Although most Ryan devotees focus on his more famous "film noir" vehicles as evidence of his skill, Jarlett illuminates his performances in scores of less known films. In Horizons West, Ryan's interpretation of a disgruntled ex-Confederate major achieves more in his portrait than the sum of the film's parts.
Return of the Badmen also featured Ryan's grim portrait of a cold-blooded bank robber that elevates an otherwise pedestrian horse opera to something nearly sublime. Other choice Ryan vignettes can be found in such early Ryan enterprises like Marine Raiders. Made in 1944 when America was fighting the Japanese, Ryan gives a stout performance that achieves real range, again raising a programmer to cult status. The author provides detailed film critiques from major publications (Time, The New York Times, Variety, etc.), providing readers with a glimpse at what critics of those time periods said about Ryan. I was pleased to note upon reading critical reviews of Ryan's character in Marine Raiders that film critic Manny Farber of Nation magazine compared Ryan with Gary Cooper, though in all honesty, Ryan easily outclassed Cooper as an actor. Perhaps Farber was referring to Ryan's quiet magnetism.
Jarlett addresses the question of Ryan's status as the cinema's epitome of the "noir" protagonist, noting his contributions in such "noir" gems as The Racket, Act of Violence, The Woman on the Beach, Beware, My Lovely, Caught, On Dangerous Ground (John Houseman lauded his portrayal of a disillusioned cop as a "disturbing mixture of anger and sadness"). I cannot think of another actor who deserved a book devoted to his life and works besides Ryan. Kudos to Franklin Jarlett for giving us his gift.
Jarlett illuminates the off-screen actor's life, noting that the actor and his wife founded the Oakwood School in California, which stills remains viable today as a solid, academically oriented institution of higher learning.
Besides the fifty or so movie stills, Jarlett's book features interviews with those closest to Ryan, and a glowing preface by John Houseman, who worked closely with Ryan on various stage productions before they became a fad.

When I saw this book at a local book store, I was ecstatic. I had long hoped that someone would write a biography on Ryan, and wondered why this amazingly talented actor never was recognized for his range, versatility, and talent. The picture on the book's cover grabbed my attention immediately: it was none other than Ryan's psychopathic Montgomery from the film noir gem, Crossfire. Oh great!!! I thought; someone finally decided to take on the task of researching material for a book about Ryan.

After purchasing the book, I rushed home to read it, along the way quickly perusing the scores of stills the author included. I was in my glory, since Ryan was my favorite actor growing up. The book is a fully researched tome that seems to have gotten to the heart of the matter. Yes, the book depicts a man whose performances seemed to exemplify the "art" of film-making, rather than the glitz of fame. Herein one can find definitive examples of Ryan's "art". Read Jarlett's reviews of early Ryan gem performances to understand just how great he was: Act of Violence, The Woman On The Beach, Caught, Beware, My Lovely were just a few examples of film as art, and the author seems to understand the ethos that drove Ryan.

I marveled at the author's ability to write with the same sort of artistic merit that Ryan endorsed: the book contains reviews culled from scores of cinema retrospectives on Ryan's films, including Cahiers Du Cinema, Films in Review, and so on. Jarlett's sources of information were first-rate. Who can deny the opinion of John Houseman, whose preface lauds Jarlett's acumen in discerning Ryan's talents?

I agree with one amazon reviewer who noticed Ryan's subtle touches of brilliance in The Racket, a film which portrayed him as a ruthless racketeer who nevertheless garners a degree of pity. The scene where Ryan's Nick Scanlon jauntily munches on an apple while trading words with Robert Mitchum's stalwart cop was a sublime melding of actor and prop.

But The Racket is just one of countless films in which Ryan lent his talents to make good films better. I wondered why Ryan never went after the blockbuster roles that contemporaries landed. Jarlett clarifies this point: Ryan simply didn't care about them, instead searching for artistic expression. The book discusses the great Hollywood directors with whom he worked, in classics such as House of Bamboo, The Naked Spur, On Dangerous Ground, Lonelyhearts, Odds Against Tomorrow, Billy Budd, The Wild Bunch, and his last most trenchant portrait in The Iceman Cometh. Who else but Ryan could have been better as Eugene O'Neill's anarchist Larry Slade?

