Cordwainer Smith began publishing science fiction in the fifties when Amazing Stories and other science fiction fanzines primarily flew rockets to outer space and beyond. Smith, however, took the common themes of pulp science fiction and made them into something alien and new. Ships did travel through space, but they were hunted by beings of pure malevolence, and saved by cats chasing imaginary mice. People themselves become alien adjusting their physiology to fit worlds that otherwise could not support life. Animals and robots become more than human by acting with intelligence, compassion, and love often exceeding that of their masters.

Smith's stories are not hard science; they read more like fairy tales or myths. However, The Rediscovery of Man is the myths of mankind's future, myths showing the potential for both dreams and nightmares to come true. These are stories for children thousands of years hence, and for adults today. Just like myths and fairy tales, Smith's stories have great truths in them that are often hidden by an entertaining story.

This collection is a fascinating glimpse into the human mentality. Individually, a few of these stories stand out as his best writing, but the collection as a whole is a beautiful work that leads you through one of the most imaginative minds in science fiction.

At the age of thirteen, I fell on a beat up copy of Norstrilia, and fell in love with Smith's works. I soon got a copy of "The Best of Cordwainer Smith" and it vanished on a summer camp trip. It took me years to replace it. Imagine my delight to have all those loved stories in one (heavy) volume, unlikely to go astray!

As you probably know, Smith was actually Dr. Paul M.A. Linebarger, a Johns Hopkins professor and specialist in Asian affairs. He was a master of psychological warfare.

His stories fit no easy category. They are not fantasy, they are not hard science fiction, they are not alternative history. They incorporate bits and pieces of Asian culture and myth. They are often troubling, haunting. "The Dead Lady of Clown Town" ends with most of its characters dead or with their minds wiped, yet it is a happy ending for all that, with Joan's views obviously spreading through the underpeople. "Under Old Earth" is a fascinating tale, filled with allusions that must be beyond the scope of this note. Even "War No. 81-Q", the original version of which was written by Smith as a teenager, is an excellent story. "Alpha Ralpha Boulevard" is simply one of the great SF short stories of all time. I could go on, but . . .

The volume also includes the Casher O'Neill trilogy, that I had read of, but not seen before.

If you haven't read Smith before, this is how to buy his stories, so that you have them all. If you have--well, again, you'll have them all.

It's worth it. Buy it.

Cordwainer Smith was actually the pseudonym for Dr. Phillip Linebarger, who was a professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University, if I remember right, but anyway, at one of the Ivy League colleges. He was a sometime advisor to the government and wrote a classic book on psychological warfare back in the 40's that I read was still in use by the CIA in the 60's. Perhaps it was this background that gives Smith's stories about the future such a darkly pessimistic tone. As someone observed here in another review, such a view was in stark contrast to the other authors of the Golden Age of Science Fiction (circa 1930 to 1960), during which it was still believed that science would solve all of society's ills. Wherever it came from, Smith's vision is certainly different, his writing style is like no other sci-fi author's, and even his titles are different--giving them names like "The Game of Rat and Dragon, "The Ballad of Lost C'Mell," and the sinister sounding (for a psychological warfare prof) "The Burning of the Brain." If you've never encountered Smith's stories until now, you are in for a rare experience, because Smith is a great storyteller with a uniquely dark and disturbing vision of the future.

This book is one of the most incredible books ever written. I thoroughly recommend it to everyone. Of all the books which deserve cult status, this book is the most breathtaking.

The artwork is amazing! The paintings simply take your breath away. Whenever I want to escape, I read this book. Whenever I want to immerse myself again in the land of Dinotopia, I just look at one of the fabulous paintings and i'm there.

The book is accessible to everyone - there are characters which connect with every person on this earth. The story is magical and deserves greater praise than I could ever give it.

I LOVE THIS BOOK! PLEASE BUY IT!!!!!

PLEASE!

A phenomenal book about dinosaurs living in peace and harmony on an island with generations of shipwrecked travelers. Not only does this book have a extrordinary plot, the illustrations couldn't be better! If you enjoy fantasy as much as much as just atensy-weensy bit, you'll fall in LOVE with this book. You'll read it to EVERYBODY! I've never heard of a book as extrordanary as this. A must read for all. Some other great books based on this are The World Beneath;Dinotopia Lost;and the series of short novels. READ THEM ALL!!!!!!!!!!!

