"Christian Mysticism" has been selected for listing in "Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: An Entheogen Chrestomathy."

Dr. Harvey Black, grandson of one of the founders of Blacksburg, Virginia, served as surgeon of the 4th Virginia Regiment, as surgeon of the Stonewall Brigade, and as surgeon in charge of the Second Corps Field Hospital of the Army of Northern Virginia. Black's Civil War letters, which begin with Stonewall Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862 and end with Jubal Early's Valley Campaign of 1864, discuss climactic battles like Second Manassas, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. Literate and perceptive, Black had interesting things to say about figures like Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Jubal Early, and Thomas Rosser. The Second Corps Field Hospital was the site of the amputation of Jackson's arm at Chancellorsville, and Black was one of three surgeons who assisted Dr. Hunter McGuire in the operation. In addition to Harvey Black's letters, the book contains three letters of his wife Mollie, all that have survived. They poignantly reveal the trials Southern women faced during the war, fending for themselves and their families. The small town of Blacksburg in Appalachian Virginia also plays an important part in the story. An appendix transcribes and analyses the free and slave schedules for the 1860 Blacksburg census.

Black was a significant figure in the Civil War and postwar Virginia medicine and education. After the war, Black helped found what is today known as Virginia Tech.

The title of Harvey's book refers to something insidious in our so-called civilized societies.

Harvey's focus is on human relationships. She is not concerned with long lasting relationships between partners or family members, but the relationships that exist between all of us as members of a moral community. She deconstructs with incredible insight the ways the privileged oppress the unprivileged.

My short explanation of Harvey's work does no justice to it. It seems simple and perhaps common. But I assure the work is neither of those things. This book, I think, is one of the best books in ethics to come in recent times. There are parts where she struggles with arguments, but I think Harvey's points are essentially right.

"Civilized Oppression" is a must for all people who like to think themselves as moral. I think everyone should read it.

This is a beautifully crafted, meticulously made, elegantly constructed collection of superb crosswords. It is based on the RSV (which being less familiar had the added advantage of making me think about the meanings of the verses used) and printed on good paper with clever, clear definitions neither obscuring nor giving away the answers. It has delightful clues which are eminently fair; one can get unknown words by crosses. This is by far the best Bible crossword collection currently published and one of the best crossword collections in any genre. An absolute delight!

Harvey Bookman has written the best and maybe the only book for COBOL programmers who want to convert older programs to COBOL/370. I have read and used this book many times but am unable to purchase it anywhere. This book explains how to convert CICS and IMS calls in an understandable mannor. It explains the compiler in detail. It explains the new date routine which is most exceptional. It explains dump reading and new debugging tools most effectively. This book is a must have for COBOL programmers who want to convert older programs to COBOL/370LE.

The aspects that were enlightening have been presented to us through the combined efforts of researchers who truly reflected on the best interests of humanity. These dedicated individuals recognized the properties of the brain that are so negatively affected by the ravages of cocaine, in addition to displaying their sincerity in enabling the American populace to recognize the truth as it pertains to the devastation on the unborn, following them into their early years and, finally, the horrendous outcome as it displays learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, anger and aggression issues. This book is a must for those who are attempting to solve a mystery concerning the deficits that are growing clearer regarding our youth, and what we may be looking forward to pertaining to the future of America. I highly recommend this book as, while it is an expose (and exceedingly well written) on the negative effects on the brain of the developing fetus, it is a composite of well-documented research efforts by scientists who clearly recognize a need toward deeper evaluative efforts concerning the issue of brain damage. This information doesn't conflict at all with research in other areas of psychological knowledge-gathering exposes.

Harvey F. Kline knows Colombia intimately. The author is a polished researcher and his work, "Colombia: Democracy Under Assault," is one of the best books ever published about our neighbor to the South. To this end, Chapter Four, "The Edge of Chaos, 1974-1994" is an outstanding review of a critical period in Colombian history. Moreover, Kline's balanced examination of Colombia's politicians, guerrillas, drug lords and death squads and his analysis of how the actors impact the quality of life inside the borders of the nation is superb.

Still and all, Kline is way ahead of his time in exploring the sense of insecurity in Colombia's major cities. He explains how 80 percent of the crimes in Colombia go unreported, and of those reported only 10 percent led to indictments and convictions. Kline also goes to great lengths to demonstrate how experts disagree over the causes of the high level of criminality in Colombia. Of tremendous importance, the author casts a spotlight on Colombia's "democratic system" and in doing so exposes the many mistakes of Colombia's political elite. This book is easy to read and should be studied by anyone who wants a firm understanding of the conflict in Colombia.

Bert Ruiz

I WANT DOCUMENTS FOR OMENTUM AND SURGERY LIVER

Excellent book for beginning readers. Content is amusing and word repetition provides good word reinforcement.

Chekhov wrote all of these stories under a pseudonym, some of them while he was still in medical school. Until his death, he denied being their author; perhaps he did not want to spoil his image with these bits of humor, or perhaps he did not want to spoil these stories' frivolity by attaching a name like Chekhov to them. Unlike the dark, brooding impression of Chekhov one may get from some of his plays, these stories are lively, lighthearted and often hilarious. All are short -- some as short as just a page or two -- but all will have clever endings, even for readers not familiar with Chekhov or with his specific Russian brand of humor. Many of the stories are not meant to be laugh-out-loud funny, but are comic in the more classical sense, bringing forth clever observations and juxtapositions in a seemingly familiar world. These are highly recommended either as a supplement to Chekhov's better known works, or as an easy introduction to his writings.