The book is a one-of-a-kind, definitive exposition of Ryan's life and films, and I applaud Jarlett's commitment to finally bring the actor's life to the forefront. My only regret is that Ryan was not alive to have placed his imprimatur on Jarlett's superb biography.

Having seen most of Ryan's films when I was a child, I was again drawn to seeing them after purchasing Franklin Jarlett's authorized biography. I saw the book at a local book store, attracted by the book cover featuring the familiar scowling features of Ryan from 1947's "Crossfire", which earned him an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor that year. Before purchasing the book, I perused the fifty or so stills from his films, and the detailed filmography, which convinced me that I had made a smart buy. I can happily report that the book is an inspired piece of writing: Jarlett's literary skills make one want to read more. He obviously has gotten to the quick of the man, drawing from scores of film critiques from Cahiers Du Cinema and other esteemed cinema circles.
I read Jarlett's book with fascination after many years of waiting for someone to write a book about Ryan, who was one of the most undervalued talents in Hollywood. I always found it curious that although Ryan came up through the ranks at RKO as one of its contract players from the forties, along with Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster and Robert Mitchum, he never garnered the stardom that they achieved, as least with mainstream audiences. Jarlett amply elucidated the reasons for this phenomenon: Ryan simply didn't care that much about fame; he would rather appear in a film for artistic merit instead of for box office success. I only needed to look at Ryan's films from the forties, which Jarlett reviews in detail, to see what an amazing list of films there were. He obviously spent long hours researching the book, which contains behind-the-scenes stories that Jarlett elicited from Ryan's close circle of friends (John Houseman, John Frankenheimer, Lamont Johnson, Robert Wallsten, Arvin Brown and Millard Lampell).
I noted one Amazon reviewer to remark that the author captured the actor's essence in such performances as the racketeer in The Racket. I was likewise mesmerized by Ryan's quirky interpretation of the psychopathic ex-G.I. in Crossfire. I especially liked Jarlett's analyses of Ryan's other unsung gems, such as in House of Bamboo when Ryan says to his friend after killing him, "Why did you tip the cops, Griff?", or Beware, My Lovely, Act of Violence, The Naked Spur, to name a few. Another interesting fact that Jarlett brought out was that Ryan was the "film noir" king, with fourteen trenchant portraits in that genre over the years. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to delve underneath the surface of Ryan's screen presence since in real life he was the opposite of what he portrayed on the screen.

This book told the of the accounts of a man dedicated to One. This is no ordinary account of a missionary in a foreign land. We read of his good days and bad days. We see John pouring out himself to the people of Norther Afghanistan. We see him at times fustrated and angry. John came accross as just a regular person with an irregular call on his life. He is God's man in Northern Afghanistan.
This book will brings both laughter and tears. It will have you cheering and booing.

I hope many will have a chance to read this book. You will get a glimpse of a life changed by God, and how this young man in his desire to serve the underprivileged found himself serving in a Northern Afghanistan refugee camp. The description and stories from the refugee camp are quite interesting and some are inspirational. For those of us who struggle with the question of why God allows all the problems we see in our world, perhaps the reader will find some answers. Hopefully, we will all be motivated and driven to serve and give to those who are less fortunate.

Not only is this book an interesting and insightful picture into John Weaver's experience, it also reveals the true motive behind so much of the work going on all over Central Asia. I am so grateful for John's gift of articulation and his committment to be honest and bold about the commission we have all been given--to use our blessings and resources to bless and help others in the world. This book is certainly not one meant only for religious readers! Definitly an important read for secular as well as Islamic background people. It gives insight into the heart of relief and community development work ... and it, more importantly, unveils the often misinterpreted heart of love and compassion that many Western aid workers have for peoples who are different than them!