I found this book in on my brother's bookshelf thinking it would be a nice bedtime story. The cover looked interesting enough, but from the first page I was hooked. As an 18 year old, I was surprised at how this book captured my attention with its detailed illustrations and maps. It was an easy read, but I took longer than usual to finish it, because I lingered on each page, simply marveling at the pictures! In a fictional world of dinosaurs and humans, this book will touch your creative side like few others. I highly recommend Dinotopia, especially for reading aloud to a younger audience. I could just imagine myself in such a world and I'm certain you will too!

I enjoy reading good children's books even though technically I've "outgrown" them. This one was very absorbing and a wonderful story that every child should read - or have read to them by a parent or relative or somebody, because adults can enjoy it and benefit from it as well.

I won't say anything about the story, but the characters are all very nice. Jimmy's sister is helpful, his teacher and friends are kind, and Jimmy is ultimately forgiving and goes on bravely - very good role-models for young readers to acquaint themselves with.

I don't know exactly what else to say except that I recommend this book very highly.

My 6th grade teacher read this book to my class 25 years ago. It was a class favorite!

What stands out most vividly is a complete lack of a whiny, self-pitying tone, while still dealing honestly with the anger and bitterness that Jimmy at first feels upon going blind. The book also honestly captures the tension between Jimmy and Mike, the boy who threw the firecraker at Jimmy (not on purpose), and how the strain between them is eventually resolved.

The book is also a fascinating look at the world of the blind, and of guide dogs. I've never forgotten the scenes of Jimmy at the school for the blind before he gets his dog. Even eating can be tricky; the teachers use clock face references so the blind students know where the food is (e.g. meat is at 3:00, the peas are at 6:00, and the glass of water is at 10:00).

This is a wonderful story of forgiveness. Jimmy is blinded by the careless act of a friend and must learn to adapt to a new life being blind. His whole life changes especially when he meets Leader, his four legged guide dog. This was my favorite book as a child. My 3rd grade teacher read it aloud to our class. I kept an old copy of it and have read it to all of my children. Everytime I see it at a garage sale I pick up another copy. I was glad to see that it has been reprinted and that so many other people are enjoying it. I have also recommended it to my child's second grade teacher and he has been reading it to his classes ever since.

This book is one of the Top 10 best war novels of all time. Webb's experience as a platoon commander in Vietnam makes him expertly qualified to comment on the gap that existed between the "haves" and the "have-nots." His combat experiences are thinly veiled through the eyes of LT Hodges, a main character in the novel. The enlisted Marines in this book are based on the farmers, coal miners, drop-outs, immigrants and the lower class in general who fought and died in the war. The quote at the beginning of the book, from a General to a war correspondant, accurately depicts the gap in society that was created by LBJ's draft laws. The draft laws were full of loopholes that the middle and upper class were only too eager to exploit. Webb uses "Senator" Goodrich, an Ivy League dropout and a disabled infatryman, as an anti-hero to explain the war to the privilaged few who decided to protest the war from thousands of miles away. His epic quote of " How many of you are going to get hurt in Vietnam? I didn't see any of you in Vietnam. I saw dudes, man. Dudes. And truck drivers and coal miners and farmers. I didn't see you. Where were you? Flunking your draft physicals? What do you care if it ends? You won't get hurt." to a peace rally at Harvard is one the most gripping paragraphs in context of the civilian protests of the Vietnam War. Webb has shown that the college students, the draft dodgers and the morally weak deserted the country in it's time of need. The United States used the underprivaleged to fight a stupid war. How would the war have turned out if a few senator's sons, or a few sons of prominent businessmen were KIA in Vietnam? How many lives could have been saved if this occurred? As Mr. Goodrich eloquently states in the novel," These people have no sense of country. They have no sense of obligation. Well, so be it. If they are willing to accept the benefits of this society- such as a Harvard education- the they should also accept the burdens." A fascinating look into the souls of the forgetten men who were willing to fight for no other reason than brotherhood. They didn't fight for the US, they didn't fight for the society- they fought for themselves, and they often paid the price in blood. Mr. Webb- thank you for such a wonderful novel. It helped see what my father had to endure as an Army infantrymen in Vietnam.

