It is hard to recommend this book too highly. If you are looking for a spiritual book that says all is ok with the world and leaves you with a glow, this is not your book. If you want to find meaning in the apparitions of the Virgin Mary since Rue de Bac in Paris in 1830 through 1990, be prepared to be challenged in your world view if you have never read about her apparitions before. The underlying tone of the book is spiritual warfare and the joy of those who have followed the Virgin Mary back to God through Jesus. Satan and his minions do exist and want to ruin our lives especially that beyond death. The Virgin Mary comes in fascinating visits as detailed by Michael Brown to guide us away from evil to God and the kind of life God intends for us. Mr. Brown, a former journalist for the NY Times, who returned to Catholic belief after some profound spiritual experiences, as detailed in Prayer of the Warrior, writes at times in a breathless fashion, invariably riveting. He offers evidence of an increasing Satanic attack on humanity since 1830 which is countered by God through Jesus, angels and the Virgin Mary, building to some kind of crescendo still in our future. Though it is amply clear that Mr. Brown is in a hurry, he writes with the restraint of a conservative Catholic. He sticks with the approved apparitions and those apparitions that are still being investigated that have some promise of being approved in the future. Mr Brown's evidence of the influence of evil on certain individuals such as Karl Marx and Lenin begs for more investigation. However, especially if you have read the New Testament, the evidence as presented in this book and others written by Mr. Brown, which I also recommend, help to remove the blinders secular society has placed on us and realize that Heaven is pleading with us to return to God.

Michael H. Brown's, The Final Hour is wonderful reading that puts biblical prophecy into an easy to read perspective and will help to strengthen weak or skeptical faith. It will give you chills and leave you with hope for the future.

This book has so much information that it truly lights a fire in the soul!

I read this book wanting to comprehend how anti-Semitism first originated, flourished, and then culminated in the Holocaust with Christianity as part and parcel of the whole process. Instead, I got countless examples of this ancient hatred and how it manifested itself in the past and present time. I guess this approach was fine for someone who needed to be convinced of the existence of anti-Semitism. But, this approach didn't really help me to better understand the cause and reason behind the subject matter.

This excellent book, which desperately needed to be written, is devoted primarily to the tragic relationship between the Christian Church and the Jewish people.

The writer strives to impart to Christians the recognition of their legacy & heritage from the Jews that indeed existed in the early days of the Church whose members were nearly all Jews themselves.

The author also studies the 'Israel bashing' in today's press/media together with the anti-Israel bias of the UN in relation to the Middle East situation. This plus the 'Christian' persecution of the Jews through the ages and even anti-Semtism preached through some channels of the 'Church' today.

Included foremost is the flawed doctrine taught in some areas of 'replacement theology', which teaches that the 'Church' has 'replaced' Israel in all of God's promises. Despite these Divine promises being made directly to and in relation to the people and nation of Israel, and where those promises were unequivocally & unconditionally everlasting !

Further to this the author actually examines & emphasises many of these Divine promises to Israel & the Jewish people in Scripture, past, present and future (Old & New Testaments).

This superb book stresses in no uncertain terms that Christians need to understand the pain and suffering that countless 'pseudo-Christians' have brought upon the Jewish people over the years and the increasing necessity now for a healing and reconciliation of some magnitude.

The writer illustrates that without an understanding of Scripture, many readers will fail to understand or in any way comprehend, the hatred and vilification towards the Jews throughout history & even the present day. The author reveals the force/person behind the massacres, the holocausts, the attempted genocide of the Jews and the attempts to destroy the State of Israel.

That force being the Devil/Satan, whose passionate hatred and despising of the Jews is a reflection of his hatred of God outlined in the Bible. The same God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob and their descendants, the Jewish people. The people through whom God has chosen to reveal his plan of Salvation, His prophetic plan to return the Jewish people to their Land in the latter days and His prophetic plans for the nation surrounding where the Messiah will return.

By destroying the Jewish people & their state, it is highly likely that Satan will be trying to fulfill his own probable intent of destroying God's prophetic plans in relation to His People and Land, of proving God's promises to be false and subsequently to have thwarted God's plans. Plans revealed that have promised that the Jewish people and Israel will never cease to exist and that God's promises will indeed be fulfilled.

