My seven-year-old has been laughing ever since we received this book. I think it will help her!

I have read many long, complex books on studying and study tips. Soon after using the complicated methods, I stumbled across this book. It was refreshingly simple and effective without any sort of complicated methods. A good reminder for the overwhelmed.

This book is a sure way to get children laughing their way through homework. The meaningful jokes (by meaningful I mean that they are almost subliminally coaxing kids to do homework) are miracles. This writing style should be used more often! If the author comes out with other informative, witty and adorable books, I will be the first customer!

Exiled from Hitler's totalitarian regime to neighboring, Röpke emerged as the man credited for the Federal Republic of Germany's postwar boom and was influential on the policies of Germany's Economic Minister Ludwig Erhard. Wilhelm Röpke stands apart from most economists in that he thinks on a more humane level rejecting crude utilitarian calculations in favor of sound empirical reasoning. The crux of Röpke's economic thought is that the individual has meaning. The individual is more than a mere hyperatomized cog in the machine. He recognizes that the market is not some abstract ideology (contrary to Novak's concept adulation of 'democratic capitalism.') Moreover, the market does not exist in a vacuum, but within a transcedent moral order. The market economy represents "the economic order proper to a definite social structure and to a definite spiritual and moral setting." He criticizes "the cult of the colossal" and giganticism where individuals "become mere passively activated mass particles or social molecules." Centralism, which Röpke detests, leads to socialism, a colossal state, an impersonal bureaucracy, and a dehumanized society. Röpke's Humane Economy, on the other hand, posits that a decentralized order is the path to freedom, vibrant communities, properity, and overall human happiness.

Röpke notes that the sound economic order of free enterprise "must find its place in a higher order of things which is not ruled by supply and demand, free prices and competition. It must be firmly contained within an all-embracing order of society in which the imperfections and harshness of economic freedom are corrected by law and in which man is not denied conditions of life appropriate to his nature." Röpke poigantly surmised that: "The market economy, and with social and political freedom, can thrive only as part and under the protection of a bourgeois system. This implies the existence of a society in which certain fundamentals are respected and color the whole network of social relationships: individual effort and responsibility, absolute norms and values, independence based on ownership, prudence and daring, calculating and saving, responsibility for planning one's own life, proper coherence with the community, family feeling, a sense of tradition and the succession of generations combined with an open-minded view of the present and the future, proper tension between individual and community, firm moral discipline, respect for the value of money, the courage to grapple on one's own with life and its uncertainties, a sense of the natural order of things, and a firm scale of values." Röpke astutely observes that civil society is awash in problems from cultural fragmentation, urbanization, and gargantuan institutionalism. He recognizes the benefits and limits of the market economy, which he eloquently defends.

This classic economic treatise recently was rereleased from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. I also recommend Wilhelm Ropke: Swiss Localist, Global Economist by John Zmirak from ISI's Library of Modern Thinkers Series, which is an insightful biography and introduction to the economic, political and social thought of this brilliant man.

One of the great errors prevalent in economics is the assumption that an economy is a kind of endogenous entity which can be understood entirely on its own terms, without reference to social, political, and psychological factors. This error is especially prevalent among those ideologues who believe that, while politics affects economics, economics never affects politics. But this is clearly not how things stand in social reality. Politics and economics exist within a complex web of causal interdependence. No attempt to impose through politics a specific brand of economics can ever hope to be successful, since waves of causation from the economic realm will ricochet back into the political realm, thus altering the original economic program.

The political right, especially in its libertarian and pro-market incarnations, has never properly understood this insight into social reality. In their polemic economic tracts, they implicitly assume that "society" or the "government" could choose at any time to adopt any economic principle it liked, regardless of the likely social or political consequences of that principle. Libertarians tend to support any economy policy which they believe will bring about greater freedom and efficiency, ignoring all the while the disastrous consequences the policy might have in the political and social realms. The great merit of Wilhelm Roepke's "Humane Economy" is that he sedulously avoids this error. Roepke is one of the few pro-market who understands that the free market does not exist in vacuo and that the market cannot be defended as a good-in-itself. In the "Humane Economy," Roepke points out that free enterprise depends on sociological, moral, and cultural factors for its maintenance and survival. The "sphere of the market, of competition, of the system where supply and demand move prices and thereby govern production, may be regarded and defended only as part of a wider general order encompassing ethics, law, the natural conditions of life and happiness, the state, politics, and power," writes Roepke. "Individuals who compete on the market and there pursue their own advantage stand all the more in need of the social and moral bonds of community, without which competition degenerates most grievously." Roepke's defense of the market rests firmly on time-tested conservative principles. He dissects the corrosive effects of mass society and social rationalism and warns against those two "slowly spreading cancers of our Western economy," "the irresistible advance of the welfare state and the erosion of the value of money, which is called creeping inflation." There are few books which detail the crisis of modern civilization in the West better than this one; and none which offer a more convincing vision of a genuinely "humane" economy.

Russell Kirk tended to take the view of Edmund Burke that the age of Sophists, Economists, and Calculators was upon us and that the unbought graces of life were gone. Kirk found the priests of the dismal science to be a blinkered breed who worshipped the god Efficiency, but from that judgment he excluded Wilhelm Ropke, whose work was aimed at returning economics to the human scale.