I've read Gustav Hasford's "The Shorttimers," and Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried." Both are excellent books and I heartily recommend them, but neither I think can compare to James Webb's classic "Fields of Fire."

Webb's book is from the James Jones school of realism. The book has the stinging ring of authenticity and no wonder, Webb was a Marine officer in Vietnam himself and won the Navy Cross, a Silver Star and two Bronze Stars so he definitely knows of what he writes.

But this isn't just a book written by an officer about officers. His portraits of the enlisted men are just as real and are full blooded characters. Some are tough, mean and unlikeable, but hey, that's real life for you.

And just like real life, you'll find yourself bonding and getting close to these characters and when some are killed, you are affected.

Be warned: "Fields of Fire" isn't a happy story. The ending is tragic but given the setting of the story, it's entirely appropriate.

Mr. Webb has done himself and the Marines who served in Vietnam a great honor.

Semper Fi Mr. Webb.

The thing I most like about Fields of Fire is the emphasis it puts on showing how things in Vietnam operated. I've read other pieces about the war where the author takes a somewhat trippy approach and dwells on a few enlisted men doing and experiencing surreal, terrible things. I've enjoyed those kinds of stories from a literary perspective, but they don't really give much insight into what was going on. Webb ventures beyond the viewpoint of some prototypical disoriented recruit and shows more of the actual military operations: what it was like for the lieutenants, how Marine platoons were organized and run, what the day-to-day procedures were.

True, Webb's characters don't have the depth of some. He's working with an ensemble cast, and he's trying to get a lot of information in. If you're looking for a character study, you might try Kent Anderson's Sympathy For the Devil and its sequel Night Dogs, which do just the opposite of Fields of Fire: follow a single character before, during, and long after the war, without a lot of attention to sequence, context, or minutiae. But I'd have to say Fields of Fire is stronger: the ensemble is diverse, and none of the characters are stereotypical or even flat. Likewise, Webb's prose is not perfect, but he never holds forth.

One other book that goes well with Fields of Fire is The Nightingale's Song, by Robert Timberg. Among other things, Timberg writes about Webb's life and what went into Fields of Fire. But this is an excellent book even without a counterpoint or a companion piece.

I was beefing up my outdated security bookshelf, and thought I'd snag the latest in the Hacking Exposed series. I figured that since it was only covering one OS it would be able to have more depth, one of the chief failings of Hacking Exposed.

Well, I was not disapointed. This book covered aspects of Linux and network security that I had not ever thought of. It makes very appropriate use of source code to illustrate problems, and shows you the attacks in both manual and automated forms so you can actually see what's going on, rather than just saying "run the blah program" as so many other books do.

This book has information that will be useful for the newbie, but excells in including detail appropriate for all audiences. In that respect, this book almost reads like a textbook on how to hack and secure. If you're a new Linux user, you'll find good starter information, and want to come back to this periodically as you learn more. If you think you know Linux security, then this is the book against which you should test yourself. I doubt most folks have tried half the things listed in chapter 10.

I wasn't a fan of Hacking Exposed, largely because its Unix section was a mere 50 pages of superficial, outdated, and obvious fluff. Hacking Linux Exposed makes up for that lack by digging into Unix in much more depth.Though it is modeled after the attack/countermeasure style of the original HE, this book includes a whole chapter of security measures at the beginning that you can implement instantly to get your machine locked down before getting into the nitty-gritty detail about other things in the hacker's arsenal.I was particularly enthralled with chapter 10, which talks about what the hacker will do after they have gained root access, from simple things like adding accounts to complicated issues like kernel modules, complete with source code. Chapter 7 includes some really wonderful examples of how the hacker can abuse networking protocols themselves, something I haven't seen covered in such depth before.The book is logically organized. The first part covers the way the hackers find and probe your machine. The second talks about getting in from the outside, be it network or physical. The third part talks about gaining additional priveleges, and the last part of the book is dedicated to mail, ftp, web, and firewalls. The appendicies are actually useful. They seem to have dropped the small 1-page case studies from the original book and replaced them with longer hacker-eye-views of real attacks which are an interesting read, and really tie the book together.This book is Linux specific in it's countermeasures, but I'd recommend this to any unix user. They do a good job of discussing differences between Linux variants as well, they don't just assume everyone has a RedHat box on their desk. Very refreshing.This book is great for both the theory and practical uses. I could spend weeks implementing all the suggestions they have, but they seem to have thought of this because their risk ratings let you know where you should concentrate as you secure your systems.Like Hacking Exposed, this book also has a website, (...) but it seems more up-to-date -- for example when the ptrace bug in older kernels came out, they posted a kernel module you could compile to protect your system until you could upgrade -- and includes all the source code contained in the book.I bought two of these, one for home and one for the office, and I suggest you do the same.

