America's post-Civil War years brought a renewed interest in the European scene. Journeys
known as Grand Tours led tourists to take ship to the Continent. They fanned out across the
landscape with the intent to "know Europe." Their return home resulted in a flurry of
published accounts. Twain satirizes both the tourists and their writings with delicious
wit. Ever a man to play with words, his "tramp" refers to both himself and the walking tour
of Europe he purports to have made. By the time you've reached the end of the account of the
"walking tour" incorporating trains, carriages and barges, you realize that the longest "walk"
Twain took occurred in dark hotel room while trying to find his bed. He claims to have
covered 47 miles wandering around the room.

Twain was interested in everything, probing into both well-known and obscure topics. His
judgments are vividly conveyed in this book, standing in marked contrast to his more
reserved approach in Innocents Abroad. A delightful overview of mid-19th Century Europe,
Tramp is also interlaced with entertaining asides. Twain was deeply interested in people, and
various "types" are drawn from his piercing gaze, rendered with acerbic wit. Some of these
are contemporary, while others are dredged from his memories of the California mines and
other journeys. He also relished Nature's marvels, recounting his observations. A favourite
essay is "What Stumped the Blue-jays." A nearly universal bird in North America, Twain's
description of the jay's curiosity and expressive ability stands unmatched. He observes such
humble creatures as ants, Alpine chamois, and the American tourist. Few escape his
perception or his scathing wit. This book remains valuable for its timeless rendering of
characters and the universality of its view. It can be read repeatedly for education or
entertainment.

All these volumes are self-recommending except, perhaps, to those poor, misguided people who continue to pigeon-hole one of the world's great writers. Yes, Twain was a humorist who virtually invented modern American English as a literary language. But the sheer range of his achievement is staggering. And the best way to experience it is altogether. And the best "altogether" is this magnificent 29 volume set from Oxford. Other people can speak with more authority about Twain the author. I want to speak a little about how delicious it is to encounter him in these books. They are reproductions of the original American editions and the facsimiles are beautifully rendered. But this isn't important in itself; we're not about to spend [...] for a little bit of nostalgia. Rather, just open any one of these 29 volumes and see what a difference its admittedly antique printing style makes. White spacing between the printed lines is generous to an unbelievable degree, as are the page margins. Your eyes don't tire. You can savour each page at whatever pace you want to set for yourself. Worlds open and invite. This is how people read books a hundred years ago. This is the way to read books!

I have not read Twain since High School twenty five plus years ago but a friend on a newspapers book forums got me to read him again and A Tramp Abroad is the first book I picked. For the current generation this book may drag but for those of us who grew up reading books instead of playing computer games this is Twain at his best. One has to actually read into his writing to appreciate a lot of the irony but when this book is really on like the mountain climbing near the Matterhorn ,Twain makes Seinfeld seem like he's talking about something. A brilliant travel essay and by the way the Penguin Classics edition of this book in paperback is 411 pages long, not 670 pages .

You will not be disappointed with this magnificent book. Everything is swoned in matter of small pieces or fire capabilities of the five grand german automatic weapon of the WWII era. Color photography of all weapons, Historical evolution, technical data, dismantle parts, live shooting test, color photography re-enactors in WWII battledress are going to plunge yourself into a well divided book and a almost flawless one on this particular subject.

The only drawback, if there is on in that case, is the to scarce WWII period photography. Some will say there are other book that give WWII photography a real sense of what it was to use those weapons.

All in all, it's a must have for collectors and neophyte of that particular topic.

_________________________
Paul Bourgault
2Lt/Fus MR21/34thCBG/RCAC

This book by Robert Bruce gives an insightful study into the beginnings, development and utilization of the various automatic weapons employed by the German Wehrmacht during World War II. The original diagrams and text make it easy for the novice collector . This book is also invaluable to the reenactor showing the proper usage and accessories for these weapons.

It is very interesting, how an author who only done one other book specifically on guns can make such a good and realistic book on the subject. This book not only gives you a scence of knowledge about the guns after you read the book, but it also gives you a look into the furture of guns. I recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about guns. It is also interesting to note that German weapons have forever changed the course of gun manufactuering. Overall, I think it is one of the best books on guns that I have ever read.

This is a good Hebrew research tool. It's best feature is that it's only two volumes (compared to 11+ for the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament!). The entries are short compared to other theological lexicons and wordbooks, however, and you don't get as much depth as you do in other theological lexicons.

