book. For my own purposes, research on the military history of the rebellion, those on Jewish army strengths, structure, weapons and fighting methods were invaluable. Price believes that Josephus, in his effort to point the finger at a few of the rebel factions...the so-called Zealots and the Sicarii-- did not probe deeply enough to reveal the basic divisions among the different social classes, religious groups, leadership, and economic interests in Judaea. In hilighting these internal fractures, he necessarily concentrates upon the infighting in the capital (68/69) and Titus' siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE, the previous four years of the war being covered in a few enlightening chapters. Given the controversial nature of Josephus, our principal informant, Price engages in historiographical discussion throughout the book, trying to re-read Josephus from the viewpoint of the Jewish resistance. He has provided ample discussion in footnotes where he differs with modern authorities. His discussion of the proper use of Josephus, in the text and the appendices, is exemplary. However, given the cost of the book and it's scholarly, though readable, approach, those with a more casual interest in the revolt should probably try to dig up a copy of the Penguin edition of Josephus' Jewish War.

This book definitely fills a void. Studies of the military aspect of the Great Revolt are very hard to find. One must scour the scattered backfiles of theological journals, archaelogical series and classical reviews. Jerusalem Under Siege will serve as a definitive reference on the nature and course of military operations as well as the quality of the Jewish leadership.

Large metropolitann libraries and university collections should own this book.