This book is a most up to date review of Sinusitis by the pioneers in the field. Chapters on Gross & radiographic Anatomy are innovative, elaborate and very well illustrated. Genetics, physiology and pathophysiology, particularly of sinus polyposis, were well covered. A good foundation and methodology was laid for the controversial subject on staging of sinusitis. The chapter on the concepts and surgical indications of FESS has added valuable depth and focus to the surgical management by a master in the field. Complications of FESS were accompanied by usefull guidlines on their prevention and managemnet, including additional highlights on surgical technique, legal and ethical considerations. The chapter on revision ESS for recurrent sinusitis is a new and usefull addition. More over the latest in technology e.g Image guided FESS and instrumentation were comfortably laid out. On the other hand, alternative and more extensive external approaches to sinus diseases were well exhibited by their pioneers. A most interesting feature is the included CD-ROM which in additon to providing capabilities like search and note taking, is a second bonus copy of the book to keep in my office.

Doing Drugs; Patterns of African American Addiction is a text that comes right out of the battle fields of drug treatment.

The authors, a preacher and a college professor seem familar with their subject. My favorite chapters are on the history of African American addiction. A loty of times we think addiction just happened in the sixities and miss that their is a history of addiction that is mixed up with racial opression as well as the urbanization of African American people.

New information for me was the African American drinking rituals that happened in slavery as well as the use of alcohol as awards for crop picking by slave masters durning slavery.

I also was intersted in the African section of the book that recorded drug use (Quat) in North Africa as long as 500 years ago.

The chapter on cocaine treament and the approaches to treating it in African American males is especially helpful. I liked the discusiion and questioning of compliance in therapy. I had never examined that most drug treatment for black males is forced treatment.

William Carey is known as the father of the modern missionary movement. From a self-educated cobbler to a genius in linguistics, his place in missionary history is undisputed. However, the wife he took to India with him did not thrive in this adopted country as William did. She suffered from terrible homesickness, months of disabling dysentary and the death of a child. Within three years of arriving in India, she was suffering with mental illness and she died in India never having recovered her sanity. James Beck has given a facinating picture
of her life.

This is a very enjoyable book by Will & Ariel Durant who gave us a wonderful account of their fascinating lives together. In many respects, Will Durant was not only a great historian and philosopher, but also a great and gentle man who was fortunate to have the love and support of his outstanding wife, family, and a huge supporting cast of friends and colleagues.

You'll learn about meetings with Einstein, debates with Clarence Darrow and Bertrand Russell, dinners with Charlie Chaplin and Will Rogers. From turn of the century New York and Greenwich Village, through both world wars, the Depression, you name it. These people lived through it and participated fully. The book is worth it just for the oppurtunity to see the world unfold through the eyes of a man who lived from 1885 to 1981.

One thing that also impressed me throughout this book was the Durant's unwavering honesty about their evolving lifestyles, viewpoints, and beliefs over the course of their lives. They were among those rare people who fully understood where they were they were headed and never forgot where they'd been. They had the courage to face their own inconsistencies and doubts, and did it with style and grace as the decades, with all their incredible changes, flowed by. These were tireless people who loved life and humanity, and watched as humanity went from wagons to the moon.

This book overflows with stellar intellect, endearing humility, and a couple's incredible love for each other during a marriage that lasted for 69 years. An awesome dual autobiography!

hello, sandra dorsey here its getting so..there are certain reading materials out there that i look for..as they are the only things that have hit the nail on the head as to whats going on...mind you, not many people see it..or even notice it... when i mention some oddities...people tell me im NUTS...imagining this...and or...i refuse to "change with the times"..in other words..Old fashioned.. i do get SO tired of reading and hearing from all walks of life..and various other readings..(especially by david allen lewis) that if we dont tithe/and or give 10 percent of what we really dont have ..we wont be saved..(least thats whats implied in his prophecy 2000 book..) i look at things like this..(tho i dont go to church, cant quote the bible..i do read, learn, observe all thats going on..and learn..watch and wait... something else..i dont practice/follow pagan holidays to include xmas..however...this xmas song does apply to ALL those churches out there that beg for money..imply people over looked on being saved till the very last being picked if they dont give money..the song is.."the littel drummer boy" alls he had to give was him playing his drum for the baby jesus..and playing his best for him..and the baby jesus, and mary, etc..were more than pleased/happy with that... to bad churches, congregations, and people alike cant see/understand/comprehend that..and preach it.. i believe in the the AAlmighty....and I believe in his 2nd coming...and its working to a head now.. so, i read, watch, wait, listen..and observe, learn..and do the best that i can..and try to be the best person/representative of GOD that i can.. (tho i aint perfect..many faults..i do slip once in the while)

