No one interested in American politics could fail to find this an interesting and informative volume. The essays are perceptive, tho some are repetitous. The listing of all the Jewish Senators, Representatives, Federal judges, and governors is valuable. I found it amazing that apparently there was no Jew appointed a Federal judge till Wilson appointed Brandeis to the Supreme Court in 1916 and then there was no Jew appointed to the Federal judiciary till Hoover appointed Cardozo to the Supreme Court in 1931, and not till FDR was any Jew appointed a lesser Federal judge! An excellent reference book.

The editors are to be commended for creating a useful reference work that will be used for years by students of US politics. Their study begins with 14 thematic chapters that explore such topics as the presence of Jews in the three branches of the federal government, the role of Jewish political party leaders, the historical voting patterns of Jews, the political role of Jewish women, and Jewish contributions to foreign policy. This section is followed by a ten-page list of sources for additional reading in each of the thematic subject areas. Other sections, just as important, provide biographical profiles of about 400 Jewish participants in American politics, past and present, and rosters of Jews who have served in the cabinet, in Congress, and in the federal court system, and as ambassadors, governors, or mayors of major cities. This section also includes a chart of concentration of Jewish population in selected major US cities from 1800 until 2000. This book will be a welcome addition to reference desks and general collections in libraries across the country. All levels.

This book does something extraordinary. It presents a vast array of information while at the same time including a number general essays on Jews in American politics. No person seriously interested in ethnic politics and Jews particularly should be without this book.Clearly edited and turned by the press. There is no political slant--all positions represented.

For anyone out there interested about Ester and her role (Explained in greater detail) should get this book.

I would suggest this series to anybody interested in theology, hands down.

For any student of theology, this is a fascinating collection. Contains references to Lilith (Adam's first wife) and a plethora of angel names - over 200. I highly recommend this exceptional collection for all readers.

We 3 Fifth Graders, read a book about Louis Braille, by Margaret Davidson. This book is about a boy named Louis Braille. He was the boy who invented books for the blind. Louis lived in Coupvray,in France. He is blind. He became blind by playing with his father's awl. The awl slid right into Louis' eye and it got injured and it got infected. One day, a new priest came to a church on the hillside. The priest was named Father Jacques Palluy. Father Palluy knew that Louis was blind so, he sent Louis to a new school for blind children in Paris. He liked every school subjects there.One day, a Captain called Charles Barbier came to Louis' school. Captain Barbier taught Louis about nightwriting. Nightwriting are raised dots that stands for sounds. Louis invented his own alphabet dots and he spread the news by making books. When Louis died, everyone started to call his dots Braille. Will Louis' popularty ever be extraordinary? Why did some people dislike his invention at first? Will the Braille be used forever?

Our opinion about this book is that this is an outstanding book because Louis made up a way for blind people to read. Why would Louis want to make books for blind people? We gave this book 5 star because we think it is a fantastic book. This book can teach blind people how to read and write. People that are not blind can also learn Braille.The back of the book also has braille dots so, we can practice. We even learned how to spell our names in Braille. We think that Louis' idea was excellent.

We should recommend this book to 4,5,and 6 graders because it teaches a lesson about not playing with sharp tools, and it also teaches you how to read the Braille alphabet. Another lesson we learned is that if you want to get something done you have to do it yourself. If you want to learn more about Louis Braille, try reading: Louis Braille: the Boy who Invented Books for the Blind.

I really enjoyed this book. I actually was reading the braille version for my braille class. I would recommend this book to practically anyone.

Of all the biography's I've read in my life, I think this is the best one! I thought it was so neat how Louis suddenly thought of how we could use dots like that. Everyday when I got to scool I couldn't wait to start reading. So I think you should buy this book and start reading!

I read The Master of Ballantrae quite recently and I think it is an awesome book. James Durie (the Master) is such a wicked man, but seems to charm (most) everybody. He is such a round character. He torments his poor brother Henry Durie and Henry suffers in silence. Only Mr. Mackellar knows of Henry's sufferings. The Master makes the book so colorful. It's full of adventure, romance, sorrow, and revenge. I highly recommend this book, because it was so interesting and kept you wondering what would happen next. I am sure it will capture your attention as it did mine.

