Deutsche Sprache und Landeskunde is a well-developed text for a first-year German course. In the preface, the authors specifically state that the book was designed after extensive research to avoid the shortcomings of other texts; in particular, they highlight features such as simple grammar explanations, thematically-controlled vocabulary introduction, balanced skill development, cultural relevance in readings and dialogues, and ample activities and "engaging exercises." The book consistently lives up to those promises. Although the book was clearly written for the undergraduate level, it might also be appropriate for mature or advanced high-school level students.

One of the first features of the book that appears particularly attractive is its well-planned layout. Each chapter is organized around a theme, and the themes are ordered in a natural sequence, presenting the experiences of an American exchange student in Germany (Rick) and a German exchange student in America (Renate). For example, the first chapter, Gruß und Abschied, presents greetings and introductory phrases; following chapters include Ankunft in Europa, Erste Eindrücke von Deutschland, and Eine Reise durch Deutschland. These are followed by chapters about national customs, shopping, home life, free-time activities and sport, University studies, and so on. The themes seem quite natural, not artificial, and they would likely be appealing to many students, who would naturally consider learning a language as a means to using it in the land(s) where it is spoken.

Each chapter is divided into six units, each of which has a consistent style across the book: 1) Vorschau ("Preview") - a "cognitive overview" of the chapter's theme and core vocabulary. Most have drawings with vocabulary labeled, or occasionally photographs. These are followed by exercises to practice the vocabulary: fill-in-the-blank, word matching, sentence creation, free-style question answering.

2) Phonologie ("Phonology") - a short one or two page unit on a particular sound in German. (The book itself is prefaced by a two-page introduction to the letters and sounds of the language). While this section is an obvious attempt to make sure that phonological topics are spread throughout the text and not just lumped (and overlooked) at the start, the effect is that material that would be useful near the start of the course - the critical German ch sounds [ç] and [X], for example, - are found nearly at the end of the book. This is definitely material beginners would need early-on.

3) Sequenzen ("Sequences") - These form the heart of each chapter, presenting concise grammatical lessons in well-organized units. Each starts with a short dialog that demonstrates the structure or concept for that particular sequence. The dialogues are quite natural - they follow the 'theme' of the chapter, usually having to do with one of the two exchange students - and they employ short but meaningful sentences that students could quite easily learn and also put to use. They are followed by content-based questions in German, both objective and subjective, designed to check students' understanding of the passage and to provide practice in using its forms. An English translation of the dialog, using every-day colloquial forms, appears at the bottom of the page. Next come the grammatical units - first, a brief description, never more than a few paragraphs, followed by a series of examples, often in table format and almost always using real German sentences. Here, the book lives up to its promise of making grammatical explanations simple - even topics late in the text are never given the appearance of being ponderous. Exceptions or finer points are often noted at the bottom of the page. A generous number of exercises in German follow each grammatical topic, enough to provide even those students feeling challenged by the material with plenty of practice. The exercises usually start with pattern-practice drills, followed by simple substitution and transformation drills, then sentence completion drills and open-ended exercises for freer student expression.

Taken together, this combination of an inductive introduction to material, followed by a deductive explanation with examples in natural, useable German, capped with a variety of exercises, provides an excellent and highly useable coverage of the grammar of the language.

4) Sammeltext ("Collected Text") - Following the grammar units is a one- or two-page text in German designed to review and reinforce the grammar structures and the vocabulary encountered in the chapter. Designed as reading practice, they usually take the form of a letter, dialogue, or short monologue. Incidental vocabulary is glossed in the side margins of the page. No exercises follow.

5) Kulturecke ("Culture Corner") - Next in each chapter is a short cultural unit related to the current topic: forms for writing letters, the media, public transport, the Kaffee und Kuche tradition (German "tea time"), the school and university systems, etc. This cultural information is the gem of the book -- avoiding glib stereotypes, it introduces students to the commonalities and differences between American and German life. (Unfortunately, the inclusion of Switzerland and Austria as the final two chapters makes them seem almost like an afterthought).

6) Wortschatz ("Vocabulary") - At the end of each chapter, new vocabulary is summarized by part of speech, with lists in German and English side-by-side.

Every chapter also starts with a page describing the language and cultural objectives for the unit, along with a brief outline of material. The objectives are well written - not only describing what will be discussed, but also why a student might use such material in real-world situations.

Following each chapter is a mini-unit on blue pages called a Zwischenspiel ("in-between game") presenting excellent additional material for communication practice - oral situations and dialogues to be acted out, short readings, and writing exercises. An Endspiel unit at the end of the book presents a brief excerpt from the Dürrenmatt play, "Das Unternehmen der Wega." Unlike the exercises within the chapters, which stay quite close to the ongoing themes of the two exchange students, these exercises are based around situations in average German life, and provide excellent material to create opportunities for individual and group student practice in using all four language skills from the start.