If you're looking for slightly more than a lexicon, this is a great tool. But if you really want to study Hebrew words, their range of meanings, different usage, extra-Biblical usage, etc. try the 3 vol. Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament (Jenni, Westermann) or - for the best of the best - the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (11 vol completed, more to come).

This is a great set. I got it about 20 years ago when it first came out, and, as a pastor of over 23 years, I say "Go for it!" Although I do not refer to this work every week, it comes in handy when I need to do a Hebrew word study. Because it is cross-indexed with Strongs, you can find the Hebrew words (and their definitions/expansions) without knowing a stitch of Hebrew.

For practical ministry use, this is the set to get! It provides plenty of information, clear definitions, but does not get tedious (usually). I would recommend it over older studies which are not nearly as accurate (especially those done before the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the 1940's).

Discusses just about every theologically significant Hebrew word.

Easy to use and find your word in question.

Full of useful information!

I have used Essential Cell Biology for my one semester introductory cell biology and found it to be superb!! It's perfect for a one semester undergraduate course, as well as a terrific overview for laymen with a strong interest in how and why cells work. For introductory cell biology courses, nothing on the market comes even close to this text. Like its larger predecessor, Molecular Biology of the Cell, the text is clearly written, informative, and downright interesting, a rare commodity in textbook writing. Once again, James Watson's superb writing style shows through in this book. The numerous illustrations are a superb complement to the text, explaining and reinforcing the concepts presented in the text. In addition to its use as a text for one semester courses, I would also recommend this to interested laypersons who have an interest in how cells work at the molecular level and are not satisfied with the few popular-level books on the topic. Here they will find a gold mine of insights into the marvels of cell structure and function, all of it clearly written and accessable to anyone with a good high school or mediocre college background in basic chemistry and biology. The only drawbacks of this book is the limited suggestions for further readings and the sparse information on the techniques used to study cells. Otherwise, it is a terrific, attractivly presented, superbly written and illustrated book. It is a real asset to all who have an interest in the cell, except for publishers of competing texts, who are likely to lose most of their markets to this excellent book.

I recently bought the book "Essential Cell Biology: An Introduction to the Molecular Biology of the Cell" and studied it from cover to cover, including all the questions and answers. It was one of the greatest and most well-organized textbooks I have ever encountered. The language was very fluent, and especially some of the example questions were quite entertaining and witty. I haven't had any education neither in biology nor in molecular biology nor in biochemistry (my major is chemical engineering), still I didn't have any difficulties in understanding all the concepts presented in the book. The knowledge I gained from the book was a great help to me during the "GRE Subject Test in Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology" which I took just yesterday. I am applying to graduate schools in the US for a Ph.D. degree in Molecular Biology or Bioengineering, and the test I took yesterday was crucial for my applications, in which (thanks to Essential Cell Biology) I believe I did quite well for a person without a background in the subject except a two-months-long self-study. This is a great and concise introductory textbook to the molecular biology of the cell, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in this subject with no or little background.

A gem of a book. It puts at the hands of lay people the wonders of molecular biology. The best way of spending $65 I can think of.

The text is a most refined product distilled by an all-star team of leading scientists. Oriented towards the lay person or the would be specialist, it is simple, unpretentious, sometimes even funny, but always powerfully explanatory. The diagrams are exceptionally clear (a must for explaining such complex subjects) and the photographs are astounding. Love for their subject and passion for teaching are present all along. And mysticism is always around the corner...

If you have ever wondered things like "What are exactly chromosomes?", "How do exactly enzymes work in the cell?", or "How the hell does all this machinery work at a purely chemical level ?" and you are not quite satisfied with popular science books, this one is for you. It will answer these questions and much, much more.

An enjoyable, deeply satisfying tour the force through the molecular level of all living organisms.

Don't miss it!

Get this book if your new to the motorcycle trade or are just a home mechanic. Its is great, a numskull like me could understand and follow what was being taugh. This book is worth it's weight in gold.

Maybe I should feel guilty; I got the book at a used book shop, and almost immediately loaned it to three of my friends, none of which were 'bike riders at the time. Within three months, each one had bought a bike! I've only been riding a short while, but I've had lots of questions answered by this book. I'm not sure you need to own it, but if you're thinking about getting into motorcycles, getting ahold of a copy of this book could be helpful to you.

This is the best book i have read on motorcycle engineering, it beats all the books recommended on my motorcycle course. It's well laid out and all the diagrams and pictures are faultless. Absolutly brilliant! In all honesty if more books on technical subjects were written like this more students would not end up with grey hairs before understanding what is being taught. Buy it you will not be dissapointed.

