This book introduces you to the World of... Principles vs Passion... Strategy vs Relativity... Work-ability vs Sensitivity... Others vs Self. Too often we approach our life's dream as a personal venture while we are dreaming of it as our life's vocation or profession. Though born a personal dream, to evolve into a fully functioning entity of the world to which it belongs, our life's vocation or profession must take on a professional tone and must be deemed distinct from our personal lives. This book does that well. It brings to light the awesome difference in what you are able to accomplish and how effectively you are able to accomplish it when you approach it professionally.

Chesterton lovers and lovers of poetry in the classical English forms will enjoy this collection of poems by one of the 20th century's greatest stylists, G.K. Chesterton.

After a section of juvenalia, the poems are arranged by broad subject. My only complaint with the volume is that it is not complete, and that Ignatius Press has not yet released Part 2 of the Collected Poetry.

But you will find many things in this volume in no other collection of Chesterton's poetry, including his poem about Notre Dame football. So if you enjoy Chesterton, or poetry, or both, check out this book.

G. K. Chesterton on Charles Dickens. If you love one, you are probably genetically determined to love both. So why haven't you read this book yet? What are you waiting for, a personal haunting from the ghosts of London humorists past?

Like all Chesterton's bios, this one is not so concerned with dates and influences, and not always even with its nominal subject. But Chesterton delights in Dickens, and does manage to stick to the point most of the time. And watching Chesterton go off on a philosophical tangent can be just as much fun as watching Dickens allow his plot to get hijacked by one of his own characters. He may be fuzzy on mundane facts, but he is always clear-headed and often lucid or even brilliant when it comes to human nature and ultimate truths. In the end, Chesterton finds a way through to a vantage that is worth visiting. Here are a few sample insights from the first chapter: "Dickens had all his life the faults of the little boy who is kept up too late at night." "The bores in his books are brighter than the wits in other books." "'I am a fond father,' he says, 'to every child of my fancy.' He was not only a fond father, he was an overindulgent father. . . they smash the story to pieces like so much furniture." (Chesterton pointing out that another writer gets carried away sometimes! I like that.)

This may be the best of Chesterton's biographies, and one of his best books. I did learn a few "facts" about Dickens, but mostly got to know him a lot better. If you're a newcomer to Chesterton, the talk below about him being a "fuzzy dreamer" for whom a "miss is as good as a hit" may be true in regard to biographical detail. But don't dismiss him as a thinker to be taken seriously, until you've read and thought deeply about Everlasting Man. There is an intellect incisive and sharp as any modern precision instrument.

Author, Jesus and the Religions of Man d.marshall@sun.ac.jp

To begin with, G K Chesterton loved Charles Dickens so much that he wrote several books and numerous essays about him. Both men loved what is most characteristically English. Dickens, on the one hand, created hundreds of characters who remain etched in our memory as being somehow quintessentially English. On the other, GKC was himself like a Dickens character, perhaps Mr. Dick in David Copperfield (who could not get the idea of King Charles I's severed head out of his mind).

Chesterton was probably the inventor of fuzzy logic. What he says usually makes sense, but he is notorious for being too sloppy to check up on the exactness of quotes and facts. If you are a stickler for facts, you will probably not like Chesterton. But if you are a bit of a dreamer who thinks that a near miss is as good as a direct hit, he's the man for you.

Dickens and Chesterton were among the greatest optimists of our time: Dickens because he felt that people who were good and kind were always rewarded, Chesterton because he felt that there was a God who forgave small transgressions.

So when you read the books and essays in this volume, you will not come away with any new-found knowledge about the great Victorian novelist; but you will become party to an agreeable conversation and greatly enjoy the company.

I co-edited this important literary document with Dr. Thomas F. Staley, Director of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, where the vast Stuart Gilbert collection was acquired in the early 1990s. Gilbert was a British citizen, who, after retiring from his work as a judge in Burma, married a French woman and moved to Paris in the early 1920s to pursue more intellectual pursuits. Once in Paris, he became an intimate part of the literary circle surrounding James Joyce, and wrote the first book on Joyce ("James Joyce's Ulysses"), before falling out of favor with him. His dyspeptic journal, at turns scandalous and illuminating, gives an inside account of life in the Parisian literary circles where Joyce lived and worked, and is prefaced by an introductory essay by Dr. Staley, one of the leading scholars of literary modernism. It should be useful to the many students and scholars interested in better appreciating Joyce, European modernism generally, or simply the joys of Paris in the twenties.

