If you want to learn to hit the right way, this might be the best investment you will ever make. Like another reviewer wrote, though, you must be willing to do the work to learn the lessons the book teaches. Also, if you just want to be a home run hitter, this book is not for you; a home run is only a pleasant mistake in the Charlie Lau/George Brett school, which teaches solid line-drive hitting. After studying this book, I became a Top 10 hitter in a highly-competitive Texas league. The Art of Hitting .300 is a baseball treasure.

I recommend this book for anyone wants to learn (or teach) advanced hitting techniques. Pictures and descriptions clearly explain common hitting problems and show correct swing mechanics. My 15-year old struggled through his first slump before we applied Lau's hitting fundamentals. He added fifty points to his batting average over the next month and hit 0.638 in a national tournament. I believe this book had a lot to do with his improvement.

I was a scrawny little kid to whom baseball was everything. To my parent's dismay, I judged myself by how I played baseball. But I was scared of the baseball and lost as to how to go about hitting it. My coaches gave me harmful, misguided instructions like, "make sure it's a stike, then swing at it" and "snap those wrists". I was a wreck. Then one winter my Dad (like me, a George Brett/Wade Boggs fan) bought me this book. My Dad had never been able to hit either, but he and I dissected it over the course of a summer.

It was a lot of work, more work than any 12-year-old could could have undertaken without the guidance of an equally determined adult. But my Dad and I realized that hitting was a process, a method that could be learned. Lau taught that everything I had been told -with horrible results- was in fact wrong. You don't judge whether a pitch is a strike and then swing; you start your swing and let your reflexes hold you back. You don't swing hard with your arms; you swing easy and get your power from your whole body.

All spring we worked on it, practicing in the garage, spending literally hundreds of dollars at batting cages working on mechanics. That very next season, I was hitting the ball better, and I only improved from there. By the end of that season, I was a certified leadoff terror. My team won its league title thanks to a game-winning single by yours truly. I even hit a few home runs (by not trying to, as Lau teaches). I was deliriously happy.

Even since then I've been a good hitter. Not a power hitter (I'm much too small), but a solid doubles guy with surprising pop. What I learned from this book kept me in organized baseball through Babe Ruth and high school (simultaneously), college, and semi-professional leagues. I am a hideously slow runner who soon after puberty had to give up dreams of playing professionally, but to this day I can step in front of a pitcher or pitching machine -cold- and drive the ball. This book taught me how. If you really want to hit a baseball, buy it, read it, internalize it, and put your faith in it. It will serve you well.

The Saga of Galanor crossed the ocean and reached me in a royal blue journey; a typical Brazilian one. I took a day to open the book - I feared it somehow. When I did, the barriers of time vanished and I was thrown into the fantastic realms of Atlantis and beyond; somehow so familiar to me and, until then, so long distanced in my memory. The story is an image poem; and, the book itself is a film! Watch out, it has a magical effect!

Not only is the book a great adventure, it is beautifully put together. This book is amazing in it's artwork, it's format. It is a book like nothing you have ever seen. This is a book that you will want to pass down from generation to generation. I enjoyed it and look forward to the next saga.

Galanor, a strong leader in a fantasic fantasy tale, that will keep you wanting to read about his next adventure.

I read this book based on a recommendation and am really glad that I did. In this book, Chuck Colson takes a very detailed look at the Christian Church (The Body). He discusses its history, purpose, and current state. Based on a lot or research and interviews, the authors gave me a lot to think about and really opened my eyes to what the Chrisitan Church is all about.

Overall, I was particularly impressed with three points that the author discusses: unity (tolerance) within the Body of Christ, active faith, and regular church attendance. First, I think that Chuck Colson "calls it like it is" when he describes the petty arguments that have decided Christianity for years. It is a shame that many who call Jesus lord, cannot get along with other denominations. While we squabble over doctrine, more people become lost, and miss the greatest gift that God has to offer. The books call for unity is well founded and supported.