Well written and intriguing. B.J. Rule had created a masterpiece

Talk about a ghost writer, this book is co-authored in-effect by the subject character himself...Sir John! AR

Skeptics disappear after experiencing this riveting saga of the mysterious fate of the noted artic explorer, John Franklin. CR

"Blood finds Blood"..Sir John found B.J. Rule, his descendent, to relate the ture gripping facts of his mysterious fate. TA

The facts validated the channeling. Fascinating Read. MB

History with a Twist. JM

Exceptional-non stop reading! PB

A famous arctic explorer finds a descendent contemporary writer to relate the chilling facts causative of the mysterious disappearance of his voyage and his discovery of The Northwest Passage. NM

Bizaare! Sir John himself...the subject character, dead for 153 years, returns as the literal "ghost co-author" of this riveting historic saga. AM

B.J.'s exhaustive research, vivid descriptions, unique theme, detail orientation, captivating writing skill and the admirable main character create a worthwhile reading happening. A Discerning Reader.

B.J. Rule has solved the mysteries surrounding Sir John Franklin and his expedition. A riveting book full of history, and a beautiful love story.

I like taking this book out for a long night stroll. Maybe it's lightly raining, of course it's dark with only street lights to light up the words on the page. It moves me through and through Lord! Child! it shorely am good it good it good! it so damn good!

this book is unusually thruthful and gripped me from the beginning to the very end - maybe because of the fact that I have something in common with Franklin. So convincinglty written , I'd like to have met the protagonist !

The publication (or to be more accurate, re-publication) in English of Sten Nadolny's The Discovery of Slowness is a major literary event, not only for connoisseurs of fine historical fiction, but also for those of us who concern themselves with leadership, communication and systems-thinking issues.

First published in Germany in 1983, this powerful novel of the life of explorer John Franklin has never been out-of-print in that country since. This is certainly due in part to its stature as a cleanly-written, keenly-observed literary impression of a chaotic age not dissimilar to our own, and of a man whose slower rhythm seems out of joint with that age. What has contributed to the book's longevity in the meantime, however, is the cult-status it enjoys among managers and leaders as a portrayal of a type of leadership that all eras cry out for: the ability to perceive the world not merely at the level of isolated events, but at a level of deep structure where the dynamics of the whole system are revealed, and plans can be made based on better data and profounder understanding.

John Franklin is uniquely suited to play this role: "slow" from birth, he experiences the world as an endless cycle of data-gathering, reflection, and action based on the systemic patterns that reveal themselves to his silent contemplation. The fact that that action can not only be more appropriate than what other, "faster" contemporaries would have initiated, but also swifter in execution and more permanent in its effect, only insinuates itself slowly on a society caught up in the frenetic pace of the early 1800's. One simply does not have the time; doing takes precedence over reflection and doing.

It is, however, through his in-born inability to act in any other manner that John Franklin's career is made, first as a seaman, then as a hero at Trafalgar, as the captain of 3 expeditions in search of the Northwest Passage that instinct tells him must exist, and as the Governor of Tasmania. Author Nadolny is, one suspects, as much concerned with his protagonist's inner journey of adaptation to the world (and the world's to him) as with the external details that lead up to the final, fateful voyage to the Arctic regions and the disappearance of the Franklin expedition in 1845. The measure of Nadolny's artistic success is that he achieves our undivided attention and caring at both levels with his breathtakingly simple prose.

Penguin books has done us a great service by re-releasing the elegant Ralph Freedman translation, once fleetingly available from Viking. For people in search of an elegant humanitarian classic, or a portrayal of the much-touted "servant leadership" in action, The Discovery of Slowness may well be the discovery of the summer. And those who agree about its status as a contemporary classic will want to investigate the same author's delicious Hermes-novel, The God of Impertinence, also newly published by Viking

The last reviewer mentioned another book written by FMW called "Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object," which he states is out of print. Both books are worthwhile, since they refer to separate awakenings. Pathways refers to an earlier awakening and Philosophy to a later one which goes beyond the discoveries made in the earlier. In Philosophy the two stages are described something like (it's been awhile since I read these) 1) the awakening of the subjective pole of subject-object consciousness; and 2) the transcending of subject-object duality altogether. If you are interested in both, be aware that another book, titled "Franklin Merrell-Wolff's Experience and Philosophy: A Personal Record of Transformation and a Discussion of Transcendental Consciousness" (also available at Amazon.com) contains both Pathways and Philosophy. So, rather than buy Pathways, or search around for a secondhand copy of Philosophy, you might want to buy the combined version.

