I found the book in 1982 and found it to be a powerful, facinating encounter of one man with Jesus Christ. If there is a God - he must be the way Ritchie described Him. I have lived in a religious environment all my life, and have reached out to God all my life. Ritchie's testimony comforted me greatly when I lost my wife suddenly in 1989. Here was a man who still lives today and who had met Him - in our times; it was not someone from another age thousands of years ago. Because the book helped me understand God's burning love for us, I have bought and given out over 75 copies of the book to others, and still do especially to those who had lost loved ones. This included my sister in Germany, where I found the book in a bookstore in Kassel, Germany - translated in German. I am now reading both. All my family has read it. And many to whom I gave the book, in turn passed it on or bought additional copies for others. I have also read Ritchie's second book "My Life Since Dying". The books are not just sitting on my book shelf: Periodically I read sections again to remind me of my purpose in life. "Return From Tomorrow" was very engagingly written (with the help of it's editor). The utterly fascinating story gradually overcame my usual pessimism and caution that I project when reading anyone's story of having an encounter with God. This story was definetely different and most believable.

I have read this book many times, and it has changed how I live my life. Dr. Ritchie's account of his near death experience is amazing yet as credible an account as I've ever read. I have purchased many, many copies of this book to give to friends and relatives over the years. The people I've given this book to all have described the reading of it as a powerful spiritual experience -- even a few agnostics who've read it. I highly recommend this little book. You can read it through in a couple of hours, but you'll come back to it time and time again.

This book relates a very fascinating sequence of events, and is obviously not contrived in any way except the necessary dulling to fit the experience into normal language. It's still brilliant!

I'd recommend it to anyone who has any interest in anything at all, and defy them to say how anyone could concoct such a story if it is not true. I've read phoney "spiritual stories" such as Lobsang Rampa, but this one was too fantastic to be imagined. That sincerity cannot be manufactured.

It's understandable that someone who had this experience would not be immediately keen to publish the "story", particularly in an intolerant society whose members think that their version of Christianity is the only authentic view. Were George Ritchie a Buddhist, he would have interpreted his experience only slightly differently, but he would not have encountered such self-righteous condemnation. "Christians" would have ignored it altogether. I am very happy that many have read it.

The inspiring stories of women in Bible, and their faithfulness, is a great encouragement for devotional journey for each day. I enjoy the daily messages and the practical application for everyday living. This books comes with me everywhere. I truly enjoy the time I spend reading this book.

This book is a wonderful inspiration and great devotional. It is a great tool in working with women.

We gave this book to some older junior high and high school girls as tool to deepen their walks with God, and they LOVED this. My fellow co-leader and I went through this too, and we really loved it as well. It's highly usable and readable, and Elizabeth George is a solid teacher.

This book is great. I read this after Witch of Blackbird Pond, and that still remains my favorite, but this one is really good. The story starts on the typical plotline of girl get's captured by Indians, she even the red hair of the girl's in other stories that are similar. It all changes around when Miriam arrives in Montreal. Forgetting that she is a captive, Miriam allows herself to be sucked into a whirlwind of parties and social activities. This can be kind of bothersome if you prefer noble heroines, but if you like ones that are realistic and with faults, Miriam will be a favorite. After all, she has been without companionship for months, and living a colonial life on the wilderness is not fun and games. When she gets kicked out onto the streets, her struggle get's worse. Not only does she have to help her sister come to grips with the loss of her children, she also has to work in a hostile situation, since she is English. Courted by the dashing, handsome, and rich Pierre de Laroche, you see her slowly forget about the truly noble guy she left back in Charleston. The one thing I thought wasn't really great, was that the character of Phineas Whitney wasn't developed enough to compete very well with Pierre de Laroche, but that was the only thing I wasn't completely happy about. I've read it 5-6 times. I'd recommend it to anyone.
By the way, if anyone knows much about Elizabeth George Speare, I would be interested in knowing more about her.

