An absoulutely fascinating look at the origins of present day human behavior through the eyes of an emerging science. The study of Darwinian anthropology and psychology are so commonplace now and filled with contradictory perspectives, that is refreshing to see the courage and logic of where much of it began. After thirty years, this work has yet to be outdone.

It has been said that Copernicus' treatises on the actual heliocentric nature of the solar system were written more for the friends of his on his unique level of understanding and education. They were more or less accidentally leaked to the Catholic Church years later; hence the unexpected nature of their reaction. The historian of science Giorgio de Santillana wrote in THE CRIME OF GALILEO that it was the European academic community (owing its legitimacy to proving inaccurate Aristotlian interpretations of astronomy to be correct) and not the Catholic Church, that gave Galileo the most resistance. And it was they who were instrumental in politically influencing the Church itself in its damnation of his theories. Darwin's book ORIGIN OF SPECIES was said to have been scoffed at before all but disappearing... before becoming the focal point of the intellectual wars in Europe and America in the latter half of the 19th century. And Einstein was a postal clerk for years before his theory of relativity was taken seriously.

All of this, combined with Schoepenhauer's theory about the three stages of an emerging truth (first it is ignored, second, it is violently opposed, third, it is accepted as self evident), serve to me as explanation as to why this book, THE IMPERIAL ANIMAL by Tiger and Fox, was not only met with disdain by a number of sociologists and cultural anthropologists upon publication, but has never been previously reviewed on AMAZON.COM and is not referred to among psychoanalytical or sociopolitical minded intellectuals or even everyday people and the Media during the course of any given day. And yet, in much the same way Freud and Jung made words like "ego", "unconscious", "introvert", and "sibling rivalry" a part of the everyday language of people who say they don't even believe in the social relevance of psychology, this one book is responsible for us looking at the prehistoric world of man and thinking, now with a flipness that makes references both colloquial and unconsious, that it has something to teach us about who we are in the here and now.

This book is considered a classic amongst anthropologists and the equivalent of the life-altering books and theories I've mentioned above to Evolutionary psychologists. It may be singlehandedly responsible for people using anaolgies of prehistoric times to explain the inclinations and dilemmas of modern man, in all aspects. Listen to the writers themselves as they talk about the climate in which they wrote this book thirty years ago in the introduction wriiten in 1998:

"We could mention several areas in which our scorned ideas of 1971 have become commonplaces of today's academic and public dialogue. Tiger's term 'male bonding' seems to have passed into the language much as 'inferiority complex' did... It heartens us, for instance, that on opening almost any serious health book today we come across passages like this: 'Even if we are not 100 percent sure that a high fiber diet helps prevent most of the diseases listed, common sense directs us to eat in a manner more closely resembling that of our ancestors, who were rarely bothered by these problems (William Manahan, M.D., "Eat For Health", 1988).'...This splendid advice is attributed to 'common sense'. All we can say is that today's common sense is yesterday's ridiculous theories."

Tiger and Fox as sociobiological thinkers make clear that an overwhelmingly significant portion of all interpersonal and cultural human behavior stems from biological imperatives. We are, as the end result of our biology, destined to have a language of behavioral traits established in us that create much of what is called culture. And though it definitively is not created by culture, it actually is the biggest impact ON culture in all its permutations throughout time and around the world. It is what they call the "biogrammar" of human kind. It is borne via the million or so years of evolution that brought us to a refined state of hunter-based society in the jungle savannahs around the world, and then combined with the alterations of and additions to that paradigm with the birth of agricultural society- which lead to civlization as we know it.

The book is profoundly humbling and disheartening. It attacks and obliterates the cultural hubris regarding the uniqueness of mankind that you would not know exists as the foundation of your psyche until they reveal it, regardless of your philosophical or theological views. Even the enlightened evolutionary/biochemical view that turns out to be a contradiction in the minds of most laypeople like me- that we share most of the same genetic material with apes and other primates but none of the behavioral implications of that scientific fact- is blown apart in just a look at the essential nature of all political systems:

"These are some of the features of baboon and macque social structure... whatever the details of the system, certain underlying processes are obvious despite the diversity of surface structures, and can be easily summarized.

-the system is based on hierarchy and competiton for status...

-the males dominate the political system, and the older males dominate the younger.

-females can be influential in sending males up the status ladder, and their long term relationships to one another are critical for the stability of the system...

