This biography by Willam Rives is essential to comprehending the massive, and understated contribution of James Madison. The dominance of writing, concerning the 1790s, seems to center on a Hamilton v Jefferson scenario. Through these pages, the recent efforts by Rosen, and others to revive the Madisonian logic, gains new merit and weight. The massive contribution of Madison, as architect, defender, and executor of the Constitution, is revealed, by a partisan, of Madisonian thought. Campebell Rives's speech before the 22nd Congress 2nd session, remains one of the most outstanding reflections of original intent of the framers concerning State v National powers in our history, which bolstered by his proximity to Madison, should be read by anyone seriously considering the issue. An outstanding must, for anyone who seriously wishes to comprehend the issue of federalism.

Fifteen-year-old Jody Carpenter comes to town about 1950 to earn money to help his family. In a short time, he learns about shame, violence, and beauty in deep love, faces injustice and ignorance, and struggles with meanness and heroism. This is a Steinbeck-like tale about the drama of growing up in the rural backwaters of middle America when voices of reason and justice often struggled with ignorance. At the same time, Jody stumbles on possibilities for redemption and his own heroism in the fire that changes several lives at the climax of the story.

This book is a realistic view of the glamorous and not so glamourous sides of the foreign service. It shows the beholdenness to politicians of a career FSO. An easy read, it also puts ambition into perspective by showing the tradegies of the author, which I felt was the chief lesson learned from the book. People who desire foreign service careers should definitely read the book. The lessons of a past ambassador are invaluble to those who aspire to the same goal.

This book is trying to get the big picture, and William O. Douglas climbing mountains is one of its dramatic themes. The most interesting part of the book for me was how much trouble Justice Douglas could create for the rest of the U. S. Supreme Court and those who believe that law ought to conform to their ideal of an orderly administration of justice. In the middle of June, 1953, Justice Douglas issued a stay of execution for Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, thinking, "The Rosenbergs' indictment, trial and sentence had been under the wrong law, the Espionage Act of 1917. ... And under the Atomic Energy Act, a judge could impose the death penalty only on the recommendation of the jury and only with a showing that the offense had been committed with intent to injure the United States." (p. 306). Then "Justice Douglas left Washington and headed west by car, thinking that his stay would remain in effect until the full Court could hear arguments during the fall term." (p. 307). Justice Robert Jackson "suggested that his stay was an attempt to play to his liberal constituency with a popular solo performance." (p. 299). Justice Jackson's law clerk, William H. Rehnquist had written a three-page memorandum in which the political context was considered:

... the public opinion which has voiced itself in favor of the Rosenbergs is not even properly called `left-wing' in the sense that the respectable liberal group in this country is behind it. It is a tiny minority of lunatic fringers and erratic scientist-sentimentalists. (p. 303).

Justice Jackson was willing to hear the Rosenberg case so "the Court would save itself embarrassment and put to rest any doubts about the fairness of the Rosenberg trial" (p. 303) when Douglas had threatened to issue a memorandum "agreeing with the Court of Appeals that some of the conduct on the United States Attorney was `wholly reprehensible'," (p. 302) but Douglas wasn't willing to act in the case until he found some reason to believe that the Rosenbergs might be able to win. On June 19, "When it was clear that a Court majority would not uphold the stay under any conditions, Justice Burton cast his vote with the majority, making the vote six to three." (p. 310). The Court's decision was, "The Atomic Energy Act did not repeal or limit the provisions of the Espionage Act. Accordingly, we vacate the stay entered by Mr. Justice Douglas on June 17, 1953." June 19 must have been a Friday, because "Out of respect for the Jewish Sabbath, the scheduled execution of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg on the evening of June 19 was moved up from the original 11:00 p.m. time" so it was all over by 8:16 p.m. (p. 311). Justices Black, Frankfurter and Douglas wrote dissenting opinions which "made a shambles of the majority's easy conclusions." (p. 311). That should be pretty easy to do, for anyone who was born with a brain and isn't afraid to be considered one of the lunatic fringers.

I have used this book as a text for a university Toxicology course for Safety Engineering Technology. It is a wonderful guide to the scientific basis of toxicology in the workplace. It is a level above the basic information and would be a wonderful reference for the safety professional who needs to solve problems and needs to determine when to bring a specialist into the worksite. It covers the applied (rather than theoretical) science, toxic agents and their manifestations, and evaluation and control of hazards in industrial workplaces.

Whether or not you agree with the premise that the poem "The Flying Islands of the Night" reveals the multi-faceted personality of the poet, you will find that this book is valuable resource for one getting to know more about Riley and his times. It certainly is not as scholarly or as thorough as the even more recent biography of Riley by Elizabeth J. Van Allen, but it contains a lot of anecdotes about Riley and his friends.

Schwager's telling of the life of Jesus and the early church is fascinating. Faithful to the Gospels and the book of Acts (some events are "rearranged," but plausibly so), it's like a jewel set in a filigree of Old Testament (and Apocryphal) scripture. Indeed, his working of Old Testament references into and through every thought and action of Jesus and the apostles is at times breathtaking. It's not a modern "psychological" or "theological" analysis of Jesus as the title might lead you to believe, but is instead a reverent and powerful retelling of Jesus' life and ministry, through his death and resurrection and into the days of the early church. At once familiar and strange, this book could change the way you read the gospels or view Jesus.

Schwager is putting out a scholarly edition of this book which explains and supports the story as he tells it here.

When evidence comes to light that maybe we don't know EVERYTHING about the gospels scholars, like attack dogs they tear apart, discredit, or out and out LIE to the public to keep there dogma.This book happens to be a very in-depth source of information. it wasn't the easiest read unless you are a theology major some passages do not make sense to the layperson.Anybody who has studied the bible knows the gospels aren't without mistakes and rewrites by scholars and this book helps us know more about the religon that changed the world!

Well, "book is a reminder." I guess that's the most that comes to mind about this book. Whether you should purchase this book depends on what you're looking for. I purchased it in preparation for a vacation to Thailand, because I was going to be shopping for Thai style household items and wanted to get informed. Plus, I'm a sucker for a decorating coffee table book that everyone else doesn't already have. I visited the Jim Thompson House while in Bangkok, and so that's why the only thing that now comes to my mind is: the book is a reminder of what I saw.

Tepid impression now, I suppose. The book gives some background on Jim Thompson and how he revived the Thai silk industry, as well as information about the rare antique Thai treasures that he collected in his home, which is now a museum. If you're really interested in this aspect, in particular, this book may be for you. If you're interested in Thai style, I'm not sure I would recommend this book as a starting point. There are other Thai style books that I reach for again and again, while this book sits on a shelf, untouched. It's a nice book, but more of an expensive souvenir.

This book used to be titled "The Noiseless Tenor", but in this newer edition it has been retitled and given a few extra editorial words. This is a wide-ranging survey of references to the bicycle in mostly-20th-Century works; sometimes the reference is a stretch and Starrs points this fact out. Occasionally he has to piece together fragments of a scene to make the bicycling reference clear. Starrs' piecework is always in italic type -- and occasionally I wondered if he'd ever get to the author's words. But this collection is well-done, and Starrs obviously loves everything to do with the bicycle. His children show up occasionally (mostly in the form of recollections from a cross-country tour while they were growing up), and his own experience influenced the selection. Everything from Ernest Hemingway's flat observational prose to a truly fantastical five-rider cross-country race (against a locomotive) is fair game here, and this book suits its stated purpose of being a volume that can be stashed in the thinking cycle tourist's pannier.