To those dubious amongst you I can only recommend that you get a copy of this book, read it for yourself and actually put everything to an intense personal scrutiny...irrespective of which faith, if any that you profess. This is a message and a book that should not, indeed cannot, be ignored.

Worth every penny and more, this book tells it like it was and is. Covers from the first Christian persecution of the Jews to the Holocaust through today. No-one could ever be the same towards the Jewish people after reading this book!

Highly Recommend!

A week in London, and this map was with me on every outing. The Streetwise Map is a great help in navigating Central London, but if you want to go beyond "Zone One" on the London Bus and Underground system, this map will be of no help at all.

Could stand to cover a bit more area. Don't plan on using it outside the center of London.

During our eight days in London, this map was our constant guide. Laminated in plastic, and fan folded, like an accordian, I carried it in my hip pocket. I could whip it out and open it in two seconds. My 51 year old eyes had no trouble reading the print. All of the information you need for locating and navigating the Underground is also included on the map. When finished with the map, you can snap it shut, and tuck it back in your pocket, again in about two seconds. We developed true affection for this helpful map, and it is now among our keepsakes from the trip.

I really don't remember if I have ever seen a book solely dedicated to evangelizing the Jews, but Michael Brown has provided this resource to us. This is the first of his three volumes, with the final volume being released in 2003. (Boy, I sure wish that we could have had the opportunity to buy one large combined volume; it's no fun trying to remember which of the three books where you saw something and then try to reference the point.) I plan on reading the other two volumes as well. Although there were some places where the writing is a little dry and hard to stay focused, overall I appreciated the questions that were raised and how Brown was able to answer them. I like the fact that Brown is a Jewish Christian, so while some of his brethren may not consider him to be a true "Jew," I think he probably has more authority than a typical "goyyim" like me! His sympathy of the Jewish mindset was very much appreciated. Overall, this book is an excellent resource and has found a place on my bookshelf. I will read the other two volumes and utilize Brown's arguments in the years to come.

This book was the answer to a prayer. I prayed to God to give me a Jewish perspective before attempting to share the gospel with my Jewish friend, I went to the bookstore to find a book (thinking one did not exist), and this was the FIRST book I saw on the shelf. God does hear our prayers! Dr. Brown is a modern-day Apostle Paul, held up by God to be a light not only to the Jews but to Christians as well. I have read Christian apologetics for over 20 years, but always from a "gentile" or Christian perspective. Dr. Brown so richly gives us a Jewish perspective that is much needed by Christians today desiring to reach our Jewish friends. I believe it would be impossible for a Christian to read this book and NOT love Jews more that ever!
The reviewer who said that "nobody with a genuine belief likes to have someone else's belief shoved down his throat." I wonder why he read the book? Also, I find it interesting that Christians do not feel threatened at all by other religions but other religions feel threatened by Christianity. Why is that? Is it the power of Truth?
Also, I have read many antagonistic reviews of Dr. Brown's various books and they all have the same characteristics: 1) no cohesive, logical argument 2) emotionally-driven (anger) and 3) incoherency!
Thank you, Dr. Brown! Wish I could give this book 10 stars!!

For any serious Christian who interacts with Jewish persons, this book is a must read. Michael Brown is a fascinating Jewish Christian scholar whose depth of research into the tough questions about Christianity and Jewry leaves the reader feeling educated and prepared. The author's style is interesting; he writes as though he is dialoguing with a Jewish skeptic of Jesus. The Gentile reader may feel a little left out or in the dark at first, but the insightful reader will eventually feel he or she is sitting in on a debate of the utmost importance. A Christian who knows little about Jewish people will be at times shocked and saddened over the treatment Jews have received over the centuries by so called "Christians", and at the same time fascinated by insight the author offers into how these issues may be heard and answered. This is the first of three volumes due to be released in the year 2000; this volume deals with general and historical objections to Jesus and Christianity. I cannot imagine reading the first without reading the others!

Dr.Brown brings to bear many very important issues that
need to be looked at carefully as to why Rabbinical
Judaism so vehmenently rejects Jesus Christ as Messiah.
The "other side" will no doubt try to refute his answers
and view: but one cannot help but come away with a new
respect for the reasons Christians [and Messianic/Christian
Jews] have for their belief in Jesus [Yeshuah] as and Messiah, - The Promised One.
His notes and annotations, by the way, are alone worth
the price of this book. I know many are awaiting Dr.Brown's
third volume [emphasizing the Messianic prophecies of the
Hebrew Bible] which (hopefully) will be available this year
or next. Dr.Michael Brown is clearly a leading apologist in
this area of controversy. Orthodox "antimissionaries" certainly
have their hands full trying to refute his many well documented
reasons and arguments.

