Cambridge obviously chose the right man for the job (and they've done so more often than not in their wonderful new series of philosophy biographies). Pinkard's biography is a masterpiece. Almost every corner of Hegel's life is dealt with in an interesting way, but I would single out two aspects of this book as being the finest: 1. His strictly philosophical discussion of the period between Kant and Hegel is wonderful. Numerous book-length studies of this period are available, but Pinkard covers the same ground more concisely and far more lucidly. 2. Some reviewers compliment Pinkard's treatment of the early Hegel, which is certainly quite fine. However, there has already been scholarly discussion of the Tuebingen period; ironically, it is always the concluding _Berlin_ period that has received too little attention in biographical sketches of this philosopher. Sure, by then he was world famous and collecting honors and prizes, but I had never received any taste of his Berlin life at all from any biographical summary: nothing but lists of his lecture courses and throwaway accounts of his death. Pinkard takes care of this problem, bringing the late Hegel to life. My only regret is that we can't hire Pinkard to write biographies on another 15 or 20 major figures.

Hey, Cambridge-- when are you going to do Leibniz?

It would be difficult to justify a biography of a philosophy as being essential: if you want to understand a philosopher you should read their works instead. But Pinkard manages to wage an astonishingly battle on two fronts: first, elaborating on his philosophical development with a view towards prominent influences and second, foisting off common misconceptions about Hegel.

So, for part one. Hegel is difficult. It was, as I learned, his distinguishing mark in early years: "more obscure than Fichte!" was something like a slogan. Pinkard does a marvellous job of showing the diversity and complexity of Hegel's experience (the chapters on his university friendship with Schelling and Hoderlin are especially absorbing) and pulling out some of the more unexpected sources of his thought. (Adam Smith and Gibbon and the New Testament, for example.) Ever since Dilthey more attention has been payed to Hegel's early work and for good reason. Moving from this account Pinkard gives excellent insights into the genesis and exposition of Hegel's notoriously difficult "system." Having been absoloutely dumbfounded by Hegel in the past I think this book is the best possible introduction to what Hegel is up to in his Philosophical work. Pinkard in addition to being keen has some serious philosophical chops so he brings out some aspects of Hegel that get overlooked.

As for the second front Pinkard does a great job of countering some of the more cartoonish and absurd pictures of Hegel: the pioneer of German nationalism, the doddering obscurantist, the proto-fascist conservative. Pinkard does a good job showing how the most common images of hegel are thorough characters whose longevity has more to do with the fact that few people actually read or know much about Hegel. I particularly liked the way Hegel's complex political commitments were mapped out and how the more intimate aspects of Hegel the person (his addiction to whist, his love of coffee) were brought out.

I am given to understand that Hegel scholarship is experiencing something of a revival these days, and by my account Pinkard's biography should be at the forefront of any movement. He deserves a great deal of credit for producing a skillfull, well-written and insightful work on an extremely difficult thinker.