I saw the Errol Flynn movie,which I found rather disappointing. I was assuming, however, that the book was a faithful adaptation of the movie. Be forewarned: it is most definitely not! This is not the kind of superficial swashbuckler you might assume. It is a dark and compelling book about the nature of evil and its manifestation in the person of James Durie, the Master of Ballantrae. The Master sets out to destroy everyone and everything he cannot control or manipulate, including (and especially)his own family. Without summarizing the book, I would offer this to anyone interested in a compelling plot, complex characters and just plain good writing. Stevenson is overlooked, and it's a shame, because he is an excellent writer, a writer in the best sense of the word. Read it and enjoy it!

Wild Grows the Heather in Devon is thought provoking, eloquant and superbly written. I have highlighted most of the book. Many of the prayers written, I have taken as my own. Excellent intelligent reading!

Billy Keene and Will Striker, the main characters of Louis Owens' novel Nightland, are half-breed Cherokees living on failing ranches in New Mexico that their grandparents bought from the Mexican-Americans whose family had a grant from Spain [who took the land from Native Americans in the first place]. They're out hunting deer when a man [who we find out is of Pueblo Indian blood] falls from the sky and ends up skewered on a juniper tree. A suitcase full of money falls with him. Despite misgivings, Billy and Will keep the money. Then all hell breaks loose. Nightland is at heart a thriller, but as with Owens' other novels, it is also a musing on identity. Native American spirituality and the supernatural play a key role in the novel, so if suspension of disbelief is a problem for the potential reader, don't start this book. This is a much faster read than Bone Game and The Sharpest Sight. I found Nightland to be one of the highlights of my summer reading. Oh, and as if my opinion actually counted, I think Richard Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino should buy the rights to Nightland and make a movie. One of the pieces of sad news from this summer was that Louis Owens had taken his own life. He left us five great novels, including Nightland.

A body falls from the sky in the dry New Mexico wilds. Two native American ranchers sight the mysterious image and set off to find it. Nearby to the body impaled in the limbs of a tree, they find a suitcase full of money.

This could be their lucky break, or their worst nightmare. They decide to risk keeping the money -- and to face the inevitable consequences . . .

The native American insights are a delight to read. Louis Owens's beautifully crafted prose leaves a last impression.

Owens' third American Indian crime thriller has received praise from Kirkus, Publisher's Weekly, Booklist and others. The consequences of trying to keep found money (in this case, $850,000 dropped from a drug dealer's plane in remote New Mexico) take ranchers Will Striker and Billy Keene on a wild ride. Enter sex and magical realism, stir, and find yourself reading a "well-wrought thriller capped by a twist-filled climax."

This book is a collection of political columns, written mostly for the Baltimore Sun, that H.L. Mencken penned in the early twentieth century. In virtually every piece, Mencken advances the view that politicians are third-rate men, devoid of convictions, willing to follow any platform that will make them electable. The only politicians Mencken likes are those that he believes have spine. He detests politicians that waver, particularly those that try to sit on both sides of the fence on the abolition issue.
Mencken is at his best when he covers presidential campaigns, as he does in many columns in this collection. He revels in the empty rhetoric he hears, and describes the bilge to the reader in truculent and uncompromising language. The whole art of politics, to him, is circus-like. The pols are clowns and their election speeches are the main act.
Anyone looking for sober commentary should look elsewhere. But anyone looking for extremely witty, well-written and combative columns should pick up this collection. There is probably no better example of attack-dog journalism out there, nor is there likely a more entertaining way to get a quick history lesson on the important political figures and issues of the early twentieth century. Enjoy!

If you are looking for a book on H.L. Mencken, I would highly recommend "On Politics." This book highlights Mencken at his most acidic through his constant verbal jabs at the "holy" Woodrow Wilson, "Silent" Cal, the "royalist" Hoover, Roosevelt Minor and the stupidity of Warren Harding.(Note: Take a look at what Mencken writes about Harding's mangling of the english language and then compare it to what some modern columnists write about George W's handling of the language. It is truly scary how history repeats itself.)

