This is a romantic historical novel, with a convoluted and exciting romantic story of passion, hate, revenge, and adventure. So what? There are many books like that, most of them pretty cheap and predictable. The trick, of course, is the writing. Bulwer Lytton, an early Victorian character with his own peculiarities (he was very interested in the mystical cults of Rome) is an extraordinary storyteller. The plot, as I said, is long to summaryze, but it concerns Glauco, a Greek stud who is beloved by almost every woman in the story; Ione, the Naples girl he loves; Nadia, a blind slave who is -of course- in love with Glauco, and the excellently portrayed Arbaces, a priest of the cult of Isis, the Egyptian goddess. Two other interesting characters are Julia, a rich and mean heiress who is, alas, in love with Glauco, and Salustio, a dissipated and drunken Roman.

The plot revolves around the constant intrigues of the characters, which include magic love-potions, betrayals and heroism. But at the back of the action, there is a volcano about to explode and leave this town covered by tons of dust and volcanic rock. The characters are planning their lives and lusting for passion, without knowing that they have no future. Like some of us, maybe.

Summing up, this novel is great entertainment, intelligent fun. The best, in my opinion, is the re-creation of a lost world, a city full of color and passion, living in full while Destiny works its own way.

Though the description is overdone and the plot rather creaking, I was caught up by both the description and the story. Glaucus, an Athenian in Pompeii, loves Ione, as does Arbaces, an Egyptian of evil. Nydia, a blind slave, also loves Glaucus. Arbaces kills Apaecides, brother of Ione, who has become a Christian, and then blames the killing on Glaucus, who has become temporarily crazed by a supposed love potion given him by Nydia--after Nydia took it from Julia, who had gotten it from a witch at Arbaces' urging. To illustarte the fulsome style: "The eyes of the crowd folowed the gesture of the Egyptian, and beheld, with ineffable dismay, a vast vapour shooting from the summit of Vesuvius, in the form of a gigantic pine-tree, the trunk, blackness,--the branches, fire!--a fire, that shifted and wavered in its hues with every moment, now fiercely luminous, now of a dull and dying red, that again blazed terrifically forth with intolerable glare!" You will not soon forget this awesome book.

This historically accurate novel is filled with exceptional characters and an intriguing plot. Set in the days before the famous eruption of Mount Vesuvious, the novel highlights several stories at once, dealing with romance, adventure, and treachery. Edward Bulwer-Lytton did an excellent job in making the story deep and colorful. It is perfect for students studying Roman culture, as well as anyone looking for a good novel. This book is definitely a classic worth reading!

They say: "You can't describe the horrors of war with words, it must be experienced." This book belies that admonition. I was no more than 50 pages into my reading of this book, when I was already recommending it to friends! I appreciate the insight provided by the writers of the material, their individual stories and perspectives. I did, however, find that the accounts of the artillery officers to be bogged down in endless details of the placements of their batteries that seemed to go on and on, and several of the accounts were repetitious. Also, disconcertingly, at least twice in the paperback edition two pages were mis-numbered, so that you had to skip a page and then go back to read the account properly (obviously, mistakes done in the editing or in the printing process). I firmly believe that, for the Confederacy, the Civil War was a "lost cause" from the start, and always find it interesting to read the southern soldiers viewpoints; they were unaware of this, appearently never having done the math. What differenciates this work from others however, is the manner of speaking that the writers have - this is the one thing that cannot be faked - we do not look at things or describe them in the same language today. For me, that made this book an interesting and an excellent read. I heartily recommend it.

The amount of eyewitness accounts to this charge in incredible. Rollins is very fair in his insight while introducing an individual's story. From the early stages of artillery placement, Union and Confederate positioning on Day #3, the cannonade, assault and repulse, this book covers it all. Letters and sections from biographies are presented from not just Generals and Colonels but all the way down to individual private soldier accounts. This book is a great tool for those trying to understand Pickett's charge and how soldiers involved told of their struggles. It is interesting to read their accounts written days or even years after the battle. On several accounts it is easier to get clarity in regards to a certain regiment or company movement. Though many stories are sometimes repititous as to the event, the commentary in regards to the action is unique! This book would compliment anyone interested in understanding the charge in a much more deeper view. For a beginner it may be hard to follow though for one who understands the charge or has had more time reading about it, I would recommend it highly!