I'm a big fan of the Hacking Exposed style of writing. All offensive theory is backed up by command line examples, followed by defensive countermeasures. Hacking Exposed: Linux, 2nd Ed (HE:L2E) follows this tradition, updating the content of the first edition and adding 200 pages of new content. Although I reviewed the first edition in Sep 01, reading the second edition reminded me of the challenges posed by securely configuring and deploying Linux systems.

The best way to learn while reading HE:L2E is to try the sample commands. I also recommend visiting the links mentioned and installing many of the tools described by the authors. I found programs like raccess, nsat (ch. 3), sslsniff (ch. 7), nstx, and httptunnel (ch. 15) particularly interesting from an attacker's point of view. From a system administration standpoint, coverage of passlogd (ch. 2), lilo and grub (ch. 5), and X (ch. 6) were very helpful.

The authors share many novel ways to abuse Linux systems, but counter those exploits with little-known features or third-party tools. I never knew I could use bash's HISTCONTROL feature to selectively remove entries from shell history files. HE:L2E goes the extra mile to help secure your system, such as including sample C code in ch. 13 to allow one to compile TCP Wrappers support into one's own programs. Other clear, concise defensive measures were introduced in excellent chapters on keeping the kernel and packages current (appendix B) and pro-active security measures (ch. 2). The last appendix gives a short yet powerful description of the damage an intruder can perform, showing how he hid unauthorized programs and how those programs were discovered.

If you use Linux, you'll find HE:L2E indispensable. I even applied many of the tools and techniques to my FreeBSD system, showing that that good security advice can be a cross-platform endeavor.

By far the most realistic of the Bond books. Fleming's description of the MGB (later KGB) headquarters in Moscow's Dzherzinsky Square, where the plot to lure British agent James Bond to his death is first revealed, is reputedly based on information to which he was privy in his capacity as a WWII officer in British Naval Intelligence -- likewise the recruitment and training of the psychopathic killer Red Grant, one of the most formidable of Bond's enemies (and the only one in the films who looked for a while about to kill Bond for sure! 007 meets his match in Grant!) This is the book behind what in my opinion is the best of the Bond movies, steeped in the atmosphere of the Cold War into which the Bond series was born. 007 travels to Istanbul in pursuit of the bait, a Lektor decoder which can read top secret Soviet military and intelligence signal traffic. Another form of bait is the beautiful Tatiana Romanova, an MGB cipher clerk allegedly in love with Bond, willing to defect with the Lektor if only 007 will come and fetch her. (Fleming takes yet another jab at the Reds by choosing this name for Bond's love interest -- Romanov was the family name of the last Czar of old imperial Russia, the family doomed to extinction by the Russian revolution.) Kerim Bey adds a bit of panache, mischief and mystery as "Our man in Istanbul," Head of Station T (for Turkey). A truly great and suspenseful plot!

Fleming seemed to have used his first four novels (Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, and Diamonds are Forever) to warm us up to the Bond character and used the same plot style for the first four novels. In From Russia, With Love, Fleming takes Bond and his writing style to a higher, more intellectual level. Fleming is masterful in setting the scenes without being too boring. Bond doesn't appear until the second part of the book (Part II-The Plan) and you hardly even notice. Another interesting note is that of the James Bond movies, From Russia, With Love the movie follows the novel pretty well, even in lesser scenes such as the gypsy fight. This, perhaps, is due to the fact that Fleming was alive only for the filming and release of Dr. No and From Russia, With Love. This book is clearly Fleming at the top of his game and an outstanding entry to the series.