This book is the personal record of the author's transformation of consciousness. The author is very well versed in both western and eastern philosophy, so he was able to put his experience into those frameworks. Frankly, this is the most important book I have ever read. I highly recommend it. I've re-read it several times. He also wrote "Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object", which is unfortunately out of print.

The author has a sophisticated vocabulary, so read it with a dictionary by your side. It's not an easy read.

A great read for anyone who wants to know/vailidate "being in the world but not of the world." Merrell-Wolff writes of his experience in a very feeling and direct way. No trite scientific disection of the "other life," but a shared experience that grant's the direct experience to the reader. Moving from recounting the "Experience" to dynamic words and poetry that comes form the space of that experience, the book is a joy of acknowledgement that this can and should be felt by all. Franklin talks of his struggle to sustain the barage of energy from his "excursions" into the city... the trouble is, he speaks of the late 1930's not the late 1990's; which has all the more to overwhelm one. Having been introduced to Merrell-Wolff from John C. Lilly (the dolphin doctor... some call him;) who writes the introduction to the Julian Press edition; it is refreshing to have another excellent spokesperson to the inner journey. A great book on the journey that more should tread... or at least read of others travel.

JUST WHAT I NEED TO PASS THIS COURSE. FINALLY, I FOUND A BOOK ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR THAT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING IN DETAIL, YET DOESN'T GO ON AND ON ABOUT THE WAR. I'VE READ ALMOST HALF THE BOOK IN ONE DAY, AND IT GIVES VERY DETAILED INFORMATION THAT I CAN PROCESS EASILY. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR CIVIL WAR STUDENTS.

Those of us who study the American Civil War with passion have doubtless been faced with that perplexing question from Civil War novices who know little to nothing of the recent conflict: what is a good, short history of the War with the ability to provide an overview of our favorite period of American history? It's not easy. Do you recommend Shelby Foote's wonderful, yet massive three volume work? James McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom? It's a great work, but probably too deep for the novice. But the answer is here.

Brooks D. Simpson, Associate Professor of History at Arizona State University and author of Let Us Have Peace: Ulysses S. Grant and the Politics of War and Reconstruction, 1861-1868, has brought us a single volume work eminently suitable for novice and experienced Civil War veteran alike. Written as part of the American History Series and published by Harlan Davidson, Inc., this work finally condenses the story of the War to a manageable size for the beginner and student alike.

Mr. Simpson manages to avoid the problems inherent in many works written about the Civil War: that of perceived prejudices and biases towards one side or the other. The causes of the War are examined from both sides, with a strong attempt to understand the motivations of both the North and South. The military conflict is presented in a straight-forward manner, and the limited size of the work limits discussions of major campaigns to highlights, rather than in-depth analysis. In many ways, this is a blessing for this type of work, because many of the controversies so familiar to the student are avoided for the moment.

The author does not conclude the inevitability of a Union victory, suggesting that the chances for Southern independence were available in 1862 and 1863 -- but were also even more apparent in 1864 as the war-weary North had to choose its next President. That Abraham Lincoln, U.S. Grant and William T. Sherman found the military means to generate significant victories and keep the war efforts of the North alive were key elements in eventual Northern victory. That the triumvirate of Lincoln, Sherman and Grant managed to split the Confederacy's ability to manage resources and the willingness to wage war went far towards eventually resolving the conflict. Southern inability to balance and manage these two issues finally led to capitulation in 1865.

Written in a clear, concise manner, this book belongs on the book shelves of any collector of writings on the Civil War.

[....]readers should known or probably infer from the esteemed SUNY press W.E.T. series that Deveney cites ALL sources, resultant of some 150 pages of extensive notes which are a worthy and entertaining/informative read in themselves! Also, P.B.R.'s Occult philosophy and practical systems/methodologies are explored in a highly scholarly yet equally accessible manner, and as an appendix are given in their entirety two of PBR's most essential Sexual Magic works, for which I have appropriated the title of this review. Though a scholarly work, as well as an historical one, it is throughout biographically focused on an 19th century Exemplary Mage's Life and Work!