Hegel's philosophical perspective digs deeply into the rhythms of the real, expressing an omnivorous quality that is remarkable for both its sheer beauty and its conceptual power. Whether or not he solved the knotty issues bequeathed to him by Kant concerning the structure and limits of consciousness (I go back and forth on this issue), he certainly probed into the ways in which self-consciousness shapes itself as entwined with history and the self-alienated realms of nature. For me, he is the model of what philosophical query should be. Such ramified query must be couragous, unrelenting, bound by what gives itself over to self-consciousness to live-through, and sensitive to the generic powers of language. In Terry Pinkard's biography we find such a Hegel. He is presented within the context of an unrelenting series of negations that push against his inner philosophical drive. We learn a great deal about how he sharpened his political awareness, both in terms of the French Revolution and its aftermath, and in terms of the always shifting realm of academic politics (as embedded in German State politics). What I especially appreciate is Pinkard's presentation of how Hegel came to know of his Stuttgart provincialism and how he overcame much of it--in particular, his Lutheran distaste for Catholicism. Pinkard pushes us past the normal left-wing vs. right-wing readings of the late Hegel by showing that both aspects were fully operative, perhaps for different reasons, and that his views on Christianity were not career enhancing expressions of Prussian sanctioned Lutheran conservativism. For example, Hegel rejected any hint of biblical literalism, an immortal personal soul, a literal reading of creation, and the notion of a personal god "begetting a son"(p. 589). It is clear from Pinkard's reading that Hegel had a strong, if feared and abjected by him, impulse toward creating a world religion (much like his despised colleague Schleiermacher). In short, Hegel's pro-Napoleonic and emancipatory tendencies remained strong until the end. A psychoanalyst would ask: what drove Hegel toward his pan-logicism? My sense is that he deeply feared madness (consider the dementias of Holderlin and Hegel's sister) and that he sensed the possibility of disintegration within himself (as argued by Alan Olson in his "Hegel and the Spirit," Princeton 1992). His materialized and thickened Wissenschaft of logic provided him with a bulwark against the unconscious (as it was presented by his friend/enemy Schelling in 1808 with his concept of das Regellose--the unruly ground). He likewise rejected Egyptian art because it merely evoked the "measureless," unlike the art of the classical Greeks that found measure (and hence, safety). Yet his desire to devour the world, perhaps motivated by his flight from the unruly unconscious, was the root source for his unsurpassed series of philosophical productions. Pinkard has a muted sense of this divide in Hegel and shows it operating, I think, in Hegel's ambivalence about the Romantic flights of some of his friends. Pinkard has done something quite impressive with this work and many of us now have a much more compelling picture of the fragmented wholeness of Hegel. We see a man on the margins who produced great works which were initially surrounded by silence. We see a justly ambitiuous thinker who had to push against the wall of mediocrity around him to gain contact with the powers who could free him from lowly high school teaching and newspaper work so that he could enter the world of the university. And we see a man who, unlike Kant, reveled in the delights of physical embodiment and the material conditions of the world. Above all, Hegel's work shines through as his profound whole-making answer to his and the world's fragmentary features. Unlike most, his flight from the unruly ground bore positive fruits, even if he left much of the unconscious of nature and the self to be explored by others.

This is a great book for any salesperson, experienced or new. It can help you stay on track, or get back on, to reaching your goals. There is a lot of real-world experience that everyone can relate to. I refer back to it often, and it is helping me greatly in my new sales career.

I have had the personal pleasure of meeting Terry in a training class I took. Terry has a way of taking the most difficult things and explaining them in terms you are able to not only comprehend but understand and utilize. After reading this book I felt more focused and driven. In my opinion, this is not just a book but a "tool" to be used by everyone . If you ever feel like you are lost or have missed the correct path- read this book to help you get back on track. Most educational material I have read have just been words on a page but Terry uses personal experiences to help make the material real and understanding. With Terry's book I was able to not only read, understand but also form a picture in my mind of what some of my goals are! This book is a must read!! After reading this book you will feel so much better about yourself!

Thank You Terry,

Traci McGregor

Terry makes some practical suggestions for getting your life on track and moving forward. It's uplifting, positive, and easy to read. He combines age-old wisdom with some fresh new approaches. I'd recommend it to anyone.

This pocket-sized volume is a perfect jewel for all citizens from grade school on up. I stumbled across it after I lost the first pocket-sized Constitution I was given in high school. Although less than 100 pages from cover to cover, this book contains so much valuable information on the founding of the country, including facts on many of those who guided the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. The book also contains the Decleration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and key dates and Supreme Court cases that have shaped this country and the Constitution's interpretation.

This book is a keeper for all who cherish our freedom and should be read and re-read as a reminder of why this is a great country and why it prospered in relatively short order.

I was first introduced to this book while attending law school. During my Constitutional law classes a professor recomended this little pocket book that reviewed and outlined the constitution. I was amazed then and continue to be delighted with the the historical developments that are shared in this "quick read". For under three dollars I actually learned more on the constitution than I did with texts that cost several hundreds of dollars each. ***** Five Stars, this is a real keeper.