Considered by many to the be the best James Bond 007 book of all time, From Russia With Love delivers the perfect formula for a James Bond novel. Originally, Ian Fleming's tales of 007 were not going so good, so he intended with this book to kill off James Bond once and for all. The end of this novel is quite a surprise to a first time reader.

The book begins by telling of the commanding rule of SMERSH. The leader of this organization is General Grubozaboyschikov. Also working is Colonel Rosa Klebb and director of planning Kronsteen, who treats real people as if they were chess pieces. The muscle of the group is a homicidal madman, who follows orders, and is in practically perfect physical shape, Donovan "Red" Grant. These evil minds have planned the perfect way to destroy the life and reputation of James Bond. Their plan is to lure 007 with the beatiful Tatiana Romanova and a Spektor cipher decoding machine as bait. Then Grant will meet up with them eventually and kill them both. However, SMERSH will take it a step further to lie to the public that Bond and Tatiana were in an affair, and that Bond commits suicide. It's a perfect plan.
Bond indeed does travel to Istanbul, believing that this girl wants to defect, and will give him the Spektor machine only if he personally helps her. 007 meets Darko Kerim, and a wonderful gypsy fight adds to the fun of the story. Bond and Tatiana travel on a train back to Europe, where he meets Red Grant and is told of the plan to kill him. An extremely bvrutal gun and fist fight breakes out between the men with 007 shooting Grant. 007 goes to Paris with Tatiana to catch Rosa Klebb in a meeting. However, Klebb releases a poison knife from her shoe and kicks 007 in the leg, before being taken away by the police. The story ends with 007 lying on the floor of the hotel room...

Perhaps the finest story of Ian Fleming, filled with the excitement and adventure to give this book it's reputation as on of the best 007 novels ever!

Ever since "Apollo 13" hit the theaters and astronaut Jim Lovell was interviewed on National Public Radio's "Fresh Aire" program, I've been meaning to get this book. Finally I did, and I'm glad. It is a remarkably informative book. Anyone who saw the movie or was paying attention to the news in April 1970 knows the basic story. Where this book excels is in giving us a very behind the scenes look into the people and machinery surrounding the Apollo 13 mission, in a much more personal way than is possible in a movie. Through personal recollection and what must have been innumerable hours of interviews by Jim Lovell and his co-author, the book lets us peek into the minds of the astronauts, engineers, and NASA administrators who dealt with the crisis, as well as the family members' reactions to the danger their loved ones suddenly found themselves in. And at the same time, the book manages to explain the technical details of flying a spaceship and navigating by the stars in both normal and highly extra-ordinary situations. Unlike the movie, this book does not seek to dramatize the events it chronicles, which are dramatic enough by themselves. If what you want is a completely unvarnished look at the Apollo 13 mission, I can think of no better source than "Lost Moon"

Sure, you have seen movies, read books, and heard about Apollo 13, the lunar landing flight that was aborted and placed the lives of three men in severe danger. But you have never read anything like this, the true story. This story was written by the commander of, "the succesful faliure", Jim Lovell(who is a veteran of four flights:Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8, and Apollo 13) and his wonderful helper, Jeffrey Klugger. This story doesn't just tell you about what happened, it brings you inside Apollo 13. It doesn't just tell you what everyone on the ground was hoping for, it tells you what really happened out there, in the lunar module AQUARIUS and the command module ODDYSEY. It doesn't just tell you what everyone on earth was wishing for during reentry, it takes you inside reentry. There were fuel cell explosions, oxygen tank explosions, power and carbon dioxide problems, and all of this gave astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert(command module pilot), and Fred Haise(lunar module pilot)extreme danger.Read this book and find out what really happened out there, on,"the succesful failure", on Apollo 13.

Lovell writes a gripping account of the space mission that almost made him a permanent fixture in the heavens.