Elizabeth George Speare's "Calico Captive" might not be as suspenseful as her "The Witch of Blackbird Pond," but it is still very good. As the excellent review from 12/1/99 pointed out, this story is very loosely based on the true captivity narrative of Susannah Johnson. The focus of the book is on Mrs. Johnson's younger sister, Miriam Willard, who was just 14 at the time she and her older sister's family were captured by Abenaki Indians in 1754, but Ms. Speare increased her age to 16.

This book has adventure and romance, and makes for a great fast-paced read. It also deals with how cultures and religions clashed on the 18th century frontier: New England farmers vs. Abenaki warriors, Puritanism vs. Roman Catholicism, and English vs. French. A wonderful historical novel for young readers, and interesting history.

I read this book 25 years ago, and my daughter just finished it. Teenage selfishness and bravado give way to maturity, loyalty, and strong sense of self. A wonderful book.

A great book just to read, or to use as a Bible study. Elizabeth George writes beautifully to women of the Christian faith. This book, when used with the study guide in the back, is one that really helps women to know how to love God in all circumstances, and how to rely on him through the day to day. Nothing short of spectacular.

Elizabeth George has done an outstanding job on this topic. She covers a range of issues/challenges that face women daily. I can admit to putting what she recommended to practice and I'm seeing the fruits. The chapter on 'Accepting the unacceptable', I believe should be preached from more pulpits - the theology of suffering has not been addressed in the church lately (probably cos' it's been replaced by the health & wealth gospel).

This book is a wake-up call to all christian women, it's for those who want a reality check with no frills added on how to face life's challenges as a christian woman in a way that glorifies God.

This book was so wonderful in taking the truths of God's word and expanding them and applying them. I recommend this book to any Christian woman that wants there relationship with God stregthened. Elizabeth George uses the experience and tools the God has given her to help other ladies walk with the Spirit by having a good and positive thought life. It was an easy read, and one of those books you want to start all over and read again because you are afraid you might have missed something.

No one plots as well as Elizabeth George and her books are worth every penny for that alone. With the execption of Barbara Havers, though, I just don't like her characters and find them more than a little unbelievable. (I can usually overlook this, however, because the basic story is so darn good.) With this book, however, Ms. George veers into the wierd and the absurd. Olivia was so very disgusting that I could barely finish the book despite the engaging plot. George did do a fabulous job of intertwining the two stories but Olivia was just too much of a freak to feel any empathy for her or for her plight. Frankly, I wished she'd just drop dead. Olivia, that is. I'm probably one of the least prudish persons in the world, but there are things I prefer not to read about in an otherwise first-rate mystery. The softening of Olivia would have done a lot to improve this book and render it a true classic. I wish Ms. George would leave the sexually explicit themes to others, but I'll keep reading--her plots are simply the best.

I am very glad that I found Elizabeth George. I really love her books. Lynley and Havers are such a great team. They are so opposite that they complement each other. Ms. George is the best author of the psychological thriller that I've found. This book is about relationships as much as murder. The characters are as diverse as you'll find in any book, and the way Ms. George develops her characters is remarkable. The book is long, but it doesn't seem that way when you're into it. She takes the time to develop her characters and these are the most important part of her stories. The plot is there, but the characters are the highlight. This book shows what an obsessive relationship can cause, and how it affects more than just the two people involved. Olivia is a dream - I absolutely loved her in this story and I wept along with her.

I love this author's mysteries. This is the first one I read, which made me go to the store and buy all her other books. I find this was the best one. The plotting is flawless and the characters are completely intriguing. I found that in this book she had many levels to the story, many nuances - and that was not necessarily so in her other mysteries (not to say the others aren't excellent). It's just that even after reading all her other works, this one stands out in my mind as the very best & I remember the plot more clearly than her others. By the way Barbara Havers is one of my all-time female characters. I find her to be extremely likeable and realistic. Go Barbara - go Ms. George!

Elizabeth George is completely down-to-earth, presenting potentially confusing scripture passages in a way that helps me better understand not only the original context of the passage, but also practical applications for me today. Her portrayal of the Proverbs 31 woman was very helpful, and it increased my desire to live as this lady did.