It is interesting to me to see the below reviews which are obviously coming from people who have either never read the book or who read the book without being open to its contents. Unfortunately, when the eyes of a spiritually blinded person reads things about God, it is IMPOSSIBLE for them to rightly understand or discern truth because they are basing what they are reading on their own erroneous paradigm as opposed to with an open heart!

I feel that Michael Brown does an excellent job in tackling many of the issues that have historically plagued believers in their defense of Jesus being the promised Messiah. He has articulated truth in such a way that those who DON'T believe Jesus is the Messiah have reacted maliciously and with venom. That is exactly the response that Jesus received from the very ones that He came to save and deliver. It is my prayer that those who read this manuscript will do so with an open heart, praying that the God of Israel will give them the grace to embrace truth.

If you are ready to be challenged with TRUTH, written by someone who has a heart to see his own people saved, I encourage you to get this book -- it could possibly be one of the most important decisions that you'll ever make.

Dr. Michael Brown has offered Jews and non-Jews alike a thorough overview of the reasons most Jewish people have not become, and are not now followers of Jesus. He has fairly answered and thoroughly referenced his responses to those objections. While some might object to his motivation, which is obviously to encourage his readers to seriously consider the possibility that Scripture does indeed back his belief system, he is upfront in motivation and the book is substantial in content.

In my opinion, the first section, titled "Jews don't believe in the Trinity. We believe in one G-d, not three" is the most valuable discussion in the book. It is the most thorough and honest look at the nature of G-d that I have read, and will clear up gross misunderstandings of who it is that Christians worship. The book is a valuable resource.

I am reviewing the 1st edition.

Dr. Stonebraker is a pioneer in the field of object-relational database management systems (ORDBMS). He writes with confidence and clarity; he knows the subject matter because he was one of the early innovators. The book is mercifully short and to-the-point. It is well organized, and it includes an index, references, short code samples, and plenty of diagrams.

The book assumes you have some background and experience with existing relational database management systems and SQL. It would also help if you have some basic understanding of implementation details like B-tree indexes and cost-based query optimizers. You should also have an understanding of OO concepts like inheritance and polymorphism, and some experience with an OO language like C++, Eiffel, Java, or Smalltalk.

Armed with this background, the book is an excellent overview of the motivation, architecture, design, and features of ORDBMS. I especially liked the chapters on SQL parsing and query optimization, and also the discussions of how inheritance affects query and trigger processing.

If you've never been exposed to the ideas and concepts of "object-relational," this is an excellent starting point. If you have the background described above, you will be able to read this book in a few sittings and come away with a basic - albeit incomplete - understanding of the field of ORDBMS.

I say "incomplete," because Dr. Stonebraker fails to write about the dark side of ORDBMS. For example, once pointer-like references are introduced, the system runs the risk of 'dangling pointers'- precisely the kind thing a purely relational system elegantly avoids. This issue is never once mentioned, and yet I know for a fact it is a danger that must be dealt with on one commercial implementation I have used. There are other issues to be confronted and understood. C.J. Date has written extensively on the subject. Although C.J. Date's writing is sometimes long-winded and pedantic, you won't truly understand the ORDBMS topic until you've read what he has to say.

The book is also a compelling marketing promotion for the product once sold by Stonebraker's now-defunct company. Given the "feature matrices" and other comparisons in the text, it is clear that his product was the hands-down winner at the time the book was written. This is all ancient history, however. The book shows its age and bias. First of all, Stonebraker's company Illustra (later renamed Informix) was recently acquired by IBM. Secondly, very little is said about Oracle, which has since implemented a very respectable OR system of its own. Lastly, most of the other vendors he mentioned have fallen completely off the radar map. These days, all the database vendors have most of their attention turned towards XML and raw OLTP throughput. So it seems like "The Next Great Wave" predicted by Stonebraker never fully materialized. Perhaps the 2nd edition of the book has updated the vendor list and features matrices.