Rollins has done the painstaking task of finding accounts of Pickett's Charge as seen by participants and observers. Not only has he found them, but he annotated them and compiled them so that they flow. Rollins' book views the assault from nearly every angle. Rollins, through documents written by the people involved, shows that the charge wasn't a last resort or a desperate attempt to gain ground, but rather a calculated risk whose failure lied in mis-execution and unfortunate split second descisions. Truly superb!!!

The two seasons I used this book (starting the training program on Dec. 1st), were my most rewarding years as a cyclist. Use "Bicycle Road Racing" with caution, yes, but this can be said for all training programs. The best thing about this book, I think, is not the tactics section (although his ideas are technically superb, with strong teammates), but Borysewicz's insistence on RECOVERY. I have learned the hard way that this word is the most important in any cyclists vocabulary, whether you are a beginning racer, Cat. 1, or recreational cyclist. I hope we get an updated version soon!

This book IS a classic, and should be required reading for any aspiring road racer, but it is NOT a substitute for a good coach. This point needs to be stressed: Eddy B's training program is geared toward PROFESSIONAL racers. Beginners who follow his program will find themselves overtrained and demoralized. God knows how many beginning racers quit the sport after reading this book and mistakenly believing that a Cat 5 needs to ride 400 miles a week to be competitive. The chapters on tactics are good, as are his gripping anecdotes, but do yourself a favor and GET A COACH!

The best part of this book are racing tactics. It's the best I've seem so far.

This is a great book. Sure it's out-dated, but, why mind? This book has a LOT of good advices for any racing cyclist. It covers a lot of aspects in cycling, although none of them in great depth. It has gave me at least a dozen of very valuable tips that really helped me in real life, including tips for sprinting, climbing, playing with the others mind, how to manage a cross-wind, a breakway.

The only part that I found not good was the training season. That was the old way of training, with a fixed season and fixed number of hours for all types of riders. Everyone is different and therefore need a different training method. I do not advice to follow 100% his training plan, specially if you're a begginer. Hire a coach to help you or do it at your own risk. Eddie has a "iron hand" on his way of coaching and says: my way or no way. I don't believe this, but hey!, he was grown in the eastern-old-world. This may stop you, take care.

Some other chapters are outdated, like bike positioning, equipment choices and the now almost defuncted team-time-trial, but his TTT techinics are great if you are in a breakway.

He has a very sensate way of writing and thinking. This book is MUCH better than those of Greg Lemond, Bernard Hinault and alikes. You'll learn many good techincs for droping your companions. He tells a lot of how a team should work to get their job done. A great book for a racing cyclist.

This is a good work. Other than the Gettysburg charge, before reading this book I did not know George Picket very well. I only got glimpses of him from various readings: Chapultepec, the Penninsula Campaign, Bermuda Hundred, Five Forks, etc. And in those various readings never once did anyone take him to task, making him account for himself like Longacre does.

What we have here is a complex aristocrat, a fighter, whose personal attributes estranged the majority of his superiors (Lee and Jefferson Davis to name a few) but one whose loyalty and devotion to Confederate Independence made him indispensable to their efforts .

He is difficult to like. He deserts a son, is a heavy drinker, is a panderer and is a political maneuverer in the worst sense of the concept. But we also have a person who personifies loyalty, who serves to the very end, under privation, while absorbing every imaginable insult from his superiors along the way. He may have made some serious errors but he always obeyed orders, remained steadfast, even when he must have known he had been identified as expendable, and above all served, served, served.

Longacre does a remarkably good job of brining Picket to life. Even more important than Picket is the wonderful glimpse we get into the workings of the Confederate High Command. A very valuable additional plus is the myriad of interesting historical antidotes that will make the most serious student of the Civil War stop and say, "I didn't know that."

No Lost Cause apologia, here you get all the warts. This one is definitely worth the time.

Traces George Pickett's life from military school to Military Academy and on to his career in first the Union Army and then Confederate. As did many of Lee's Generals, Pickett saw service in Mexico with Scott and also tours in the Far West. Pickett's first assignment in the Confederate Army was to the Northern Neck of Virginia where his forces were mostly militia. He repeatedly complained that these forces and portion of Virginia failed to rally to the high standards of support for the Confederacy that he expected. When a more senior officer arrived in the area Pickett responsibilities were relegated to an even lesser position. Clearly this man was not a rising star but more of a place holder. In fact throughout his career he was constantly trying to position himself for higher visibility.