The book includes an Appendix that summarizes the key information about German verbs - both regular and irregular ("weak" and "strong") verbs - in a tabular format in under eight pages. This can serve as a handy reference for students and as a learning aid for those whose learning style makes them inclined to prefer a more structured, rather than descriptive, approach. The addition of tables summarizing pronoun cases and adjective declensions would have been useful.

One criticism with the layout of the text is that, in trying to present such a wealth of material for a year's course in German language and culture in 600 pages, the text itself appears simply too dense. The book could benefit from more white space, and perhaps differing type styles to differentiate types of material - explanations, exercises, dialogues. It could be daunting for some students to approach, and certainly could not be covered in its entirety by any typical class.

Fire in the Crucible rates top on my list of non-fiction reads. Briggs offers understanding of the creative process; he delves into the personalities and motivations of creators and leaves the reader inspired and ignited. One of the finest books I have read on creativity. A book for all who need their creative fires stoked.

I just received this book and I think it is excellent. Chapters start with an introduction or summary, and end with either a conclusion or implications section, which makes it easy to preview the topic without having to read a lot. There are 3 things I should warn prospective buyers, though: it is expensive ($89.95 the paperback edition!), it is extensive (enciclopedic, with almost a 1000 pages), and it is written for "people in the know" (NOT a beginners' book). But because it is so extensive, it has a chapter on every topic on personality psychology theories I could think of. Great as a reference book!

Excellent poetry handbook. Where Paul Fussell does 'Poetic Meter and Poetic Form', Monaco and Briggs do metaphor.

This is a fantastic historical atlas. I have a collection of dozens of historical atlases and the quality is not always high. Too often topical historical "atlases" have too few actual maps -- most of which are just reprinted from earlier historical atlases.

"The Penguin Atlas of British & Irish History" is the exact opposite. There's an original full-color map on every page. The atlas covers the whole length of British history from the Ice Age to the Chunnel. The maps are very well made and detailed, alternating between overviews of the whole of the British Isles and close-ups of particular cities, regions, and topics. One particularly nice touch is original panoramic reconstructions of historic sites including: Roman-era London, Viking-era York, Medieval Norwich, Tudor-era London, 18th-century Dublin and Edinburgh, 19th-century Manchester, and contemporary London...

In Pilgrim Pathways: Essays In Baptist History In Honour Of B. R. White, William H. Brackney (principal of the Divinity College and professor of Historical Theology, McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada), Paul S. Fiddes (principal of Regent's Park College and a member of the Faculty of Theology at University of Oxford), and John H. Y. Briggs (principal of Westhill College of Higher Education in Selly Oak, Birmingham) collaborate to assemble fifteen contributors whose outstanding essays in Baptist history comprise an enduring memorial to Barrington Raymond White, an ordained Baptist Minister in the Baptist Union of Great Britain and tutor in Ecclesiastical History at Regent's Park College, and elected Senior Research Fellow in Ecclesiastical History in the College, Pastor in the college community, and dedicated to enriching the training for students in the Christian ministry. Pilgrim Pathways is highly recommended, informative, rewarding reading for students of Christian studies in general, and Baptist history in particular.

Trollope covers broad range of life in this wonderfully amusing tale of three very diverse clerks and the career paths they take in Victorian England. He depicts them with depth and sympathy and you can't help feeling sorry for the plights their own follies bring upon them. Trollope knew the life he wrote about from his own eventful and long remembered career as a postal worker! Romance and vivid scene painting combine with social comentary to make Three Clerks a classic worth reading for pleasure as well as for the cultural history education it offers.

Finally, somebody put a face on type! This is a wonderful book: a graphical guide to the 16 MBTI types. I feel like I have just switched over from DOS to Windows. Why hasn't anybody done this before? I have always found the 16 MBTI codes to be a little dry and lacking in "personality." For many years, I have failed to get my friends and family interested in the 16 MBTI codes. Now, when I show them the picture system and icons in this book, they light up, they finally start to get it. And, I am seeing the 16 types in a whole new light myself. It is so great to be able to talk to my loved ones in the same language now. I copied and put icons of the whole family up on the refrigerator. It works! We are very different people. Now, we argue a little less, and laugh a little more. Picture=1000 words. I am so happy to have found this book. Thank you.

I had the pleasure of attending Mr. Lopker's presentation on
personality types and parenting at the Sun Valley Mountain Wellness Festival in 2002. I then purchased his book "Pictures of Personalities" and I was amazed to say the least. My daughter and I had what you would call Personality differences. After reading this book I see my daughter in a whole new light. I understand "her" and myself better and we have had an open communication ever since.