In this age of consolidation, big companies keep getting bigger. For suppliers, losing any large account can be at least dramatic or at worst devastating. Large Account Management Process (LAMP) from Miller Heiman presents a logical, team friendly method of knowing how your company is positiioned in your large accounts, and what needs to be done to maintain or improve that position. Highly recommended.

LAMP is the best book I have read about Key/Large Account Planning. Most salesreps and hates the planning process and struggle with their plans. This down to earth approach helps a salesrep to organize his work in developing his account plans in a straightforward and pragmatic way. Instead of focusing on history, LAMP is targeting the future and helps you to align your resources through action plans.

The first chapter of this book was like reading an unauthorized biography of all my short comings in managing my largest accounts. Even as a top five performer, I still felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants. This book set out a course for improvement that has changed my professional career forever. If you manage large global accounts this book should be your bible. Mine is still drying out from massive highlighter use!

Dreisbach offers a decent model for small groups that creative church leadership could adapt. I think his handling of "traditional" church wasn't as well thought out as it could have been. I selected the book knowing I was reading something profoundly different from some of the other church leadership books I had been reading. I would have much rather he just outlined this as a "House Church" model and marketed the book as such. Sure we can make the claim that the early churches in the New Testament were house churches but that was because Christianity was so new. The church building was a product of the need for a house of worship that evolved from the house church.
My advice to church leaders considering the book? Take the basics that are presented here and give thoughtful study to the paradigms that are presented. I felt those were helpful. The rest is just rehashed material. You'd be better off buying a book like "Can We Do That?" by Andy Stanley and Ed Young

While our nation sings the anthem of individuality and praises the strength of independence, The Jesus Plan calls Christians back to the heart of the matter, rediscovering relationships and community as the way to reach our lost family and friends. Christ, himself, worked not within the confined walls of a church building to change lives, but went into the world to find the needy. Driesbach reminds us of our reponsiblity to the witness of Christ's life, not limiting it to the institution of church. The need for church is not the question at hand, but our 'definition' of church. Did Christ not speak of more than buildings, programming, and sermons? The Jesus Plan is inviting Christians to take up the lost discipline of relational ministry, exemplified by Christ.

We were so encouraged to find someone who had experienced the same thing we had in "the church". Bruce gives us renewed hope for reaching the lost for Jesus through relationships of love and not with "religion" that pushes them away. We highly recommend this book to individuals or organizations that have a heart for the lost and a desire to "go where they are" with the love of Jesus.

As a nontheist who thinks there was a historical Jesus, I often find myself caught between two extremes. On the one hand, I don't believe that Jesus rose from the dead, was the son of God, etc. But on the other hand, I simply am not convinced by mythicist arguments that there was no historical Jesus. Central to the debate between these two competing positions is the issue of alleged extra-biblical references to the historicity of Jesus. That issue is the subject of Van Voorst's book, which he deals with in great detail. Van Voorst discusses alleged references to Jesus in virtually all of the non-Christian sources, as well as various Christian sources about Jesus outside of the New Testament. All of this combined makes the book the most comprehensive English lenguage review of alleged extra-Biblical references to Jesus written in recent memory.

With that said, I was frankly disappointed with the first chapter of the book, in which Van Voorst spends ten pages refuting the Christ-myth hypothesis. To his credit, Van Voorst is very familiar with the various books and essays which deny the existence of Jesus. He writes, "Some readers may be surprised or shocked that many books and essays--by my count, over one hundred--in the past two hundred years have fervently denied the very existence of Jesus" (p. 6). Nevertheless, he says, the Christ-myth hypothesis is not only rejected by virtually all New Testament scholars, but that the hypothesis has been almost completely ignored within the guild of New Testament scholarship since the 1940s. However, Van Voorst acknowledges that there is tremendous interest in the historicity of Jesus.

He has a very interesting and educational history of the Christ-myth movement. However, he apparently does not know that G.A. Wells, in his latest book THE JESUS MYTH, in which Wells *accepts* the historicity of Jesus based on the arguments of Burton Mack concerning Q. Van Voorst then, briefly, has occasion to criticize Michael Martin's defense of the mythicist hypothesis, given Martin's reliance on Wells.

Van Voorst then summarizes seven objections against Wells's (former) position that Jesus never existed. Many of these objections are downright comical.

