I picked this book up from the library and read it over the holidays since I didn't have anything else to do. While I do enjoy some science fiction, this one was remarkably boring. The authors simply don't have the talent necessary to create real suspense. In addition, this book doesn't feature any of the scientific creativity that marks any good SF works.

The Island Worlds is set a few hundred years in the future, when some humans have established colonies in the asteroid belt. The Earth, meanwhile, is controlled by one government, and a group of bureaucrats is trying to shut down the space exploration industry, leading to a war between the "good guys" in space and the "bad guys" from Earth. The ending of the book is entirely predictable, and there aren't any major plot events that you can't see coming well in advance. Overall, this book just doesn't stand out from the thousands of other SF titles out there.

Before delving into the review of this book I feel it is imperative to tell you how and why it entered my library not once but twice. I attended a small liberal arts college in the midwest, of Norwegian heritage. As a History major I elected to enroll in MODERN SCANDINAVIAN HISTORY since I was reasonably sure the course would be well taught. It wasn't. I guess I can't blame the D+ solely on the professor but he is the one who assigned the book in question for class. Two years later I decided to retake this class since a visiting prof had signed on to instruct. And he assigned the same excrutiatingly dry book. But I received an A- this time around. Enough about me. Now let's get to the book of horrors. Modern Welfare States is the only comprehensive study of the governmental transition in the five Scandinavian countries. These countries were the world's first to move away from strict monarchies into constitutional monarchies. The book also discusses the history of the each country's monarchical control over the other (Norway has been ruled by both Sweden and Denmark. and Sweden by Denmark as well), accounts the alliances through the World Wars and covers the development of the Welfare State of post WWII. Why should you read this book? Simply because it is assigned to you. Both professors warned the class that this book was "rather dry" (it makes the Sahara look like a rice paddy) but also extolled it as the best and only available in depth study on the subject. Too bad. When a book is the only available source on a subject, how could it not be the best? I hope, in the near future, some bright mind will take it upon themself to retell this history in a more entertaining fashion. Maybe it's not possible. But for the sake of all the young minds hungry for a taste of Scandinavia, someone please come to the rescue! 2 stars instead of 1 since the book does end, eventually.

When it was announced that the Catholic University of America Press would publish a portion of William Tyndale's works, there was skepticism as to their intent. After all, why would a Catholic press publish the writings of the man who struck such a fatal blow to Papal power in Europe; and who provided the world with the English Bible, which the Papacy had tried to prevent by tortures and murders? A review of Word, Church, and State edited by Anne M. O'Donnell, S.N.D. (Sisters of Notre Dame) shows this skepticism was well founded.

The book is 343 pages and consists of papers presented in Washington, D.C. at a Tyndale conference convened by Miss O'Donnell in 1994. Of the 30 papers presented at the conference, 20 were selected, and then edited for publication by Miss O'Donnell and two scholars she selected.

In the book's introduction, Miss O'Donnell gives an overview of the book's contents. Here the reader is informed that the papers selected will provide the reader with a scholarly review of various aspects of William Tyndale's writings. The papers are presented as taking the reader to the 'grammatical depths', 'the theoretical heights' and finally to 'the aphoristic levels' where 'we breathe more easily.' We read comments such as 'McCutcheon sensitively contrasts the thirteen letters of More and Tyndale', and 'with this thorough assessment of Tyndale's opinions on English foreign policy'. In fact, the papers, for the most part, are neither thorough nor sensitive. As 'Biblical scholars' have developed the Documentary Hypothesis to tear down the Word of God, so Miss O'Donnell has denigrated the writings of William Tyndale under the guise of scholarism.

The only valuable paper this reviewer found was the first paper by Mr. David Daniell and Mr. Daniell's writings can be found elsewhere. By the time the reader finishes the book he will have been told that Mr. Tyndale's writings are arrogant; that his arguments for providing the English Bible are 'hypocritical'; that Mr. Tyndale made himself a 'mediator' between God and man; that his doctrine is 'contradictory'; that he was completely 'ignorant' of English foreign policy; and that there are ''gaps and inconsistencies' between Tyndale's theory and practice.' Not surprisingly, Mr. Tyndale's view that the Pope is the antichrist is denigrated. Tyndale's translation of the word 'ecclesia' as 'congregation' and his theological position on the 'bread and wine' are undermined with sophistry. Finally , we are told that Tyndale 'regularly appropriated [plagiarized] the words of others' &c.

This reader is left with the conclusion that the little praise Tyndale receives is feigned to appear as though the scholars are 'fair' in their treatment of Tyndale. If you enjoy the writings of William Tyndale, save your money for writers such as Mr. David Daniell.