Apollo 13 grabbed the attention of the world and brought back to a confident nation the danger and great risk associated with exploration. On its way to the moon, a tank blew out, causing a partial systems failure and raising the possibility that the three man crew might not be able to return safely to earth -- or even intercept our planet to try a reentry. (they faced the very real possibility of skipping off of the earth's atmosphere and traveling forever through the cosmos).

Although filled with technical talk, this book is very much a human story. It is filled with heros: the astornauts, the men at Mission Control who guided them safely back and the wives who very publicly waited to see if their husbands might be martyred to our scientific ambitions. Lovell puts this all very much into perspective. He gives excellent background of his preparation as well as the planning for the mission. The critical days aboard the spacecraft and at Mission Control as all of the problems associated with bringing him back alive are solved are as fascinating and as absorbing as any Tom Clancy novel.

Lovell tells a great story in a superb manner

This compilation of Oswald Chamber essays and sermons was originally captured by his wife after his death. The format of a daily devotional provides an excellent daily read for the avid and growing Christian.

The individual devotionals are not easily devoured in one reading, generally requiring a second or third reading to fully grasp the depth of Oswald Chambers' deeply Christian messages based on Biblical scriptures. This is not light reading, but in the small fifteen minute devotional increments daily, this makes for excellent reading and provides specific daily focus for the Christian reader. This thought-provoking book can easily become a favorite habit, and it also makes an excellent evangelical gift to those who are new to Christianity.

If you buy only one Christian book this year, buying Oswald Chambers' 'My Utmost for His Highest' would be an excellent choice.

Each morning I read this book, I find myself drawn to a place of accountability and yet filled with a desire to worship and commune with my Lord. Oswald Chambers has a way of opening the reader's eyes to the plan that God has for each one of us individually. Combining this book with reading the scriptures included for each day has expanded my morning devotional time to a depth and breadth I could not have imagined before.

I received this book as a Christmas present and in the month and a half that I've been reading it on a daily basis, it continues to speak to my spiritual condition in a way that's almost eerie. Not every day hits but those that do shock me back to my faith journey and remind me about where I should be focused. How could He/he (God and Oswald Chambers) know so accurately what I need to hear? As a committed Quaker (Religious Society of Friends), I have been surprised to find that "My Utmost" transcends the unfortunate Christian political divisions and meets us as followers of Christ. This book had become as central to my daily routine as brushing my teeth but far less rote!

Living in the Florida Keys we have dealt extensively with discarded Iguanas - perhaps 15 or more. People buy them, and get rid of them constantly - and down here, in the semi-tropics, they can survive (with difficulty)in the wild.
Hatfield's book is good, but [costs more]. For about the same price you can get the excellent "Iguanas for Dummies" by Melissa Kaplan (she has long term, extensive personal experience with the animals, & maintains a website that is designed to help pet owners and potential iguana buyers - not just for selling books. You can also add "What's Wrong with My Iguana" by John Rossi M.A., D.V.M. and "Understanding Reptile Parasites" by Roger Klingenberg D.V.M. -it depends where you shop, and how detailed you want to get. You will have far more information...for the money. If money is no object, get them all.
We liked Hatfield's book, but he has apparently raised only one iguana - extremely well - and the rest is research. Kaplan's book is based on research & a lot of personal experience. The experience shows through - there are tidbits of information that have been useful to us that we have not found elsewhere.
If you get Kaplan's book or Hatfield's before you buy an iguana you will definately be doing yourself and your animal a favor. Hopefully, the book will talk you out of getting an iguana if you are somebody who is looking for an easy, inexpensive pet. We love the animals, but based on the rejections we've seen down here, and the complexity of raising the animals correctly, we would never recommend them for pets.
Whatever book you get, you will still need to find a good vet., and that is not easy. Things go wrong with iguanas that are not covered with specificity in any of these books. We have been unfortunate enough to encounter them.