Secondly, Mr. Colson challenges today's church and its members to display the kind of active faith that marked Jesus during his time on earth and the early church. I totally agree with him that if the Church is to fulfill its purpose, Christians need to "get plugged in". Make a difference and bring light into the darkness that surrounds us everyday. This call to action really challenged me to rethink my role in society as a Christian, and how I can help further God's kingdom.

Thirdly, this book gives the best explanation of why regular church attendance is required that I have read. The authors point out that the Church is God's chosen instrument to spread his Gospel, save the lost, and further His Kingdom. As stated in the book "Christianity is about more than just you and your relationship with God". I have fallen into this trap, and heard this argument from many Christians. This book helped remind me that I have a much greater responsiblity than just my own salvation.

Lastly, this book does an excellent job of weaving in numerous stories to put a human face on the concepts he discusses. Despite the heavy subjects that it covers, it is actually a pretty easy read. I enjoyed this style, and learned a tremendous amount of things about Christianity that I did not know before reading this book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a detailed analysis of the Christian Church. If you have ever had questions (or heard comments) about why it is important to attend a church, how can the Church be more effective in today's society, what has worked in the past, and what will work in the future, then you should read this book.

This is THE book on the role of church in our world. It has dramtic stories of what the faithful can do in living their faith combined with thoughtful insight from a great author. I stumbled across the book and I have not felt the same since. A must read.

colson's books are always challenging and inspirational. the body is no different. usually, i find stories and anecdotes superfluous. however, colson cleverly combines his stories with hard-hitting commentary. this book is an insightful commentary on the chruch's misdirection that provides useful suggestions and emboldenment necessary to reverse the downward spiral.

I loved this novel for many reasons. One is that I have met and worked for Charles Evans and another is the fact that the writing is fluid and weel done. john waters did a good job of captruing the personality of Charles and the way he acts. I'm just glad I had the chance to read this nove;l.

As in all things, there is "one bad apple that spoils the whole bunch." That is a way to view the CIA and other branches of our government. There is always someone or something that is rotten.

John Waters does a fine job of presenting the story of Juan Rubio. Charles Evans is such an all-round great character. We are able to view a human side to these characters.

Now we wait with anticipation the sequel. Please, John, let there be a sequel!

Scarily shocking, true-to life documentary of the widespread, unchecked corruption of our Government. Makes you think our liberties in a whole new light. Am I really free? John Waters and Charles Evans have risked their lives in exposing a woven tale of deceit and lies so that others can be freed from the long arm of tyranny and injustice. You both deserve a heros welcome and thank you!

This book tells the tale of the total inequalities that have infested so much of Latin America over the past five hundred years. The legacy of colonial and Spanish rule is a legacy of serfdom verses elitism. The stories of Cuba and the communist rebellions were totally understandable when appreciated in light of the historical context that this book presents. The history of Brazil, how it was once the seat of the Portuguese royal family, and the various nations on the southern tip of South America that have struggled with development offered a fascinating glimpse at a rarely talked about region of the world. The Cold War and the effects of globalization after de-colonization in Latin America was also fascinating. The analysis of the class structures, and how they have continued in different forms from government to government was detailed and convincing. Also I found the stories of the heroes and heroines of the attempted revolutions penetrating. Mostly I got a sense for the dramatic story that these many diverse and connected peoples have experienced.

Born In Blood And Fire is a superbly presented and concise history of Latin America which covers six centuries and twenty countries, linking accounts of individuals, economics, politics and social structure in a uniform, logical progression of events which will delight both general readers and students seeking an introduction to the region's history. Chapters provide many insights on Latin issues in the process of revealing the history of different nations. Born In Blood And Fire is an invaluable introduction and survey for students of Latin American history.

About 200 pages cover the 19th and 20th centuries, the first 100 pages cover the earlier centuries. This book is definitely worth reading. The twenty countries of Latin America share a common history of conquest, slavery, colonization, and revolution. It has a youthful population, and is a land inhabited for over a thousand years. It is part of the developing world, and has a European culture. It has a few large countries, and a lot of small ones. All of Latin America is about twice the size of the US in land area and population, but the US economy is six times larger.

