This is an important book, not only for its content, but also for the fact that it exists in a political climate of ongoing hostility toward Cuba from the US. For many years, liberal scholars have idealized the socialist regime. Conservatives and expatriates, on the other side, have proclaimed their disdain and rage toward the policies of Castro's "worker's paradise." As someone who has been there three times in the past two years, Cuba is neither the heaven nor the hell illustrated by these extremes. This book sheds some realistic light on why Afro-Cubans have been thankful for real improvements in their daily lives made since the revolution, and yet still resent the pervasive racism and poverty that exists behind the veneer of socialist equality. There are some inaccuracies (I think due to translation errors) about the religion of Santeria. In any book about Afro-Cuban life, more needs to be said about the role of religion (Santeria, Abakua, and Palo) and it needs to be consistently correct, so from this perspective, the authors did not do their research. However, this book is very important for opening a dialogue about race in Cuba. I hope this dialogue will continue and break through some barriers.

In this slim volume, editors Pérez Sarduy and Stubbs shine light on the complex question of Afro-Cuban identity. The editors present numerous short vignettes where the reader hears, in first person, a variety of Cubans describe their lives. As with all matters Cuban, things are seldom as simple as pro- and anti- opponents claim. The conceptual tension between the gains people of color made as a result during the revolution, the silence the revolution imposed on race matters, and the looming threat of a "racial rollback" with the dolarization of the Cuban ecomony are all here, spoken from the perspective of Cubans caught in the complex social millieu that is contemporary Cuba. After an excellent review of the literature as introduction, it's all Afro-Cuban voices, a badly needed English language work that is mandatory reading for anyone interested in Cuba or in the struggle for social equality.

All the songs to satisfy even the most discriminating G&S fan

It must be because of that line about the square of the hypotenuse.

This anthology contain a wealth of plays written by black playwrights. While looking for less familiar plays to produce with a primary minority theatre group, I stumbled upon this gem. Within its pages, I was able to find several plays and playwrights I had never heard of before. I enjoyed reading these plays and were able to find works to produce. The plays also provided less known monologes for auditions. Additionally, the various plays provided ample selections of scenes for scene study work. Although some pieces are dated, they are good clasical "Black" pieces. The more modern plays in the anthology date back to 1960's. Never- the- less, it's a good find and a must for my theatre library.

I OWN BOTH VOLUMES OF THIS BOOK. I LOVE A.A. PLAYS AND LIT. THIS BOOK WAS A JOY TO READ IT WAS VERY INFORMATIVE ALSO. I USED THIS VOLUME TO DO A PAPER IN MY BLACK WOMEN WRITERS CLASS. I WROTE ON FEMALE PLAYWRITES OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE AND THEY ARE ALL IN THIS VOLUME.

A MUST FOR ANY LOVER OF A.A. THEATRE

RONDY

I've seen a handful of copies of this book from a variety of outlets; all of those copies had their white covers soiled. This is unfortunate, because inside those covers is the most beautifully designed book on C.S. Lewis I've ever seen. The many black-and-white photographs of Lewis family life and of the places important to Lewis's youth are striking, and the placement of those photos in the text is well done. The text itself appears to have a few editing glitches, but it comes from someone with a deep appreciation of Lewis's work, and it is hard not to be touched by the story she tells.

I first picked up C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters nearly 50 years ago as a university student and read many of his books since--and have given away dozens. But C. S. Lewis: A Celebration of His Early Life is an equisite visit with a child who became a man of towering stature in Christian literature. The packaging, the graphic design, the many pictures I've never seen before, the artwork done especially for this book, the pictures taken in Ireland and England, all enhance the wonderful reading experience. The letters, the description of hijinks, the portrayal of a difficult period at school in England, the family relationships, all contribute to an understanding of an amazing man. As you see the boy become a man, are exposed to the literary influences on his life, you begin to see what shaped both character and interests. Reading this equisite gift book was as much an aesthetic experience as a reading experience.

For the readers who work in this specific area of academic study, say, the study of the culture of Sung China, this book is practically useful. It is a think-tank-like source. Personaly, I am very interested in the author's opinion about the cultural trend in the Sung period. The opinion is shown in the title of the book: China Turning Inward. This opinion can help us to understand and interprete the intellectual, cultural, literary, and artistic changes of that time.

Actually James Liu's opinion is useful for us to study in Sung China, especially for the Chinese scholars. There is nearly no Chinese Mainland scholars study in Sung's cultural history by conceptual thinking.Maybe they feel difficult in reading English, but Liu's book is so important for them.

History is pretty much junk, one might conclude after finishing this breezy introduction to historical archaeology. Poring over estate listings, pottery shards, gravestones and excavated foundations, James Deetz reconstructs the changing face of American life during the colonial era, as immigrant traditions and aesthetics adapted to the New World. The book makes a powerful argument for an empirical kind of history far removed from the anonymous assertions of high school textbooks

The main thrust of Deetz's argument in this book points to the incomplete nature of the traditional historian's approach to understanding past societies. By focusing only on written documentation, traditional historians necessarily confine the groups they can examine to literate societies, thereby excluding most people in the history of human existence. Furthermore, written documents contain the bias of the author, and so cannot always be trusted.