Paschal Beverly Randolph (1825-1875)was one of the first well-known Afro-American Novelists (if not THE FIRST), of whom Frederick Douglas was an admirer, and one of the most famous as well as sincere mediums of the Spiritualist movement, famous for his speeches of whom President Johnson was a fan, and a KEY figure in bridging the gap between that nec-romantic movement flowering dangerously into the European/American Occult Revival of the mid-late 19th century. He grew up an orphan in a murderous section of NYC; had almost no schooling, (yet became a recognized genius by sheer will/determination and self-discipline) who lived in the "(spiritually) Burnt-out" district of upstate NY where he added the abbr. "DR." to his title and sold his Glyphae Battah (Magic Mirrors)and Hashish, love & healing philtres:'snake-oil' basically, and married a part Native-American Indian Woman and tried to raise a family in dire poverty. And this is just the beginning to his life! He was very influential in getting Black soldiers into the US military in the last years of the Civil War(& getting them paid like any good-willing American!)...also, Blavatsky gleaned much from him, I think her writings concerning Randolph evidences, if only his living example of an highly artistic and Original one-man Occult campaign via Randolph's numerous Rosicrucian brotherhoods which The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor would later appropriate nearly ALL of Randolphs ideas to immense practical benefit (see Godwins and Deveneys co-efforts in releasing many key documents in relation to this group), while the Theosophists waged war against that very practicality deeming it black magic basically...later the Surrealists' devoured Randolph's magical works which were circulated widely through the Russian-born Parisian Surrealist Maria de Naglowska efforts...How does a man like this, who entertained at the court of Napoleon and who counted President Lincoln as an acquaintance as well as knew most every influential Occultist/Abolitionist/reformer/Free Love Politician / Spiritualist of his day (Bulwer-Lytton, Hargrave Jennings, Laurence Oliphaunt, Andrew Jackson Davis,et al. ad infinitum)how does such a figure disappear from history? as if suspiciously erased? The question is as tragic as Randolph's life, for it is a pained life full of much suffering, bore throughout with nobility if despairingness at his predicament. He is a beautiful writer--one must allow him that at least---whose sexual magic works serve as a poignant appendix to Deveney's excellent and thorough 600-plus page biography of a life that serves as an intimate magnifying-glass to probe into the goings-ons of an era filled to overflowing with myriad colorful characters and the energy and excitement of endless rounds of ingenious scientific discoveries and religious aspirations/explorations which as the Poet Osip Mandelstam said "if ever there was a golden age surely it was the 19th century!" Wherever you may be John Patrick Deveney, I thank you a thousand times over while reading this and thank you still for giving us this touching biography which served as a means to truly know what it must have been like to have lived in Randolph's day, during an age of 'Romanticism' and later,'Symbolism' in Art, while an Occult revival raged, made up of a noble search for self-knowledge and universal Uptopianist solutions to universal ills, and art finally becoming a RELIGION itself!...Western Esoteric studies should take as an example Deveney's biographical tome, and know the history of the world is in the lives of men and women more than anyplace else, as Jules Michelet pointed out a hundred years ago...I would suggest to anyone interested in gaining a first hand insight into an era & a subject finally lent proper credence to be studied seriously as it should be respected even if despised by "religious realists"...to read this book full of a life lived with such style & grace. Randolph's motto was: "T-R-Y !"...which is what I would say to others here interested in reading a rare work of an even rarer life that hopefully will become part of the American Artistic and Cultural iconography and more widely known literary canon because of Deveney's immense efforts and achievements herein! Bravo Deveney!
---readers should known or probably infer from the esteemed SUNY press W.E.T. series that Deveney cites ALL sources, resultant of some 150 pages of extensive notes which are a worthy and entertaining/informative read in themselves! Also, P.B.R.'s Occult philosophy and practical systems;/methodologies are explored in a highly scholarly yet equally accessible manner; though a scholarly work, as well as an historical one, it is throughout focused on an 19th century Exemplary Mage's Life and Work!

We read this book in our homeschool history class. It's great for colonial unit study. Even mom learned a few new things about Ben Franklin! How cool is that!

These picture book biographies are great for lower elementary students. Big colorful pictures and packed with information. Great for colonial unit study.

