I think that this book is wonderful! I am a student of Dr. Anthony York's and we have utilized this book in our classes. The Bible As Literature discusses the Bible in a manner that helps the reader actually read what is/was written without all the religious jargon. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is curious about "The Bible" or to anyone who thinks they "really" know what the Bible states.

It is difficult to separate the literary and religious aspects of the Bible, but the authors' focus is on the book "as literature" and in the space of 357 pages (in my copy of the 4th edition - 432 according to Amazon.com), they cover literary forms and strategies, historical and geographic settings, the major components of the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha and Pseudoepigrapha, and issues concerning the text and its translation. A valuable final chapter considers the religious use and interpretation of the Bible. Although the book is concise, it manages in its 18 chapters and 3 appendices to be comprehensive and is consistently readable. I find the sensible, scientific approach credible and while it frequently causes me to reflect on my religious beliefs, they are not seriously undermined by this liberal approach. I do not know of a better introduction to the Bible.

This book is great. I have Dr. Anthony York, one of the authors of this book,in class, and his book is wonderful. It really helps to see the various opinions of the bible. It is also great for people who want to study the bible as literature and not from a religious stand point.

"Prayeraphrases is uniquely done, uniquely printed, & uniquely presented, & deserves all the appreciation & commendation that anyone could command."

"You will find reading this book a great delight.
Your soul will reverberate with these phrases, & your prayer life will be greatly enriched. ...This is one of those rare volumes that will become a precious companion."

The introduction speaks for itself. I would urge the reader to spend a worthwhile 5 minutes to read it (the introduction), which will give the distilled essence of the book's main purpose. This book, prayerfully read, will help to develop your personal prayer life. The prayers are paraphrases of Scripture, Charles Spurgeon and many other well known men of God from history past to present. It can change the way you pray, and develop a love for the Word at the same time. I heartily recommend it!

I first purchased Mr. Bourie's annual book many years ago, andlook forward to each new and expanded edition of his work. He tellsyou practically everything you need to know about casino gaming, then describes the basic offerings of every casino in the country, and then provides coupons that will save you hundreds of dollars when you visit many of the casinos listed. What else could you ask for? Any casino player who doesn't purchase this book every year is missing the boat!

Like to gamble? Me too! This guide tells you where all the casinos are in the good old USA. There are maps, plus detailed city maps of Las Vegas, Tunica, Biloxi, and others. It has strategy tables for blackjack and coupons for various discounts and freebies. You'll find me at a video poker machine--see you there! Good Luck!

I read this book last year (2000) after reading a book of Ada Lovelace's letters (mostly to Babbage). I had purchased my hardcover copy at the Computer Museum in Boston MA back in the late 80's or early 90's, but had not read it because it looked daunting and dry. Was I wrong! This book is very readable and utterly fascinating; in fact a page turner that I could hardly put down. I've been looking for a softcover (or even another hardcover) for some time, so I could loan to friends. How delighted I am to find one! Babbage was a fascinating character and this book not only illuminates the man but also the times and the politics and the other fascinating technological events and efforts of the day. The discussion of the "great gauge wars" (the fight for the "ideal" width for railroad tracks) and Babbage's involvement was delightful. It appears he may have invented the first working strip chart recorder. This book was delightful and I got so involved with Babbage that I cried when his death occurred and the book ended. He was a giant among scientists and yet was frustrated all his life, by petty politics and short-sighted politicians, in the effort to build his stupendous and wondrous machines. A wonderful story, full of technological history. Other highlights: descriptions and pictures of the machines (of course); description of the effort to build a tunnel under the Thames river (by the the Jr and Sr Brunels); Babbage's methods (at times he did all phases of the work for his projects) and his workshop; his notes on working out the operation of the machines; family life; involvement in the technical societies of the day. (The book of Ada Lovelace's letters is also highly recommended if this is an interesting area for you.)...

In the early 19th century, a moderately well-off and very well educated Englishman dreams up an elaborate calculating machine for doing log and trig tables. When he begins this project, the railroad and the telegraph do not yet exist. The machine tools and manufacturing methods of the day are not up to the task, so the inventor pushes out the envelope. He more or less succeeds in building his machine, but the British government is not interested.

The inventor goes back to the drawing board, and dreams up a much more elaborate machine, still all mechanical and steam driven, that essentially embodies all the abstractions of a von Neumann machine. Data and instructions are fed to it via punched cards. His collaborator for a number of years, and the author of the best description of the machine and what it can do, is Byron's daughter. The inventor is well known to all intellectual Britons of his day, including Charles Dickens. The inventor even realises that Boolean algebra is may prove important to operating his machine. The Italian government is fascinated. But the British government again cannot be bothered, and so refuses to fund the first computer. And so all that is left are hundreds of detailed blueprints.

The above, and more, is a true story, told in this remarkable book. After this book was printed, IBM paid to have Babbage's machine built by a Swedish team. It works as Babbage expected it to, and is exhibited in the IBM museum in Armonk NY.

Rascals and confusion, Trollope wrote with all the elements that excited that of readers from the Victorian Era, and that can also excite ones from our age.