This book is a great for any student taking American history or someone who just wants to have it around the house. It has a copies of all the important documents in our nation's history. It includes lists tons of quotes about both democracy and "the system" and is both informative and humorous. (And besides, it's only a few bucks, so what the heck, right?)

Twilight of the Great Trains gave me a much better understanding of the downfall of the American passenger railroads and the creation of Amtrak. The chapter on Union Pacific was a bit of a disappointment, as it was mostly a chronology of events. But subsequent chapters got inside the heads of railroad executives and the different approaches they took to a common problem. Some couldn't wait to get rid of their passenger trains, while others held onto them as long as they possibly could. Sprinkled throughout are several interesting personal stories.

Missing from the narrative is a detailed discussion of government funding policies which heavily favored air and auto travel while excluding trains entirely. This was a major factor in the loss of passenger rail service in this country, for the trains were essentially trying to compete against government-built highways and airports.

If you love trains and/or model trains, then you will really find this book informative and engaging. It chronicles the demise of the passenger train as THE method of long distance transportation to the not often used method of long distance travel it is today.

Twilight of the Great Trains is the world's best book! It is descriptive and brilliant! Fred W. Frailey is an inspiring and amazing author! I would recomend this to the young and old and to train lovers and non-train lovers!

Having read many outlines of The Bible, I can say this one's one of the better. The New Testament is covered beautifully. Worth a read.

I was very pleased to discover Mr. Whalin's new book. I now have a reader-friendly companion to my daily Bible reading. By paraphrasing and summarizing; and with the inclusion of historical and archeologicial tidbits, the author has made the books of the Bible understandable and interesting. The stories within are NOT just long lists of names and mysterious prophecies--they present history in a manner that keeps me turning pages. Highly recommended as a study aide or reading as literature.

As a young Christian in the 1970s, I immersed myself in another
Bible overview book, Henrietta Mear's "What the Bible Is All About." It helped me at that point in my spiritual journey, but I'm glad another overview is out to help new Christians or to re-orient older believers who just never got serious about Bible study. Whalin has done a fine job of explaining important Bible doctrines and summarizing the contents of the Bible books. I noticed a few books missing (Ruth, Galatians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Titus and Jude), presumably because Whalin had to keep to the promise of getting the reader through the Bible in 24 one-hour study sessions. But for covering the "basics," and hopefully helping believers approach deeper study with more confidence, "Alpha Teach Yourself" is a worthy addition to the discipling shelf.

This anthology is one of the most emotionally wrenching and satisfying collections of stories that I've read-not just from fantasy authors, but from anyone. Dealing with the darker aspects of childhood, including abuse and alienation, the stories and poetry are full of depth and transformation; magic, despair, and ultimately hope. Some exceptional stories are "The Armless Maiden" by Midori Snyder, "The Juniper Tree" by Peter Straub, "The Lion and the Lark" by Patricia McKillip, "The Lily and the Weaver's Heart" by Nancy Etchemendy, "In the House of My Enemy" by Charles De Lint, and "In the Night Country" by Ellen Steiber. The poems are all beautiful. This book is definitely on my desert island list.

I love adult fairy tales, but it seems that all too often, writers pump up the sex and violence to render the tales "adult", rather than more deeply exploring the human emotional dramas in the stories. Maybe that's why I love _The Armless Maiden_. The tales and poems here do include sex and violence, yes, but at their heart is the triumph of the human spirit.

If we look carefully at fairy tales, many of them are actually about what we would now call child abuse. Cinderella was neglected. Handel and Gretel were abandoned. Donkeyskin suffered incest. And there are so many more. And in most of the stories, the protagonist rises above the situation somehow--in the old versions, usually by gaining fortune and position. In the stories in _The Armless Maiden_, the triumph is more often psychological. I read once--I think it was in a book by Marina Warner--that the essential theme of the fairy tale is transformation. In these stories, we see victims transformed into survivors.