-cooperation among males is essential; coalitions of bonded males act as units in the dominance system.

-the whole structure is held together by the attractiveness of the dominants and the attention that is constantly paid them.

-Because of this, charismatic individuals can upset the the hierarchical structure, and by the same token, retain power."

What they show to be the aspects of the basic social environment of the baboon, are also, *at the very least*, the running themes of the past several centuries of western history.

Using superlatives to describe this book is pointless. Its impact and influence speaks for itself- in fact our culture as it is today speaks for it. It has the power to shake the foundations of your faith in absolutely everything, which cannot be put into words. But with this idea of the "biogram" and the biogrammatical language of humankind being a fact to be worked with, the way aviators work with the fact of gravity or Oscar Petrson works with the 88 unchangeable keys of the piano... Its power to illuminate and encourage is equally as strong.

It is pretty amazing.

Robin Fox is one of the few social scientists who is fun to read. He doesn't go along with the crowd -- so be prepared to expand your horizons

Of all the books written about the Lost Dutchman's mine, this book offers a believable tale to the possibilities of the existance of Jacob's gold mine in the Superstition Mountains.

When we imagine heaven, we picture gardens. If there is a heaven with gardens, they must surely be like Vita Sackville-West's gardens at Sissinghurst. Mind you, when I read this book, I'm over-whelmed by a few sins, like greed and envy, and possibly lust, and I hope that doesn't disqualify me from heaven. I want gardens like these, never mind that the only thing green about me is envy, or that most of the plants won't grow in my climate.

This is a selected collection of gardening articles Vita Sackville-West wrote for The Observer, and charmingly illustrated with photographs and coloured sketches. Although there are gardening tips, it's a book to be read for pleasure. She wrote passionately and we can recklessly follow in our imagination, if not in reality.

Kinship and Marraige can be a very complicated subject. Fox covers it with good examples, diagrams, and text that is easy and amusing to read. It is an excellent textbook, but a good read in its own right.

I have never read a book on incest that has been able to so thoroughly keep itself away from bleeding-heart prose. Fox is a sober scholar who has no agenda other than the pursuit of truth. His tying of incest and evolutionary psychology is revolutionary. I encourage everyone with a family to read this book.

Robin Lane Fox considers Alexander the Great to be the world's first authentic hero. Having retraced Alexander's 10 year, 11,000-mile march in carving out his empire and written a prize-winning biography, "Alexander the Great," the author certainly has the credentials to back up this particular book. "The Search for Alexander" emphasizes the conqueror's personality, motivation, and incredible ambition that consistently overcame severe obstacles of geography, weather, morale, and food supply. Consequently, this book reads more like a detective story, sifting through the historical record to make his best case for what really happened and why. "The Search for Alexander" contains more than 220 photographs, 135 in full cover, including striking pictures of the royal tombs discovered at Vergina, Greece in 1977, which Lane Fox argues is the burial place of Alexander's father, Philip II. If you have even a passing interest in the subject, this is a fascinating book, whether you are content just to look at the pictures or are really interested in the historiography involved in this volume.

This truly is a stunning book. All throughout, the reader can sense Fox's frustration with his colleagues and with humanity's view of itself in general. This is a plea for the longest kind of perspective, one that recognizes the horrifically-disturbing blip that history represents on the 5-million year timeline that is the human story. Fox makes it unabashedly clear that if we do not embrace an evolutionary view of ourselves, we are destined to live in out-of-control, frustrating, dehumanizing societies. The closest thinker that I have found to Fox is Paul Shepard, another brilliant scholar who shreds the boundaries of disciplines. But Fox is even bolder in his challenge to the academy and it's Enlightenment heritage, dismissing as useless much of the classic thought, as well as the current drivel -- since neither considers the full ethical implications of a Darwinian worldview. Great stuff!

Rosemary Wells is a gifted writer and illustrator. The story is engaging and the illustrations add to the personality of the characters. With that said, there are a couple of things that prevent me from giving this book a perfect review. The first thing is the stereotype of the younger sister. Must all younger sisters be shallow, mall dwelling half-wits? The second thing is the part of the story where Max gets lost in the store. This may frighten younger readers.

I have adored the "Max" series by Rosemary Wells for quite sometime, as my three children absolutely loved all the Max books when they were younger. Ms. Wells manages to capture really great nuances on the faces of both Max and his sister Ruby, as well as presenting the most humorous situations for Max and Ruby.