One of the brightest lights of the Palliser novels is extinguished in the first chapter with the death of the Duchess Glencora. Bereft of her vivacious influence the grieving Duke, already reserved and traditional, sinks into stodginess. Far worse than this, he is left with three young adult children whom he fails completely to understand. To say that they cause him many heartaches is to greatly understate the situation.

The eldest, heir to the title, Lord Silverbridge has already been booted out of Oxford for a silly prank. Now he goes into horse racing with questionable companions and winds up as the victim of a major scandal, which costs his father a huge sum. Next he deserts his father's choice for his bride to woo an American girl whose grandfather was a laborer.

The Duke's daughter, Mary, wants to marry a commoner, son of a country squire, a good man, but with no title and little money. The outraged Duke is adamantly opposed to such a match, but Mary vows to marry no other and is constantly miserable.

The youngest son, Gerald, who plays a relatively minor role in the novel, is forced to leave Cambridge because he was away without permission attending a race in which his brother's horse was running. Later he loses several thousand pounds in a card game.

The Duke bemoans his children's foolishness and their lack of respect for the traditions of their fathers. He pays for their mistakes, but vigorously opposes the two unwise marriages. But although he is a strict, authoritarian man, he is also a compassionate and loving father. Will he yield to the fervent desires of his rebellious offspring? The resolution of this clash of generations brings the Palliser novels to a satisfying conclusion.

As always, it is Trollope's great gift of characterization which makes THE DUKE'S CHILDREN an outstanding novel. From the outwardly firm but inwardly doubting Duke to the very sincere but frequently erring Silverbridge to the tragic Lady Mabel Grex, who has the young heir in her grasp only to let him slip away, these are well-rounded figures with whom the reader lives intimately and comes to understand thoroughly. With the perfectly depicted ambience of upper-class Victoriana as the setting, this novel is an absorbing work of genius.

If you enjoy and are blessed with beautiful quotes, then this is the book for you! These quotations by that great "Prince of Preachers" are most definitely in a class by themselves. As a faithful reader of Spurgeon, (having read roughly 18,000 pages of his works) I can honestly say that this is the best gleaning of quotations from Spurgeon's works that I know of. The reader will not be disappointed, for every quote is a jewel!

Senates is one of the best books that I have ever read about upper chambers around the world. As I am myself employed by the Senate of Canada, I feel that the book truly reflects not only the history and workings of that particular chamber but also of the other bicameralist systems in the countries which the book examines. The issue of Senate reform is a touchy issue, particularly in Canada, but the author of the section on the Canadian Senate offers viable and excellent options for potential models of Senate reform and his theories certainly deserve further investigation- not only by Senators and their colleagues but by the electorate of Canada as well. Any one who is interested in international politics should definitely add this book to their library and I give it five stars.

Charles F. Haanel was a successful business man who discovered that spiritual life is a key to success in everything you do. He proved that what is happening outside is in a direct relation to what is taking place in your consciousness.

When the Master Key was published, it was one of those books that successful business men wanted out of the market. They didn't want people to read this book as its truths would help anyone to overcome limitations.

The rumor is that when Bill Gates was just a student, he read this book and utilized its truths. Rest is history.

I have read this book - it is divided in chapters that have introductions and numbered paragraphs to study. It starts from understanding the principles of your conscious mind and its power and advances to utilizing these principles.

As you put in use what the author explains in this volume, you will start seeing substantial changes in your reality. In many ways, Charles was so much ahead of his time. Even today most profilic business coaches such as Antohony Robbins etc. do not admit the fact that your life is in your control 100%. We are taught that we are at the mercy of externals, but it ain't so.

In many ways, Charles F. Haanel is the most outstanding business coach there has ever been. Way before current business coaches who incorporate spiritual life and business, he did it. If you are an owner of major company -- have every employee of your company to read this book and utilize it in their daily routines. Your company will become the new success story. That is for sure.

Why am I giving just 4 stars for such an outstanding book? Well that is because the volume is rather long. I think the central message of this book could have been condensed into 60 pages -- but instead the author goes on and on for several hundred pages. On the other hand -- this does ensure that everyone grasps the principles involved in creating success.

Does it work? Yes it does. Why do some people fail? Well, they just read this book but don't put in use its truths. For some it is difficult to understand or believe that your life is just a mirror that is telling you what you are in your consciousness. Think you have a problem, and one will surface. Think you have a solution and it is as well yours. Fair game.

The Master Key by Haanel follows the publication in the late 1880's of the book of the same name by Deslauriers. The fundamental principles espoused in both volumes are the foundational stuff of success in all aspects of being. While there are many excellent works which seek to explicate the human essence from a perspective of oneness, The Master key by Haanel is a Masterwork. Having read the book repeatedly over some twenty years I find each re-reading illuminates in my mind and hence my life, ever-new understandings of our greater reality. As a psychotherapist I have assisted others to a deeper realization of their positive, productive and incredibly powerful state of connectedness. The Master Key by Haanel dispells the imagery of mythology to strengthen and affirm our instrinsic strength, worthiness and unity. Take the books advice and go slowly. While the flush of discovery is still with you, read it slowly again and celebrate the richness of your newly discovered beingness.