These are serious fairy tales for our times, and I recommend the book both to abuse survivors and to those who did not suffer abuse (trust me, everyone knows someone who did). My personal favorite contributions are Emma Bull's poem about Cinderella's stepsister regretting the friendship they never had, and Ellen Kushner's "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep", the story of a young girl in the custody of a cold-hearted guardian, and haunted by the ghost of the woman's unhappy daughter.

This is a short review.

Actually, this is not a review atall, although I should say it, shortly and to the point: The ArmlessMaiden is a gorgeous anthology, one of the best I've ever read.

This is just a message to people who might stumble upon it in a bookstore or library.

The message is: read it.

You will not be disappointed.

I was in the bookstore wondering to get for my friend. A golf neophyte, he finds the sport both rewarding and relaxing. He once told me that golf was the perfect game and sport because, ''you aren't competing against your friends, you're competing agianst yourself." This was the perfect book for him and anyone who respects the game. Golf can be so very relaxing and it's nice to have a book that tells you where the fun is. I also enjoyed the book because it was easy to follow and inexpensive. This is a great Father's Day gift as well. Bravo.

I've lived in this area for over twenty years, and this guide provided information that I was unaware of, for my own town. It'll be invaluable as I travel to other cities this year.

What a great idea for a book! Why didn't somebody think of this sooner? I can't tell you how many times I've skipped an opportunity to play on the road simply because I didn't know anything about the courses in that area. Never again. The next time I'm hacking up a course during some spare time on a business trip, I'm going to blame the guys who wrote this book.

This is an exhaustive collection packed with short fiction of very high quality. Ellison writes with authority about the shadows and their denizens. However, his stories are best digested in small doses as the disturbing and powerful prose deserves reflection. Highly recommended. The only discernible weakness to Ellison's fiction is his insistence on creating only worlds of unremitting darkness. One would hope such a talent could sprinkle some beauty into his horror.

This is simply the most thorough and compelling compilation of Ellison's works. Period. It runs the gamut of all his works, from the early days, until the date of the compilation's publication. By far, its a must have for anyone who appreciates Ellison. PERIOD.

This truly is a godsend for those folks who always heard about Ellison's work, but were thwarted upon realizing that 90% of his written output is out-of-print. This tome was long-delayed [...] but thankfully delivered into the eager hands of any who wish to experience the vivid freedom of HE's pen. Ellison remains the classic "angry young man" of speculative fiction, even after all these years, and this compendium harbors so many of the highlights that make him, quite possibly, America's greatest living short-story writer.

There really is no way to put an exacting finger on what Ellison writes. It is certainly not your run-of-the-mill sci-fi, not cheap-shock horror, and not suspense dreck. It's thoughtful, highly engaging, sometimes allegorical, and always thought-provoking stuff that you just don't find in modern writers anymore. Almost like a prickly cross between George Orwell and Lewis Carroll. He is most certainly still ahead of his time, and will most likely require decades after his passing for the world to truly catch up to him and realize what a treasure he is.

So start here if you're curious about Ellisonia, then after your appetite is whetted and your curiosity piqued, track down the stuff in its original form so you can experience all of the good stuff, not merely highlights from a superb & lengthy career.

This is vital American literature.

This is a superb book because it goes beyond being a great sports book. Terry Pluto's weaving of his relationship with his father into his lifetime love of the Cleveland Indians makes it a book that readers will think about long after they've finished reading it. It's not necessary to be a Tribe fan to enjoy this book. I'd even go as far to say that a reader need not be a baseball fan to feel empathy and self-reflection on his or her parent-child relationship, regardless of whether the person is the parent or the child. I've also read the author's "Loose Balls", a wonderful look back at the American Basketball Association, and recommend that to those who remember the ABA (go Oakland Oaks!) and to those who weren't around to enjoy those years.

I am definitely not a fan of the Indians,but I loved the book. If you are a fan of any team, you should enjoy this. Pluto drops fun anecdotes of Indians history and trivia throughout Our Tribe. He also comes to grips with his relationship with his father. An enjoyable read.