Max wants nothing but a dragon shirt and Ruby is insisting on buying him a much-needed pair of pants, per the instructions of their mother. Max does not give up on his beloved dragon shirt and reminds Ruby every chance he gets. Ruby gets sidetracked in the store trying on dresses and Max manages to wander in the store after dozing off and not finding Ruby in the dressing room. Max finds his coveted dragon shirt, puts it on and is "found" by two policemen in the store. Well, now the dragon shirt is covered with yummy ice cream and Ruby has no choice but to purchase the shirt for Max!

The illustrations and use of color will delight any youngster, as will the antics of Ruby and Max! I love their facial expressions and even after all of these years, I still love reading these books! This was one series of book that neither I, nor my children, ever tired of reading. I find the Max and Ruby books just really classic books! My children would read them over and over again and would find them first with every library visit!

Absolutely pure delight!!!

Another winner in Rosemary Wells' slyly hilarious "Max" series, this time Max and his older sister Ruby have just $5 to replace his "disgusting" pants. Max has his eyes set on a "dragon shirt," but Ruby has to get those pants.

Their ensuing misadventures in a department store take the bunny pair from "Large Appliances" to "Boy's Sportswear" (a caution: Max is momentarily lost in the store, this may or may not be frightening to your little one). With big colorful illustrations by Wells and a happy ending (well, for Max!), this is a fun story of siblings on the loose. 22 pages, with watercolor/pen and ink pictures on each page.

Augustine's Confessions combines an intellectual biography and conversion story with apologetics and theology. It is an essential source document on one of the most highly regarded Western thinkers and for early Church history. As a conversion story, it sets the standard in Christian thought. In short, any serious student of Christianity cannot afford to miss reading this book.

The Penguin Classics edition, translated by R. S. Pine-Coffin, provides a good translation. However, you are going to get what you pay for. Like most books in the Penguin Classics series, this edition of the Confessions leaves a lot to be desired. It has a bare bone's introduction, no notes to help the reader understand obscure passages, and no index. This edition is fine if you want to read Augustine without the distractions of commentary. However, if you want to seriously understand the Confessions, spend some more money and get an edition with better support.

I was asked to read this book as a freshmen in college and I loved it. It is not an easy read, but once you read over a part once more, Augustine's logic makes perfect sense. If you've read any other Augustine, such as "Freedom of the will", this book fits right in there and explains it perfectly. In fact, this book explains most of Augustine's tenants perfectly. If anyone wants to know why Christianity took such a harsh stand against sexual sins...it's Augustine lashing out at his past. He was really tormented. Worship God or worship sex. He chose God and I'm sure he thought about going back. Augustine also developed the full Christian idea of free will, which is manifested in this book as well. Augustine is an incredible figure and a role model for modern Christians. His trials are not much different from ours, seeing as we live in a society so obsessed with sex. Augustine's Confessions is one of my favorite books. A must-read for any theologian and philosopher.

I decided to read this book to find out for myself what everybody was talking about, especially from being Catholic. I wanted to read the book that so long ago won over all of the philosophers of the time who considered Christianity to be a simpleton's system of life.
Right from the beginning of this book/autobiography I knew that I had in my hands something special. It is written with such brutal honesty and insight into St. Augustine's soul and mind. He pours himself out and into this work. It was completely refreshing to know that He/they so very long ago were dealing with the same searching the same longings and fascination that we /I do today. It is wondeful to feel the thoughts of St. Augustine who lived most of his life right in the heart of the dieng Roman civilization. This book is deeply spiritual, personal, and filled with a strong message of faith. But it goes beyond being religious or spiritual or preachy all of which it is as wll but it is a masterpiece. It is very thoughtful, personal, and well crafted. It is a great read for anyone whether Catholic, Christian, athiest or any other. It is the story of a man's life told by the very man who lived and experienced it. It tells the story of this time and this place told through the eyes of one who lived in it. I found some of the passages deeply moving. ANd yet other passages I found to be utterly hillarious. So read and enjoy the Spiritual, personal autobiography of one who lived a long time ago. For Christians one who lived closer to the actual life of Christ than to us today. It is clear to see after reading this work how it helped the Catholic Church and Christianity itself take-off with such passion and intellectual backings.