I wish I could give this book a five start like the other reviewers, but I cannot due to my recent experience using this book in Germany.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a quick and entertaining introduction to German Life, Language, and Culture. But to someone who is already been to Germany, has an understanding of Deutsche Kultur, and/or is studying German I would recommend keeping an open mind to how limiting the quiz and articles including in the book can be. Let me elaborate:

While the book does a superb job of starting with a quiz (and most Germans love quizes), has supporting articles and web-sites throughout the book (answers provided in the back), and even has a map of the 16 Budesländer (federated States) it comes short of being Comprehensive or Authoritative.

What I had found when I used this book (quiz) with my friends and relatives in Germany is that:
a) Some answers may be debatable (section on 'Do As the Germans Do' and 'Know What the Germans Know').
b) Some statistics may have changed (section on 'Time,' 'Quantity' and 'Laws and Regulations') since the time Hyde Flippo wrote the respective articles.

Germans as a people are not as homogeneous as they come across when answering the quiz questions and reading the articles in this book. Many Germans identify first with the region (Bundesland) where they live in. Each region has their own traditions, festivals, and many time different public religious holidays (like the Catholic states in the southern part vs. the Protestant States central/northern Germany). As such, someone from Thüringen will answer some questions differently than someone from Berlin or someone from Bremen. Nevertheless the sections on 'People,' 'Places' 'What's That?' are invaluable to anyone.

A companion book that I would recommend is Richard Lord's "Culture Shock - Germany, A Guide to Customes and Etiquette."

I truely had a lot of fun ready this book about Germans and German customs. I am myself German but I lived quite many years in foreign countries and read a lot of literature about other countries and there inhabitants. And I always wanted to read something about how others view the Germans. And I must say it was very amusing and the informations are realistic. And I recommended it to my friends, Germans and Non-Germans, as a good lecture. Everyone who can pass the test is really good prepared for staying in Germany. I must admit, that I could not answer everything correctly, but that way I even learned some interesting facts about my country, too.

"When in Germany, Do as the Germans Do"
Hyde Flippo
ISBN 0-8442-2553-3

Hyde Flippo has written another interesting book about German ways, for Americans planning to go to Germany. It is a good follow-up to "The German Way". Sometimes writers of travel books try to provide insights that turn out to be misleading. Mr. Flippo, however, is neither travel writer nor dilettante and seems to know Germany well.

The book begins with a series of questions to test one's knowledge of things German. Despite having once lived in Germany, having traveled there several times recently, and being particularly interested in the German language and culture, out of the first ten questions, I could answer only three correctly.

The German washing machine is a case in point. Any American who has ever tried to do laundry at a German laundromat has discovered differences in the process. For starters, there hardly are any German laundromats. Next, a German washing machine may have a two-hour wash cycle, it uses hotter water, since it heats its own, and it spins the laundry to a near dry state.

Regarding the German language, Mr. Flippo cites a number of English sounding words commonly in use that Germans think are English words, which are not. A couple of examples are "die Basecap" which means "baseball cap", and "der Talkmaster", which refers to a "talk show host".

Flippo touches on other "Germanisms" which I have encountered. One is the idea that drinking tap water is unhealthy and should be avoided. A waitress I encountered in Austria explained that although it was okay for Americans to drink tap water that it was not good for Germans and Austrians. Germans tend to drink bottled mineral water, and asking for tap water, "das Leitungswasser", will not uncommonly be regarded as fairly strange behavior.

Another useful thing to know is that credit cards are not as universally accepted as they are in the U.S. Flippo warns that is best to never assume that a restaurant will accept your credit card. The same is true for smaller hotels and accommodations. As evidence, Flippo points out that although France has a population of about 58 million and Germany 82 million, 250,000 less locations in Germany accept credit cards.

One of the most entertaining chapters in the book is about household garbage in Germany. One is not allowed to simply put anything in one's garbage can. There are strict local rules for the separation of the various types of waste. Glass waste is not to be mixed with biodegradable waste, for example. Break the rules, and your garbage does not get picked up. By the way, the garbage disposal is not to be found in Germany, and it is in fact illegal, due to pollution considerations.

Despite previous familiarity with Germany, I acquired new information from this book and very much enjoyed reading it. Hopefully, in the future, Hyde Flippo will tell me some more that I do not know about the German-speaking world.