After independence the countries faced enormous difficulties due to economic devastation, and unfair trade. Government funding depended on import/export tariffs, and had professional armies to maintain. Politicians used the spoils system and patronage to govern, and rigged elections. (This was similar to the US of yesteryear, or today.) Liberalism and neocolonialism worsened the lives of most rural peoples in the late 19th century. Nationalism helped to unite the countries against foreign imperialism. The Great Depression resulted in increased industrialization in response to lost exports. After WW II the US forced South America countries back to its neocolonial past as commodity producers. A country that resisted this saw its government overthrown, and ruled by a military junta.

The Cuban revolution led to the overthrow of most governments by military juntas. The faults and failures of military rule brought their end. The small countries of Central America continued to have large landowners and masses of peons, as in the 19th century. Neoliberalism now reigns supreme in Latin America. The state-run corporations were sold off to foreign interests; subsidies and public services for the poor were reduced or eliminated. It was a return to the late 19th century: foreign banks profited while many people suffered and starved. Foreign companies exploited cheap labor. Any gains as consumers were wiped out by losses as producers. What will occur next?

Anthropologists tell us that human brains are indelibly informed by the experience of ice age survival some twenty-four thousand years ago; that adaptability and improvisation in a world of violent, cataclysmic change enabled humans to abide the destructive power of ice and satisfy the evolutionary imperative of endurance. Fast forward myriad millennia to the turbulent time of America's defining cataclysm, the Civil War, and meet Charles Dahlgren: brawler, adventurer, opportunist, patriarch, Yankee by birth and breeding, Confederate slave owner by chance and choice, and avatar of those primal qualities that exalt fortitude over fortune. Dahlgren's odyssey encompasses most of the nineteenth century and touches people representing the lavish spectrum of characters that age has to offer, from slaves to presidents, from dowagers to mercenaries, from victors to vanquished, and is masterfully rendered by Herschel Gower in "Charles Dahlgren of Natchez: The Civil War and Dynastic Decline." Using verbatim the recorded words of many, including significant passages from Dahlgren's exceptional diary, Gower combines eloquent narrative with authentic utterance to create a robust immediacy that delivers enthusiasts of history and anthropology, alike, back to the intrinsically familiar.

Future meet the past, and the quality of human spirit that is an integral part of modern America. Time travel is possible with Herschel Gower's beautifully written book. The story of General Dahlgren has everything necessary for a work of fiction, but this is, indeed, fact. General Dahlgren was a first generation American, a hard working self made man, a lawyer, a planter, a frontiersman, a business man who rose to greatness within his community, joined the ranks of the Confederacy in defense of his ideals, then faced bankruptcy and poverty in defeat, only to remake himself and rebuild his shattered world. Mr. Gower is not interested in hero worship, however, and the General is presented to us with intimate detail, both good and bad, both invigorating and humiliating. This intimacy is often from the General himself, who Gower allows to tell his own story at every turn. There is so much to glean from a history of this sort, from a deep and varied accounting of day to day existence to an understanding of the minds and thought patterns that shaped men's worlds in the 19th Century. Anyone who reads this work will develop an admiration for a time, place and people completely self aware, not only of surroundings, but of advantages that a lifetime can put into rare and fragile perspective. The similarities are sometimes suprising, for instance: boys playing pranks and party goers appreciating a pacificity of existence. Who today hasn't remarked that life is good? But who today could survive the daily struggle that was a 19th century life, and do so with grace, humility and humor? General Dahlgren's story is compelling and fascinating and perfectly relevant in today's world of financial boom and bust. Herschel Gower's work is impressive in scope, delicately and beautifully written and as much a page turner as any adventure novel. This book is definitely a must.