Pictures of Personality illustrates everything very well including the four letter MBTI codes. Also, it covers the four temperaments and shows how they fit into the 16 types. It is certainly not bedtime reading. Parts of it are very challenging, but I found that it soon soaks in. It is very precisely written with clear definitions of all the different divisions that create the types. The color coded graphics (one set looks like the icons on international road signs) made it easy for me to get a mental picture of each personality type.

I was really hoping this would be a good one. It had all the right qualities to turn out a great piece of literature. Unfortunately, it ended up being an insight to the not-yet-matured mental ramblings of its authors. Briggs and Peat insult everything from mountain climbing to the Rennaissance to the Mendelbrot Set itself. Then they glorify things like the Dark Ages! The book seems to be a struggle to overcome a Kantian mindset, in which the authors present themselves as incoherent and more "searching" than their proposed audience. The only reason I've granted it two stars, is that perhaps it could serve as an introduction to Chaos Theory, or more likely the philosophical disease of Collectivism. To anyone with any knowledge of Chaos, on the other hand, this book will leave you frustrated when the authors continually misuse terms such as "feedback loop," or when they generalize with terms such as "scientists found..." or "researchers say..." but fail to cite specifics. This kind of circumlocution leaves me wishing I had gotten more out of the book, and even insulted by the book's presumption that I would overlook such emotive language. Read at your own risk! I advise something a little less societally degrading. Look for a book that will actually teach you something about this amazing scientific discovery without slandering its position in academia and your own life. Try "Chaos," by James Gleick.If you need something that brings philosophy into a revolutionary science, look for "The Dancing Wu-Li Masters," by Gary Zukav. It deals with quantum physics rather than Chaos Theory, but in a much more respectable way.

I found this book to reverse every mental polarity in me, as if I had been pulled through infinity.

SEVEN LIFE LESSONS OF CHAOS : Spiritual Wisdom from The Science of Change. By John Briggs and F. David Peat. 207 pp. New York : HarperPerennial, 1999. 0-06-018246-6 (pbk.)

Writing in the thirteenth century, Japan's great Zen Master Dogen Zenji (1200-1253) told this little story :

"Long ago a monk asked an old master, "When hundreds, thousands, or myriads of objects come all at once, what should be done?" The master replied, "Don't try to control them." What he means is that in whatever way objects come, do not try to change them. Whatever comes is the buddha-dharma, not objects at all.... Even if you try to control what comes, it cannot be controlled" (trans. Ed Brown and Kazuaki Tanahashi, 'Moon in a Dewdrop,' p.164).

All our life is spent trying to make things happen. Nice things, to us. But how often do we succeed ? Isn't it the case that we almost always fail ? And given the enormous effort that we all put into trying to make nice things happen, isn't it puzzling that we so very rarely succeed ?

Could it be that our constant failures hold a message for us ? Could it be that we cannot in fact make things happen ? And if this is so, why is it so ?

Is it because that behind any event there are so many causes that we could never hope to have personally generated more than a few? And that those few are not enough to nudge an event in the precise direction we would like it to take ? A happy direction, and one that will bring good things to us ?

Rather than desperately trying to make things happen, wouldn't it be wiser to shift into alignment with the one big thing that is happening all around, letting it lead us along through the good and the bad, no longer struggling but calmly being guided, so that the event may unfold, naturally, like a Rose ?

If you are still with me and haven't yet read Briggs and Peat's marvelous and inspiring book on Chaos as the unfoldment of the Amazing Rose that is the Universe, and how best to play one's role within that ongoing unfoldment, I'd suggest that you get your nose into it now. The fantastic news it brings was brought for you.

THis is an "OK" book. Even though I know most of the stories in the book....I believe it did a good job in trying to introduce parts of Ethiopia many folks wouldn't know.:)

John Graham obviously has a profound amount of affection and respect for Ethiopia. It's history, culture and joie de vivre. I'm not sure many Anglo-North Americans have thought about Ethipoia as a vacation destination, but Graham's description of dance bars in the big city, 2000 year old churches, and bustling villages and markets Make it seem far more real than the stereotypes we are used to.

Not that Graham makes it seem like the easiest place to travel, but he quickly gets way, way beyond the big-bellied child and desperate, doe-eyed mother of World Vision imagery to a nation of dignity and depth. The author understands the issues and includes things like when to trust a 'guide' and when not to. As the area's Program Director of Save the Children, he obviously knows what he's talking about, but he also makes it very clear that this mature nation has a wealth of experience to shareand expresses a deep committment to the real people of Ethiopia.

Graham's good, edging on sarcastic, humour makes this book an easy read. (The chapter about hitting a pedestrian walks the line between humour and horror with amzing balance). Whether you're planing a trip or not, this book should be picked up by anyone interested in history, religion, Africa, or working overseas. I wasn't even planning a trip, but I'm eager to find an opportunity as soon as I can.