No more fear of the Proverbs 31 woman. Elizabeth George offers a view of this passage which isn't found in other exegetical and practical studies. I am a single woman, and usually very skeptical of these type of books, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has practical and Biblical advice for any woman od any age.

This book is wonderful. It has shown me that I too can become like the Proverbs 31 woman. I always looked upon her as a kind of superwoman. Someone who could not be matched. The indepth study by Elizabeth George has made this passage of scripture real to me, and I feel that I can too can be a virtuous woman.

Althought the opinions of Custer and life with the calvary are viewed through (very) rosy glasses, Mrs. G.A. Custer is a witty and prolific writer. She also gives little-known insight into everyday happenings in life on the prairie and how women survived the journey. Particularly interesting are the dynamics of relationships between women when living literally in the middle of nowhere, surviving the harshest of climates, with few friends, the same friends, for extended times. Also interesting is the relationship between people of color and the white soldiers. Custer is an enigma, and readers should read this book but also others ("Son of the Morning Star" is the best thus far) to get a glimpse at the man. Libby Custer falls into poetic verse at times, but this can be refreshing - there are not many writings of women in these times available.

This is really a question insteadof a review. I have a copy of Boots and Saddles written by Elizabeth B. Custer. The copyright is 1885, by Harper & Brothers. The first page has a note wrote on it "To my friend Richard Dec 25th 1890 then a signature of the giver M L Malis ? Would you know anything about this particular book?

There are so few well written and personally lived books about the people of the northern great plains, but this is one of them. Mrs. Custer gives intimate details of life in the cavalry and the Dakotas of a time now gone.
She tells of blizzards, heat, insects, dangers and people in a most readable way that draws the reader in. This is a special book that speaks to the plainsman's heart.

From the Foreword: "This assembling of their intimate letters was prepared at Mrs. Custer's request. ...[T]here are personal things one cannot say or suffer to be said during one's lifetime, but which ought to be said. For some decades, ending in 1933 at her death, I was [Mrs. Custer's] nearest friend."

Originally published in 1950, this reprint of Ms. Merrington's work interleaves selections from the personal letters of the Custers between a sympathetic narrative of their personal lives, providing an intimate view of his controversial career and their happy marriage. We see him as he leaves his family homestead in New Rumley, Ohio, for a military education at West Point; spy long glimpses of him during his rise to prominence in the Union Cavalry to early fame as the acclaimed Boy General; saunter alongside as he courts Judge Bacon's daughter Libby in Monroe, Michigan; march behind him during his daring campaign on the Washita; sit in silent shock during his unwarranted court martial; and watch with growing trepidation as he delivers his forthright testimony before Congress about the mismanagement by the War Department immediately prior to his return to Fort Lincoln and his final campaign in the Dakota Territory. We see Custer through his own eyes, and through the eyes of his devoted wife, and what we view is a portrait of a strong, courageous leader whose skill, gallantry, and wit account for his remarkably successful military career. It is customary in these later years to deny the underlying truth of this view and paint the man in colors few of his contemporaries would recognize. But there are enough artists of history to paint horns where none may have existed; we may suffer the Custers to sketch a faded halo above his engaging visage, and let it serve to counter the later brushstrokes of politically corrected historians and politicians.

In studying history and people in history we usually base our opinions on second and third hand descriptions of people. In the case of George Custer, a voluminous writer; we have his book, articles and these edited letters to his wife. While these letters are edited, they do give us insights into the character and personality of this man from which to form our own opinions. Readers will likely react differently to the same passages based on their response to the words expressed. Taken in the context of the society of the time, we can each draw conclusions relative to his intelligence, wit and character. History is considerably more real and more alive when we have such an advantage to get to know its' participants.

