I'm not much of a book reader. I usually stick to magizines and news paper articals;But I must say I consider this book to be one of the better Books I have read. Some parts seemed to drag on forever, but then again Their were so many suprises and secrets that it all evened out. If I do ever decide to read a book or novel I like to read Gothic Mysteries. This book struck my fansy when I saw that it had the word Haunting in it. For the most part The Haunting of Lamb House was very injoyable!

This book describes the intertwined lives of the persons who live in Lamb House over the course of many years: a crippled boy whose greatest desire never comes true; Henry James and his infatuation with various younger men; and other characters. And I do mean characters! These are not run-of-the-mill folks. They are interesting and quirky and unique. I also sensed some tongue-in-cheek pokes at sexuality, which were amusing. The entire book is enjoyable.

If you know your plant terminology, and want to learn about the plants of the northeast US, this is the book to have. Unless you want to spend big bucks on your plant guides, however, you will have to trust your descriptive abilities, since there are no pictures (the illustrated companion is about $125). A very complete guide that can be applied across the area.

this book is not for the novice trying to identify the tree is his or her backyard. It is the most complete, thorough, up to date, and expansive identification manual for vascular plants for the eastern side of north America: A large, heavy textbook with no pictures, full of complex scientific descriptions and nomenclature in dichotomous key format. If you don't know what that means, you most likely will not find this book user friendly. That being said, it is a wonderful book, providing answers where other high end, professional botanist volumes leave ambiguity or contradiction. Excellent, clear, easy to use. A must have for anyone seriously studying plants in this region from the undergraduate to the post graduate level.

About time the Prudent King received treatment worth his contemporaneous status! Not much has been written on Phillip II that would pass the most superficial test of historical accuracy. This book, a survey of his reign, is balanced and well written. Kamen describes neither a demon (the characterization of Phillip which most English readers would find familiar) nor a saint (the preferred version among Spanish monarchists), but the first modern bureaucrat. Kamen scholarship has some precursors in the English historical world, ie Elton, Parker, but his contribution to popular history in the form of biography is unique at this point. The 30 Years War, the casus belli for Modern Europe, is inconceivable without Phillip II's presence. This book paints with an informed brush the Spanish dynastic cause. I recommend this book highly.

Kamen offers a very complete and detailed description of the great grandson of the Catholic Kings and the difficulty of managing the most extensive empire the world has ever known. The facts are taken from great sources and presented in an honest fashion. Kamen strays from legends and myths and even challenges some of them as he did in "The Spanish Inquisition". The dedication of Felipe II to his realm is explained realisticly. Finally, the chronology is followed with discipline and is commendable. I would recommend this book to anyone desiring information on this Hapsburg leader.

That's right! I am, at this moment, making a powerful epic screenplay about the greatest king in the 1500s. It is called PHILIP, KING OF SPAIN - and it will star me as the great king Philip II. I will show him as the man, the king, the warrior, the father, the husband, and the ruler of his court!

So forget about those other little biopics like THE LAST EMPEROR, AMADEUS, ELIZABETH, and others! PHILIP, KING OF SPAIN will be an Academy Award-winning, Best Picture epic film made by yours truly - Kristoffer Infante! It will be a companion to my other Oscar-winning Best Picture, PRISONER OF WAR - written, directed, produced, and starring me - and TRIANGLE, another Oscar-winning Best Picture!

I will be faithful to the man and the myth, and destroy all that negativity that has dogged Philip in the last 400 years! Philip will be loved and appreciated again!

Count on it!

Everyone admires Grover Cleveland, and no one considers him a great president. This is probably because he was known for integrity which, while admirable, is never the leading quality of a great president.

A mildly successful lawyer with modest ambitions, he would have remained obscure except for extraordinary luck. He became mayor of Buffalo in 1881 when frustrated Republican reformers joined Democrats in seeking an honest candidate. No prominent figure wanted the low paying, slightly disreputable position, so it fell to Cleveland. A year later he became governor of New York when Republicans self-destructed by choosing an unpopular candidate, and Democratic frontrunners stalemated, forcing the party to pick a dark horse. Soon after assuming office, Cleveland won the approval of Samuel Tilden, still the dominant figure in the party. Luck continued to bless Cleveland, not only making him a presidential candidate after two years as governor but providing the slightly disreputable James G. Blaine as an opponent. A reputation for honesty made the difference in the close election of 1884.