The Interior Castle (or The Mansions as it is known in Spain) compares the soul to a castle filled with many rooms. Each room is an aspect or stage of the soul, and one can progress into and out of each room. The more into the center of this castle one goes, the more his soul is conformed to the will and ways of God. It is the most interior chamber of this castle in which God dwells. The book describes the soul's way of making it to this chamber. St. Teresa focuses her work towards the nuns of her convent, and because of her personal relationship with them, the book is written in her typical conversational tone and humility. She only loosely adheres to the analogy of a castle. However, it contains several morsels of enlightened spiritual knowledge and insight. The principles that are expounded by Teresa testify to her intimacy with the Creator. She spends a great deal of time on mortification and prayer. Written in 1577, it still contains spiritual wisdom that can be applied today to both Catholics and Protestants.

"Interior Castle" is St. Theresa of Avila's classical guide to spiritual perfection. Although written to her Sixteenth Century sisters in the Carmelite order, it is readily understandable by contemporary readers.

The premise behind the book is that the road to spiritual perfection consists of passage through seven mansions. The last mansion is the Interior Castle in which God dwells. In each succeeding mansion the soul reaches a higher level of sanctity and the attachment to the world decreases as the soul comes closer to God.

Although some portions of the book describe experiences beyond the expectations of modern readers, this work still provides us all with an insight into a way to draw closer to God. While this book does not provide us with the only route to Heaven, I recommend it to all who are searching for guidance in their spiritual journey

Interior Castle is a wonderfully profound and insightful book enabling the reader to gain a better understanding and perspective of the "levels of faith" and a soul's journey toward union with God. Written over four centuries ago by Teresa of Avila, the book describes the soul as a castle with interior mansions and in each of the mansions, there are many rooms. The journey of the soul is toward the inner most chamber of the castle where God resides. St. Teresa describes the features and characteristics in each of these mansions. One might think of the mansions as "spheres of relationships"; relationship of love of God, love of our neighbor, and love of ourselves. As one moves from mansion to mansion, these relationships of love grow and change just as the features, characteristics, and experiences of God in each of the mansions grow and change. The entire journey can be summarized in St. Teresa's words "All the way to Heaven is heaven, too!".

The followings are just a few examples:

Read chapter 12 about how the Great Depression in 1929 was brought about and it will make you cry. How the few "insiders" profited handsomely while the average people languished (p.159). For example, Joseph P. Kennedy's (of the Kennedy's family) wealth grew 25-fold following the crash!

Read chapter 11 about how the 1917 Russion revolution was financed by U.S. and European bankers, how Lenin and Trosky got money to start their war.

Read chapter 3 about the Great Plan to restore the lost empire of Atlantis, how the Atlantis fits the description of the pre-flood era of human society.

This book is a must-read for anyone concerned with humanity's future. The evil people in these secret organizations have brought war and destruction upon the human race!

Much more, it is a must-read for every parent. These evil doers are usurping our children through the educational system.

Even more, it is a must-read for every Christian...

This book is concise and well researched. Every chapter is precious.

This is one of the most important books I have ever read!!!

Great research! W.T. Still backs up his work with documentation that you can verify yourself... The information in this book is NOT fiction! NOT fantasy! NOT fables! Folks, the NWO is just around the corner.... If the secret societies and its pupets have there way, MARTIAL LAW / SOCIALIST CONTROL and Government regulated religion will be the next wave of the future...Very NEAR future... I have studied the NWO for over seven years, and I this book is a great starting point to learn the basics on this subject and reality...(The NWO is going to happen whether you beleive it or not). Don't ignore or turn away from this scary fact...

The United States of America is going to play a very large role in this NWO in this very near and dark future.. This country is under attack as you read this...and has been for decades from within its own government by many of its own top officails.. Even the History Channel and Discovery Channel has had documentaries (factual) on top level conspiricies that is very hard to ignore or deny...Its time for the people in this counry to WAKE-UP!

Also you may want to read "Circle of Intrigue" by Texe Mars published by Living Truth Publishers.

May God bless your souls

I read this book a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it even going so far as to insert many of my own footnotes. It is extremely well-documented, but as with any book, bold statements about individuals and organizations need to be further validated - which I personally have not taken the time to do. I, like many others, have for a long time had an understandably reasonable suspicion of secret organizations. It's the kind of thing you would expect children to invent rather than adults unless there are some sinister motives behind them. My suspicisions lend appeal to the book. Also, it is interesting how he fits many pieces of a puzzle together. By reading this book, some premillennialist Christians might better see how secret societies could work toward the rise of a predicted world government leader with dictatorial status. I would like to know more about the background of the author. Read the book to become more vigilant in your observations of our world, but at the same time, maintain caution against fanaticism. pyronox@msn.com