I grew up like most people being fed the lies of Hollywood and those with an ax to grind about American history and blamed George Custer.
I have read 3 books now on the Custers, My Life on the Plains, Boots and Saddles by his wonderful wife Libby and now this one of their personal letters.
In all of these books, the reader will find a husband and wife emerge who were deeply in love with each other, solid in their Christian faith, of good morals, temperate, loved and respected by all....who enjoyed life to it's fullest.
General Custer even emerges as thee soldier who did not want the Indian Wars, and, for an extra history eye opener, you will find he went to great lengths to rescue the Cheyenne from military confrontation....a people who would later massacre him and his command at Little Big Horn.
I can not say enough positive about this book. It is the truth and is a wonderful read with insights to America from the view of people who actually were part of our history.
Where else are you going to read that Vice President Andrew Johnson was drunk at Lincoln's Inaugural from the eye witness Libby Custer.
This is real...this is true. You will find a General who was always careful in his planning....never reckless as his late critics spout in so many lies.
George and Libby Custer's words should be REQUIRED reading by all the "experts" before they are allowed to publish their thoughts on people they never knew.
This is a cheap book...and worth 10 times the cost.

Jan Morris is a fascinating personality. She originally was a he, and he was a guardsman in the British army, an officer from a good family. He left the service, became a historian, and then went to Denmark or wherever, and came back a she. She now writes unusual, affecting, eccentric, entertaining books that are terribly British and a bit disorganized. The Pax Brittanica trilogy is her life's work, near enough, though she's done other books that are very good. This one, however, is three volumes long, quite involved and very detailed. The series includes Heaven's Command, Pax Britannica, and Farewell the Trumpets. The first generally deals with the Empire in the 1840s on, the second follows things through the thirties, and the third follows the empire through its disbandment.

As I said, Morris is eccentric. This means that though the books are sort of chronological, they aren't exactly sorted the way you would expect, and this isn't really a history of the empire or the era. Instead, it's an anecdotal collection of tales, incidents, and sketches, marvelously told. Sort of like the difference between going through a cafeteria once and a sumptuous buffet where you go back and forth, taking time with what you enjoy. I thoroughly enjoyed the books, though I would hesitate to recommend them to someone who wasn't clear on either geography, or at least some basic history of the British Empire. Since this isn't either of those, you need them to understand what she's talking about occasionally.

I just completed the final volume of James Morris' trilogy. The writing is superb. Although not as good as volume one (Heaven's Command), this book is well worth keeping. As usual; my only quibble is that there are no pictures in the Harcourt set that I have. That takes away a star.

Even if you haven't read the other two volumes in the Pax Britannica trilogy, Farewell the Trumpets is a must-buy. It's worth it just to read the brilliant eulogy for Winston Churchill, where in one chapter Morris does better job of capturing this man and his place in history than lesser authors could do in a whole volume.

My recommendation is to take your time and savor this book. Like Heaven's Command and Pax Britannica, Farewell the Trumpets is episodic in its presentation, each chapter a self-contained nugget, so that you can enjoy dipping into it frequently.

Sara George's The Journal of Mrs Pepys: Portrait of a Marriage is exactly that, the story of a marriage. It is also a unique view of history; the world through the eyes of someone who's experiences are limited by the fact that she is a woman and not a man. Elizabeth Pepys is an intriguing character; she is a woman who's life centers on her husband but unlike the "ideal woman" Elizabeth is very vocal about her wants and needs. In this story the reader is allowed to experience tragic historical events like the Plague and the Great Fire of London through the eyes of a person experiencing these moments. We are given the rare opportunity of knowing the thoughts of the character because the events are presented the way Elizabeth sees them. The journal format, although a very biased account of history, allows readers to experience Elizabeth Pepys' life and times in a way that ordinary storytelling never could. Overall I found this story intriquing and an interesting perspective of the events taking place in London during the late 1600s.

This book was wonderful reading from cover to cover, especially after having read The Diaries of Samuel Pepys, however, do not be misled. This is a fabrication, a novel, NOT a true diary like that of Samuel Pepys. For those who have read the real thing, this comes as somewhat of a surprise, and a disappointment.

The blurb says it's well researched, having never read the diary of Samuel Pepys I could not really say, but the writing comes over as believable. I chose to read this as research for my novel hoping that it would give me an insight on the views and behaviour of women of that age and I do think Sara George has met my expectations. This is an enjoyable read and not just for those interested in history.