This is a well written, concise and practical book that can serve as a valuable resource for members of any group, including the family unit. It inspired me and gives me hope that there is a way for people to learn how to come together in groups and solve our problems in a principled, creative process that works for the higher good of all concerned.

Frank Dukes, Marina Piscolish, and John Stephens have successfully collaborated on a book that takes a frank and honest look at what facilitators do in groups and how to do it better. The book is remarkably readable and has instant applicability not only to those of us in the business of mediation; the city administrator and elected official will also find the book extremely useful. I recommend it to my colleagues in the planning profession as a refreshing and rewarding approach to handling large group processes.

When I was very small, I was terrified every time I got onto an airplane: how could something so large possibly lift off the ground? Like most of the rest of us, though, I have gradually lost that fear- I simply look forward to the peanuts and trust in the engineeers, who are capable of designing things I could never possibly understand.
Reading John Hulls' book recaptured for me a sense of that wonder in the awesome feat of flying. Cody and the Wright brothers became more than just clever engineers, they were ingenious and daring pioneers who put their own lives on the line, rising hundreds of feet in the air supported by nothing more than bamboo and canvas. Cody's madcap adventures (cow hand, gold miner, variety show creator, Royal Aeronotical Society member, etc..) would make a wild story in any age, but are particularly resonant on the brink of the centennial of flight.
Hulls' book, though aimed at children, is informative and interesting for anyone fascinated by flying and the art of invention. Here is a simple story well told: the writing is clear and evocative, the characters come alive on the page, and once again history is a story worth telling.

Herding cattle up the Chisholm Trail from Texas to the Kansas railheads for shipment, young Samuel Cody became fascinated with the kites built by the chuck wagon's Chinese cook. The cook taught Cody kite building, starting the young cowhand on an odyssey that would take him to the Klondyke gold rush, then to the London stage with his KLONDYKE NUGGET, to full fellowship in the Royal Aeronatical Society and simultaneous birthing of the British aircraft industry.
The show's success, with roles for all his family, enabled Cody to indulge his kite habit on a grand scale, shown in the book's many fine photos. In 1901 they built the first practical man-carrying kite (woman-carrying, too--Lela shown in a photo aloft in formal hat and long dress, the first woman to fly in a heavier-than-air craft). The Royal Navy and then the Army bought Cody's kites, leading Cody to friendship with Colonel Capper, a British army officer ostensibly developing balloons for artillery observation but actually harboring visions of flight.
Cody and Capper collaborated in leading England into the age of flight. They buzzed Buckingham Palace and the War Office with their powered airship, then developed a hang-glider kite, finally "Army Airplane #1." Capper, who knew the Wrights, risked his career in supporting Cody but Cody went on to repeated triumphs, winning the first British military aircraft trials in 1912. The very next year Cody died tragically in an aircraft accident. The British army buried him with full military honours after a procession attended by 50,000 mourners representing every British army regiment.
Pilots who write about flying often evoke magic. Hulls writes with the clarity and humour of St. Exupery, Gann, Bach and the handful of pilots whose love of flight becomes literature. The chapter "Flyers and Liars" captures the risk of early flight and the achievements of the Wrights and Cody, quoting the 1906 NEW YORK HERALD: "Despite extravagant claims, history would show that by 1908 only five humans had acquired significant time flying heavier-than-air machines. Two were dead--Otto Lilienthal and Percy Pilcher, a Scots engineer who had studied with him, died in flying accidents." Cody and the Wrights were the only ones with more than brief seconds in heavier-than-air flight. In all the other claims, no one knew enough to ask the key question: "How did you learn to fly?"
Coupled with illustrator David Weitzman's illustrations of what it took to learn even to make a simple turn, Hulls depicts the Wrights' and Cody's bravery and brilliance as they risked death to master flight. Among Cody's inventions: the variable-pitch propeller, whose efficiency Cody tested by tethering his airplane to a tree at Farnborough (a flight-test locale that became, decades earlier, the British equivalent of Edwards AFB). When the tree died recently, the RAE honored Cody by recreating the tree in aluminium on its original site.
While directed at younger readers, "Rider" is a wonderful book for anyone of any age interested in great American characters such as Cody and the Wrights, a must for pilots or indeed anyone with a love of flight or who today flies safely in a modern airliner.