I wish more was said about his early work on the "POSTGRES" system. If you're interested, you can find out much more about POSTGRES and its open-source offspring, PostgresSql, by using any Internet query engine. There is now a whole cottage publishing industry built up around PostgresSql. If you want to experiment and explore ORDBMS, PostgresSql may be a good choice.

Based on what I can see in the table of contents, the 2nd edition doesn't include too much new material. Dr. Stonebraker has added a chapter on application servers. I know from his other work that he argues that middle-tier application servers are wrong-headed, because business logic should reside in the database itself - where it is physically close to the data.

I rate the 1st edition of the book 3 stars because (1) It is dated (2) No space is allotted to the problematic issues of ORDBMS (3) "The Next Great Wave" never seemed to take off as predicted (4) it is overpriced, in my opinion.

Nevertheless, it is a worthwhile and useful book to read if you are interested in the topic. The 2nd edition will surely have an up-to-date comparison of the ORDBMS vendors as of 1999.

The authors have done reasonably well in presenting general design/architecture issues in the area of object relational database management systems.

Poor editing, however, abounds in this book. The reader must wade through paragraphs of opinionated comments, distracting (and often incorrect) pontifications and complaints. For example, hardware designers are roundly chastized for failing to support Multics-style protection-ring logic in today's microprocessors.

The text is heavily sprikled with superlatives such as 'explosive', 'incredible', 'astonishing', etc. It is irritating from a reader's perspective to be digging out good technical material betweeen snippets of pro-Informix marketing hype.

When not engaged in hype, the authors sometimes make curious and possibly false assertions. In one instance, they claim that Wal-Mart's huge data warehouse is utilized to 'rotate stock'. My uninformed suspicion is that they use it for much more than that.

Be prepared to read strange statements such as: "IBM is a hardware vendor - but they also happen to offer a relational database product".

Despite these destractingly spurious comments, I would recommend this text as good reading for those wishing to know more about object relational DBMS architectures.

The book describes in great detail all of the technology that surrounds the object relational approach. It describes in simple terms the trade-offs of different approaches and different techniques for realizing this type of database. I can hear Prof. Stonebraker's voice as I read the descriptions. This man is a true expert and has a deep understanding of all the issues and is able to make his points succinctly and clear. The book is not a sales job for a product, but an honest presentation of a technology and the different attempts to realize it.

I found this book completely useless, although I suppose it may be helpful to U.S. patients. It seemed to me to be a catharsis for the writer, nothing else. As a patient suffering from scleroderma, I wasted my money, and the book ended up in the garbage after I had looked through it. I think it should be made clear that this is not helpful to patients or their families living outside the U.S.

This is a book from someone who has traveled the route with his wife to learn about scleroderma and to obtain quality medical care and necessary assistance. Many avenues they traveled are shared in detail. The author clearly wrote this book in an aim to assist others taking the same path he, his wife and his family were forced to endure.

I got this book for my mother who was diagnosed with scleroderma 5 months ago. It answered questions that we hadn't even thought of yet. The chapters on finding the right doctor and getting information on the Internet were the best. This is a great resource.

I have read all or Crichton's novels (including the "Great Train Robbery" which I highly recommend) with the exception of "Eaters of the Dead" and "Andromeda Strain". Crichton has an uncanny knack for giving the inside story of interesting, even fascinating businesses and technology. I couldn't wait to get my hands on his latest work. This book is his least riveting. I found it tedious and confusing in the details. The characters were not well developed. With the recent rash of air disasters - Value Jet's Florida catastorphe and TWAs continuing mystery over the Atlantic - I expected to be completely enthralled. Contrary to this, the ending left MUCH to be desired; it seemed almost anticlimactic. Kind of like, "Oh, so that's what happened. How interesting..." (said with tounge-in-cheek). If you like learning the inside scoop on big business in a not-well-known industry, you will be mildly interested in this work. If you want gripping drama with plot twists leading up to a totally unexpected ending, I suggest watching "ER", Thursdays on NBC

After oredering this book from Amazon.com it sat on my bookshelf for about 2 months without me starting it. I finally got to this enthralling book and read it in just three days.