The first Democratic president since the Civil War, Cleveland receives credit for leading his party back into the mainstream, but this is arguable because Democrat Tilden, not Rutherford B. Hayes, probably won the disputed 1876 election. Many writers complain that Cleveland's reputation suffers because he faced no great national crisis, but this is anachronism. Americans always believe they are undergoing a national crisis (aren't we undergoing one now?).

1880s America was tormented by a chronic agricultural depression, bitter labor disputes, rage against trusts and railroads, and rising fury at political corruption. Leaders of post-Civil War Democrats opposed social reform as stubbornly as Republicans but had less objection to honest government. Cleveland's first administration reinforced his reputation. He reorganized and reformed executive departments, vetoed many private and pork-barrel bills as well as any law that smacked of social reform. Certain that monetary policy and the tariff held the keys to prosperity, both parties devoted far too much energy to these issues that now seem arcane. Cleveland shared this obsession, but he was never an activist. His single major legislative effort, at tariff reform, failed because he considered it beneath him to lobby Congress. Attacks on his tariff policy contributed to the narrow defeat by Benjamin Harrison in 1888.

Then luck returned: a slump in 1890 doomed Harrison to a single term. Cleveland easily gained renomination in 1892; Democrats won in a landslide, controlling Congress for the first time in a generation. There are eerie parallels with Wilson's Democratic sweep in 1912 and FDR's in 1932, but those administrations were led by great presidents.

As Cleveland entered office again, the slump had become a depression. Growing populist, farmer, and labor movements poured out plenty of helpful suggestions which merely made Cleveland and party leaders nervous. They worried most about a weakening currency and social disorder. One legislative act, repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, enjoyed support among both parties. Cleveland demonstrated uncharacteristic energy in lobbying, but passage produced no noticeable effect. Nowadays everyone condemns Cleveland's attack on the pitiful Coxey's army of unemployed (a foretaste of Hoover and the Bonus Marchers during the next depression). We also fault him for crushing the Pullman strike, but contemporary editorials and the middle-class electorate generally approved.

In the 1896 Democratic convention, reformers easily swept to power and nominated Bryan. Cleveland considered this an irresponsible aberration and supported McKinley. It wasn't an aberration; the old conservative leadership never regained power, nor did the fractious Democrats until 1912. Cleveland was the last Democratic president who embodied nineteenth century Jeffersonian ideals (minimalist government, opposition to social legislation). Hoover was the last Republican Jeffersonian.

Great presidents demonstrate qualities such as vision, compassion, imagination, and energy in exercising power. None of these were in Cleveland's repertoire. A solid, honest, nonreforming leader, he belongs in the upper ranks of second-rate presidents.

American history buffs should collect every volume in the fine American President series, short biographies by mostly eminent writers (Robert Remini on John Quincy Adams is the best I've read so far). Like the subject, this biography is competent. Historian Graff tells the story of Cleveland's life, leaning over backward to find nice things to say without exaggerating his accomplishments. Allan Nevins' 1944 opus is probably the definitive biography, but it's long in the tooth and perhaps also too long for the nonspecialist. Readers looking for the best single volume work will find a lively and opinionated account in Horace Samuel Merrill's Bourbon Leader: Grover Cleveland (Little, Brown, 1957).

This short book is part of "The American Presidents" series edited by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. The series devotes a short volume to the life and accomplishments of each American President. The books in the series can be read quickly, and each gives the reader an overview of the life and accomplishments of an important American figure. It is a worthy goal to encourage people to get a working understanding of our presidents and part of an attempt to reeducate Americans about their country and government. The series, Schelsinger states in his introductory note, will "give readers some understanding of the pitfalls and potentialities of the presidency and also of the responsiblities of citizenship".

Professor Graff's short study of the life of Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) fulfills the aim of the series. The book consists of a brief biography of Cleveland and covers his youth, his public (and some of his private) life before he became president, his two presidencies, and his life in retirement. The accomplishments of each of his two terms are summarized, if briefly.