1. "Wells misinterprets Paul's relative silence about some details in the life of Jesus: the exact time of his life; the exact places of his ministry, that Pontius Pilate condemned him, and so forth. As every good student of history knows, it is wrong to suppose that what is unmentioned or undetailed did not exist. Arguments from silence about ancient times, here about the supposed lack of biblical or extrabiblical references to Jesus, are especially perilous."

Lowder's comment: it seems to me there is a double-standard on the part of conservative Christians. When discussing the historicity of Jesus, Christians will tell us that no historian takes arguments from silence seriously. But when defending the empty tomb, Christians will conveniently engage in arguments from silence (e.g., "The tomb was empty because there is no evidence of the Jewish authorities denying it.") Yet the same facts appealed to by Christians in their arguments from silence for the empty tomb--like the lame argument that the Jews never denied the empty tomb--can itself be dismissed on the grounds that 'first-century Jews typically viewed the empty tomb story as so weak or bizarre that they ignored it completely." What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

2. Wells dates the gospels around 100, which is too late. Mark was written around 70 while Matthew and Luke were probably written in the 80s. Van Voorst may well be right about his dating. But so, too, might Wells. What I find objectionable about Van Voorst's objection is that he gives no argument for it. *Why* should we accept Van Voorst's dating scheme for the gospels? Van Voorst never says.

3. The development of the Gospel traditions and the historical difficulties within them "do not necessarily mean wholesale invention, and difficulties do not prove nonexistence." But, to the best of my knowledge, Wells never argues that development of traditions and historical difficulties *necessarily proves* the mythicist hypothesis.

4. This one is a real howler: "Wells cannot explain to the satisfaction of historians why, if Christians invented the historical Jesus around the year 100, no pagans and Jews who opposed Christianity denied Jesus' historicity or even questioned it." This is an argument from silence! I agree that there is no evidence that the historicity of Jesus was questioned in the first century. But that fact does not, by itself, make it probable that Jesus existed. Even on the assumption that Jesus never existed, Christianity was a minority religion viewed as a cult by outsiders. Had Jesus never existed, there is no reason to suppose that anyone would have made an effort to show that. Indeed, I think it is even doubtful that it would have occurred to anyone to question the historicity of Jesus!

5. Despite Wells' objections to the contrary, non-Christian witnesses to Jesus, especially Tacitus and Josephus, are basically trustworthy because there is a "strong consensus" saying so. Does this mean that from now on that evolutionists can argue that evolution is true simply because a "strong consensus" of biologists says it's true? This is a really lame argument.

6. Another howler: "Wells and others seem to have advanced the nonhistoricity hypothesis not for objective reasons, but for highly tendentious, antireligious purposes."

7. "Wells and his predecessors have failed to advance other, credible hypotheses to account for the birth of Christianity and the fashioning of a historical Christ." I think this objection has some force.

In conclusion, while I think Van Voorst's book is useful as a comprehensive overview of extra-Biblical references to Jesus, his direct attacks on the mythicist hypothesis are mainly ineffective. His best objection to the mythicist hypothesis is that some of the extra-Biblical sources *do* provide independent confirmation of Jesus, an issue which he deals with ably in the remainder of the book.

This book is a great start into the research of all the writings about Jesus outside the New Testament Canon we all know. The book is written well, and is researched thoroughly. The footnotes alone are worth the read, but be prepared to want to buy several more books as a result of the excellent research.

The author starts with an overview of some classical writings including "Pliny the Younger", "Celsus", and "Tacitus". The second chapter goes into some of the classic Jewish literature that also refers to Jesus including the well-known Josephus passages. While some of this was new material for me, there were no real surprises. The information is presented well, with several commentary opinions regarding the passages. The author presents the information in a mostly neutral fashion and will often present both supporting and opposing views on the writings and their significance.

The sections on the Canonical Gospels were excellent. The focus is on the missing "source material" for the core Gospels. The Luke source, identified as "L", the "M" source which is reasoned to be part of the source for the unique material in the Gospel of Matthew, and the "Q" source for the sayings in Matthew and Luke. In Luke this source material is referred to directly in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke: "Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the things that have been fulfilled among us...I too decided, after investing carefully from the first, to write an orderly account for you...". This implies that there were "many" others who wrote down information about the life of Jesus and the Gospel message. The other sources. "M" and "Q" are not as directly implied in the Gospels. The chapter is well done, and is mostly speculative, as the alleged source materials obviously are not available to us. Again, the information is presented well, and arguments and theories are postulated on both sides of the debate about their authenticity and relevance.