The author makes a careful analysis of Pickett's actions at Gettysburg and concludes that while they were nether heroic nor cowardly they were in keeping with the actions expected of someone in his position.

After the war Pickett had a difficult time "fitting in" and after several pursuits became a life insurance salesman in Richmond. Perhaps a testimonial to what he is best known for...leading (as directed) thousands of men to their slaughter.

I found this book to be well written and documented but a little disjointed at times.

Growing up in the south I always held the same general opinion of Pickett that most southerners and indeed most Americans hold. The playboy image seen in the movie "Gettysburg" has always been what came to mind at the mention of General Pickett. Thanks to this book I see that the well known image is false.

Pickett does indeed seem to have been a glory hound and playboy but he was also a brave soilder who exposed himself to deadly fire in the Mexican War and was wounded early in the Civil War. Longacre handles the fact that Pickett didn't actually lead his men to the angle at Gettysburg in just the way he should have handled it.

I found most interesting Pickett's work at Petersburg to hold that city until Beauregard and then Lee could arrive on the scene. Pickett is not in general given his due for Petersburg probably because after the war the "cult of the lost cause" was so protective of General Lee that they kept to a minimum Pickett's role. In fact, Lee made a mistake and Pickett and then Beauregard saved the day. Without Pickett's contribution at Petersburg the war might have ended several months sooner. Richmond simply could not have been held without Petersburg.

A great book that puts a new and interesting face on George Pickett. It belongs in any Civil War library.

What struck me is that this book analyzes natural law within a legal context: many of the contributing authors are attorneys as well as philosopher. This is particularly helpful to our nation today, as I think more citizens will have to reassess the role of the judiciary these days.

For the latter half of the 20th century, worries over "judicial acitivism" and judges' making decisions that should be made by legislatures have been the domain of conservatives, with Roe v. Wade probably being the chief example. But now liberals have said similar things about the Supreme Court's Bush v. Gore decision. It is high time for intelligent discussion, and this book is a solid foundation for a dialogue.

By looking at natural law historically, legally, and philosophically, the authors of this book examine how natural law works and various challenges to it. This book is a very good introduction, and I have come away with a greater respect for natural law and its vital role in our nation, and also new questions to pursue (and more books to buy...).

The contributing authors are an impressive team of formidable thinkers, and while most of the writers clearly come from a religious background, the are pretty good about keeping what they say applicable to a secular society (the last two essays tend to be more theological than philosophical, and I thought that hurt their impact).

I think MacIntyre's essay on the role of the ordinary person in natural law is particularly valuable: if the American citizenry cannot execute sound moral judgment, our nation as a constitutional republic is in grave danger. Fuller's essay on Locke's struggles with natural law is an honest and challenging look at natural law's theoretical chinks. Riley's essay on tort law gave excellent lessons on liability, but with lawsuits being as common as they are nowadays, I would have hoped for more practical insights on today's situation, and possible remedies.

On the whole, this book is a good read and a good challenge. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in ethics or concerned about the present condition of the United States.

Common Truths: New Perspectives On Natural Law is a collection consisting of cogent remarks and prescient essays: Are There Moral Truths That Everyone Knows? (Ralph McInerny); Natural Law: The Legacy of Greece and Rome (J. Rufus Fears); Aquinas, Natural Law, and the Challenges of Diversity (John Jenkins); John Locke's Reflections on Natural Law and the Character of the Modern World (Timothy Fuller); Theories of Natural Law in the Culture of Advanced Modernity (Alasdair MacIntyre); What Dignity Means (Virginia Black); Natural Law and Positive Law (Robert P. George); Natural Rights and the Limited of Constitutional Law (Russell Hittinger); Natural Law and Sexual Ethics (Janet E. Smith); Contract Law and Natural Law (Edward J. Murphy); Tort Law and Natural Law (William N. Riley); Criminal Law and Natural Law (Ian A.T. McLean); and Natural Law in the Twenty-First Century (Charles E. Rice). Common Truths is scholarly, intellectually stimulating reading for anyone wanting to better understand and appreciate the permanent norms of human action and their relationships to a moral and political life.