Ever wanted the 'answer' to really understanding how to bring success into your life? The Master Key System is the nearest thing you'll find to one. In this masterly and insightfull piece written over 90 years ago, Charles Haanel reveals the secrets to realising our greatness by providing the keys to total success in life - physically, mentally and spiritually. Before reading the Master Key I had read many of the well known classics of personal growth like: Think and Grow Rich (Napoloen Hill), The Power of Positive Thinking (Norman Vincent Peale) and The Magic of Thinking Big (David J. Schwartz). However I found none so fundamentally to the point and enlightening as the Master Key. I immediately liked the Master Key over all the others because it was so factual and practical, with a total absence of hyperbole. There is no 'the secret speaks to those who listen' treatment here, just the plain facts - and the fundamental methods to make it work for you. It did for me! The profound yet succinct treatment of such a complex subject leaves you in no doubt that you are reading the truth. Whats more, the structure of the book is very much geared around a working manual. Each chapter is a short weekly lesson with a practical exercise, successivly building upon the previous one, to take you logically through the total growth process. I found this structured pace very easy to work into my normal life. By the end you WILL understand how to use your power within to improve your life permenantly. Those looking for the one book to provide the key to making their life a success... this is it! This re-edited publication of The Master Key System (by Anthony R. Michalski) has been meticulously produced to be totally authentic to Charles Haanel's now extremely rare original.

This omnibus of some of Pat Anthony's shorts clearly shows her having a versatile imagination. At times she borders on being witty, but seems to forget how to carry the ascerbic wit through to a satisfying conclusion. And like many of today's modern female authors, he seems unable to resist bashing men in some of her short stories, something which is patently adolescent, hence why Pat lost one star from my overall rating.

This collection of short stories is worth reading for several reasons: First, Mrs Anthony covers a wide range of topics with these stories - it's not the same theme repeated over and over again. You are thrown from a boy who remembers the future to a pilot captured by aliens to a ghost story to a virus infection on Mars to your neighbor, the alien, to a city-kid "imprisoned" in a redneck town with Torku to.... do you get the picture? And every time, it's fresh. Creative. The ideas are new. Second, this is not SF where problems are solved with science. No "beam me up, Scotty.", sorry. Most of these stories explore the human condition, human behaviour, human reasoning. Third, P. Anthony has a way with characters and with language - both seem very alive, and she does it with very little words. Fourth, the stories get you (or at least me) thinking. They're not very happy stories, so if you need happy endings, then this book is not for you. But the stories grip you, and they stay with you after you read them. I couldn't stop reading. It was one of these books I finish in a few hours. After reading it, I got Cradle of Splendor, one of her novels, which I didn't really like much. I'll try again with Brother Termite, but what I really wish for is more short stories.

As I write this, I am only part way through this book, but the stories are remarkable. Patricia Anthony is astounding. I can't wait to read everything else she has written.

I picked up a copy of this book a few years ago, but I never finished it because it didn't hold my attention at all. In retrospect, I wasn't ready for it. This book challenged my thinking more than I wanted it to. You may have heard that "In His Steps" is the origin of the phrase "What Would Jesus Do?" That's true, but the book takes the question a step farther. The real question is "What would Jesus do if He were Gail Simmons?" (Ok, so you can insert your own name where I've put mine.) There's even another step after that which is implied rather than stated. Am I going to make the changes necessary to have my life come into line with my understanding of what Jesus would do in my place? The book is excellent, but don't read it unless you're prepared to examine your own life in ways you may have never imagined. I've heard it said that knowledge can condemn a person. Are you willing to take the next step to read this book? You'll either walk away changed or condemned.

I will be honest. I have had this book for sometime and I have neglected to read it. I have recently decided that it was time I started reading more Christian literature. I do not read much at all, but this book was so touching to me that I felt I would add my "two cents."

This book hit me deep. God's Spirit has been tugging at my heart since I first laid hands on this book. My thinking has changed and I am just beginning to learn what true discipleship is. I have been a Christian for some years now, but I have never fully understood what "taking up ones cross" truly means.

Matthew 16:24 says, "then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'"

I must admit, this book has truly challenged me. I have already changed things in my life and I couldn't be happier. I look forward to the blessings God will bring to me in my life and also the blessings that God will allow me to provide to others through His Spirit.

If anyone one should read this and want to do me a favor, please pray that I too can "take up my cross." For myself and those in this book, it can be a very hard choice to make. I want to grow closer to God. I want to truly follow Him. This book gives the perfect example of what following Jesus truly means.

I am not a nominal Christian, but I tell you the truth, this book shows you what a first century Christian was like. I want that. I hope you want it also.

- Esteban [bakura82]
www.bakura.org

Charles Sheldon's classic story of the pledge to do nothing until asking "What would Jesus do?" is still relevant today. Written at the last of the 19th century, the challenge of this story reverberates as we begin the 21st. While the writing will never be included among the great classics of our time, the message digs deep into our hearts every time we read it. This is definitely a book to keep and read over and over and over again.