Randolph Lewis rrlewis@hotmail.com

This book gives the reader a much better understanding of Joyce and his writings . It fills in many gaps in this 'larger then life' authors career . The many previously unpublished letters to his friend and literary collaborator , Stuart Gilbert , allow one to see the author is his own light . The rare photos , provide the reader with an intriguing glimpse of this colorful author .

A must have book for the serious James Joyce scholar .

All the songs to satisfy even the most discriminating G&S fan

It must be because of that line about the square of the hypotenuse.

This book was published by the Chicago Historical Society in conjunction with its exhibition of the same name, which ran from May 1, 1993 (the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Chicago World's Fair) until July 17, 1994. After the preface, the book is divided into four sections, by different essayists: MEMORY AND THE WHITE CITY -- how the fair was remembered through souvenirs and publications, and how scholarly writings perpetuated its Beaux-Arts architectural influence into not only subsequent world's fairs, but also American cities, until the modernist backlash of the 1930's. BUILDING AN ILLUSION: THE DESIGN OF THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION -- the debate over how best to transform the swampland of Jackson Park into a White City symbolic of Chicago's recovery from the great fire of 1871, including about a page on each of the major structures of the Court of Honor. FIXING THE IMAGE: PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION -- the conflict between the organizers' "official" photographer C.D. Arnold and the legions of fairgoers arriving with their own photographic equipment, ranging from cumbersome tripod-mounted large-plate cameras to the newly invented Kodak "C" handheld box cameras. A CULTURAL FRANKENSTEIN? THE CHICAGO WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION OF 1893 - since one of the book's sponsors is "The National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency", this is the obligatory race/class/gender chapter, focusing on the protests made by African-Americans, Native Americans, "Esquimaux", Dahomeyans, etc. Although the exposition had its own Board of Lady Managers, not to mention a Woman's Building devoted exclusively to female accomplishment in the arts and sciences, women are portrayed as marginalized and oppressed. Even the popular Midway (entertainment section) is criticized for making nonwhite cultures seem "exotic" or "savage" (which to the Chicagoan of 1893, they probably were). However, the illustrations here, as well as throughout the book, are excellent -- the color plates are particularly well reproduced. Though currently out of print, this book is a "must" addition to the library of any lover of the Chicago World's Fair, or turn-of-the-century America in general.

This book was published by the Chicago Historical Society in conjunction with its exhibition of the same name, which ran from May 1, 1993 (the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Chicago World's Fair) until July 17, 1994. After the Preface, the book is divided into four sections, by different essayists: MEMORY AND THE WHITE CITY--how the fair was remembered through souvenirs and publications, and how scholarly writings perpetuated its Beaux-Arts architectural influence into not only subsequent world's fairs, but also American cities, until the modernist backlash of the 1930's. BUILDING AN ILLUSION: THE DESIGN OF THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION--the debate over how best to transform the swampland of Jackson Park into a White City symbolic of Chicago's recovery from the great fire of 1871, including about a page on each of the major structures of the Court of Honor. FIXING THE IMAGE: PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION--the conflict between the organizers' "official" photographer C.D. Arnold and the legions of fairgoers arriving with their own photographic equipment, ranging from cumbersome tripod-mounted large-plate cameras to the newly invented Kodak "C" handheld box cameras. A CULTURAL FRANKENSTEIN? THE CHICAGO WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION OF 1893--since one of the book's sponsors is "The National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency", this is the obligatory race/class/gender chapter, focusing on the protests made by African-Americans, Native Americans, "Esquimaux", Dahomeyans, etc. Although the exposition had its own Board of Lady Managers, not to mention a Woman's Building devoted exclusively to female accomplishment in the arts and sciences, women are portrayed as marginalized and oppressed. Even the popular Midway (entertainment section) is criticized for making nonwhite cultures seem "exotic" or "savage" (which, to the Chicagoan of 1893, they probably were). However, the illustrations here, as well as throughout the book, are excellent--the color plates are particularly well reproduced. Though currently out of print, this book is a "must" addition to the library of any lover of the Chicago World's Fair, or turn-of-the-century America in general.

This is a very entertaining and informative book with lavish illustrations and photos. I would recommend it without reservation to any student of the history of flight. You will often have to ask, "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING??!!" My only complaint is the inclusion of the Blom und Voss BV 141 from WWII. This was one of history's most peculiar looking aircraft; like the bumblebee, it "shouldn't fly". But it did, and actually quite well. Just goes to show you what can happen when you think outside the box!