i rate this book..and all others by this group so far that ive read..a "5" excellent material..and very true is one is awake..and can see over the blindness

sandra dorsey

I read this book over 10 years ago, and have not forgotten it. It is a wonderful evocation of day to day life in a small English village during "The Great War". Not a description of the war itself, but rather of the life of the village people during the war, and how they were impacted by the events of war, this book fleshes out the war as it was lived by non-combatants. I highly recommend it.

As many observers have pointed out, California surpasses many of the world's nations in the size and scope of its economy. A crucial element of California's economic growth has been its production and use of a variety of energy sources. Energy and the Making of Modern California provides us with the definitive study of the pivotal role played by energy in the history of the Golden State. The book provides a comprehensive narrative of the history of energy in California, along with an analysis of the economic, political, and cultural forces that have driven it. As with many aspects of California history, energy production and use has departed substantially from patterns established in other parts of the United States, and the reasons for this divergent path constitutes on of the key themes of the book. Energy and the Making of Modern California is clearly written, and filled with fascinating details like the rise and fall of solar water heating in the early 20th century, the re-emergence of wind power in the 1970s, and the development of oil as a fuel for steam locomotives in the late 19th century. Abundantly supplied with maps, graphs, charts, tables, and photographs, this book will be of interest to anyone interested in energy, the environment, or the history of California.

McClendon's three-volume theology, representing a large scale revisioning of systematics, is now complete - Ethics (1986), Doctrine (1994) and Witness (2001) - exemplifying an approach that gives priority to the ecclesial community rather than the academy: not theology 'made popular' but rather self-consciously rooted in the practices of the Christian community. The most conspicuous evidence of this is the way that McClendon chose to begin his systematic theology: with ethics! ... rather than 'prolegomena', followed by 'doctrine', then 'ethics'. 'Prolegomena' usually discusses questions of method and usually in terms of philosophical justification for the following theological project. Doctrine provides systematic presentation of Christian teaching often in quasi-scientific format and categories. Ethics, however, as Ron Sider says, is "often left until last and then left out" (42)!

McClendon does not challenge the threefold description of the theological task but sees them representing three levels of entry (kinds of "probing") into theology. He recognises

"that we begin by finding the shape of the common life in the body of Christ, which is for Christians partly a matter of self discovery, as Gregory learned from Origen. That is ethics. We continue with the investigation of the common and public teaching that sanctions and supports that common life by displaying its doctrinal height and breadth and depth. That is doctrine. And we end by discovering those apologetic and speculative positions that such life and such teaching call forth. That is philosophical theology or apologetics. (45)

McClendon finds himself in the company of 'postmoderns', not concerned with 'first principles' or to start from scratch but best exemplifying Yoder's alternatives to "methodologism"; namely "walk and word", to begin "where we are" in the midst of the story of God in Israel, Jesus and the Christian community as witnessed in Scripture. But it is almost to 'damn with faint praise' to label McClendon 'postmodern' since his earlier 'philosophical' work, Understanding Religious Convictions (co-author James Smith), was in many respects ahead of its time. As he and Smith comment in their updated edition, "we believe, not that we are catching up with the times, but that the times have at long last caught up with us." McClendon draws upon this earlier work, understanding theology as a "science of convictions" involving the "discovery, understanding, and transformation of the convictions of a convictional community, including the discovery and critical revision of their relation to one another and to whatever else there is." (23) This 'generic' definition admits not only forms of monotheism and polytheism but also 'atheistic' theologies and the "theoretics" of 'communities' such as Marxists. It also opens up the possibility of a new form of conversation with 'secular' interlocutors, and avoids both subjectivist and objectivist problems by locating itself within the lived experience of actual communities.