Besides being an utterly hilarious look at the aforementioned presidents and American society in general, this book is quite eye-opening in terms of showing Mencken's political leanings. I always thought that Mencken was a pure liberatarian with his constant attacks on the New Deal and FDR. Actually, Mencken somewhat liked FDR up until he was elected. Mencken also sides with progressive politicians such as Robert M. LaFollete and expresses sympathy (or as much "sympathy" as the great misanthrope can express) for jailed socialist leader Eugene Debs. Nevertheless, all of the aforementioned people also receive Mencken verbal lashings.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in early 20th century American politics or for anyone with a slightly cynical bent. On days when you feel slightly misanthropic and (mad) at the world, read "On Politics" and you feel much, much better.

Favorite Mencken Quote: "All artists are idiots."

Buy everything you can find that was written by H. L Mencken, this collection is no exception. Mencken was one of the most influential and popular men of letters in America. He covered the Scopes Monkey Trial as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun, and was editor of two literary magazines: Smart Set and the American Mercury. His popularity waned for a variety of reasons. While he teased presidents Harding, Coolidge and Hoover, he gave no quarter when it came to FDR, referring to him "Dr. Roosevelt" and "Roosevelt minor." He had little use for the New Deal. "The New Deal began, like the Salvation Army, by promising to save humanity. It ended, again like the Salvation Army, by running flop-houses and disturbing the peace." This and his pro-German attitudes didn't go over too well in the depression and war years. But over the last twenty or thirty years Mencken has enjoyed a resurgence or interest and popularity. As a journalist, a wit and a social critic he has no peer today.

This translation of Platero and I is the only "complete" translation into English of the Spanish Classic. It is also the most Spanish! This refers to the paperback edition.

This is a beautiful little book by a Nobel Prize Winner of Literature that is too often neglected, Juan Ramon Jimenez.

Only Jimenez could make the blood of a leach in a stream of water into beautiful imagery. Children read this book as part of their curriculum in Argentina, however, this book can be equally enjoyed and appreciated by adults.

The story is a simple one: it is a first person (semi-autobiographical) account of a poet and his donkey in the mountains of Spain, appreciating, almost Zen-like, the simple beauties of life. The elements, children playing, leaches bleeding in a pool, everything seems beautiful in this book, and the descriptions are exquisite.

This is probably the best introduction to Jimenez, a book not to be missed!

Platero y yo es un libro tierno y sencillo que cuenta la relacion de un borrico y su amo. Yo lo recomiendo a todo aquel que quiera aprender espanol con esta pequena historia llena de poesia.

Very detailed descriptions of each posture in the traditional Yang Family T'ai-Chi Ch'uan. For the practioner who wants to get to the bottom of each posture in the form. The new translations of some of the T'ai-Chi Ch'uan Classics is very enlightening.

Swaim's translation of Fu's incredibly detailed description of Yang Style Tai Chi is both clear and interesting. The text itself covers details of the form, descriptions of push hands, and discussions of the Tai Chi classics and theory. Fu's text contains much more detail than most of the classic texts, and he goes to great lengths to explain his points. Anyone who practices Tai Chi will find some point in the text which would help their practice. My only complaint is that the historical line-drawings which illustrate the moves are limited in the detail they can convey.

This books is really a worth to buy. It's much more deeper than any other Tai Chi book I've ever read. I've never find so deep descriptions of the movement covering any aspect of the movement itself. For a beginner a so big amount of information could make confusion but anyway this is the book where you will find tips and knowledge every time you read it again.

North to the Rails runs with a fun story that carries along with it a different western tone. Unlike many of our western heroes, Lamour develops a character that doesn't believe in guns. He learns the uses for it but carries an internal feeling against them, very different and unique. A good read.