Deetz argues that historical archaeology and the study of material culture opens the door to understanding a far wider band of human societies, and can further help us relate to the literate cultures we study, by providing corroborating evidence, in some cases, and filling in the gaps overlooked in traditional written documents in other cases.

This work focuses mainly on early New England societies, but the research methods Deetz puts forth readily adapt to studies in other areas. The fact that this book still stands as required reading on university course lists 25 years after its first publication testifies to its usefulness...

If you like Animal Farm, 1984, Brave New World and other "creepy society" books, you'll love this one. Four intellectuals find a..., well, a strange manuscript, in a... copper cylinder, yeah. It is the account of a man's discovery of a literally "backwards" civilization where the social pyramid is inverted : people strive to be poor, and the wealthiest citizens are considered bums. Life here is torture, because the ultimate goal of every person is to die. Pick up this book to be intrigued and fascinated.

I actually picked up this book on accident - I had no idea what it was about nor had I ever heard of it. A wonderful masterpiece on society and cultutre, it includes much symbolism. The book makes us question what is truth -

An interesting view of the changing world of the early 20TH century's transition from sail to steam power in commercial shipping. Presented through the eyes of a young,junior ship's officer. An invaluable perspective of life on tramp steamers and liners.The book finishes with an accurate first-hand account of the saving of the Titanic's surviviors.

Sir James Bisset started his career as a cabin boy at an early age; His most-interesting early years on sailing vessels is well-documented in his first book "Sail Ho!". Bisset continues with "TRAMPS and LADIES, My Early Years in Steamers", a very informative description of his work and the vessels he served on. One chapter, for example, is written from his detailed notes made at the scene of the sinking of the Titanic at first-light the morning after the tragedy; it answers once and for all the reason that the closest known ship (stopped in the ice for the night) did not come to the Titanic's aid. This book is a "must" for mariners, explorers, and history buffs. ( Sir James Bisset started writing a third book titled "Commodore" covering his merchant seaman experience in World War 11, which includes his service on the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth.)

I have been teaching calculus at a university for over 20 years. I was on the adoption committee to select calculus texts. I had heard that the Stewart text was a national best seller, so I volunteered to review it. I was startled. I can see now reason why this text is widely used. It is even more difficult to believe that its author has had any classroom experience with honest-to-goodness calculus students. The writing is rambling and obtuse. The design is not helpful and blends prose with examples. The art is irregular, some art is small and some is huge, some topics that cry for graphs have none and some that don't need graphs have several. I have used several other texts and it appears that the author used a cut and paste technique to create this text, taking liberally from other best sellers. After a careful review of this "popular" text, I felt obligated to write this review. Someone needs to point out that the "emperor is not wearing any clothes!"

This book was a required text for the Vector Calculus course. The style and content are fine in the first chapters (Ch. 12) until I needed an alternative viewpoint. I was amazed how straightforward was the material which I couldn't understand from Stewart's book. The author rambles from one point to another, intersperses easy topic with advanced instead of building on what has already been explained. Moreover, in many cases he just gives a senseless definition and only after several pages (sometimes chapters) illustrates the essence of the principle and its application to the real world. Despite the obvious drawbacks, the book has two pluses: accurate (solvable) exercises and good intros to each chapter. Nevertheless, it is still hard to get used to applying the topics covered after a single reading, so the former positive moment doesn't help much. If you want an intuitive approach to calculus, get Thomas/Finney's book Calculus and Analytic Geometry (I used 1990's edition).

I have taught calculus courses with this and other books, and this one is actually pretty good.

I disagree with those reviewers that say that this is a "proof-oriented" book. Yes, many of the important theorems in calculus (the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, the Mean Value Theorem) are proven, but the topological ones like the Extreme Value Theorem and Intermediate Value Theorem are not (perhaps that's too much to ask of a first-year course for non-majors, however). There is an overuse of color in the text, and the accursed box is drawn around way too many things, logically equating theorems, definitions, principles, and terminologies specific to the book like "The Closed Interval Test".

What the book is very good at is providing lots of real-life examples and problems. In fact, these save the book. Each chapter teases some of the more interesting ones (how fast does a turkey cool after you take it out of the oven?) There are extended problems called "Applied Projects." I was particularly impressed with those from the related rates and optimization sections. Problems like these are what turned me on to math. Just a few more theoretical problems would complete the picture, however. Many students can calculate derivatives of functions, but few will come away with an idea of what functions and derivatives really are.

In summary, this is very good book for non-math majors (e.g., engineers). It needs only be supplemented in class with the foundational material. For majors, however, I recommend Spivak's _Calculus_ book.

