First of all, being as this is a book of a historically academic nature, I want to note that I am not an academic of history. While being a student of computer science, I bought this book to read for information for a paper I was writing.

The topic was the upper class society of New York during the time period of The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. I, not a great lover of history, found the book wonderfully written to not only provide me with the facts and statistics that I knew I would find in a book written with a research theme in mind, but also to entertain me with clear, logical writing that could be understood on any level.

Just to sum up the content, the book explains the historical background of the political and social scene prior to the 19th century and then launches into a detailed and analyzed text on not only the upper class and how it played a role in the political structure of a newly forming New York City, but also an in-depth dissection on the social trends and habits of the upper class outside the political scene.

While the topic may be quite specific and this book is truly only recommended to those unique history buffs of 19th century New York City or a student writing on a relevant topic, for anyone needing information on upper class New York or the old political scene, I highly recommend the book.

This is the rarest of all things, a compelling collection of poems. I bought the book because I buy anything Gabriel Levin writes. I would have preferred a new collection of poems by Levin, but wondered who could be worthy of his attention. Halevi, it turns out to those, like me, not already in the know, was a virtuoso wordsmith whose work was honed in a cauldron of hot competition in an age that appreciated such things; an entirely new world in the art of words, half a millennium back, but as timeless as Pushkin. I had a similar reaction the first time I heard Asleep at the Wheel, having never heard of Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys. Levin's contribution to the reader's enjoyment and edification is indispensable. The life of Halevi is a wonder in itself, but, unlike Pound's, his poetry is more interesting than his life. He lived an artistic life of an effette sophistication relfective of his age (who knew?), blended, somehow with his Jewish heritage (Lahakat Ha Kaverit?) but dies a mystic. In addition to the substantial introduction written in crystalline prose, each poem is annotated for context and references. Its a two-fer (Halevi AND Levin), and a winner.

This is the definitive source of information on the topic. It is a better teaching/learning tool than Mike Colishaw's own text, and he is the "guru" who headed up the team that created REXX. If you cannot take a class in REXX, do not hesitate to pay $... for a used copy of this text.