As do most writers who have studied Cleveland, Professor Graff finds his strength in his integrity and common sense. He was able to persuade his fellow Americans, both before and during his presidency of his honesty. Cleveland was a President without charisma and an uninspiring public speaker. He regretted his entire life his lack of a college education, and his career shows something of a discomfort with new ideas or new approaches. Yet, he was able to turn these traits, together with his own strengths into advantages. He proved a capable and inspiring President.

Professor Graff does not engage in hero-worship. If anything, I thought that he somewhat undervalued Cleveland and his accomplishment. He describes some aspects of Cleveland's presidencies which seem to run counter to the picture of Cleveland as a reformer and as given to complete probity and openness.(For examples, Graff discusses the abrupt dismissals of many Republican civil servants at the outset of his terms and the secret operation on Cleveland's jaw which was held on a ship offshore to conceal it from the public at the beginning of Cleveland's second term.) Yet Graff finds much to admire in Cleveland in his hard work, acknolwedgement of his illegitimate child, financial probity, and Civil Service reform. Graff praises Cleveland for his refusal to support the annexation of Hawaii when its queen was overthrown under dubious circumstances. Cleveland restored public faith in government at a time when it was sorely lacking. I think he was the first President who could be desribed as attempting to govern by principles that he believed were both "conservative" and "compassionate." In this he is an inspiration whose goals, if not all his specific decisions, could be followed and expanded upon.

This is not a complete study of Grover Cleveland but it succeeds well in giving the reader a sense of his accomplishment. The reader who wants to learn more might read Allan Nevins', "Grover Cleveland, A Study in Courage" (1944) which remains the standard biography of Cleveland.

Widely remembered as the only president to serve two non- consecutive terms, Cleveland hasn't gotten the attention and praise he merits. Although a Democrat, it would be no surprise that most of his views would clash with those taken by Democrats today as well as Republicans.

Following the Panic of '83, the public lost confidence in the efficacy of paper money. Cleveland believed the only solution to the restoration of prosperity was to place the country on a gold standard.

Cleveland's anti-imperialist stance would dismay many who promote the U.S. as the Hall Monitor of the World, clinging to the imperishable ideal of the Declaration that all men have the right to self-government. He was outraged to hear how the rulers of Hawaii were overthrown and replaced with a rump democracy. He attempted to undo the wrong wrought by forcible intervention. For Cleveland it was "the only honourable course for our government to pursue."

His words should be carved above some door to the Pentagon, or the Department of Defense:

"The United States," he wrote, "can not allow itself to refuse to redress an injury inflicted through an abuse of power by officers clothed with its authority and wearing its uniform; and on the same ground, if a feeble but friendly state is in danger of being robbed of its independence and its sovereignty by a misuse of the name and power of the United States, the United States can not fail to vindicate its honor and its sense of justice by an earnest effort to make all possible reparation."

Why did Hawaii hope for the restoration of self-sovereignty? Because "she could place implicit reliance upon the justice of the United States." Someone in those scattered islands must have read the same texts the beleaguered pro-democracy students in China read when they erected a crude facsimile of the Statue of Liberty in Tianmanen Square. Too bad they were kicked in the teeth.

He opposed and vetoed bills that would have provided federal handouts for numerous groups and individuals, some deserving, most bogus. But he was not blind to a "widening gulf between employers and employed. His concern was not a squishy "kinder, gentler" budget-increasing type.

Anticipating the Encyclical Rerum Novarum of Pope Leo XI, and Laborem Exercens of Pope John Paul II, he wrote that "Communism is a hateful thing . . . but the communism of combined wealth and capital, the outgrowth of overweening cupidity and selfishness, is not less dangerous."

He was an honorable man when honor in a public office was scorned. Democrats and Republicans take heed.