Robert Eisenman looks at Christianity from a detailed historical perspective, and concludes that James of the early Church in Jerusalem was meant to be the spiritual heir to Jesus' ministry and life. For those Christians with sincere doctrinal disputes with St. Paul, this is compelling reading.

Unfortunately in a book whose entire premise relies on the interpretation of ancient manuscripts, Mr. Eiseman does not seem to have a grasp of language. His early and continued misuse of the word "decimate" grates, and made me reconsider how much I could trust any of the more critical interpretations he offered.

Although I am well read in this area, I found the constant going back and forth between my reference books, the text and the detailed footnotes exhausting.

I believe this is a great coffee table book and conversation starter, but offers little in the way of solid historical authenticity.

Eisenman's book 'James the Brother of Jesus' is an inspiration to those who seriously want to understand the true history of messianic Judaism and early Christianity. The author's hostorical methods and the way he thinks and writes are as important as the content. The form critics trace development of the text and the naturalists fabricate alternative histories for Jesus. As useful as they are, they leave you confused. Eisenman not only focuses on text but also on real people (like James) and real events (like the trial and execution of James by Ananus and Aggripa II). For evidence, he establishes whole frameworks of comparisons, relationships, allusions applied to words, people and events. He draws historical details from many sources. His work is a salutary reminder that the way forward is to use true historical method. His enthusiasm is infectious. I agree that the context of much of the Dead Sea Scrolls material is applicable to the time of James despite what some say about the radio carbon dating results (which can only be statistical).

Eisenman's work inspired the amateur who has no knowledge of the original languages to undertake further research. For example, you can explore Josephus' works and compare them with the New Testament. In Josephus' 'Wars of the Jews', I was astonished to find that the names of the two principal Jewish heroes during the war of the Jews against Rome were Simon and John, the same names as the two principal apostles of Jesus. Towards the end of the war, Simon (possibly the same Simon who earlier had his own assembly/ congregation/church) was trapped and forced to surrender. After the war he was taken to Rome (with John and 700 captives), dressed-up to hide his emaciation, given the front position among the captives in the triumphal procession, drawn along by a rope around his head, and finally executed (probably crucified - may be upside down according to the tradition associated with Peter) (see War, Book 7). In John 21:18 and 19 we read: Jesus said (the the disciple Simon/Peter), 'I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.' The other leader John had surrendered more readily and was allowed to live as a prisoner for the rest of his life (see War, book 6). Compare that with John 21:22: Jesus answered (speaking to Simon/Peter), 'If I want him (referring to the disciple John) to remain alive until I return what is that to you?' An imaginative playwright seems to be at work. The gospel account is pure theatre. Why were the names of the two heroes chosen for two of the principal actors?

For me, Eisenman is to early Christian history what Einstein is to relativity, or Max Planck is to the quantum theory. Physicists apply the ideas of relativity and quantum mechanics to find a theory for the origin of the universe, or even a theory of everything. Historians can apply true historical methods as Eisenman does to try to find the true history of early Christianity - a very complicated jigsaw puzzle. There is an amazing quantity of source material (as the references in Eisenman's book show) and there are plenty of unanswered questions. The historians in this field may have to modify their theories as new facts are discovered - a lesson to be learned from the physicists.

In a world where religion (or the mis-use of religion) continues to be the root of so much war, hatred and suspicion (as it was 2000 years ago), the understanding of the foundations of all religions (Islam, Mormanism, whatever) must surely be important for future human relationships. Eisenman's book is a good contribution to the understanding process. I long for the day when everyone has the freedom to discover the foundation of thier religion openly without fear of ridicule, exclusion, discrimination or even of death.

The reader is not a scholar, but enjoys reading scholarship concerning early Christianity. Eisenman's book produces so much detail it is hard to keep it all in mind. Yet after 400 pages this reader, through meticulous repetition on the part of the author, was able to make sense of what the author was trying to say. And that is: that James is the blood brother of Jesus; James was the one who succeeded Jesus; and very importantly, if James Messianic version of what would become Christianity had succeeded, there probably would have been no Christianity because it would have died in the ruins of Jerusalem.

Eisenman's work challenges current mythologies of Jesus in the Gospels as well as the Pretine succession. But a faithful Christian need not fear his conclusions, because one can see how important tradition is. Tradition interprets events and scripture.

The rewrites, overwrites and omissions in the New Testament are a teastment themselves of how what would become the prevailing understanding would see the impact of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. Eisenman at the beginning of the study warns the reader to beware of what comes from the predominant view of any particular time.

Eisenman being a scholar does not always write things directly because he is working with material that has shifting meaning. Several languages are involved and studies from the first several centuries did not understand Hebrew and Aramaic languages. Yet there were times when the reader would have wished for a statement about where he was going.

There is to be volume II, hopefully shorter. But this reader is looking forward to seeing it.