The Penn Central was the failed attempt at combining the storied Pennsylvania Railroad and the historic New York Central Railroad -- both major lines in the Northeast United States -- during a period of time in which all railroads were suffering under strict and burdensome government regulation and the obligation to carry passenger traffic. The wreck of the Penn Central led to Conrail, Amtrak, and, in many ways, the railroad industry we have today. This book is an insightful, on the ground view of the creation and destruction of the company. Very readable for railroad historian, business historian, or simply by one who enjoys a good read.

Fawn Brodie is a scholar with no ax to grind in this fairly accurate reconstruction of the life of Joseph Smith, the star-crossed founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. For Mormons, the book has always been considered a reproach to official church biographies about Smith, but recent historical findings weigh heavily in Brodie's favor in assessing the actual motives and activities behind the polygamist prophet of Mormonism who said "No man knows my history." Brodie's other tomes on historic figures constitute scholarly, careful analyses of their lives, as is also the case with this effort. The style is pedantic,and could benefit from updating, but the book is well organized and paced. For the serious investigator of Mormonism, Brodie's book is important because the story of Joseph Smith is told in an era before the current visibility and church-line biographies of Smith combined to obfuscate embarrassing or conflicting details in the life of this controversial and charismatic Mormon prophet. For anyone interested in a biography of Joseph Smith that does not have the approval of the LDS Church, yet remains respected among scholars and biographers,No Man Knows My History is a definitive, quotable, and invaluable resource.

Fawn McKay Brodie, trained historian and wordsmith, was raised in the LDS (Mormon) church. During her scholarly study of Joseph Smith's early writings and those of his contemporaries, she was given special access to historical archives of the LDS church - probably due to her relation to LDS general authority David O. McKay. The resulting history, with its rich and enjoyable literary style, easily qualifies as the first truly full biography of Joseph Smith, Jr. Mrs. Brodie gives credit where credit is due: "The Prophet" is credited with an aversion to violence, a genuine love for people (especially tender affection for children), manful behavior during his lengthy Liberty Jail incarceration, the power to win over even many of his enemies once personally introduced, and a powerful, driving imagination and energy. Proper criticisms are levelled against his lack of financial acumen, his inclination to see apparently fictional "historical evidences" in the things around him, his likely inability to constructively examine himself, and his extra-marital dalliances which more likely served as the cause of "plural marriage" rather than the effect of it. Her pointed examination of the Book of Abraham appears to have been vindicated in later years. (I have the 1954 edition.) And so on. While not a perfect work (is any writing of man or woman?), its strengths are sufficient to make it a must-have, must-read for anyone interested in Mormon studies.

The best things about Brodie's work:

1)She is accurate. Even though it's been decades since this book has been out, it is still a widely-read text. She is a competent historian, which is a must if you want to learn about things as they reflect reality.

2)She is readable. You can actually -enjoy- reading this one! It makes things much easier when a historian can write well, and Brodie does.

3)She has a fascinating subject. Joseph Smith is one interesting fellow, as evidenced by the successful church that has sprung up in Utah. For some orthodox Mormons, reading this may even be quite adventuresome, as they learn about Smith from another perspective! I think everyone can read this and be intrigued by a complex person.

If I have any complaint, it's that Brodie tries to psychoanalyze Smith too much. Obviously every biography is going to involve some speculation - unless you can actually interview the person yourself - but I thought she went too far at times in assuming she knew "why" Smith did certain things.

Overall I highly recommend the book and I think it is still after all these years the best biography on Smith you can get your hands on.

Many Orthodox scholars such as Fr. Jack Sparks, Bishop KALLISTOS Ware, & Fr. Constantine Nasr. It was overviewed by such Orthodox authorities as Fr. Thomas Hopko, Fr. Stanley Harakas, and bishops representing virtually every Orthodox diocese in North America. I find this Study Bible very useful in introducing people to Orthodoxy through the Holy Scriptures as well as a wonderful companion for every Orthodox Christian. I believe that any Orthodox family could benefit from having this Study Bible in their home.

There are wonderful notes on nearly all the verses of the New Testament, giving the interpretation of the Orthodox Church on the Holy Scriptures. It also includes a lectionary, chapters on "How to Read the Bible," and "Introducing the Orthodox Church," and wonderful articles are interspersed throughout the Bible on such topics as "Confession," "The Four 'Orders' in Church Government," and "The Transfiguration." The pages are also graced by the presence of beautiful icons.

I do have a few minor problems with this Bible. Some is left to be desired in the Book of Psalms, largely because the Septuagint, the Old Testament of the Orthodox Church, was not used. (Of course, this is about to be resolved because the same group of people is currently working on the Old Testament Orthodox Study Bible using the entire Septuagint text.) It was also disappointing to see that in the Morning and Evening prayers in the back, there is no mention of the Virgin Mary. However, the notes and articles throughout the Study Bible clearly explain the emphasis which is put on the Virgin Mary in the Orthodox Church.

I would highly recommend owning this Study Bible, and I don't feel that it deserves a lot of the harsh criticism it has gotten. They did an excellent job!

This book does a good job in providing commentary notes on Bibilcal passages with an Easern Orthodox viewpoint. The right amount of information is given. It assumes the reader has no or very little knowledge so as not to confuse potential readers, including new converts, curiosity seekers, or cradle Orthodox who have never really studied their faith.

It is filled with iconograpgy throughout and the end of the book has special sections in regards to Orthodox views, prayers, and doctrines. It is done in an easy fomat to spark one for further study and research.

This study Bible should be in any serious Bible students libarary regardless of religion. The views of the East have been often neglected by the West and the East has a rich tradition the West can learn and enjoy.

Up until this century it was taboo to put commentary into a Bible for fear that folk would take the notes and interpretations as if they were part of the Bible itself. Well, they were right! However, now everyone and his brother puts footnotes and explanations in their texts of the Scriptures, so now the Orthodox do as well. This is not THE Orthodox Study Bible (as reviewer Matt asserts above - and, yes Matt, you are nit-picking!), nor does it pretend to be. The articles and notes are intended to help elucidate the Scriptures and provide some introductory articles on Orthodox topics, but this is not a full-blown Bible commentary, nor a course in New Testament theology. The complaints of the critics tend to be essentially that it isn't enough. Well, then they need to write a multi-volume commentary to suit their needs. However, for the average layperson who's lucky to crack open the Bible occasionally, this fits the bill just fine. Remember, there is no "official" Orthodox translation of the Bible except for the original Greek. Thus, the NKJV is one of the better texts and the footnotes are there to make occasional comments as to translation problems and errors. No, they don't cover all the issues, but as I said before, to do that you would need a multi-volume Orthodox commentary that takes up half your bookshelf. Hopefully, at some future date, such a work will be undertaken. For now, this is a modest and well-needed starting point. +Fr. William Christ

It was like reading a high school term paper. The book that was used for a constant source is a better option.

I found this book invaluable in my research on the play, The Elephant Man, by Bernard Pomerance. It is objective in ways that most work on this subject is not. I highly recommend it.

This is a very nice coffee table book by Peter Clayton. It features many beautiful photos of classical art, and descriptions of the major figures from various world mythologies. This book is NOT by Joseph Campbell, however it does include an excerpt from 'Hero With A Thousand Faces' as an introduction.

I have read some hard to understand books in my life but this is about the most difficult reading I have ever had to do - and members of my polisci class agree. Although the level is extremely high the ideas behind it are interesting to say the least. Pay special attention to the role of iself-conciousness it will lead to greater insight to the work.