Ropke opposed the rise of the National Socialists in his native Germany. When Hitler came to power, Ropke was forced to leave, having lectured against the centralizing economics of that regime. But after the Second World War he returned to play a large role in Germany's postwar recovery, which was based on market solutions. From experience he had no confidence in systems of centralized authority -- socialism, communism, or collectivized decision-making of any kind. Against these he believed in local institutions, such as the small town of his birth, family, church, local community, neighborhood, and what Burke called the little platoons in which we travel.

Further, he had no faith in an abstract capitalism that excluded moral considerations. The essence of A Humane Economy is that the most important facets of life transcend the economic sphere. Ropke builds his argument by looking at the moral foundations and ethical conditions necessary for a market economy to function, and by locating the market economy within necessary limits and spheres of activity. He also examines the destructive effects of mass society: crowded cities, bureaucratic hospitals, ubiquitous industry, egalitarian democracy, the absurd pace and busy-ness of modern life, and the myth of the sovereign people over the individual person. The remaining chapters look at the welfare state, chronic inflation, and the importance of ownership and private property.

The line that Ropke draws is between centrism and decentrism. With centrism comes the gradual erosion of the human element. Just as Ortega y Gassett showed how modernity had excluded man from art, so Ropke is arguing that economics has gradually excluded man from economics. While art had become preoccupied with abstract ideas, economics was being treated as a science, surrounded by theory, charts, and graphs. What economists should have been doing, argues Ropke, is adapting economic policy to man, not trying to adapt man to economics.

Readers should have no trouble recognizing this dehumanization at work in today's world. Contra Ropke, the centralizing impulse is on the rise in both government and the workplace. Books about economics have earned their reputation for dullness, but Ropke transcends the genre. His book is readable and re-readable, with a wider view than the blinkered breed usually gives us. Perhaps in time A Humane Economy will receive a proper hearing.

I had the pleasure of meeting the author on a flight from Frankfurt to Rome last summer. I bought and read this book with great enthusiasm. The author is brilliant and funny. The book takes us to various personalities, times and eras in the historical evolution of our country as these homes are used as the medium to demonstrate the message of the time and culture. It is eloquently written in unpretensious prose. I must read.

Through history, art, architecture and more, you journey through these extraordinary Americans lives, and their homes. Elizabeth Smith Brownstein takes you on a facinating tour of 26 homes including Presidential homes, Plantations, Haunted Houses, famous Women's homes, a home of the future and more. What a great book for treasured collections, book clubs, and anyone intersted in America, history and artchitecture.

This book has immediately become a favorite of my wife and I. We jump from chapter to chapter, revisiting homes we have actually been to and learning additional tidbits about them. As well, we are delving into homes we now hope to visit in the future. The pictures are well-chosen and attractive and the author's choice of text brings these dwellings to life. We recommend this "work of historic art" to everyone, no matter their level of interest in this area.

This book is sooo good. I liked it a lot.

Nicole works at a store called Claire's. It's really more of a boutique though. And since it is prom season, her store is getting a lot of customers for it's dresses. Nicole isn't going to prom, and she really tries to make you think that she doesn't care, but you can tell she does, and would really like to go. And she even knows the perfect dress. It's this gorgeous lavendar one at the store she works at. So one day her best friends Christy and Jane ( I think that's their names), who are both attending prom, convince her to try on that gorgeous dress. But when she comes out of the dressing room, these two nasty snobs who were in the first book with Jane, Madison and someone else, make snide comments about her not needing a dress cause she ain't going. Now let me say right her right now before I go on, that this is the only bad part of the book, because I would have slapped the hell out of them. Anyways, she makes up a lie and says that she is, and randomly picks a guy she just spotted!!!
The book goes on about how she tries to find him. And they are so damn perfect for each other!!! Justin is cool. And the end is really romantic when her gives her a surprise. But I won't tell you that!!!

This book was so good, I finished it in two days. I was very realist view to the story. I really liked how the three stories fit together

This book is SSSSOOO good, you can taste it. It's very romantic and cute to me. I think it's worth it. I think Craft gives such a vivid picture of everything and she uses a lot of imagery. The main characters are not different from your average couple that seemed to be confused about their feelings. But, I think if you're a romance lover from age 12-18, you'll love it!

What a great book. We incorporated it into our homeschool curriculum (great for the kid who enjoys cooking!). In addition to the fascinating historical and cultural tour, the recipes are delicious, and provide an opportunity to work with all those tricky fractions as well. We're looking forward to more books by the Harbisons.

My daughter needed this book for a school report she was doing, and I picked it up one night and started flipping through it. To my surprise, I really got interested. This is a very informative book and the illustrations are just adorable. Highly recommended!

Sure you've eaten white, rye and wheat bread. But how about Welsh Rabbit, Amish Friendship Bread and Jewish challah? These and other interesting breads are made around the world. Hear all about them in LOAVES OF FUN: A HISTORY OF BREAD WITH ACTIVITIES AND RECIPES FROM AROUND THE WORLD. The book, which contains over 30 recipes and activities, also explains how French toast, pretzels and the first sandwiches were created.