This book has helped me understand my green iguana! It has great information, both scientific and from everyday owners. This book would be good to either do a report on iguanas from or to teach the new or old "ig" owner how to care for their lizard. It gets a little tough to understand for laymen in the anatomy and scientific parts but is suitable for everyone. Has the correct information also, which is rare in iguana care books. If you need to know feeding, lighting and heating requirements, this is a must have book. Don't let your lizard die! Get this book before buying your reptile (if possible) or if not, buy it afterwards and create a happy and healthy iguana in your family. Also this book explains WHY NOT to feed protein to your iguana. I highly recommend it, and would be pretty lost without it. Another good source of information is Melissa Kaplan's .... Between these two sources, anyone can create an environment and diet that will keep their iguana alive for the 20 or so years possible.

This book made a hole new difference to me, I had so many questions before I bought it. How does the skeleton look like? How does the heart and lungs function? These are just two of many questions I had and I got almost all of them answered when I bought the book. The book really fills you up with so much information about the Iguanas that you never knew of. The book is very easy to read and understand and with the stories from other Iguana owners makes it fun to read. Buy it, if you you're thinking of being an Iguana owner or if you already are and don't have it.

I love the New King James Version, put out by Thomas Nelson, but I loath Thomas Nelson Bibles. This is how I happened upon the Thompson a few years ago as I was relieved to find a NKJV not made by T.N. I first bought an NKJV in bonded leather. After 2 years of very heavy use, I bought an NKJV in genuine leather, and later a handy size KJV in genuine. All three of these Bibles are wonderful in every way.

The Thompson Study system is very helpful and they've graciously spared us from a myriad of religious cliche and personal opinion. The page layout is smart. The Bible text actually fills the page and all study helps and references are relegated to the side margins. There are so many ways to use the studies and references, I am unable to number them here. The concordance is as extensive as any I've seen. The 14 maps are colorful and very well done. Simply put, it's a complete, Jesus-exalting study Bible designed with excellence.

The construction of these Bibles is equally impressive. The paper is just right--not too thick, not too thin. The print is dark and sharp. Their font is subtil and very appropriate for the Bible, if you ask me. The red words of Jesus are RED. They're not muddy brown; they're not pink; they're bright, deep, beautiful red. They are printed consistantly page to page, not some pages lighter or misprinted, as the Thomas Nelson folks are plagued by.

Now that I own three Thompsons, I feel about them the way a good ol' boy down in the South feels about shotguns. "I have more than I need, but not as many as I want!"

I spent about 2 hours browsing this thing in a bookstore today and it is incredible. Full of historical facts, bibliograpies, topical idex, charts, timelines, background on the books and the authors, explanations of archeological sites and finds (and photographs), an amazing concordance, etc., etc., etc.....

What makes this edition most unique is its chain reference system. If you're the type who will take the time to flip a few pages to find the depth of a passage, this is for you. It gives other scriptural refences to things you might never have thought to put together. It will give you a very complete sense of the overall biblical context of a verse. It pulls easily overlooked concepts from verses and gets to the heart of matters beautifully.

This bible is known for its quality binding. It advertises its specific binding process and gives instructions on how to take care of it. I tear up bibles, but I would be comfortable knowing that this one will last for a long, long time.

It's not *huge* in size (especially for all that's crammed in there!), but it is a study bible and bulkier than your standard reference bible. I would not recommend this for those who aren't specifically willing to take the time and the effort to dig as deep as possible into the context of God's word. But if that's your purpose, go to it and God bless!

For many years, I searched for the "ultimate" Bible. Being an avid New King James Version reader, we don't always have as many resources available as the King James or NIV people. My most useful Bible study tool is many, many cross-references, which I always looked for in NKJV Bibles that had the most. The Thompson Chain has much more than the standard cross-references. The chain references are just that: you go to the alphabetical index to find your subject, (which there are listed around 4,400 different topics) and you go to the first reference, and simply chain through the scripture references. In other words, they are cross-referenced in sequence order! The topics are as detailed as "blue" and as extensive as "God"; these more extensive subjects are then broken down into various sub- topics. Also, in the back of the Bible, the subjects are listed by title, then all the references are given, and the more main ones are chained throughout the scriptures, and some topics' scriptures are written out in the back also! There are also absolutely no commentaries, nor any conclusions drawn in this Bible! I would 100% recommend this Bible (in any version you use) for those of us who love many, many cross references, and believe first and foremost to compare scripture with scripture (1Cor. 2:13) in Bible studies. For those who like this, this Bible has everything!