Romping good fun and sharply satirical. Fielding has none of the puritanical prejudices of his contemporary and rival Samuel Richardson.Rather he gives a graphic, humourous and insightful glimpse of eighteenth century rural shannanigans. Both stories are to some extent a response to Richardson's goodie goodie novel Pamela or Virtue Rewarded, Shamela in fact so much so- mimicking then epistulatory narrative and burlesquing the characters and style of the original novel- that you'll miss most of the jokes unless you've read Richardson first. Jospeh Andrews is far more substantial and rewarding containing the full range both of Fielding's humour and social concerns. Vividly presenting the self-serving cynicism of English society his particular speciality lies in puncturing pomposity by comically abrupt opposistions between what his characters preach and practise. Detached, sarcastic and well-read Fielding somehow manages to mix slapstick with Homer, blend eupheimism with innuendo and mangle anyone that he has a grudge against. A novel of the road- if you liked this, you'll love Tom Jones.

I loved this book. The adventures of Joseph Andrews are colourful and riotous. Highly recommended! Shamela, however, is a lesser work. It is a bawdy caricature of Samuel Richardson's "Pamela". Amusing, but slight.

My husband and I are amazed how much this book has captured the attention of our 2 year old triplets, especially the "youngest" boy. In three weeks, he has memorized the first half of the book including the multi-syllable names of machines and such. Not only has this book heightened his fascination for these road building machines, but also he has learned the names and the meaning of what these machines actually do. This is great and I strongly recommend it for a fun and educational read!

King's book deals with the performance of Arthur Conan Doyle's short play "A Story of Waterloo" by eminent Victorian actor Henry Irving and a devastating review of this production written by George Bernard Shaw in 1895. The play is about an old and feeble soldier who has played a heroic role at Waterloo and pathetically dies while reliving his finest hour, thereby bringing the house down (in the theatre, that is). King uses this intersection of two remarkable theatrical careers to consider the Victorians' retrospective glance at the Napoleontic wars, the nature of Irving's performance, which by modern standards would be inconceivably sentimental, Irving's relation to his audience, Shaw's development as a critic and playwright, Irving's leading lady Ellen Terry and her son, the theatre director, designer and Irving acolyte Edward Gordon Craig. An instructive and entertaining read for anyone with a broad interest in the theatre and (cultural) history. Highly accessible, but marred by some unnecessary excursions into academic obscurities that the opening chapters had led me to believe were going to be avoided. Still, fascinating stuff.

The best book I ever rea

With the tongues of men and angels: A study of channeling. By Arthur Hastings. Published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1991. ISBN 0-03-047164-8.

When he proclaimed, "the medium is the message," it's doubtful that Marshall McLuhan had ever heard of channeling. His rule nevertheless applies. When television channels channel channelers channeling, you may have noticed, it's not the channelled communication itself they capitalize. Who can recall a television show highlighting the implications of the channeled message? Instead the focus is on whether it's really a spirit speaking, part of the channeler's subconscious personality, or maybe just a hoax. The medium's still the message.

When Jon Klimo published in 1987 his book, Channeling: Investigations on receiving information from paranormal sources, it too focused not on the message but on the medium. The history, the methods and the theories of channeling were its subject. Channeled material itself was given only a single chapter. When introducing that book, Charles Tart wrote that the question, "Who am I?" is one of the most important we can ask and that some of the most significant answers come from channelled communications. Yet Klimo's book didn't quite reflect that significance.

Edgar Cayce emphasized the comparative study of channeled guidance. Until now, however, there's been no book that satisfies that order. Arthur Hastings's study of channeling, however, is a sumptuous feast. Besides containing the required chapters on the history and parapsychology of channeling, it devotes the majority of its pages examining the contents of significant works of channeled material.

The author is Dean of the Faculty at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Menlo Park, California. His academic background is in communications and he views channeling as a form of communication. He defines it as follows:

"Channeling refers to a process in which a person transmits information or artistic expression that he or she receives mentally or physically and which appears to come from a personality source outside the conscious mind. The message is directed toward an audience and is purposeful."

What is the purpose of channeling? Hastings proposes that civilization has received much of value from channeling. He gives us a guided historical tour of the channeled material that has significantly contributed to the spiritual traditions of the world. Perhaps the earliest source of channeled materials are the Vedas, the oldest scriptures in Hinduism. More recently, Mormonism owes its inception to channeling. Hastings devotes separate chapters to metaphysical systems such as Alice Bailey and Theosophy, Jane Roberts and the Seth material, and Helen Schucman and A Course in Miracles.