The title of the book suggests no bias or agenda for the work. It simply adopts the title of a very broad and complex area of commerce as it's own name; The Stock Market. The book offers a basic understanding of many aspects of the 'Market'in a way that the un-initiated can understand. Anyone looking for help in selecting a sure path to riches will be dissapointed. Anyone seeking an understanding of the basics, and how various aspects of the 'Market' relate to each other will be rewarded.

This book deliveres knowledge and understanding without bias. It can serve as general reading material or as a reference. It prepares the reader to select and understand other material.

New editions appear when the 'market' changes enough to warrant new material. The content is up to date without being padded by trendy but useless material.

Cliff Critchett
end of review comments

Although this book is an introduction as well as a reference, some knowledge of stock market is assumed. The author often uses technical terms without defining them in the chapter(although there is a small dictionary in the back). If you have traded once or twice before, you should know at least some of those terms.

Before the beginning of this century, the only information we had about Ancient Babylon was from the Bible. Consequently, most of the literature that I have read on the subject (written during the height of Iraqi Archeaology in the 1920's and 30's) has been on a religious note rather than a historical one. This book changed all that. It brought a highly academic subject to the layman. It is a simple, informative account of how the real Babylonians lived. It describes the Babylonians as an advanced people who appreciated art and literature, as well as entering into contracts and having mortgages. It is a great introduction to an ancient civilisation.

THEY WROTE ON CLAY : The Babylonian Tablets Speak Today. By Edward Chiera. Edited by George G. Cameron. 235 pp. Chicago and London : The University of Chicago Press, 1964 (1955). (pbk.)

The civilizational achievements of the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians only started to become known over the course of the last century or so. For our new understanding of the past we have to thank archaeology, in particular for its discovery of many tens of thousands of baked clay tablets which have miraculously preserved the complex cuneiform writing system, languages, and literatures of the ancient Mesopotamians, and for the patient decipherment of these tablets and other cuneiform-bearing artefacts by a small and dedicated group of international scholars.

The literature on this subject today is vast, and much of it is accessible only to specialists. Of the studies that are generally available - such as those by A. Leo Oppenheim, Samuel Noah Kramer, and Thorkild Jacobsen - most tend to be aimed at a more scholarly type of audience, the kind of people who like detailed footnotes, precise references to sources, bibliographies, etc., and little seems to be available in the way of a more popular treatment for the general reader.

This is where the present book comes in. Edward Chiera, though a competent and respected scholar, was exceptional in having an ardent desire to share his knowledge by making the results of his research readily and entertainingly available to the general reader. Consequently, instead of giving us, for example, a lengthy and detailed analysis of the religious ideas or political history of the Babylonians, he has chosen instead to offer an absorbing excursion into the common life of this ancient civilization.

Chiera's 'They Wrote on Clay' is both well-written and easy to read since the pages are small, the font used is gratifyingly large and readable, and there are numerous black-and-white photographs and line drawings which illustrate various aspects of life in the near East : people, places, animals, domestic scenes, archaeological sites, buildings, artworks and other artefacts etc. These illustrations perfectly supplement Chiera's written account, and although many are contemporary, they do serve to suggest something of what life must have been like in the past.

Chiera has managed to pack an awful lot into this small book. We learn about the discovery of the ancient cities, the amazing libraries of clay tablets that were unearthed, the exciting story of the decipherment of the complex cuneiform writing system, the worlds of business and religion, of kings, priests, scribes and ordinary folk, and of their multifarious doings, and of much else besides.

The author clearly loved his subject, and it's invariably from such writers that we get the best books. So if you're looking for a well-written, well-illustrated, easy-to-read popular treatment of this fascinating world, a world that is vastly more important to you than you may realize since it is there and not in Greece that the real roots of Western civilization lie, you'd be hard put to better 'They Wrote on Clay.'

And if Chiera succeeds in whetting your appetite, as I'm sure he will, you might go on to read one of the best-loved stories to come out of that world, the deeply moving story of the adventures of Gilgamesh, his friendship with the wild man Enkidu, and his search for immortality. I'm pretty sure that, if you don't already know it, you would very much enjoy that too. One good popular edition of this story that can be recommended is:

THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH : An English Version with an Introduction by N. K. Sandars. Penguin Classics Revised Edition. 128 pp. London : Penguin, 1972 (1964) and Reissued.