The book is extensive (in my mind) and covers many of the most boneheaded airplanes ever developed.

Following the defeat of the Japanese at Midway and Guadalcanal, the United States launched a campaign to reclaim the two islands in the Aleutians which were occupied by the Japanese during the Midway operation, while also attacking the Japanese bases in Micronesia (Gilberts and Marshalls). Attu and Kiska were occupied by the Japanese and the thought of them on American soil outraged many Americans back home. Thus, a campaign was launched to retake them. After some hard fighting, the islands were recaptured, but the Japanese managed to evacuate their garrison from Kiska right under our noses, much the same way they did at Guadalcanal.

Operation "Galvanic", the invasion of the Gilbert islands, got underway in November, 1943. The main objective was the island of Tarawa. The island is completely surrounded by a dangerous coral reef, and the tides are very unpredictable as well. It was against these obstacles as well as a dug in enemy that the Americans made their attack. As fate would have it, it happened to be low tide when the Americans attacked, thus exposing the coral reef and forcing the landing craft to unload much further from the shore as was preferred. The Marines had to wade as much as 800 yards to the beach under horrific fire from the Japanese. The bombardment by the Americans did little to the well-fortified Japanese defenses, and they made the landings extremely costly for the Americans. Although Tarawa was secured in less than a week, the Americans suffered terrible losses which shocked the folks back home. However, the Americans now possessed an excellent air base to further their operations.

After the capture of Tarawa, the Americans moved to attack the Marshall islands, with the main objectives being Kwajalein and Eniwetok. The lessons of Tarawa had been well-learned. Both of these islands were subjected to a murderous bombardment by the American fleet and air forces, so the Japanese resistance; although spirited; was less effective here. The Americans managed to capture these islands in under a week and were now a step closer to Tokyo.

As with previous volumes of this excellent series, Mr. Morison has included numerous maps and photographs to expand upon the text. There are some good personal narratives in this volume as well. I recommend this volume along with the others of this series. It gives an excellent first-hand account of one of the early amphibious assaults by the Marines.

Dr. Gilbert Mason has written a book which not only stands as an important literary stone in the foundation of the civil rights movement, but also as a window into the humanity and "higher calling" of being a physician. As a white physician in Mississipppi, I was riveted when I read this book. The hardship which was endured by African Americans during this era is unimaginable, and it was only a generation ago. With eloquence and thouroughness Dr. Mason leads us through the origins of the civil rights movement specifically as it occurred in Biloxi MS. The racial hatred and violence which opposed his nonviolent protests and the fledgling Biloxi chapter of the NAACP is laid out for the reader with very good clarity. When I read this book, the secondary theme also jumped out at me, which was his constant pusuit of being a physician , specifically maintaing high degree of ethics, morality, and care for all patients black are white during this period of tribulation. I highly recommend this book to all.

Great book about street level crack dealing. It is also a marvelous study in field research and being 'on the other side' of the law.

Gilbert argues that conflicts between science and religion caused remarkable episodes where American culture was "assembled and integrated." His historical analysis, which begins with the Scopes antievolution trial of 1925 and ends with the construction of the Sermons from Science pavilion in the Seattle World's Fair of 1962, concludes that these episodes affected Americans "across class, professional, regional, and religious boundaries." He believes that the most important were the Scopes trial, which shattered a nineteenth-Century compromise between mainstream Protestantism and a populist science of common sense, and postwar realization of the perils of the atomic age, which led to political, religious, and intellectual critiques of professionalized science.

Gilbert, a professor of history, eschews the fine details of historical scholarship in favor of a pleasingly broad view. His dramatis personae includes not only scores of scientists, religous leaders, theologians, and politicians, but also filmmakers, popular authors, and public intellectuals of nearly every stripe. Gilbert is chiefly concerned with these peoples' connections with organizations and institutions, for example the American Association of the Advancement of Science, the Moody Bible Institute, the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, the Religious Research Association, the Committee on Cultural Freedom. He also discusses a similarly wide range of scientific, religious, and popular periodicals, books, and movies such as the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Astounding Science Fiction, Immanuel Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision, and the Moody Institute's documentary (produced for the U.S. Air Force!) God of the Atom.

Gilbert's book succeeds rather well, for it provides the reader with the joy of discovering how all these come together in a surprisingly beautiful web of lives struggling with the deepest questions about our world and our place in it.