The book is called North to the Rails. Louis L'amour wrote the book. It is a western. A young man from the east comes to buy cattle and ship them on the railroad. He buys 2,000 cattle and drives them to the railroad which is moving westward. His business depends on him and the cattle but he encounters many problems along the way. I have read many books by Louis L'amour and they are all good. This one kept my attenion very well and had a good plot. "I am not a coward. I simply do not believe in carrying guns, and I do not believe in killing."pg.16. One of the main problems in the book is that the main character, Tom Chantry, will not carry a gun. That gets him in a couple of fights with people. That also makes him defensless against anyone who want to push him around. When he gots tired of people pushiing him around he decides to change his mind. He was not use to having to use guns because he comes form the east where there is law and order. In the west there is no law and people kill people and it is no big deal. This book had many suspensfunl parts in it but in the begging it is kind of boring.

Tom Chantry came from the East to the West to buy cattle then bring them to the railroads at Dodge. But when he backs down from a shoot-out with a drunk named Dutch Akins, everyone takes him for a coward and a man who doesn't keep his word. Tom can't find anyone now to buy cattle from or even help move them to the railroads. Tom must learn that he is now in the untamed land of the west where there is no law but only a man's courage and his gun.

Then Tom shocks everyone with how much nerve he has. He makes a deal with French Williams, a well-known man who everyone accuses of stealing cattle though there is no proof. He is said to be able to swindle anyone out of a cow deal. Tom says to Williams that if French Williams will supply the men to help take the herd to the rails, Chantry will give him some shares of the profit. Then Tom makes the deal more interesting. He says that if he himself can't keep up with the outfit and doesn't make it to Dodge City, French Williams will get all of the profit. Williams agrees to it.

Now Tom must be sure to keep up with the herd. But everyone forgets that his father was the famous Borden Chantry and that Tom knows what he's doing. Though at first he is against having a gun, he buys himself a gun and a rifle. And not only does he know how to shoot, he knows how to fight. Local outlaws and gunmen mistake him for a victim but they were going to learn that he is no greenhorn and not a man to be trifled with.

This is a great book to read!! When I first read it, I had such a hard time putting it down when I had to do other things. I couldn't stop reading it. It's very exciting and suspenseful. The character of Tom Chantry is really likable and I was rooting him on throughout the whole book. But probably my most favorite character in the book was French Williams. He is cool, smart, fast with a gun, and a very honorable man. He might steal cattle from others and swindle people out of a cattle deal, he still is very nice and trustworthy. Then there's also the character of Mr. Sparrow. He's very mysterious yet nice and kind, and strangely very attached to Tom Chantry, even though they hardly know each other. But if I tell to much about him, I'll spoil the story.

Peter Simple is the tale of a young British midshipman seeking his fame and fortune on the high seas. Set during the Napoleonic wars, it offers comedy and adventure in an old-school style.

Originally released in serialized form, Peter Simple is a fun, straight-forward adventure novel. It was a best-seller in it's time (1833) and holds up beautifully. I think this will appeal to anyone who ever thrilled to the works of Rafael Sabatini, Bernard Cornwell, or Orczy's Scarlet Pimpernel. It's an easy read and great fun !

Frederick Marryat was a sea captain who served under the famous Lord Cochrane. This book was an inspiration to such later writers as Patrick O'Brian and C.S. Forster. It is a little like Tom Jones in that it episodic, even picaresque. It is very funny in parts, in a way that O'Brian is not--you get the sense that Marryatt is weaving in incidents and characters from his own naval career. It certainly helps to have read O'Brian for a deep understanding of the culture, but with Marryat you feel at times that you are in touch with the real thing.

Another good book in the Heart of Oak series. This novel was quite the opposite of the last one in the series I read, "The Black Ship". I think both novels give good pictures of how life was on the British sailing ships but in "Peter Simple" the crew seems to have a lot of fun and good times as well as taking their work very seriously. They are able to joke around a good bit and enjoy life. This seems much more realistic to me based on my own experiences at sea. "Peter Simple" is written by an actual man of war captain from the Napoleanic era and so probably portrays a much more accurate picture of life on a British man of war than any of the other similar novels. I really liked the novel. Although some of the coincidences and the ending especially are a little too much like a "ladies romance novel" I still think O'Brian fans would enjoy this novel too. The sea battles and ship maneuvers are every bit as good as O'Brian.