One of the earliest science fiction novels in English, *The Coming Race* was published in 1871 and became an immediate bestseller (it ran through 8 editions in its first 18 months and was later reprinted with the title *Vril: the Power of the Coming Race*). It tells the story of an American mining engineer who descends into the center of the earth and encounters a humanoid subterranean people whose extraordinary technological and telekinetic power proceeds from their control of a mysterious energy called "vril." Through the power of vril they are able to fly, effortlessly move huge objects, and even destroy their enemies from a great distance (by what amounts to an early version of guided missiles). With such immense power freely available to all, war has become a practical impossibility among the subterraneans, who content themselves instead with perfecting their intellectual and artistic accomplishments. However, much in the manner of certain episodes of *Startrek* (a hundred years later), their serene superiority is shown to be inimical to all that is most truly creative in the human spirit. Without human passions, without human strife, the subterraneans's existence is shown to run counter to the most fundamental aspects of the human condition. It is a frightening prospect, therefore, that they believe their destiny is to return to the surface of the earth (whence they had descended, aeons before, during the Biblical flood) to supplant the inferior races living there -- hence they are the *coming* race. The author of the book, Edward Bulwer Lytton, one of the most popular of all Victorian novelists (who in 1866 had been raised to the peerage as Baron Lytton of Knebworth) declared that one of his main aims was to satirise the Darwinian biology of *The Origin of Species* and the political ideals of John Stuart Mill's *The Emancipation of Women*. Accordingly,the novel contains amusing pseudo-scientific passages on the supposed evolution of the subterraneans -- who believe they are descended not from apes but from frogs -- and some rather heavy-handed gender reversal, whereby the subterranean women are larger, stronger, more dominant (and hairier) than the men. Though aspects of the novel now seem labored and unsubtle, it remains a fascinating book in its mid-Victorian vision of dystopian science and politics. Its most unlikely claim to fame? It was so successful that the word vril briefly entered the language (see OED), signifying a strength-giving elixir. The household name (at least in the UK) of the beef extract product "Bovril," first marketed in the early 1880s, is a composite of the words "bovine" and "vril". Few, if any, novels can claim so commercial an influence! Highly recommended.

This book, although written over one hundred years ago by Lord Lytton, contains some of the most futuristic thinking I've ever read about. I read the book in 2 days and was glued to it by the suspense and captivated by the fascination of the society described in it. The story is about a man who stumbles upon an unknown society, living underground, which lead their lives by the principles of VRIL, a life force that is all powerful and healing yet capable of utter destrucion. Every person in this society has the power of this force from birth on and is thus capable of destroying any of his fellow men. This forced the society, named Vrilya, to evolve into a perfect utopian harmony where everyone posesses free will and is completely tolerant of each other.

Written in first person from the view point of the man who discovered them, the book is written in an easy to read language. It relays satiric undertones regarding democracy and imperialism and contains many ideas of anthroposophy, including the Vrilya belief of life after death. The Vrilya are shown to be a more evolved human race, by many thousand years, and are believed to have descended from survivors of the Great Flood, who as a result fled underground. It shows what the future may look like for us, but hinges on the discovery and mastery of the life force, VRIL. Although there seem to be some inconsistencies in the description and behavior of the soceity, they were not grave enough to keep me from reading more. This book should be read by anyone who likes books like 1984, The Brave New World or even A Wrinkle in Time. Unlike the books just mentioned, Vril: The Power of the Coming Race, displays a fundamentally different view of our possible future. A future not ruled by authoritarians or Big Brother, or drugs or reward and punishment, but a future that requires everyone to live peacefully and happily through the consequences of their own power.

All in all, the story is sure to captivate and when keeping in mind when it was written, it is all the more amazing. I loved it, because it made me think about how we live today and the way we could live together without the negatives of our society. It also made me think about how we (The United States) should behave as the most "advanced" country on earth. I was also fascinated by the potential of the human race which we don't realize in every day life. I am sure anyone who reads this great book will love it too.

This book was assigned to me to read by a masters program professor. Before reading the book, we were prompted by stories of the Reggio Emilia Approach. It sounds phenomenal! The professor liked it so much, his own children took part in the school here in the United States.