Never before had I read accounts of these systems of thought by someone not writing from within that system. Until reading his book I had never encountered any criticisms, for example, of A Course in Miracles. Hastings presents several in an otherwise sympathetic treatment. I found particularly interesting the criticism that the Course seems to ignore the body, that it is strictly a "cognitive" spirituality.

Throughout he also draws some interesting parallels between these systems of thought, world religions and mythologies. He clearly shows that the sources of channeling, as extra-terrestrial as they sometimes claim to be, are quite in keeping with the collective unconscious of humanity.

It is clear that Hastings sought readings from many contemporary channelers in preparing this book. His informal observations give the book a personable grounding. He can be down to earth without being frustratingly earthbound. He can enjoy having his head in the clouds, but can tell the difference between a nitrous oxide stupor and a whiff of heaven. One of the definite values of this book is the author's presence.

What about the presence of spirits? Hastings concurs in the conclusion reached by parapsychologists almost one hundred years ago: channeling is not a good courtroom to decide upon the existence of disembodied spirits. Edgar Cayce indicated, for example, that one can't discriminate between telepathic contact with the continuing effects of a person's existence and the continuing activity of that person's spirit. If not spirits, then who's there? Hastings concludes that the entities who speak are transpersonal factors within the human mind, personifications of higher intelligence.

I found myself dissatisfied. At the outset Hastings restricts his study to channeling where a separate being is active. He specifically excludes exalted states of inspired awareness (what Klimo called "open channeling"). Yet he has but few words on why channeling so often takes the form of messages from a separate being.

In this regard, Edgar Cayce's channeling career presents an interesting enigma: He consistently advised us to turn to the highest within ourselves. He himself turned down the opportunity to channel an outside entity. Yet when describing in a public lecture what happened to him during his psychic trance state, he said he went to a hall of records where an "old man" handed him a book of information for the person requesting the reading. Who was this old man? Cayce's higher self?

I can accept that the higher self is but a personification. But I wonder why even Cayce manifests the personification process. Perhaps the answer relates to why God created souls. In Cayce's myth of creation it was for th

The Spanish Inqusition is one of the frightening stories that everyone hears as they grow. Henry Kamen, through some vicious research, finally disspells many of the myths and legends associated with it. Methodically showing what the Spanish Inqusition really was and how it was not nearly as bad as it has been played out to be, Kamen does an excellent job of putting together a book full of first hand accounts of what went on, who the accussers and accussed were and who really went to be burned at the stake.

However, the book does fall short it its attempts to be for the general reader. Where Kamen's research excels, his writting seems to suffer as information is not as well organized as it should be and some information is repeated quite often when it shouldn't. This makes it hard to trudge through and leaves it to be a wonderful resourse for professional historians, not for the everyday reader.

However, if one is daring to learn more about what really happened during this time, this is a wonderful book to start with. Just a rule of advice: Follow the rule of the historian and view things objectively and don't apply todays moral standards to yesterdays events. To many other readers (as can be seen in the reviews) try to do this and come up with a very negative opinion of the book. One has to realize that the time period being looked at differed greatly from ours today and that disciplining was much harsher than it is now (This was a period where one could be executed for running in the street naked). With this in mind, enjoy.

Written by a prominent Jewish author, THE SPANISH INQUISITION is a book that really should be made public, to get across the truths about it. Many people today get most of their information about the Inquisition from Poe's THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM or from some other bad source. This is a book which anyone who wishes to know about Church history or Spanish history should read. If you are looking for an answer to the "Muslim question," or the Inquisition's response to Muslims, this book does not tend to cover that too well. Also, a poor account of St. Vincent Ferrer is given, which can be construed almost as a smear campaign against him. At any rate, a good book worth spending the money and time on.

A refreshing take on The Spanish Inquisition. Henry Kamen separates the facts from the myths. As a Spanish Literature major at UCLA, I found this book very useful and impartial. Kamen gives data that is very interesting to say the least. Dates and people are mentioned, something that lacks in many books. He presents dates from very reliable sources. The footnotes are almost extreme but it is a job well done.