Intrigued by initials carved on a rock on August 31,1860, and discovered on August 31, 1990, Herschel Gower began his research on the Dahlgren family by identifying all the members of a house party in the last summer before the Civil War. The resulting narrative of lives and homes and dreams changed and lost from 1861 to the early twentieth century is the story not only of Charles Dahlgren and his family but also of many Confederate families with Union relatives. Their letters and diaries are eloquent with the truth about survival in hard times. One of the survivors, looking back in 1917, said of the Dahlgrens in 1860, ". . . we were happy and we knew it and we thought the happiness would go on and on."

If you're only going to read five books on the Civil War - which is like saying, only eat one french fry - make this one of them. Grant's autobiography, written under excruciating conditions of financial pressure and failing health in the late 1880's, is one of the most unforgettable reads available about the American Civil War.
Terse, simple, and almost painfully modest, Grant takes us through his life - the schooling at West Point (he was too retiring to point out they'd got his middle name wrong at registration, and was mistakenly given the name Ulysses SIMPSON Grant which he used for the rest of his life). The bravery and initiative of the Mexican War. The long, lonely postings in the early '50's to California, a continent away from his wife and beloved young children. The depression, leaving the Army, trying to make it in civilian life, failing at almost everything he tried. Then the war begins in 1861 when Lincoln calls for volunteers. It's typical of Grant that he goes to a little midwest recruiting post and modestly says he might take command of something very small - a company, perhaps? This, for a West Point graduate. From then on the book ceases being merely very interesting and starts becoming a can't-put-down.
The simple and good-hearted soul of the man just shines through his words, and he doesn't get caught up badly in the mid-century Victorian fustery of so much Civil War writing. He tells you what happened and what he thought about it; I remember about Lee at Appomatox, he said that he felt like anything in world after Lee's surrender except gloating over so brave an army as Lee's who had fought so nobly for a cause - even though he also thought it was one of the worst causes for which men had ever fought. His prose just flows through the extraordinary events he helped channel - Shiloh, Vicksburg, The Battle of the Wilderness, the surrender, and all points in between. It's an irreplaceable and wonderful resource and you end up falling big-time for Ulysses S. Grant. Don't miss it.

I first read U.S. Grant's memoirs when I was a college student during the Vietnam War. It helped me a great deal to appreciate how horrific war was and still is and that it should only be suffered when the cause is truly worthwhile. It was in the American Civil War and World War II. It was not in the Vietnam War. It was not our finest hour.

But this book also got me hooked on the history of the American Civil War. It is in my judgment, after more than fifty years and reading perhaps a thousand volumes about this watershed event in our nation's history, the single best written and brutally honest work on that event. Especially so in that it was written first-hand by one of the principal characters in that national and human tragedy.

For those of you really interested in becoming a student of the American Civil War, I recommend it highly, after you read the American Heritage History of the Civil War and before you read Lee's Lieutenants by Douglas Southhall Freeman and the four book series by Bruce Catton.

If by that time you're not hooked and become a Civil War junkie, you never will be.

Written more as a military memoir than a personal, Grant proves to be an outstanding author as well as a General. Reading this set me off to find more about the General's personal life. I highly recommend to anyone interested in the Civil War, you won't be disappointed.

This is a great read. From the first scene it pulls you into its vortex of action, intrigue, conspiracy, and gore. I especially like Kargen, the "monster" (I don't want to give away the cool surprise of who or what he *really* is). Gramlich's background as a psychologist really shows through this depiction. He gets deep inside Kargen's brutal, twisted, and changing mind. This book keeps you at the edge of your seat, turning pages.

The action is flowing, well-described, brutal. The prose, even in scenes of horrific violence, is lyrical. This is a thinking person's thriller, because after you put it down you'll be mulling it over in your mind days, weeks, months after.

I'm glad that the epilogue hints of a possible sequel. Buy this book and give Charles Gramlich reason to write it!

A roller coaster ride through danger, conspiracy, mystery & friendship. Attention grabbing, guaranteed to quicken the pulse. Well written dialogues between believable characters. Evocative scenes. A real page turner that twists & turns like a snake in the grass. Hold on & enjoy the ride.