The approach itself is an amazing idea for educators. This early childhood program encourages hands-on learning. The teachings behind the children exploring through "languages" or modes of exploration. These languages include drawing, painting, sculpture, physical play, words, and music. It is an approach far from that of traditional schooling. However, it is known for it's amazing results. It binds together the world of teaching, children, and parents exceptionally well.

While the book supports a wonderful approach to schooling, the book itself is one that does not hold the reader's attention. I found myself rereading paragraphs because I was unable to pay attention to the words. The book is a dialog between educators and philosophers from Italy and the United States. While some of the questions posed are thought provoking and interesting, the reader is left bored after pages upon pages of questions.

If you are interested in early childhood development, this book is definitely one that you should read for ideas. However, if you are looking for a light and easy read this book is not for you. This book deserves careful attention, that only the truly patient and interested can give it.

I am glad I was asked to read it because of it's enlightening approach to child development. As an educator, I will take away with me the approach's distinct style of exploration to adapt to my classroom and even think of sending my children there someday. I just wish I would have been able to pay closer attention to it and fight my urge to put the book down.

For educators and parents truly interested in school reform, this book is a must read. Educators in the United States have been captivated by the "Reggio Emilia approach" to education since the late 1980s. The extensive documentation of Reggio children's work has toured the world as The Hundred Languages of Children exhibit. This book will allow anyone to see what is truly possible in early education if we are willing to let go of our long-held beliefs about how children learn. The Reggio Emilia approach is much more than "hands-on learning." It is a community effort that involves administrators, teachers, parents, children, and government. Although not a light read, the book is a fascinating dialog among the varied members of the Reggio Emilia community and American researchers and teachers.

The Hundred Languages of Children presents a fascinating and comprehensive overview of the remarkable schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy. It can also serves as an example of what learning can be like for children when it is focused on their interests and needs. One of the essays, an interview with founder Loris Malaguzzi, offers insight into the history, ideas and philosophy behind the approach. Discussing the environment of the RE schools, Malaguzzi states, "Our objective, which we always will pursue, is to create an amiable environment, where children, families and teachers feel at ease." This comment provides a stark contrast to the lip service many American schools pay to families and teachers. It signifies a deep abiding respect for the developmental nature of children and for childhood itself. Comparing the curriculum of the RE schools to American schools and early childhood programs also reveals fundamental differences. Two things are notable as the curriculum of the RE schools is described: the development of the curriculum project grows out of the teachers' observations of students, "The teachers took note, valuing the interest in dinosaurs as an opportunity to learn more about the children." Another important difference is the role reciprocity plays in curriculum building in RE. "... the teachers decided to begin a journey together with the children and study dinosaurs in depth." "...learn more about children" and "journey together" aren't phrases common to American education. Small phrases that reflect a world of difference. This excellent book offers inspiration to educators starved for a more creative and just approach to teaching and learning. To paraphrase an essay title from the book, what we can learn from Reggio Emilia is how to value the learning experiences of our children.

If ever there was a man who followed Christ's example it was Robert E. Lee. This book illustrates such a man. It illustrates the strength of character that men lack in our society today....lacking even in our churches. This book is a must read for all men who are interested to know what a Christian gentleman is. Well done Reverend Wilkins. May Lee's example, which you have illustrated, set an example for others as it has for me and bring glory to God.

The account of a great historical figure---a gentleman of duty, truth and spirit---a man of God. Yankee carpetbaggers, scalawags and liberals alike, be forewarned: this book may shake you from your nihilistic mind nap. As Robert E. Lee so aptly put it, the Southern States had "sacred principles to maintain and rights to defend, for which we were in duty bound to do our best, even if we perished in the endeavor". Long live the South and those who have fought and died to keep alive her character and ideals! Indeed, those readers 'educated' on a strangulation diet of revised history may be enlightened, perhaps even intellectually emancipated, by this grand book. Five stars Mr. Wilkins, 100 stars General Lee!

If ever there was a man who followed Christ's example it was Robert E. Lee. This book illustrates such a man. This book illustrates the sort of gentleman that is lacking in our society today, lacking even in our churches. Truly an example for all to follow. Well done Reverend Wilkins.