-YES Magazine, May/June 1997

Ok... I'm still trying to learn British English, so excuse the expression on the title, hehe Get this little book, lots of good phrases and very fun to read. Very helpful for traveling or just to learn the interesting Ryhming Slang, this is for you. Cheers ;)

Nice one! I'm not a native speaker of English, but have learned English as a foreign language. What is the best about this book, the sections on those dialects. Also it's a good fun to sing some football songs like George Best the Superstar! Many more resourceful pages you will find in this book from Mr Blair's way of speaking to how to say "hello" in Welsh. You can always carry this book in your pocket, which is nice, too.

As an ex-pat American living in London, I find this book essential when trying to decipher the large number of different words and phrases that the Brits use: I can honestly tell you that the Phrasebook saved me from the horrors of a zucchini dinner when I found out what 'courgettes' really are. I also finally understood the meanings of 'put paid' and 'punters' and enjoyed the section on British sport: while I still don't fully understand cricket and have absolutely no idea about rugby, I now know a bit more than nothing, which is helpful the next time you're in a pub and a Test Match is on.

The less helpful sections of the book were the bits on more obscure language usage like Cockney rhyming slang and Scots Gaelic: I've never heard any rhyming slang in London and when I was in the Highlands the only time I heard Gaelic was on the radio. However, I'm not complaining: it's a whole lot of fun to be able to know how to say 'caite am bheil an t-amar snamh' ('where's the swimming pool'), even if the Scots themselves don't understand, and now I know that nothing beats a good dinner of Lillian Gish (fish) with gay and frisky (whiskey).

Anyway, the Phrasebook also contains a section for each part of Britain plus sections on pronounciation, accomodation, entertainment and society (how to address the Queen when you meet her) and, most important of all, a mini American-British dictionary.

All in all, highly recommended.

Very inspiring book. It makes you look at not just the world of raccoons but the world in general. A great bedtime book for kids and adults.

We read this book outloud and were throughly intrigued throughout the story. It is a book that is hard to put down. It is a wonderful story of racoons personified, as those who would be new or seeking Christians. By example the story teaches us about the heart of God! A wonderfully well written book that has never gotten enough exposure. My children gave this book for a birthday gift to several friends and all enjoyed the book and often bought the sequel Methuselahs Heart. Which is also a good read about the heart of a christian practicing servanthood. It is good for all ages!

I believe that this book shows that ohers have thoughts like us. This book really touched my heart. It is one of my favorite books. This book shows a family of raccoons that are trying to understand humans, under the teaching of Methuselah. It shows what this world should be like all of the way around-kind.

I'm not really one that is into ballet or any dance, but once i read this i couldn't put it down. not just because of the dancing, but because of the romance between Sophy and Carlos, and the other characters. i've already finished the second one. can't wait to finish it. but i think when i am done reading all of it i will kinda miss reading about the characters and see what else could happen...

I just read this book and I can't wait to read the next one in the series. The dance schools merging is a great plot, because it throws all these different people together. What I really like is everyone in the book has faults--for all their likeable qualities, there's some way that they mess up or aren't perfect. In other words, it's all about real people, like my friends. I like the stuff with Sophy's family--but the dance sections are even better!

I love this book. I couldn't put it down. I was dying to know what happened next. Carlos and Sophy are two of the most intriguing characters I have ever encountered in a young adult novel. They actually have depth and souls. I cared about their problems and about them. I love all the dangling plot threads that will keep me moving through the other books just as quickly. I can't wait to see how everything turns out.

I'm not a teenager but close enough, this story was so beautiful, it was so touching. I'm serious, I just finished the trilogy in 5 days and it was so beautiful, it almost made me cry. I loved it, though I didn't really like the ending, sorry. I think its sad at the end, well, at least for Lacey I thought it was sad. I want to find out what happens to her, besides that I loved it all! 5 stars.

Thats how i can explain this book.I loved it.I loved the whole trilogy!It almost made me believe in angels.:)I Do.Its a very good romance. My favorite so far.

I just finished the trilogy...it was the BEST ever. I proimse... If you are a teenager you HAVE to read this book...I'm not kidding...It was the best. It actually made me cry in some parts (and I hardly every cry). It was so sad, but in the end it wasn't. YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK!!!

This book fills a glaring need in history books. Not many people know more about Susan B. Anthony than she was one the dollar coin. This book corrects that oversight, and then some. Not only does the book give a balanced and well thought out look at Anthony and Stanton, the reader is also introduced to many, many other women who worked so hard for women rights.
I especially liked that the book didn't shy away from some of these women's more controversial stands, such as taking on the black person's cause.
All in all, a very good book.

This book provides insight and history on the struggle that women went through to get the right to vote. It includes all kinds of interesting background and perspectives. It was a real eye opener for me and I'm giving it as a gift to all the young women I know.

This book was an eye opener for me. Every woman should read this book to understand the fight for our right to vote. These women devoted their lives to something they knew they would never even see in their live time! Its a story of courage and strength. It's makes one feel proud to be a woman.