McClendon describes Christian theology as "pluralistic" - embodied in different human contexts, facing various situations, framing itself in various ways in practice. It is also "historical" or narrative-based - (this being 'eclipsed', as Frei put it, in the modern era). Not only is the story of Scripture at theology's heart but the testimony of Christians and their communities. This narrative dimension rescues the 'experiential' from subjectivism and draws attention to dimensions in ethics such as character. Contra anti-intellectual strains of Christianity, McClendon affirms theology as "rational" - not having its own 'special' rationality disconnected from that outside but concerned with its connections to various 'disciplines' (social theory, philosophy, etc). It is also concerned with its 'internal' relations and creative transformation of inherited tradition. Theology is thereby eminently "self-involving" - as in McClendon's adherence to the "baptist vision": Not the denominational affilliation of Baptist but a specific family of ways of being Christian (eg some Baptists, but also Quakers, Churches of Christ, Mennonites, other descendants of the 'radical Reformation'), largely under-represented in theological conversation .

"By such a vision, I do not mean some end result of theoretical reflection, remote from the daily life of a rather plain people. Nor do I mean a detachable baptist Ideal - what baptists ought to be (but of course are not). Instead, by a vision I mean the guiding stimulus by which a ... combination of peoples... shape their life and thought...; ...the continually emerging theme and tonic structure of their common life. The vision is thus already present, waiting to be recognized and employed; it must not seem a stranger to those who share in baptist life or to their sympathetic observers. Yet once acknowledged for what it is, it should serve as the touchstone by which authentic baptist life is discovered and described, and also as the organizing principle around which a genuine baptist theology can take shape." (27-28)

McClendon also seeks to move away from any single theme as 'essence' for the 'baptist' vision such as biblicism or liberty or discipleship. Yet he does believe that the vision can be expressed in a hermeneutical motto that encompasses the other suggested themes: "the present Christian community as the primitive community and the eschatological community." (31) Scripture is the fundamental link between them.

The self-involving nature of theology is also shown by the addition of biographical chapters at the end of each of three sections to illustrate the themes treated or, better, to show the concrete situation from which the reflection arises. Chapters on Sarah and Jonathan Edwards, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Dorothy Day illustrate the three "strands" of Christian ethics respectively:

•1. Sphere of the organic - body ethics

•2. Sphere of the communal - social ethics

•3. Sphere of the anastatic - resurrection ethics

Following the Wittgensteinian analogy, McClendon insists each of these strands must not be separated from the others - that it is only together that they form a rope. Only with all three does Christian ethics retain its integrity.

In the company of Yoder and Hauerwas, McClendon affirms the anabaptist rejection of the Constantinian arrangement, describing a politics of forgiveness and reconciliation centred in the disciple community and its "powerful practices" (eg Baptism; Lord's Supper).

A landmark book in theological ethics. Brilliant!

I got the skinny on this project from Grunig himself--he was my advisor in graduate school. This is the opening introduction publication of a large research project he and his colleagues were conducting for the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). Taking their inspiration from Peters and Waterman's "In Search of Excellence", this book provides a comprehensive look at public relations, giving readers an idea of where the field is and where it is heading. I'd consider this a must-have resource for anyone wanting to move up the ranks as a public relations professional.

This is a dictionary of the words used in the New Testament (Authorized Version). It is an easy-to-use tool to anyone wanting to delve deeper into the meaning of the words used in the NT.

Unlike more difficult lexicons such as Strong's, the words in Vine's are alphabetized by the English word; then you are told which various Greek words are translated using that English word and their meanings Other usages in the NT are also compared and contrasted. References to the Strong's numbering system are given in the margins.

It's a quick source of lexigraphical information that is useful to any lay Bible scholar.