I don't often read thrillers but I read this one on the recommendation of a friend, and I have to say that I loved it. The action sequences were great and kept me turning the pages well into the night, but I think it was the characters who truly made it for me. The heroes were well developed and sympathetic, so much so that I found myself mad at Charles Gramlich whenever one of them got hurt, or worse. The villians were wicked scary. This is definetly one you will want to read with all the lights on. Gramlich turned this one out like a pro, though I understand from what I've read that this book is his first paperback. I hope it won't be his last! I like the idea of discovering a new writer who I can enjoy. I recommend this book highly and hope one day to see it as an action-packed summer blockbuster.

Beyond Race: The Bhagavad-gita in Black and White
by TDL Turner, M.A. [L.I.S.]
My thoughts about and reactions to Beyond Race: The Bhagavad-gita in Black and White, by
Charles Michael Byrd, were well clarified by my return from AMEA's (packed!& worth it!) National
Conference on "The Multiracial Child", in Tucson (AZ) (mid-October 2002). While those who have
done some comparative reading of major religious texts might find it academically "friendlier",
anyone in the habit of critical thinking and analysis also can glean from these pages.
As a fifth-generation member of brown, tan, and pink Moxhaccine* (Mestiza-Creole)
Multiracials my responses to certain sections were both experientially and academically triggered.
So-called " 'black' and 'white' cultures" (pages 22-25; 28-29) were developed entirely to
perpetuate antagonistic, viciously greedy, destructive, anti-humane agendas throughout the past 4,500
years. Since these agendas=the "definitions", I tend towards not using such terms, preferring African
(Afroid) and European (Caucasoid). While both European and African heads of state used what
became "racially-based" slavery to fund and expand their political/military agendas, Arabic Islamic
"jihads" that resulted in the fall of Adoghast (ca.1066, ending phase I of the Akana-Ashanti Empire),
and successive rises/declines of Akan-Islamic medieval to [baroque] empires that included Mali,
Songhay and Kanem-Bornu, further fueled West African involvement in kidnapping and selling of
humans (ref: Basil Davidson; Leroy Brooks; Eva L.R. Meyerowitz).
I believe many black and brown Afro-North Americans rejected the term "African" because
they have not been able to socio-psychologically reconcile some of their African ancestors' collusion in
the mass kidnapping and slavery connected with "Diaspora". The combination of improperly taught
history and unacknowledged injustices has caused the social diseases of "White" so-called

"supremacy", "Black" distrust and alienation, "professional victims" and "police-state agendas".
The quote by William Xavier Nelson (I.V. "Point-Counterpoint" debate) (p. 68) perfectly
illustrates the fact we all know there is no [actual human organism] such as a "light-skinned black
person". That racist construct was invented to provide huge pools of share-croppers, slops-collectors,
sweat-shop and sex-trade workers. Many religions including traditional Hinduism have been used to

justify race-based socioeconomic stereotyping. During the late 1960's/early 1970's, to embellish
whatever their "politics" were for that day, both " 'black' revolutionaries" and " 'white'
Blavatsky-ites" prattled about the "superior" Aryans (actually from India!) defeating the "inferior"
Dravidians (also real Indians!). Thanks to the late Mohandis K. Ghandi, much of the caste system
this revolved around was de- constructed (pp: 30-40; 60-70; 115-120) . Sadly, I was reminded that the

devaluation of Aboriginal American spiritual consciousness consistently has paralleled the spiritual
decline of not only the Western Hemisphere, but of the entire world.
As a *Moxhaccine (Mestiza-Creole) Multiracial, half of my history is indigenously North
American. I am pleased that Byrd stated terms such as "Mulatto/ Quadroon/ Octaroon" are
considered obsolete and "offensive", particularly since both Mestizo/a and Creole legitimately,
traditionally have represented many diverse Western Hemisphere populations of (obviously "mixed")
appearance. In future, I recommend inclusion of our term "Moxhaccine" (also "new and not widely
used") representing both hereditary and contemporary North American Aboriginal/First Nations
peoples mixed with Afro-European (often including "Semitic") (pp: 136-46; 149-50).
Review submitted by:
Ms. TDL Turner, M.A. [L.I.S.]
Founder/Coordinator
M.O.X.H.C.A. (AMEA'S Canadian-affiliate)
Edmonton, AB, Canada