The novel stars Casey Singleton the QA director for Norton and an enthralling investigation over an N-22 jet that suffered damage for unknown reasons in the air killing three leaving 56 injured. Through twist and turns Michael Crichton takes you on a thrill ride through the life of a highpowered associate at a major company and phony TV reporters. After CNN shows a disturbing video of footage of what happened on the plane it gives Jennifer Malone, a 29 year old that works for Newsline the idea to make a story of a lifetime. Meanwhile Jennifer wants to interview the people at Norton and Casey has to really figure out what happened. Since the flight data recorder will take over a year to finish she goes on the plane and searches for a QAR and finds one. Throughn many contreversies and plots, Airframe is a book that and reader does not want to miss.

Read this book as soon as you can. You'll thouroghly enjoy it! Good job Michael Crichton!

Crichton does it again! This time we're in the air plane manufacturing business and Crichton makes it live. As an added bonus, we go behind the scenes on one of the most widely accepted venues of 90s American life, news show television. This book has something for everyone: If you watch TV for news, read the papers or listen to the radio... if you fly on a regular basis, fly once in a while, or if you are afraid to fly, you have to read this book!

As a frequent air traveler, he engaged my interest with the very first pages. We witness an event filled morning aboard the passenger cabin of a foreign carrier from the perspective of an American couple bound from Hong Kong to Denver with their baby girl. As I read, my excitment and curiosity grew.

Crichton takes a female point of view for the duration of the book-- and like last summer's movie, the Net, the heroine of AIRFRAME is a woman. Through all the intrigue and mystery surrounding her investigation of an "air incident" we come to admire and respect Casey Singleton for her efforts to find the truth despite high personal risk.

AIRFRAME presents a credible tale filled with encounters that reflect reality in the media and the air transportation business. When I bought it, I thought it might sway my feeling of security on planes, knowing statistics show that flying is much safer than driving a car. On the contrary, the book reinforced my confidence in the air plane industry and the system of air safety in this country. Crichton's surprise ending leaves you with an empathy and sympathy for fellow travelers on life's journey, particulary parents. The understated truth demonstrated by Casey's investigation shows us that seemingly inconsequential everyday decisions can have an enormous impact on others.

Totally readable, totally exciting, totally engrossing Crichton at his best. Don't wait for the movie--buy AIRFRAME, read it, enjoy the ride and tell a friend!

I have had my doubt's about the so called third wave outpouring. To help dispell my doubts I was given this book and a trip up to the Toronto Vineyard Church. After reading the book and seeing the authors poor exegesis, and error wrought hermenutacal approach to the bible, I declined the trip. If you are a mature, biblically grounded Christian able to discern wheat from chaff, I invite you to read this book and make up your own mind. If not I suggest that you take a in-depth study of your bible and get in your prayer closet to ground yourself fully.

Dr. Michael L. Brown has written a highly effective, logical, and scriptural volume that defends God's work among His people today. Using the wise techniques of the Berean in Acts 17, Dr. Brown provides sound scriptural evidence by which any supposed revival movement is to be judged. He accurately shows that there is absolutely no scriptural basis for making negative judgments on revival phenomena such as physical manifestations. He shows that the true Berean will use the Scriptural rules the Lord has deemed appropriate, namely the "fruit" test. But Brown also goes the extra mile by appealling to church history, showing that men such as John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, etc. had to endure the exact same types of criticism and slander when God began to move in their meetings. He also shows that physical phenomena such as falling to the ground, shaking, laughing, etc. are far from being unique to current revival movements. He accurately shows that they were very prevalent in the meetings of Wesley, Whitefield, Edwards, etc. and that these men judged by the Word (i.e. by the fruit in the lives of the individuals so affected) and not by any rule of physical phenomena that is not in the Scriptures. Dr. Brown also includes an appendix which is a review of Hank Hannegraaf's 'Counterfeit Revival' and accurately exposes Hank's poor scholarship, misrepresentations, and downright deception. But above all of this, Brown's passionate heart for the critics who are in error is clearly evidenced throughout the book, even though he must often use stern rebukes against their tactics. Kudos to Dr. Brown for an accurate and effective volume.

Michael Brown provides an intellectual, and biblical response to the many critics of revival today. His humble writing, asks many thought provoking questions on the authority to criticize, and validates the revival movement at the Brownsville Assembly of God, through Scripture. It's a very powerful book, and is great for anyone who has read the lies of Hank Hannagraph, and any other hyper-critical faction, that questions revival today. Two thumbs-up to Brown and his colleagues. The best thing you can do though, is visit Brownsville Assembly of God, and see for yourself. Know first-hand, not second, or third hand. Seek truth in all that you do.