If you went to the baseball game with your Father, this book will strike a chord in your heart. Beside reactivating some old memories (fortunately they become better with time), this book also illustrates why Indians fans are Indians fans, by birth-right. We are fans becouse most of us were born near Cleveland and went to the stadium with our dad's, neighborhood friends, college friends, clients, and yes our kids.

This book reminds you why Indians fans are so special. We didn't pick the Indians, they were given to us. In a day where the team was yours for life. When every spring you got excited at the chance that a miracle just might happen this year. When you didn't dare like the Yankees even if it seamed to be an easy way out to happiness. Being an Indians is more valuable than that. Thanks Terry.

The Thucydides edited by Terry Wick comes from an older translation that has a rather good reputation. I found that this version was easier to read than the esteemed 'landmark' edition (which has summaries, pictures, and maps), because there is more text and less distraction! Not much room in the margins, though, unfortunately. All in all, this translation is literal and generally quite good -- a good choice for studying or pleasure. However, most people I've spoken to have LOVED the landmark, so I also do not hesitate to suggest it.

The text itself will drag in places if you are not completely gung-ho for everything about war. However, contained within are a lot of remarkable insights about the human condition which have remained stable for thousands of years. Well worth the struggle.

Homer filled his pages mostly with myth, with some general facts which remotely relate to history. Herodotus wrote mostly history, with a few myths and prophecies interspersed here & there.

With Thucydides, we get the first book in western culture that is 100% purely devoted to history. The historian expresses his disinterest in speculation about the will of the gods while turning his attention solely to factual accounts of the Peloponnesian War.

The present text discloses T's history, all dressed up in the eloquent, occasionally verbose prose of the 17th century philosopher, John Hobbes. David Grene of the university of Chicago does a credible job of auditing Hobbes' translation, pointing out errors, mis-interpretations & omissions in the text.

This work contains all of the most salient episodes of the war, from the funeral oration of Pericles (Book II), the unsteady truce between Athens & Sparta (Book V) and the disastrous Sicilian expedition (VI & VII). The latter proved to be the crippling blow which sealed the defeat of Athens. Less known, but equally poignant, is what Princeton's Michael Sugrue would call the "Big Fish Eat Little Fish" oration which the Athenians deliver to the Melians (Book V) before wiping them out.

Hobbes metes out ample attention to each major event, carefully crafting his diction with the efficacy of delivering the desired effect. However, there are times when his sentences get a bit syrupy & are a bit long. It does not help matters that Thucydides constantly skips around to diverse engagements, both major & minor, not always making it clear whom or what he is referring to. While it is fairly simple to keep track of the major players in the war (i.e.: Athens, Sparta, Argos, Syracuse, Corinth, Thebes, etc) it becomes increasingly difficult to follow all of the minor provinces involved as the war goes on. Of course, the people in T's day were already familiar with whom was aligned with whom, so detailed explanations of Greek alliances are omitted. This can be a obstacle for the modern reader.

All in all, tho, this is a credible translation to one of the most monumental works of history ever composed. Within these pages we discover the nobility and wisdom of Pericles, the treachery of Alcibiades, the violence and short-sightedness of Cleon and the effective generalship of Nicias. The most poignant aspects of the period all surface without any ambiguity; the arrogant hubris of the Athenians, the resilience of the Lacedaemonians and the determination of the Syracusians. Hobbes should be applauded for pulling off one of the best English translations of Greek history ever recorded.

I undertook the project of reading the Greek Classics with a bit of trepidation and found some translations that read like the King James Bible, pompus and barely recognizable as English. I could not put down Steven Lattimore's translation. The funeral oration of Perikles was so beautiful tears came to my eyes as I read it to my wife.

I liked that portion of the book so much that I researched it and discovered that I was not alone in being impressed by it, and that it is considered some of the greatest writing ever. I compared the same passage in several tranlations found most of the to use somewhat archaic words that do not quite have the impact that they do to a modern reader as the words in Lattimore's translation.