Charles Michael Byrd is to be congratulated on weaving what every man and woman ought to be doing in terms of "race consciousness" with the greater morality of the Bhagavad-Gita. The Melungeons, a mixed ethnic group, have lived with, and continue to struggle with, the issues presented and discussed so thoughtfully by Mr. Byrd. All human beings - not simply those who consider themselves :mixed-race" - owe the author a debt of gratitude.

The primary message of this excellent book is that people must learn to see beyond racial distinctions. The author particularly emphasizes the distortion of truth and the injustive of identifying people with that element of their heritage perceived (by some) as "lowest", especially "black" African heritage. Both "white" supremacists and the "black" movement castigate mixed-race "black"/"white" people who claim an identity other than "black"... meaning that they are apparently supposed to ignore their other heritage.

The author's ideal is that "race" should not matter at all. He makes the excellent point that "races" are imaginary constructs based only on superficial physical similarities. Modern nation-state-based "ethnicities" are similarly illusory, being legal fictions.

As an intermediary measure before a raceless soceity can really develop, the author would simply like to see mixed-race have the freedom to acknowledge what they really are, and not be forced to identify with one or anotehr of the "races" their ancestors may have been.

Mr. Byrd uses the Bhagavad-Gita, an important Hindu scripture, to make this point, as well as to show the real solution, which is to recognize that the real identify of all humans is that of the "race" of conscious beings. According to Krishna, in the Gita, the "soul" or the living being is the consciousness. When we collectively see this as the common characteristic between us, then the superficial characteristics of our, and our ancestors', bodies will cease to have any meaning.

I found BEYOND RACE to be thoroughly enjoyable and very important book. It will benefit anyone who reads it, but perhaps will resonate most strongly with those of us whose bodies are mixed-race. As a mestizo or metis who has studied the Gita for over ten years, I was delighted to find this book which so ably brings out an application of its teachings from this new perspective and remaining completely within the message of the Gita.

I took the Comparative Biochemistry at UVa taught by Prof. Garrett and it was the best class I took at UVa. He had an amazing way of organizing lectures so that I kept wanting to learn more and more as the hour went by. I didn't even have to take a lot of notes, because he made things clear and it all sunk in. I was really inspired to do a good job on our research papers and really learned alot because of the types of things he taught us to think about. I was a terrible student, had awful grades especially in chemistry and biology but this class really stuck out. Oh, and I got an A too. Unlike alot of professors, he didn't have a loud or condescending tone. While I didn't pursue biochemistry any further, I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had because he was such a great professor and I enjoyed his class so much.

Undergraduate biochem at my school is taught by the biochem department (not surprising). However, as a result, we have all sorts of people taking the course from prospective chemists (me) to premeds and general bio sci majors. So the dept. uses this book and it's probably the best compromise out there. Voet and Voet would be perfect if the course was taught exclusively for chemists, Stryer if the course was loaded up with premeds (horrifying thought, I know :) ) But Garrett and Grisham have managed to write a rather well balanced text (one is in UVA's bio dept., the other UVA's chem dept) with plenty of both chemical insight and medical relevance. Based on (I'm sure) similar experiences they've had teaching biochem to a mixed audience, and knowing that most undergrad biochem courses tend to be taught to similar groups of students nationwide, this is the best book for a case like that. (However, I'm getting Voet and Voet as a reference for me personally one of these days.)

This book provided invaluable reference information to me for a one year course in biochemistry. It was designed in a manner so that the class or student can learn topics in depth or get a broad overview of the subject. It also has lots of interesting historical perspectives and useful graphics. I am definately keeping this book for a reference as I continue my studies.