The last chapter focuses on the writings of mostly Gnostic origin, including the discovery of the Nag Hammadi writings. The book examines the authenticity and relevance of these writings and compares and contrasts them to the Gospels. The Gospel of Thomas is reprinted in full which is fascinating, as are parts of the Gospel of Peter, Secret Mark, the Ascent of James. A writing conspicuously absent from the book is the Barnabas text, although this writing is widely regarded as a fraud in most Biblical scholarly circles.

Overall, a very interesting read. The material was presented well, and was not dry but moved quickly and kept my attention throughout. A great start to this study of the wealth of information and writings about Jesus outside the New Testament.

Much to the dismay of those who'd prefer otherwise, Jesus is mentioned in several sources outside of the biblical New Testament. Robert Van Voorst does a top-notch job of evaluating each non-biblical reference on its own merits. Before assuming Van Voorst is another Christian apologist bent on finding things where none are to be found, it should be made known that he critically examines each writing to determine whether or not it has any historical worth.

Van Voorst covers the famous Testimonium Flavianum found in the work of Josephus (and the lesser known "James, the brother of Jesus" reference) and concludes that there is a core statement originally written by Josephus in the Testimonium Flavianum which has been tampered with by Christian scribes. This is the predominant view in scholarly circles today and Van Voorst does a fine job of giving the reasoning behind such a conclusion. The references to Jesus in other non-Christian writers such as Pliny, Suetonius, Tacitus, Mara Bar Serapion, Lucian of Samosata, the Talmud, and others are covered on an individual basis to determine the background behind each one. Van Voorst makes an attempt to examine the intent of the writer and possible sources utilized by them to gather their information.

The book also covers mentions of Jesus made in the Gospel of Thomas and various sayings attributed to Jesus by the early church fathers that are not found in the New Testament. Van Voorst gives a good, basic overview of Q and its contents which a beginner would find very helpful.

Overall, this book is highly recommended to those seeking information on the references to Jesus found outside the New Testament in non-Christian writings. At the very least, this book demonstrates far beyond a reasonable doubt that Jesus of Nazareth truly existed and that he was simply not some sort of mythical figure created by early Christians. It doesn't prove Christianity is true, but it lays the foundation for further investigation into who this Jesus of Nazareth was.

I am a pharmacy student, and this is a very thorough text book, but as a study guide I have found that it is mainly boring and useless. Anyone other than a medical student probably should find a better text book.

I AM A MEDICINE STUDENT AND I FIND IT VERY COMPLETE AND DEPTH. BUT, UNLESS YOU'RE A MEDICINE STUDENT, DO NOT BUY IT. IT COULD CERTAINLY BE TOO COMPLICATED. I THINK THE CARDIOVASCULAR CHAPTER IS ALMOST PERFECT.

I am a 2nd year PhD student in physiology, and throughout nearly all of my courses I found this book to be an excellent reference. Very clear and concise, with much more detail than most other basic physiology texts, which often gloss over important details. Very complete content, nice basic figures and helpful bibliographies. I highly recommend this book to anyone studying physiology as your "go-to book" for basic info in just about any specialization, whether you're a med student, grad student or undergrad. Furthermore, the price is [great]; at less than [$] it is [less costly] than most far-inferior textbooks in any scientific discipline.

The King's Swift Rider by Mollie Hunter is a great book for young adults. Boys would probably like this book better than girls. It's about a teenage boy who stands up for what be believes in. Martin Crawford is thirteen when he becomes a messenger and a spy for Robert the Bruce. The book is intense and full of adventure. It's a great way to learn some history of the conflict between the English and the Scottish during the 1300's. If you liked the movie "Braveheart" you will like this book.

Although this story is told through the eyes of Martin Crawford, a young Scot in the late 1300's, it's really about Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, and his passionate fight for freedom from England's rule. Many have said that this book's more for boys, but I'm a girl and I loved it, SO THERE! :P It reminds me a lot of America's own fight for independence. If you like historical fiction, Scotland, male heroes, or people with wits rather than brains, then you'll LOVE this book. I know I did.

This is a young adult book regarding the history of Robert the Bruce who fought the English at the Battle of Bannockburn. It is very well written and really gives a good look at "The Bruce". I got to know him much better, how he and the troops prayed before the battle, the fierce loyalty and love his men had for him and the mercy he demanded be given the enemy if asked for. Don't let the fact that it was written for teenage readers keep you from enjoying this tale if you are older. Anyone can read this and learn from it!